Real world difference between .40, .45, and 9MM

[alkemyst]

Look into the CZ P01, OP...it can fire +p/+p+ 9mm ammo all day and has one of the highest reliability rating of any handgun produced.

It's NATO speced as the service sidearm for tons of countries now.

.45 is the leader, the .40 was supposed to bridge the gap between 9mm and .45, but in reality performs much closer to 9mm than anything else. It's a good calibre.

 

[OverVolt]

Defensive loads are all pretty much the same muzzle energy. The higher bullet weight of .45acp carries more energy into the target but the difference is fairly marginal and you get more capacity with 9mm.

.40S&W is just a middleman between the two.

It honestly doesn't matter. I like my capacity and cheap practice ammo so my loyalty is with 9mm. I will admit that .45acp is alot of fun, but ego aside 9mm is a damn good choice.

 

[Apple Of Sodom]

Get whatever feels best to you. I have XD in 9, .40 and .45. I like all three. I do like that I was able to find a 50 round extended mag for my 9mm...looks funky but badass, plus 50 round without reloading? Fuck yeah!

 

[OverVolt]

Yea if you aim big rounds better for whatever reason go .45acp all the way. For some reason sight picture makes all the difference to me in how I aim. It took alot of practice to aim a boxy glock whereas I could pickup an XDm and fire on target out of the case.

 

[Pia]

My shotgun - with buckshot - has about a 3" pattern from 20 yards away. If I hit an intruder with it, he's pretty much fucked - but to assert that it's "easier" to hit someone with a shotgun than a handgun is fairly naive.

He's right. Decent accuracy with any long gun is a lot easier than with a handgun. Handguns have their own benefits indoors (harder to disarm, nowhere near as much noise, easier to free weak hand for doors/lightswitches/phone), but for someone who is not willing to put in a decent amount of practice a semi-auto shotgun would be a good idea.

 

[gorobei]

Yeah, that's why I was asking. I've never heard anyone say anything good about Hi-Point but then again some enthusiasts hate anything low end so it's hard to separate cheap and good from just cheap.

they are part of the zinc family guns that comprise most of the "saturday night special" junk guns that are sold in the sub $200 range. Hipoint is probably the upper tier of the cast zinc guns as it is a larger frame.

the main issue with them is that they are blowback actions with very little clearance around the ejection port. any malfunction could easily jam the action and be impossible to clear short of a field strip. there are anecdotal claims that the large frame hipoints work fine as range guns, but whether you trust it for home defense is a different issue.

if you absolutely cant afford a better pistol, then buy the hipoint. i would probably look for a shotgun at $200 before resorting to a hipoint. im pretty sure there have to be some decent locked breech polymer pistols in the mid $300 range.

 

[peonyu]

I prefer the German made 9mm guns, they feel superior to most American made 9mm weapons. Its hard to explain but testing the various 9mm the German ones always tend to stand out as far as feel goes...They seem extremely well balanced in your hand.

As far as 9mm vs .40 goes I have tried the .40 and the recoil on most of them is just wicked, if you ever are unfortunate enough to have a breakin of your home...Think of this, you fire your .40 in the heat of the moment trying to shoot the perp, you are not completely yourself though since the fear/adrenaline is pumping, so not only do you miss that first shot but the recoil moves your aim more than usual so you have a good chance of missing your second shot...A good 9mm will have virtually no recoil and you can easily aim and re aim if you missed your first shot. It just works better in oh shit moments. Of course if you connect with the .40 the damage will be much more severe.

Body size comes into play ofc, if you are 200+lb it might not matter. But still, a 9mm is more than enough to kill someone and they are extremely easy to use [small size usually, nill recoil, cheap ammo, good build quality if German made etc, enough power to defend yourself easily].

 

[OverVolt]

I prefer the German made 9mm guns, they feel superior to most American made 9mm weapons. Its hard to explain but testing the various 9mm the German ones always tend to stand out as far as feel goes...They seem extremely well balanced in your hand.

As far as 9mm vs .40 goes I have tried the .40 and the recoil on most of them is just wicked, if you ever are unfortunate enough to have a breakin of your home...Think of this, you fire your .40 in the heat of the moment trying to shoot the perp, you are not completely yourself though since the fear/adrenaline is pumping, so not only do you miss that first shot but the recoil moves your aim more than usual so you have a good chance of missing your second shot...A good 9mm will have virtually no recoil and you can easily aim and re aim if you missed your first shot. It just works better in oh shit moments. Of course if you connect with the .40 the damage will be much more severe.

Body size comes into play ofc, if you are 200+lb it might not matter. But still, a 9mm is more than enough to kill someone and they are extremely easy to use [small size usually, nill recoil, cheap ammo, good build quality if German made etc, enough power to defend yourself easily].

I agree 100% the Springfield XD felt awkward in my hand. The recoil to me had a sort of diagonal top left vector to it no matter how firm and high as possible on the grip I held the gun. It was very awkward to fire. The Smith&Wesson M&P was a similarly designed gun as far as the grips go and wasn't nearly as awkward, I haven't fired an H&K but some of my friends are crazy about them.

 

[boomhower]

The difference between the three when loaded with quality modern hollow points isn't drastic.(for HD use. For LEO use it's a bit different) Shot placement will make much more difference than the slight difference between the power and shot of the caliber chosen. For new shooters I always recommend 9mm due to the lower ammo costs hoping they will practice more.

Skip the hi-point, they are junk. Certainly not something you want to trust your life and the lives of your family on. S&W Sigma's are solid guns and can be found for ~$300 new so $~225 used should be doable. Sig 2022's can be found for $350 new and are great guns. If you really want to stick to the $200 price point get a used Mossberg 500 or Remington 870 Express for that price point. The bonus is a shotgun is a much better HD weapon anyways.

 

[twinrider1]

There's a study that shows that, at pistol velocities, caliber isn't much of a factor. As mentioned, shot placement is king. Actually, I'd put it second. Access is king. How quickly can you be ready to shoot? How far are you from your gun right now? How long will it take you to open that safe...at night...under stress?
How many people are ever have to shoot someone? And of those, what % of perps will stick around after being shot? We spend a lot of time futzing over gun features. I do too, it's fun. But we're not helping ourselves. We should be focused on access and accuracy.

 

[superccs]

I was dead set on getting a .40 S&W M&P, then I shot the 9mm pro version and was sold.

9mm is a great round, cheap as shit and you get like 15 chances per magazine.

 

[OverVolt]

The only rounds that are actually more powerful are .357sig .357mag .44mag 10mm 5.7mm etc.

9mm .45acp and .40s&w are all pretty much the same.

 

[irishScott]

1. Hi-point is the lowest I would go and still count on it to go bang when I pulled the trigger. Beyond that, it's heavy, cheaply made, horrible ergonomics/balance and a mediocre trigger. Sights are decent though, and they are durable for what they are.

Given that price range, I'd save up for a Kel-Tec. They're only a little higher in price (A Kel-Tec P11 can be found or under $300 if you look hard enough) but a huge step up in quality.

But you say you're looking at a slightly used S&W? I'd go with that over hi-point any day if price is no object.


2. As for your original question, depends on the load. I prefer .45 ACP myself, simply because no matter which way you slice it bigger bullet = bigger hole. Some call the difference "negligible", I call it "marginal" and God forbid if I ever have to trust my life to it I want every ounce of extra performance I can get.

The .45 also has one of the most proven track records of any handgun cartridge. It was the US military issue handgun round fro 1911 through the 1980s, and is still in service today in the special forces. There have never been any complaints about its performance on unarmored targets, and tons of anecdotal praise (backed up by ballistic testing).

But that's not to say the .40 and 9mm won't do the job. Most law enforcement agencies use one or the other for a reason. Bottom line is they'll all due the job properly loaded, comes down to user preference and skill.

 

[shortylickens]

Kel-tec and Hi-point are only acceptable when you wont be trusting your life to them.

 

[Merad]

My shotgun - with buckshot - has about a 3" pattern from 20 yards away. If I hit an intruder with it, he's pretty much fucked - but to assert that it's "easier" to hit someone with a shotgun than a handgun is fairly naive.

Are you kidding? When I took my CHL course and we did the range portion, several people were struggling to keep rounds on the paper at 7 yards. Most of the people were spreading rounds all over the target. And that's in a calm situation with an instructor at your shoulder giving you advice. Under the stress of a life or death situation even most good or above average shooters won't do much better, and those guys who had trouble on the range will just be hopeless.

Shotguns are much easier to shoot accurately under stress than handguns.

 

[bfdd]

Look into the CZ P01, OP...it can fire +p/+p+ 9mm ammo all day and has one of the highest reliability rating of any handgun produced.

It's NATO speced as the service sidearm for tons of countries now.

.45 is the leader, the .40 was supposed to bridge the gap between 9mm and .45, but in reality performs much closer to 9mm than anything else. It's a good calibre.

Friend has one, shot it, fucking love it and want one.

 

[RearAdmiral]

My shotgun - with buckshot - has about a 3" pattern from 20 yards away. If I hit an intruder with it, he's pretty much fucked - but to assert that it's "easier" to hit someone with a shotgun than a handgun is fairly naive.

Bird or target shot. Your 3 inches becomes 2 feet.

 

[Pia]

Look into the CZ P01, OP...it can fire +p/+p+ 9mm ammo all day and has one of the highest reliability rating of any handgun produced.

The full size SP01 is a better choice both for home defense and range purposes.

 

[alkemyst]

The full size SP01 is a better choice both for home defense and range purposes.

Not the same reliability, harder to conceal as well if wanted.

 

[Jeeebus]

Bird or target shot. Your 3 inches becomes 2 feet.

If I ever have to shoot someone with my 12ga, I want them dead on the first shot. We can debate effectiveness of bird vs buck for defensive purposes and the convo would be as long as this thread already is - but you'll certainly find a whole lot more people on the buckshot side in terms of putting your life on the line.

Ya, I could load up with #4 buck and get a larger spread, but then I also need to worry where all those stray pellets are going.

Either way, my only point is that people who think a shotgun is as presented in the movies (generally point in the right direction and everything dies) are being naive.

Personally, I would grab my 12ga over my 9mm in a SHTF scenario, as I am generally very accurate with it, but that doesn't mean I don't still have to aim the gun.

 

[Kroze]

Let's put it this way, I've never met a guy who took a 9mm round and laughed about it being a puny 9mm.

I'd rather have 13 rounds of 9mm vs 6rounds of .45 for a subcompact.

E.G. Glock 26 vs Glock 36

 

[shortylickens]

The 26 holds 13 rounds?
This is news to me.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

I'd go for 9mm. The ammo is cheap and it has plenty of power.

If you want more power you cannot go wrong with the .45 ACP.

In all honesty each cartridge is pretty good, you won't go wrong with either. Even the .40 is good.

 

[BladeVenom]

I prefer the hi-Point for the adjustable sights....

You don't need adjustable sights for home defense.

Is this your first handgun? I think starting out with a .22 is another option. It's really cheap to get a lot of practice with a .22.

 

[Kroze]

The 26 holds 13 rounds?
This is news to me.

12 rounds mag, 1 in the chamber = 13 rounds in a subcompact that is ridiculously easy to conceal.