do YOU think 9mm is underpowerred ?

Is 9mm strong enough to use for defense.

  • I think 9mm is plenty strong for defense.

    Votes: 215 50.8%

  • I think 9mm is strong enough but only if Hollow Point.

    Votes: 122 28.8%

  • I think it takes more (.40 or .45) to be deadly

    Votes: 18 4.3%

  • If you're asking you're a mall ninja

    Votes: 68 16.1%
  • Total voters
    423
J

justanegg

New member
pretty much the tittle says it all,

for defense, do you think 9mm bullets are incapable of stopping an aggressor ? does double tapping make it completely not worth it to you?

what are your thoughts on caliber size.

i see a lot of posters in the rifle forums talking about how a .22Lr is wrong to shoot deer with because it's inhumane etc (sure beats the arrows the Indians used), and i can relate to their thinking, that a one shot kill is the 'right' way to take an animal, given an option... but the .22 is certainly capable with good staking skills (i went bow hunting once and my dog followed the blood trail like it was instinct for her)... if a .22LR can kill a deer, i'm sure a 9mm will kill a human.

and these sorts of 'oh it's inhumane' thoughts don't (in my mind) apply to a rapist in my home, etc.

what are your thoughts on the 'need' for bigger bullets, is it like the 500 horse-power cars people 'need' ? i know i have a 14X zoom on my .22LR that i certainly don't 'need' so I'm not judging.
 
You do your job, the round will to its job. Anything out of a handgun is underpowered.

I don't own a 9mm, but I'd feel safe carrying one. Larger calibers just give you slightly more margin for error, though not much.
 
oh, I'd say a 9 is very worthy of stopping a BG. Especially a 147g. HST, as for the double tap thing...you'd tap it all day to stop the threat, forrest gump says"and thats all i have to say about that".
me personally I carry .40 but do own 9mm and wouldn't hesitate to carry it.
 
this is going to make me sound like i'm foolish,
...but in my mind, the best gun is the one i shoot best, which means lots of practice, i am lower income, and when i go to the range i will shoot 300 or 400 rounds (usually every other weekend). i have trouble even justifying spending 95$ on 400 rounds of 9mm... i think if i had a .45 i would shoot less, and be thus be a worse shot.

9mm is an economical choice for me, but my neighbor tells me the 9mm won't 'really stop a determined intruder' ... as the saying goes, a hit with a .22 is better than a miss with a .50cal.
 
9mm is what I like, what I shoot best. You can get great self defense loads. Bottom line, I would not want to be on the recieving end of my Federal HST 124 gr.

The one objection I do have, is ball ammunition. DO NOT USE THIS FOR SD!!!

Brings up too many through and through questions.
 
9mm

well the .45 lovers will tell you it's underpowered, and the 9mm lovers will tell you it's the best thing since sliced bread. With today's self defense ammo I feel plenty safe carrying a 9mm. As a matter of fact that's what I'm currently carrying. I carried a .45 for the longest time and I will admit it does give you that warm fuzzy feeling inside. I'm currently carrying a Beretta 92fs with 15rd mags. If the s--t ever hits the fan it would be nice to have as much ammo as possible. It's just personal preference really. They'll just about all do the job. After you put 2 rounds center mass and 1 in the head they usually don't ask you what caliber it was..;)
 
I have two 9mm's and one .45 (hopefully more on the way). Modern hollowpoints really level the playing field. Shot placement is key, no matter what caliber you select.

I have die-hard .45acp fan friends who preach about how weak the 9mm is. They never offer to stand on the receiving end of my G17 or M&P9C to prove their point though. Getting shot sucks (so I've been told).
 
My formative years in this gig was in the mid to late 80s when the 9mm started gaining a helluva lot of momentum as a defense round. There was a time when the trend seemed to be SO MUCH MORE toward a very large capacity in your handgun than any real terminal "performance." I went the other way, passionately. Because of that, I grew to *HATE* the 9mm.

I bought my first 9mm in '94 because the Klinton's were authoring their crime bill outfitted with magazine capacity limits. I really didn't have any need or desire for a 9mm, but it was my own defiant protest against that regime -- go out and buy a hi-cap 9. So I did.

Buying the 9mm didn't make me any more a fan of it, but the advancement in bullet technology has certainly made the 9mm much more viable than it was in 1987, IMO.

One of my pet peeves with regards to the whole caliber debate is that folks do like to swoop in and talk about the importance of shot placement and technique as if the caliber doesn't matter much, if at all.

And I agree -- shot placement and tactics do matter so much more, but it doesn't make the caliber question worthless. Fact is if your shot placement and tactics are whatever they are, and you make solid COM hits, then guess what? Terminal performance of your ammo DOES MATTER.

But the human body does interesting, unpredictable things with bullets. There's not much from a handgun that stops everyone instantly.

These days, I have a lot of fun with my 9mm, it's a terrific round for practice and fun for reloading, so I shoot a lot of it. For carry, I have something bigger, but I'm right now in the hunt for a smaller carry gun that I hope to carry in the warmer months, and I'm almost completely sure that it's going to be a 9mm. Personally, I have come a long way with the caliber and my preference for it.

I'd still rather have less rounds of something more substantial, but YES, I do feel well armed with a 9mm. But it took a long, long time for me to feel that way, and I believe that was 2 parts maturity and 1 part bullet/ammo technology.
 
I was just on one of the ammo sites, and they had calibers small to large, with the picture of the wound channel in gel. Wish I could remember the site, will look for it and post. They all looked pretty much the same. The .40 and .45 were a little deeper and a little wider, but not much. I was a .45 nut, and just went back to the 9mm.

Totaly agree with you egg. With three little mouths to feed, the feeding of guns is a distant 2nd. I practice a lot more with my 9mm's and am a better shot because of this. Besides, you can hunt small game (rabbits) with ball and still have a little meat left. Need to step up into sd? Just put in the mag with the nasty stuff. JHP+p does good enough in my book:).
 
I just took a poll of all the guys that are 6 feet under since circa 1902 due to getting in the way of the 9mm Luger. They voted it seemed fairly deadly to them.:D

Oh, I voted plently strong.
 
No. 9mm allows you to achieve multiple hits, rapidly, on target, and, the cumulative effect is excellent. I don't think the HP's penetrate enough, and like the way ball ammo does penetrate, and, it tumbles. I'm really thinking about getting some Double Tap flat points, when I run out of HXT...
 
I chose the bugger off option :), but I actually think 9mm is fine for SD. I've read all the arguments for different calibers, but I think it really comes down to shot placement, adequate penetration and luck. The 9mm does as well as the rest in all of these categories.
 
I carried a CZ RAMI in 9mm for years but now carry a 10mm as my circumstances have changed. I never felt under gunned with the 9mm. However, I'm much more comfortable with my Glock 29 stoked with 155, 165, or even 180 grain JHPs (for social situations) and 200 grain controlled expansion rounds for the woods.
 
My 1st choice is the .45, but I also think the 9mm is often times under-stated as a man stopper.

I once mentioned that I didn't think a 9mm was a good enough gun for consideration as a primary carry weapon to a guy who was wiser than I was.
He simply asked if, since I didn't think much of that caliber, would I want to get shot be a 9mm? (:eek:)

Well, I prefer the .45, but upon reflection, I think the 9mm is OK after all. :D Are there better calibers to carry? Probably. Will it do with a relaible gun and a reliable shooter? Absolutely.
 
i'm with pretty much the rest of the guys... it's gonna do its job and put holes in people. I keep Cor-Bon in my 9mm Px4. Either way they will most likely go straight through the target (and by "target" i mean person).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top