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Is the .45’s Stopping Power a Myth?

Here we go. Lots of guys at my ranges can shoot the .45acp no issues they are often 150 lb boomers and never complain - for smaller folks or those with smaller hands it may be an issue but not for most peeps. I use .45 +P - cartridges at 616 ft lbs, which is in the range of 10mm which I also use. The 9mm is fine but the 45 shines when given the right fps.

:sneaky:
 
We should do a poll here on the armory life - those preferring a .45acp of their choice loading and platform vs one for the 9mm and 40 (maybe 10mm too is that isn't blasphemy lol) and see. The q is if you had but one gun and two mags and there was 3-5 assailants which would you choose and why. - full disclosure - I'm an Xer and still prefer a 45 or 10mm over a 9mm so there.
 
trader said:
We should do a poll here on the armory life - those preferring a .45acp of their choice loading and platform vs one for the 9mm and 40 (maybe 10mm too is that isn't blasphemy lol) and see. The q is if you had but one gun and two mags and there was 3-5 assailants which would you choose and why. - full disclosure - I'm an Xer and still prefer a 45 or 10mm over a 9mm so there.
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I prefer .45 for all the right reasons. That said I usually am carrying a 9mm. Also for all the right reasons.
 
The biggest detriment to the majority of 9mm defensive loads in the 80’s when it became popular was a lack of penetration. Penetration particularly the 115’s is more important than expansion just not over penetration (why the 1986 Miami shootings of Dove would have hit Platt with 124 NATO ball it would have probably been a different outcome)

That said the quality 124,135 and 147 9mm are night and day difference. The only decent 115’s are Gold Dot Fed 9bp LE (because of the wound track vs penetration and the standard Fed 9bp did better in shootings than Gel but there is no reason to not get a 124-147 grain it’s been proven time and again the last 20 years.

45 is still a great round. I run a HK45 with LEM as a duty gun with 230 HST but it’s not for everyone.

If I was an agency it makes sense to go with 9mm. Cost is lower and effectiveness is there

But If you don’t hit that 5” circle the heart and aorta is in a 45 won’t make up for that.
 
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My dad was USN in WWII. Near the end of the war his ship was in port in the Philippines. Because there were still Japanese soldiers around, whenever they were ashore, the sailors were required to be armed. Most of them drew a 1911 from the Armory. Dad found an Army Air Corp sergeant who gambled away his paycheck. Dad arranged to buy a .38 airman's pistol and a shoulder holster. He said the .45 was heavy and would wear a sore spot on your hip if you wore it all day. He and some other sailors were waiting to go through a checkpoint manned by USMC shore patrol men. Suddenly, a Japanese dressed up like a woman took off running. Dad said, "We heard the Marine Lance Corporal yell, "Halt," and rack the slide on his 1911. We all hit the deck and the Marine opened fire." The LCpl fired once. Dad jumped up and ran behind the Marine toward the downed enemy. Where he had hit the enemy in the back was a small hole. They rolled him over and his chest was blown out. There was no need for a second shot. A Marine Gunny ran up and told Dad, "I would get rid of that pu__y .38 and get a .45. Dad had qualified with the .45 in boot camp and my brother has his qualification badge. Dad promptly sold the .38 and started wearing the 1911. His advice to me when the state of Texas came out with the CHL was, "Get a .45." I do have other calibers but the .45 is my pistol of choice.
 
9mm or .38 will get the job done, I will not quibble over it. However, If one of the objectives of stopping an assailant is to let the blood out, well, it stands to reason that bigger holes let the blood out faster. I am a proponent of .45 acp with +P ammo for self defense because by my reasoning, you just can't ignore the physics where bigger bullets are concerned. Shot placement is crucial no matter the caliber, and I do not intend to miss my target, so 230 grains of 45 in a SAO pistol is my choice to get the job done. I do admit, however, to being a dinosaur.
 
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Grayfox said:
I've been a 1911 .45 guy for most of my life. Bigger holes are better. ;)
But I have to admit that as I've gotten older I find my little 642 .38 on my hip more often. :rolleyes:
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Same here. Got a 642 myself. Be 68 next month and a 1911 is somewhat cumbersome. However in a distance situation a good 1911 could be more beneficial. I'll take the 642 for basic up close and personal. A gas station pumping gas in a neighborhood I'm not familiar with. The ATM. Shopping. Good light little revolver. Will get it done.
 
There's nothing new to add to this topic. Every time it comes up the discussion just devolves into people justifying their choice.

Sydney Vail, Martin Fackler and Gary Roberts all agree that there's no significant difference in the performance characteristics of the three main service calibers.

If any one of the three was clearly and consistently stopping more bad guys than the other two then every Police Department in America would be carrying it and everyone else would be buying it.

Here is a very good article that addresses this issue

http://www.03designgroup.com/technotes/why-glock-why-9mm

QUOTE from the article

I thought back to the effects different pistol rounds having on animals, victim's of shootings, and Officer involved shootings that I had seen personally and read about during my career. I couldn't think of a single shooting where the person or animal was shot with a 9mm and lived, but would have died if the round would have been a .40S&W or a .45acp. And I could not think of a single shooting where a person or animal was shot with a .40S&W or a .45acp and died, but would have survived if the round would have been a 9mm.
 
At 75, I still don't find recoil to be a factor for me, so I guess I'm blessed. I stuck some heavier springs in my older Colt XSE and shoot +P exclusively. I find the XSE to be a good balance between a milspec pistol and a Gold Cup. I did remove the offside ambi safety and converted to a series 70. I carry an aftermarket 8 round mag with two 10 round mags offside on my belt. Is it heavy? Not as heavy as the Ruger Redhawk I carried for a couple of decades on the ranch. Of course, when I have to take the country cadillac into Indian country, I add a Ruger SFAR to the truck.

I'm a USN Corpsman that spent too much time with the USMC.
 
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