Carrying advice

I've shot 'em all..all decent weapons....Glock 43, IMHO, by a nose.

 

+1 for the Glock 26. I've carried it in a cheapo pocket holster everyday since the day I bought it a year or so ago, and for me it just shoots better than the tiny pocket .380s.

 

Say what you will, but you can't argue with physics

 

Check out Alien Gear holsters. Very comfortable and adjustable to get your gun to sit right. Affordable too.

 

9mm, especially in hollow point, will do a lot of damage

 

I usually don't bother with caliber debates unless they're filled with genuine disinformation. Wound channels are virtually irrelevant within the context of defensive handgun calibers. Blood loss is great, but fatal hemorrhaging will not occur quick enough to incapacitate the aggressor immediately. He will have time to return fire, even in shots to huge blood-letters like the femoral artery.

Hitting a vital organ or the brain box is the endgame on the two-way range, and the difference between a 9mm or a .45 passing through lungs, heart, or brain stem aren't worth discussing. The idea that you'll miss an organ by the 3/32 of an inch difference between an expanded 9mm or .45 is focusing and fretting on a chaos that cannot be controlled.
Hence, "Shot placement is king, penetration is queen, and everything else is gravy."

As for not having enough 9mm to get the job done...knock it off. If we're taking single anecdotes as being evidence of a macro, let's look at Tim Gramin's story.
https://www.policeone.com/police-he...ne-cop-carries-145-rounds-of-ammo-on-the-job/

Some more fun reading from others in the field/industry:
http://www.tactical-life.com/gear/45-acp-vs-9mm-ammo/#bsum-emary

So in conclusion: 9mm, .40, or .45 will serve you just fine, assuming you actually shoot well under stress and have the ability to do so at a moment's notice. If you have to draw your weapon and put four rounds through an assailant's heart and lungs, it really won't matter whether you used 9 "Mickey Mouse" or "Fuddy-Five". Personally, I've carried all three of the big calibers in numerous platforms. I am confident in them all to go bang when I put them in the center of the chest cavity.

 

I agree with Taco Rocko. I let my platform of choice dictate my caliber, my preference being a fullsize 1911 when possible, so, 45ACP is my standard. I've carried a lot of 9mm too though. And 38/357. And 380acp. And even 22LR.

I think we can all agree that 40S&W is the only useless round.

 

Taco roco, I fully agree with you. And you even stated my point to a degree.

Even a well placed 9mm can be fatal, you posted some very good reading material, but let's be honest. Your average range plinker doesn't train much in high stress situation. Their target hitting % under stress will be way below average and good luck with the head or face triangle. That's where I'm going. A 22 is better then nothing, but why not put more leverage on your side. I've seen many folks live 9mm wounds, I've seen very few live 45. Look man a 9mm will work, absolutely, they work every day, but I prefer a 45. Like I said personal experience, there's no comparison of a 9mm and 45 ballistically

 

Yet another crock of shit. Since you seem to be hell-bent on peddling 50-year old outdated information I'll expand....

If all we're talking about is ballistics .45acp has a slight edge (note: not 'doesn't hold a candle to' or 'no comparison' as you stated) in some ballistic tests at best. Energy transfer into a wound channel is the most important aspect of ballistics when it applies to threat neutralization. Since you brought up physics in one of your posts as some sort of irrefutable proof that you're right I'll remind you that energy is the sum of an items mass & it's velocity. A standard weight .45acp round has more mass than a standard weight 9mm round but also travels slower so it's not the across-the-board difference as you claimed while touting physics. Now that ammo manufacturers are making better rounds that ballistic gap is even more narrow than ever. 9mm with comparable defensive rounds will actually outperform .45acp in some tests. In summary, if we're talking about a single round in a vacuum your claim that '.45acp is SO much better than 9mm that it's not even a debate' simply doesn't hold up in reality. That's as close as your side of the argument gets. From there, the gap between 9mm and .45acp widens as it applies to this topic (carry advice) exponentially.

In the real world (read: not in a lab where ballistic tests take place) you need to choose a firearm that not only is ultra dependable (after all, you have to be able to trust your life to it) but also is compact and light enough that you carry it everyday and everywhere. This is where weight and size start to take center stage because the best gun you can own is the one you will actually carry 24/7. The best gun with the best round does you no good if it's at home in your safe when you need it. So, to this end, size and weight are a critical aspect of the decision making process. Lighter and smaller will make for a better carry gun. Advantage 9mm.

Anyone who says handgun caliber trumps perfect shot placement is a moron and I don't think anyone here is debating that. Given we can all agree on this fact it's hard to argue that with more opportunities to hit something critical you won't be more likely to accomplish that objective. Pretty simple statistics there. All hand gun calibers do is poke holes. Nothing more. Nothing less. They're not rifle calibers that carry massive amounts of velocity to add to the energy carried by each round. The idea is to poke holes in the right places to cause damage. If you don't hit something critical and your projectile is not even 1mm larger in diameter (with more weight and less velocity as we already discussed) you effectively have done nothing different. In the same size frame you will get more rounds with a 9mm than you will with a .45acp and that's more attempts at the perfect shot. This is especially important if we're talking about a situation where there's more than a single threat involved. Assuming it will be a single threat is setting yourself up for failure and the fewer rounds you have available the less likely you will be prepared to handle most situations that could present themselves. Advantage 9mm.

Speaking to preparation: Training. I don't think anyone here is arguing that training isn't important because if they are they're a moron so we'll assume that all are saying training is an important consideration in carrying a firearm for SD. 9mm tends to be more readily available in more flavors (important when panic buys roll around every so often) and costs about half as much as .45acp to the average buyer. This means you can train twice as much on the same budget. Training will help you to be more proficient and more likely to get that perfect shot placement in high stress situations. Advantage 9mm.

Since we're talking carry firearms we also need to take compact, subcompact and even pocket guns into account. If you've fired enough of these you know that they don't mitigate recoil as well as their larger standard frame variants. The difference is noticeable. Now, you can be a meat head and say things like 'Just grip it tighter' or 'Be a man and hold it firmer' but that's just poor planning at best. In reality, anyone who has spent enough time behind enough firearms can tell you that there is just some degree of recoil that can't be controlled and must be accounted for through longer time between shots or other variables. In a self defense situation time between shots may be the difference between life and death. Even the most highly trained individuals will resort to hammer firing through an entire mag when adrenaline is dumped and they're fighting for their very life. It's best to not assume you are some super hero that can slow time and space should this situation occur and instead work it into your training rather trying to fight against it. As an exercise, hammer fire through a mag of .45acp in a XDs for instance and then do the same thing with a 9mm in the same firearm & you will notice that your group is smaller with the 9mm with all other things being equal. Sure there's other variables to take into account but if we're talking apples to apples 9mm has less recoil than .45acp. Advantage 9mm.

There's plenty of departments and agencies starting to make the switch away from .45acp & .40S&W to 9mm as newer and better testing and information comes out using current ammo advancements shows exactly the things I've mentioned. Add all of these points up and I have a hard time coming to your conclusion that '45 is hands down better than 9mm' and instead keep coming to the conclusion that the advantage goes to 9mm when talking carry weapons.

Also, opening your response to someone's statement with 'I fully agree with you.' and then finishing with a statement that is counter to their basis with a flippant undertone is just a dick move. Maybe you should just quit while you're behind?

 

I'd like to think I would have the energy to knock that doctor upside the head if I was in Gramin's shoes. What an amazing story.

FWIW, I carry an Aliengear Cloak Tuck 3.0 for my CZ p-07 (comparable in size to a Glock 19 I believe). I have 16 rounds of 9mm Hornady Critical Duty at the ready in a mostly comfortable platform. I've noticed screws backing themselves out on the holster, and this is causing me to start looking at other brands. I think I might go with something smaller, and not in a "pancake" style holster which takes up more surface area on your body.

 

I actually bought a couple of Alien Gears on their two for $40 deal, or whatever it was. I figured, "If they're total garbage, I'm not really out anything." My screws walked on me, too. The neoprene makes for a comfortable rig, but the longevity simply isn't there. I'll stick to leather hybrids and full kydex from here on out. Buy once, cry once.

 

Backwards. The 43 is slimmer because of the single stack. I have both. I EDC my 26 gen4 but thinking about starting to carry my 19 during cooler months (when I wear more clothes) mainly due to the full size capacity of/when shit hits the fan. I own 2 IWB holsters from TrexArms, the raptor and sidecar. Very nice holsters.

 

I think we might have had this conversation before... I'm looking at NSR tactical, or maybe the Raven someone mentioned earlier.

OP: If possible, try to shoot the gun before you buy it. Ranges should let you rent different guns in different calibers to try out. Holding and shooting are two very different things.

 

Didn't read through the whole thread, so sorry if it's been covered.

I have the S&W M&P Shield 9mm. It's a single stack so it's nice and thin, yet it is extremely comfortable to shoot in my big ass hands.

First I had the Springfield XD-9, which was nice but I wanted something bigger. I sold that and bought a G22, which I learned was just plain too big to carry comfortably in my everyday attire. Ended up selling that and buying my current gun, which I carry everywhere.

 

My goal is not to argue. I'll agree
A comfortable gun for cc is better then caliber purchase

Training trumps all

I still believe 45 in the same round as a 9mm will outperform

Your right, a 9mm vs 45 will carry more rounds

But I'm sorry bro, when your on the sending end of a 9mm in a shootout and see multiple impacts not stopping the guy you loose faith.

Again, I don't wanna argue, that's my opinion, that's sll

 

Your example isn't even anecdotal at best when you consider the infinite variables that exist in a SINGLE situation. If you're mind can't grasp that simple concept then I don't know what to tell you.

 

CC guns I like that are single stack, compact and concealable, but not too small where I feel like I don't have control over the weapon:

Walther PK380
Walther PPS 9mm

 

Just a thought for consideration: If you carry a Glock Model 26, 27, or 33 you can use the larger capacity magazines from their big brothers in your 26, 27, or 33. In other words, carry the model specific magazine in your gun but your spare magazine could be the much higher capacity magazine from the big brother. Also, if you purchase one of the three models I mentioned, you can simply buy a magazine and barrel for the other two calibers, and shoot all three calibers from the same gun. Not so with Model 42 and 43. With the way things seem to be going, higher capacity sometimes makes sense.

 

Whoops

I own both of them and know this, I really need to proof read before I post.