What's the best caliber for HD?

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mssurrey

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In terms of muzzle flash, noise, penetration, controlability, cost (to practice), capacity, hearing loss (or earache), and all the other variables?

I have five choices at this time: .45 acp, .357 magnum, .357 sig, 9mm, and 40sw.

Which is the more preferable in your opinion?
 
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Whatever YOU are most accurate with. That's not being a smartass.

In the calibers you are deciding from, with good quality expanding HP ammo, I would choose the one whose recoil affects me least in order to be steady and accurate.

Don't worry about overpenetration, worry about hitting your target.
 
In terms of muzzle flash, 9mm noise 9mm, penetration Not sure but probably NOT the 9mm, controlability 9mm, cost (to practice) 9mm, capacity 9mm, hearing loss (or earache) 9mm, and all the other variables? Overall winner, 9mm.

I have five choices at this time: .45 acp, .357 magnum, .357 sig, 9mm, and 40sw.

Which is the more preferable in your opinion?

For everything your describing, I think the 9mm covers them all the best, with penetration as an exception. Infact, I will be using my 9mm 16+1 semi auto as a "House gun" very soon, I've got a Streamlight TLR-1 to put on it as well Enjoy:)
 
Here's why I say what I say. :)


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Mellow, you got it pretty well covered in penetration as well if you look at the 9mm 147gr above.

This is ONE study, but at theboxotruth.com they have some good ammo tests as well.
 
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Sounds to me like a 9mm would be what you're looking for. Personally I like .40 or .45, but there's nothing wrong with a good 9mm JHP.
 
I like the .45 ACP in a revolver. The added weight of a large N-Frame revolver reduces the recoil and gives you a forgiving launch platform.

Mine is in the form of a 3" snubby using either 230g Hydrashok or 255g Auto-Rim loads.

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Personally, I feel the 9mm is the perfect compromise for a carry gun. Light, adequate round count in most frames, accurate, as the chart showed, good expansion and penetration.

What do I carry? 95% of the time, a .40 S&W. Why? Because I can. The gun is easily concealable, packs a punch, and I'm very accurate with it.

What should you carry? Here we go again...your carry gun should be a compromise of (not necessarily in this order):
1. Reliability - it should go BANG about 99% of the time you pull the trigger
2. Concealability - if you can't easily and comfortably hide it, you wont want to carry it.
3. Accuracy in your hand - YOU must be accurate with it, no one else's opinion matters.
4. Fit and natural pointing - see #3. The gun should fit your hand like you were born with it there.
5. Caliber - size matters, to a point. No one wants to get shot with anything, but a larger caliber is USUALLY better. At different times, I carry a .380 ACP, .38 spcl. +p, 9mm, and .40 S&W. I trust them all to do the job.
 
As mentioned above, its really whatever you can handle and shoot well. Me, I prefer a .45. For a first time handgun owner however, I'd suggest a either a .357/.38 or a 9mm depending if you prefer revolvers or semi-autos.

As the all round cheapest round to practice with, it's got to be the 9mm.
 
I don't think it really matters as much as most gun-folks think. Any of the choices will work if you hit a vital part of the body, and none of them will be a one shot stopper if you hit a non vital part (or miss completely).
 
Frankly I just don’t see the problem with the 45 ACP as far as recoil. I can fire a 4” 1911 faster than someone can realize that they’re being shoot at and still keep em under 3’. And I’m not even particularly good at it.
 
The difference between 9mm and 45 ACP isn't worth a hill of beans. All pistol calibers are weak. None of them will do the job if you don't hit a vital area. And even if you do hit a vital area, they might not do the job fast enough.

You would be far better off spending time and energy on training than worrying about the difference to between caliber X and caliber Y -- it simply isn't important.
 
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Frankly I just don’t see the problem with the 45 ACP as far as recoil. I can fire a 4” 1911 faster than someone can realize that they’re being shoot at and still keep em under 3’. And I’m not even particularly good at it.
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You probably practice quite a bit, have practiced a lot, and most likely will keep practicing for the foreseeable future. It is not the same for a newbie to rapidly put 6 shots of .22 at 10 feet than to do it with a snub .38. With a little practice he will do it with a .32 and a .38 and eventually with a .45 with the proper training.

Personally, I need to be a little more deliberate than you in my shooting to "...keep them under 3'." with a .45.
 
You probably practice quite a bit, have practiced a lot, and most likely will keep practicing for the foreseeable future. It is not the same for a newbie to rapidly put 6 shots of .22 at 10 feet than to do it with a snub .38. With a little practice he will do it with a .32 and a .38 and eventually with a .45 with the proper training.
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Well I did practice a lot I guess when I first got my 45. It was the first semi auto I had ever owned. I get the Winchester white box in the 100ct box for target shooting and in the beginning I would go once a week with 2 boxes to the range. In the beginning I focused mostly on just getting past the shock and newness of the experience. I must say that the first time I pulled the trigger on that gun it was a surprise. It “seemed’ really loud and it “seemed” like the gun really jumped a lot. But I knew that this was largely a mater of perception. I knew that if I just kept pumping rounds through it. It would eventually become just “the same ol stuff” nothing special about it and nothing surprising, just one more of thousands of shots down range. Bottom line is that if you do anything often enough long enough it just becomes habit and you do it without really thinking about it. I really do think that the biggest obstacle to new shooters is getting past the newness of the experience, and frankly the only way you will do that with a 45 is to do it with a 45. A 22 is not going to make you ready for a 45. Another consideration is that a 1911 style pistol shoots much, much better than any double action. The trigger on a 1911 is only about a 16th of an inch rather than an inch or half an inch. This means it resets faster and your shot is away much faster. Remember, the whole time you are pulling that trigger the gun and your hand is moving around.

Personally, I need to be a little more deliberate than you in my shooting to "...keep them under 3'." with a .45.
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Another thing I discovered is that you shoot different if you are trying to put “volume” of fire onto one spot than if you are trying to put a shot onto one spot. When I first started shooting my 45 I was concentrating on putting every shot dead center. This meant that I was often spending too much time lining up the shot which would cause my hand to start shaking which would cause me to take even more time lining up the shot. Then one day, just to see how I would do, I tried something different. I determined to unload the magazine as fast as I could while still making good shots. The “making good shots” part of this was the trick. Just as soon as I could get the gun back down and on target I would fire the next shot with no hesitation no second guessing my sight picture. The first thing I noticed was that my groups improved dramatically. The first effect of shooting like this is that you don’t have time to anticipate the shot, so your shots, over all, have a tendency to actually go where you think they are going to go.

The truth is that I shoot better fast than I do if I’m shooting one shot at a time. If I’m shooting one shot at a time I will make good hits for maybe the first 20 or 30 rounds but eventually I will start to anticipate the shot and I really have to consciously work to resist it. This means I’m pulling the trigger too slow and the gun starts to move too much.

I have seen this work on other people too. My Dad went with me on occasion and when he would shoot my pistol he had trouble keeping them in a 10; group. I suspected it was just him anticipating the shot and taking too long trying to get a “perfect” sight picture. So I had him do what I had started doing and his groups shrunk by half immediately.
 
In terms of muzzle flash, noise, penetration, controlability, cost (to practice), capacity, hearing loss (or earache), and all the other variables?
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There's no one that's best at everything

Muzzle Flash- depends on the loading and barrel length, I'd rate standard pressure 9mm and standard pressure .45 ACP out of full sized guns as equal in having the least muzzle flash of the cartridges mentioned. .357 Sig and .357 Magnum will be the brightest with .40 S&W somewhere in between

Noise- This one would have to go to the .45 ACP due to it's lower velocity but mild 9mm like 115grn Winchester Silvertips are particularly loud either. Again the loudest are the .357's with .40 being somewhere in the middle.

Penetration- .357 Magnum in full power loadings penetrates the most by far with the others being roughly equal.

Controlability- from lightest recoiling to heaviest in most guns 9mm, .357 Sig, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, .357 Magnum

Cost- from least expensive to most expensive 9mm, .40 S&W, .357 Sig, .45 ACP, .357 Magnum

Capacity- 9mm will typically have the highest capacity, .40 and .357 Sig will be the same, .45 will be the lowest in an auto, and .357 Magnum will be limited to 5-8 shots because it's a revolver round.

Hearing loss- is basically the same as the noise criteria

Other variables- the first question is do you prefer a revolver or semi-automatic. If you like the revolver, then the .357 Magnum is the most logical choice. Another factor is versatility, the .357 Magnum is the most versatile cartridges as you can use everything from mild .38 Special loads to heavy hunting loads in the same gun, .45 ACP would be next in line for versatility with the other three being tied for third place. Do you or will you reload? If you do or might, the .357 Magnum makes a lot of sense as you can use lead bullets for inexpensive practice and being a revolver you don't have to chase down your brass. Affordability and quality of carry ammo is another thought, .357 Magnum and .45ACP are still pretty good with older, more economical carry ammo such as Winchester Silvertips and Remington Semi-Jacketed hollowpoints while 9mm really needs more modern premium bullets like Winchester SXT, Speer Gold Dot, or Federal HST. .40 and .357 Sig are newer cartridges and thusly the majority of ammo available for them has newer premium bullets.
 
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