Practice & Caliber, what do you prefer?

Correct KyJim

I'm grossly generalizing that in some very minor way that due to the difference in weights of a 40 and 9 in bullet wt as well as gun weight that in GENERAL the recoil GENERALLY will be less with a 9 and therefore quicker to recover.
 
I'll shoot 150 rounds of 9mm or .38 for the bulk of each range vsit but, I also shoot 20-50 full power .44 mag or .357 mag depending on which gun I take with me. I just bought a .44 Special and I'm really falling in love with it and it and I expect it will take some preassure off the 9mm and .38.
 
38/357 because it is more versatile and the range of ammo is greater. Also because revolvers are just cool. 38's are just as cheap as 9mm.
 
Springfield XD's

I have the XD in 9mm, with a 4 inch barrel, and I love the gun, it's not a heavy recoil, and gets onto the target quickly from the draw. I love the 1911's as well, but the limited capacity of the magazines (7 rounds) compared to 16 rounds in the XD magazine made my decision of a carry gun real easy. I don't want to have to carry a second magazine to have enough rounds, if I can't drop a BG with 16 shots, I must have needed a lot more practice.
 
So I have been looking at calibers for concealed carry, and I am thinking of going with the 9mm. Cheap ammo and alot of variety. I am not sold on it yet, especially since I have had a biased to the .45 ACP and the bigger calibers for a long time. But I am wondering how many people shoot a 9mm versus something else?
Click to expand...

I've had 9mm and they are cheaper to shoot, but my preference is the .40 for all around sd ammo.

I want to be able to put alot of practice rounds through the gun and in 1 session. I shoot a .45 ACP just fine, it is just a tiring gun physically; no matter how many times I have shot a .357 magnum or .44 mag. I like the ballistics on a .40 cal, but I am wondering how much recoil it puts out in the smaller guns.
Click to expand...

I manage my xd40 sub just fine. I get good shot groups, even on double taps.

Also does anyone have any other quality autoloaders ideas for concealed carry other than a Glock(I do not like the Glock 26, it doesnt have enough room for my hand and that would get to me). Are the XDs worth taking a look at?
Click to expand...

Beretta storm subcompact, xd subcompact, kel-tec p11, etc...There are several 1911 compacts I like too!

anyway, what are yalls preferences on Caliber and what type of scenario training do you do?
Click to expand...

I practice hitting my targets!

Another thing(sorry im really trying to get alot of ideas from people) does anyone do some kind of hand to hand defense, something that helps you transition if someone jumps you(because lets face it, if you get attacked, your not always going to get your gun out and get the drop on someone). I do alot of boxing, and i know that is not real practical other than getting you used to getting punched in the face lol.
Click to expand...

I'm a lifelong martial artists. Hand to hand is most important imo.

I think boxing is one of the MOST practical.
Your skillset is small, so it's easier to 'master' as opposed to asian type martial arts with dozens of techniques.
Boxing teaches you good hands and good footwork. Incorporate some grappling (mainly learning how to stay upright) and you are all set!
 
.45 acp is my primary carry weapon. .40 is my secondary. all my current handguns except 2 are M&P's (9mm, .357sig, 40, and .45 in various configurations), i also have a Colt 1911 and a glock 23. a .40 has a very snappy recoil compared to .45 acp. the .45 acp is a push, .40 is a snap... the chamber pressures give that away. 32,000 psi with a 180gn projectile vs 21,000 with a 185gn projectile. you can see that the .40 is still going to have more recoil (snap). even with a 230gn projectile the numbers are lower. if you think the snap is bad on a fullsize gun, you should try a compact or a subcompact. lol. any of the weapons in my stable are expensive to shoot right now, and i have been looking very closely at a little .22lr pistol for range time.
clay
 
Practice and Caliber, What Do You Carry?

I do not believe that ammunition cost should be a criteria for a self-protection handgun. Optimal stopping power and maybe limited penetration (if you live in an apartment) are more important than a couple cents per round. Practice with whatever you want as long as you are proficient and sighted in with your protection load.

I am am partial to .45 Cal. automatics. I use a Kimber Ultra Eclipse II for home protection. It has night sights and is reliable and deadly accurate at 25 feet. The 3" barrel is not an issue at close range. I use Speer Gold Dot, 200 HP, +P ammuntion for defense but shoot the inexpensive Winchester white box 230 grain ball for practice.
 
Jeepman
.45 acp is a push, .40 is a snap... the chamber pressures give that away. 32,000 psi with a 180gn projectile vs 21,000 with a 185gn projectile. you can see that the .40 is still going to have more recoil (snap). even with a 230gn projectile the numbers are lower.
Click to expand...

You are going to need to explain those numbers to my hands because I can get follow up hits much faster with my Glock .40 than I can get with the 1911 .45

I would say it is all a mater of experience.
 
follow shots with the .40 and .45 to me are no different, i can feel the difference, but i can get back on target in the same amount of time. guess i just shoot too much, lol. mayube that is why i am so broke all the time.
clay
 
I do not believe that ammunition cost should be a criteria for a self-protection handgun. Optimal stopping power and maybe limited penetration (if you live in an apartment) are more important than a couple cents per round. Practice with whatever you want as long as you are proficient and sighted in with your protection load.
Click to expand...
Cost should not be the primary concern for self-protection ammo. However, I believe that overall operating costs for a gun you should be running often enough to maintain proficiency with is a reasonable factor to consider when selecting a chambering, unless money is no object for you.
 
Last edited:
Depending on the time of year, I carry and practice most with either a .357 or .44 Magnum revolver. I do this because, other than my .22, these are the two most economical handguns that I have to shoot. I reload both calibers (for the price of 2-3 boxes of ammo I can buy enough components to load 500 rounds) and since I shoot revolvers, I don't have to chase my brass. Also, I can taylor my handloads to shoot to the same POA and have similar recoil characteristics to my SD loads without having to shoot a bunch of expensive JHP's.
 
(Not very experienced)
I'm thinking a larger caliber pistol with a .22 conversion kit would be the best. 9mm is 60% the cost of .45 around here, and .22 is under 10% the cost of .45.
 
I see alot of pull to the .45ACP. Like I said I love the round. I guess what I have to do is get more range time with other calibers. I mean I was hitting head sized targets with the full size Berreta PX4 Storm in .45 ACP 3 out of 9 shots and every other shot was within a man's chest to it, but thats aiming and firing. Not real world scenario. Real world its dark and within 10 feet. Sigh....I really need to shop more. The more I search te more I get:confused:
 
I unloaded two calibers, .40 and .25, simply to make ammo shopping easier ... I carry a 9 about 80 percent of the time, a 1911 the rest ... 9mm is the only ammo I can consistently find enough of to practice with ... a range session usually consists of 50 rds through a .45, 100 through the 9mm and the rest of the time working on accuracy with a S&W .22; ammo for that is always available, even though it's getting expensive too, relatively speaking ...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top