[Slobber, Drool]

I saw this recently on the Book of Face.

Viking themed engraving on a 1911 slide. Given that I am roughly 38% Swede, this appeals to me on a genetic level. I don't know how much he charges for this level of work, but I'm guessing it's not enough and more than I can afford. Sigh.

Range Night and Other Odds and Ends

I just realized I never got around to posting part 3 of the Caliber series of posts. Oops. I'll get around to it eventually. Maybe. No one's been sending me hate mail asking where it is. So, maybe not.

I had an opportunity to get out to the range this evening with my best friend. It was my first chance to go pistol shooting since we attempted to simulate a small war in Hill County on Mother's Day. Much fun was had by all; but, sweet barbecue sauce, it was monkey melting HOT that day. We took turns shooting and sitting in the shade of carefully positioned canopies while drinking plenty of water, and it was still hot enough to marinate in your own juices. I didn't take many pictures that day because...it was just too dang hot to be bothered.

I did get to play with several toys that were brought by others including:

Ruger SR9 - my brother in law's Christmas gift from my sister. It's a polymer 9 made by Ruger. You could do a lot worse. Trigger is nothing to right home about, but I went bang every time.

Savage Mark II bolt action .22LR rifle with a suppressor - my cousin's friend Alex brought this little number out to play. It came nestled into a Boyd's At-One Adjustable Stock and propped up by a bipod. This thing was a frikkin' giggle factory. You've not heard quiet until you shoot subsonic .22LR ammo out of a suppressed bolt action rifle. Savage makes a really good trigger. However, their little stamped steel magazines, while functional, could be used to shave in a pinch.  I guess I'm just spoiled by Ruger 10/22 mags.

Sig P226 and P229 - Best friend brought both. I still don't shoot DA/SA triggers worth a flip, but I didn't embarrass myself quite as badly this time. Both of these guns are very nice with SRT triggers, upgraded suppressor height sights, etc. Maybe one day I will invest the time, energy and money into learning DA/SA triggers to make it worth it to add one to the collection. In the meantime...there's always 1911s to play with.

No name,  homegrown, AR-15 chambered in 9MM. My cousin's friend is a budding machinist in addition to being a gun nut. He made the lower receiver himself. Not hogged out an 80% lower on a jig made it. He took a block of aluminum, a mill, some measurements and went to town. This one uses stick mags, but he has another one he made which takes Glock mags. He's single and still lives at home with mom. So, he can get away with making his own toys.

AR-15 with a CMMG .22LR upper and a Franklin Binary trigger system - This is another giggle factory. It's as close to full auto as you are going to get this side of a tax stamp, and very controllable. I was able to put 25 rounds of standard velocity CCI onto a 3x5 note cards at 25 yards as fast as I could pull the trigger using a red dot optic. Like I said...giggle factory.

Tried out a 16 inch .300 Blackout AR upper on my Aero Precision lower. I might just have to get one as a short to medium range hunting option. Roughly the same power as a 7.62x39 or a .30-30. Not much more recoil that a 5.56/.223 AR.

There was my best friend's Sig P320 X-Carry with the Romeo1 red dot on it. He's had a lot of  stuff done to it including a flat faced trigger and a Norsso slide. I would need to spend a lot more time with it to give a fair opinion, but the trigger is really nice for a polymer striker fired gun. I need more time on a red dot equipped pistol to be anywhere near comfortable with them. It fed the rounds down range with reasonable accuracy. Further, affiant sayeth not.

There was a lot more stuff out there, but I didn't get to play with all of it.

Tonight was pistol night though.

We started off with DOT TORTURE. Again.

43 out of 50 at 5 yards with a Ruger Mk3 22/45

The hardest part of Dot Torture is learning to take your time. Once you learn how to control your gun and clean to drill, you can add a time element in...if you're a masochist. I probably should have run a magazine through the gun before starting the drill just to knock the rust off. But, sometimes you just have to see if you can perform the dancing bear routine cold.

Same distance - Sig P320 Carry 9mm

I'm not even sure how to score this target. If I'm being generous, that's a 42 out of 50. If I'm being honest, that's a sub 40 circus of mediocrity.

Learned something new tonight. Well, not really new per se. I already sort of knew it. I had just never thought about it in the context of a pistol before. When you shoot a bullet, it flies in a parabolic arc. That means that it leaves the barrel and "climbs" a little bit above the line of sight until evil, old gravity sucks it back to earth at which time it drops back below the line of sight and keeps going until it hits pay dirt. What this means for the pistol shooter is that your point of impact will "rise" as range increases for a constant point of aim to a certain point (the top of the parabolic arc). Rifle shooters already know this stuff and have serious, poo slinging arguments over what the best distance is to zero their weapons or maximum point blank range and other silliness that pistol shooters typically ignore.

My friend suggested I give this a whirl with the Sig P320 and the Ruger SR1911. The way you do this is put a 1" paster on the bottom of a piece of paper or 3x5 note card. Heck, any target will do. The key is to use the same point of aim. Fire one shot at 3 yards. Move the target back to 5 yards. Fire one more shot. Keep doing this at 7, 10, 15, 20 yards, etc. out to whatever range you can realistically center your sights on the same 1" paster point of aim reference. You should see your point of impact "ladder" vertically at each distance. With the P320, I shot a 3 round cloverleaf at 3, 5 and 7, but the 10 yard shot was definitely above the others. With the SR1911, the effect was more noticeable with each round stringing vertically with distinct separation between each shot. The shot at 3 yards was at least 2 to 3 inches lower (maybe 4) than the shot at 10 yards.

It's something everyone should do with any gun/ammo combination you intend to rely on for self defense. Not every self defense situation occurs at the same distance at which you practice, and you need to know where your gun will shoot for a given point of aim at a given distance. As a general rule of thumb, lower your point of aim as distance to target increases. Know yourself. Know your gear. Because you never know when you will have to hit the light switch on an intruder's CNS...in the dark...with your pulse doing twice the speed of light.

Last but not least, we did draws from concealment shooting two rounds on an A zone target at 5 yards. This was to put to bed a bit of smack talking that took place some months ago when my friend mentioned he'd picked up a shot timer and was working on his draws. He had started out in the 4 second range for 2 shots on target from concealment. I allowed as how he was a ham handed, gormless ape with no thumbs and two left feet. He questioned my parentage and allowed as how I could put up or shut up. I challenged him to same gear/same distance, and he suggested loser buys a box of ammo. So, I put on his Deadpool Kydex holster along with the previously mentioned 9mm Sig P320 Carry and gave it my best draw from concealment.

According to the timer, I threw down a 2.23 second time landing both hits in the A zone at 5 yards. Frankly, I'd never timed myself specifically on draw to double tap before...ever...much less using this gun and holster. So, the result was news to me. If I were to practice more with that gun and holster set up, I'm pretty sure I can bring that down in the sub 2 second range. Probably. Maybe. I'll just keep telling myself that.

Now, though, it was my best friend's turn. His time....drumroll please....2.40 seconds. Huge improvement over where he started in the 4 second range.

After all was said and done, we agreed that we were both in the same ballpark and the contest was a draw. It was all smoke and noise, and we had a great time.

Oh, one last thing, I ran 10 rounds through my friends Sig P365. This is Sig's new sub compact carry pistol which manages to stuff 10 rounds of 9mm in a package roughly the same size as a Glock 43 or a S&W Shield. The things shot amazingly well for a gun that size. I put all 10 in a head shot grouping of about 2 to 3 inches from 5 yards. I'll just say I wouldn't turn one down if it were given to me.

Caliber Selection Part 2 - The Economics of Shooting

There is a quote attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte: “The amateurs discuss tactics: the professionals discuss logistics.” We can quibble about whether Napoleon was a better tactician or logistician (the Russians have very FIRM opinions on that subject), but the fact remains that you do not get to employ tactics until you have taken care of logistics. In part 1 of this series, we did a rough comparison of the physical attributes of several calibers. Here in part 2, we will compare the relative costs, or economics, of caliber selection.

Guns

Depending on your budget, there is something out there for almost anyone. For purposes of this discussion, I will be using pricing information from Grabagun.com which happens to be a gun store in my area and one I have patronized personally. You can do your own pricing research with any online gun retailer such as Bud’s Gun Shop, Kentucky Gun Co., etc., etc. All the online stores will ship a gun to your local FFL where you can pay a small (hopefully…it’s about $25 to $50 in my area) transfer fee to get your gun assuming it complies with local laws. As an added bonus, you don’t pay sales tax on out of state purchases and some online retailers even ship the guns “for free” (TANSTAAFL – you can bet shipping costs are factored into the price you are paying). So, on guns above a certain price level, the FFL transfer fee is actually less than the sales tax if you had purchased locally. In my area, that price point is around $350 (at 8% sales tax = $28 tax).

So, what do guns cost? According to Grabagun.com, the least expensive 9mm semi-auto handgun you can buy right now is a Highpoint that sells for $155. That’s about the same cost as three cartons of cigarettes or a week’s worth of groceries.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Dan Wesson Elite Series Havoc “race gun” at $4679 and change. That’s a lot coin, and it’s not even the top of the heap when it comes to cost. Full custom, anything goes, speed is just a question of how much money you want to spend, guns are literally the sky’s the limit. If you want sticker shock, go spend some time on SVI’s website “building” your dream gun. Be prepared to have $5000+ lying around to make it a reality.

That’s not to say quality guns must be ridiculously expensive. The hottest segment of the gun market right now is the polymer semi auto market. This is the part of the market where Glock, Smith & Wesson M&P, Ruger SR, Springfield XD and a host of others live. The price of poker in this segment starts in the low to mid $200 range for a Taurus or Keltec polymer semi auto and to over $800 for a Sig P320 RX equipped with their Romeo1 Red Dot. Smith & Wesson M&P9 2.0s are running right around $399 to $419 with standard 3 dot sights, Gen 4 Glock 19s can be had at $499 (more for the MOS, Gen 5, special finish or night sight equipped versions).

All metal guns are typically a little pricier. 1911s are a great example. Yes, you can get a Tisas or similar foreign made 1911 for under $400. They will not have the same level of build quality or parts as guns even in the $500 to $750 range. Rock Island Armory, Ruger, Taurus and some of the Springfield and Kimber lines live in this price range. It’s a good place to be if you love 1911s but don’t have a kilo buck to spare. These guns are surprisingly well put together and are worth putting money into to make them better. $750 to $1500 is where the 1911 market starts to go from adequate to really good. Colt, Springfield, Kimber, Dan Wesson and several others have excellent choices in this price range. Between $1500 and $2500, this is the semi-custom/high end production end of the market dominated by STI, Les Baer, and a few others.

So, you don’t have to spend a ton to get a great, reliable handgun for self-defense. But, you can if you want to. Shop around. Determine your needs versus wants. Find the best deal and place your money down.

Ammunition

Now that you have your preferred weapon, you have to keep the beast fed. Without ammunition, a gun is just a really awkward club or an expensive paper weight. To stay proficient, you need to practice. Practice means ammunition, and ammunition means money. How much money depends on from where and how much ammo you buy at a time.

Except for the residents of a few restrictive states, most of us can buy ammo online and have it shipped to our homes. The cost of shipping only makes sense if you are buying in bulk. For instance, the shipping price for a 500 round box of .22LR from MidwayUSA.com is $11.74 via UPS Ground to my doorstep. The shipping cost for a 5000 round case is only $20.59. So, in general, it is not cost effective to buy a 50 round box or two here and there and have it shipped to your house. The exception to that rule would be for stuff that’s hard to find in your area such as Underwood Extreme Penetrators.

A word on where to buy ammunition. Walmart is not a bad place to find decent prices on basic plinking ammo. Don’t expect to find a wide variety or every caliber, but they will have a fair selection of the popular calibers such as 9mm, .40S&W, .45ACP, .357 Magnum, etc. Academy has a little wider selection and decent sale prices although their regular prices on some things can be higher. Gun ranges and mom and pop gun stores may/may not have a wider selection, and their prices tend to be higher than the bigger box stores simply because they cannot compete on the same volume level, but deals can still be had and you generally get better service in the bargain especially if you are a regular. For example, the local gun store near my office had a great buy recently on Sellier & Bellot Full Metal Jacket 230 Grain .45 ACP for $13.95 per 50 round box. Considering Winchester White Box for the same load tends to run closer to $20.00 per box in my area, that’s a steal. Shop around, know the general price spread in your area for the ammunition you need, and cultivate a favorite gun shop or two. Buy in bulk online when bonus time rolls around.

Let’s take a look at some examples to illustrate what I am talking about.

Let’s start with the humble .22 LR which is, without a doubt, the best bang for the buck in the shooting sports. On the low end of the quality spectrum, you can buy Remington Golden Bullet 36 grain rounds for between $0.06 and $0.07 per round not including shipping/taxes. A 1400 round bucket from MidwayUSA.com costs $93.99 plus about $12.00 to $15.00 shipping. Total cost to your door: $108.99 ($0.07785/round). The same bullet purchased at Academy in a 525 round box is $28.99 plus tax (8% in my area) for a total of  $31.31 ($0.5964/round). So, in this example, it’s cheaper for me to buy 3 boxes of 525 at Academy than it is to have one bucket shipped from MidwayUSA.

If you are looking a little higher quality like Norman Match 40 gr., you are out of luck at Academy. But, MidwayUSA will send you a 500 round box for $82.99 plus shipping ($0.17/round).

What about the costs of something a little beefier? Let’s look at the relative costs of common centerfire calibers. For purposes of apples to apples comparison, I’ve created tables for Winchester White Box and Federal HST/Hydra Shok rounds priced from MidwayUSA.com not including shipping.

Winchester White Box – MidwayUSA.com
Caliber	Bullet Weight (gr.)	Price / 50	Price / rnd	Price / 500	Price / rnd
9mm	124	$13.99	$0.28	$134.99	$0.27
.357 Mag	110	$33.99	$0.68	$323.99	$0.65
.357 Sig	125	$34.99	$0.70	Not Available	Not Available
.40 S&W	165	$17.99	$0.36	$169.99	$0.34
10mm	165	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available
.44 Mag	240	$48.99	$0.98	$459.99	$0.92
.45 ACP	230	$21.49	$0.43	$209.99	$0.34

When it comes to training/plinking ammo, bigger bullets (= more raw materials = higher cost to manufacture) or less popular bullets (= lower demand = lower supply = higher cost) are going to cost you more (if can even find it…sorry 10mm fans). That’s pretty much common sense. A .45ACP case uses more brass than a 9mm case. They also use more powder, larger primers and bigger bullets. Duh. Bigger is better until you have to pay for it. As you can see, .44 Magnum gets a double whammy by being big and less popular. Ditto for .45 Colt. Ditto for .500 S&W. Etc.

Federal HST/Hydra Shok – MidwayUSA.com
Caliber	Bullet Weight (gr.)	Price / 20	Price / rnd	Price / 200	Price / rnd
9mm	124 (HST)	$26.99	$1.35	$249.99	$1.25
.357 Mag	158 (Hydra)	$26.49	$1.33	$639.99 (500 rnds)	$1.28
.357 Sig	125 (HST)	$59.99 (50 rnds)	$1.20	Not Available	Not Available
.40 S&W	180 (HST)	$28.99	$1.45	$269.99	$1.35
10mm	180 (Hydra)	$33.99	$1.70	Not Available	Not Available
.44 Mag	240 (Hydra)	$35.99	$1.80	$885.99 (500 rnds)	$1.77
.45 ACP	230 (HST)	$28.99	$1.45	$269.99	$1.35

It wasn’t possible to do a completely apples to apples comparison with the hollow point rounds since Federal doesn’t load all calibers for HST. I find it interesting that .357 Sig HST actually costed out significantly less than 9mm HST. Otherwise, the general rule of bigger/less popular = greater cost appears to hold true.

Now, let’s take a look at what it will take to shoot/practice/train for a year comparing the cost of 50 rounds / week (2600/year) vs. 100 rounds / month (1200/year) in .22LR, 9mm and .45ACP.

.22LR Rem. Gold. Bullet – 2600 x .07 = $182.00

9mm WWB - 2600 x 0.28 = $728.00

.45ACP WWB – 2600 x 0.43 = $1118.00

.22LR Rem. Gold. Bullet – 1200 x .07 = $84.00

9mm WWB – 1200 x 0.28 = $336.00

.45ACP WWB – 1200 x 0.43 = $516.00

The take away here is that the smart money is on spending most of your training/practice dollars on .22LR ammo to keep fundamentals sharp and incorporate your centerfire practice monthly if possible (quarterly if necessary). A .22LR version of your self defense gun or even a .22LR conversion kit will pay for itself in less than a year in most cases.

Accessories

Owning a firearm for self defense isn’t just a matter of buying a gun and bullets. You are buying a weapon’s system, and you need to treat it as such especially if you plan to carry it. If you expect to carry your heater around with you, you need accessories like holsters, gun rugs/cases, magazine pouches, extra magazines, revolver speed loaders, safes, gun cabinets, cleaning supplies and equipment, etc. All of this stuff costs money and there are varying levels of quality and price all over the map.

Holsters run anywhere from cheap $12 nylon “sausage sack” holsters to $150+ full custom leather holsters that are as much art as functional kit. Here’s a quick pro tip: if this is for your barbeque/church/court gun, money is no object. Get the very best custom leather you can lay your hands on with a matching gun belt. If this is your everyday carry gun, money is no object. Get the very best kydex or leather/kydex holster that fits your body and method of carry. Plan on budgeting between $50 and $100 to get something that works. Last pro tip: don’t skimp on the belt. Get a belt specifically made as a gun belt (they are typically either very thick leather or reinforced leather with kydex or steel cores). Dress belts and fashion belts may look great holding your pants up, but they are not up to the task of securely holding up your pants and 30 to 50 ounces of gun, holster and ammo up where you need it.

For semi-auto pistols, magazines are the Achilles’ Heel of the system. Don’t settle for second best on magazines for any gun to which you plan to trust your life. Take 1911s. Great pistols. The brainchild of (Saint) John Moses Browning (peace be upon him) designed over 100 years ago. Everyone and their dog makes them now. The same is true of the magazines. You can find 1911 mags for less than $15 if your try really hard. They might or might not work when you need them to. The gold standard for 1911 mags (in my humble opinion) is the Wilson Combat 47D. I’ve been in luck in that my local gun shop has been carrying them of late for $25. Other places charge upwards of $33 to $35 for them. Also, beware of “higher than normal” capacity magazines. I tried a Chip McCormick 10 Round Power Mag for my 1911. Reliable as the day is long with 9 rounds in it. Top off the mag with the 10^TH round, and it was about as reliable as an Alzheimer’s patient. Factory mags are generally good since they have been designed and tested to work with the gun in question. Last note on magazines, treat them as maintainable but expendable items. Springs wear out over time, followers can get dinged, feed lips can be bent/broken, etc. If you start having problems with a particular magazine, just trash it and buy a new one (unless it’s the only mag you have for your pristine Bren 10 you use in the Sonny Crockett / Miami Vice cosplay outfit).

After the guns themselves, safes, gun cabinets, and/or other secure storage solutions are probably the next biggest single item expense for new bun owners. A fire proof, multiple gun, safe can run from north of $500 to the $1000s of dollars for very high end safes. If you only have one handgun, a fire safe is overkill. Most manufacturers ship their guns with gun locks which will prevent the gun from being fired by people who don’t know how to find and operate a key (like a toddler), but it won’t stop an adult with lock picking skills that wants to take the gun. Lockable pistol safes can be had for reasonable prices, but they also have their limitations. The sad truth is that locks are for honest people and children. There’s plenty of YouTube videos out there of people demonstrating how to breach even the toughest fire safes. It’s just a matter time and tools.

Reloading

Reloading could be an article unto itself. Reloading equipment ranges from $40-$50 for caliber specific Lee Hand Loader kits that allow you to reload one bullet at a time with nothing but your kitchen table and a hammer all the way up to top of the line Dillon Progressive Presses costing close to a kilo buck that allow you to manufacture ammunition at several hundred rounds an hour. In exchange for your time and effort, you can save upwards of 40% on your ammunition costs through reloading after your recoup the initial investment. Truth be told, most reloaders will tell you they don’t save any money as they wind up shooting more. On the plus side, you can tune loads to your specific needs whether it be “light loads” for new shooters or hot “hunting” loads or anything in between. If you decide to dip your toes into the reloading pond, budget somewhere in the $200 to $300 as a minimum for a quality single stage press, caliber specific dies, and other equipment.

I'll wrap this up here by saying this is an expensive hobby, but there are deals to be had if you are patient and know where to look.

Choosing A Self Defense Caliber - Part 1

This is the first of a three part series on caliber selection. The primary focus in the series will be handgun cartridges for self-defense; however, the math and science discussed here also applies to target shooting and hunting as well as rifle cartridges.

Warning, I will attempt to get technical with data in this series posts. I will also attempt to make that less painful than it sounds. No guarantees.

Disclaimer: I am an unabashed fan of the .45ACP cartridge and the guns that shoot them especially the 1911. I also own or have owned and loved guns chambered in .22LR, 9mm, .40 S&W, .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum. It is not the intent of this article to advocate for any particular cartridge as the “best cartridge” for everyone and every situation. The intent is to provide information to help you decide what’s best for you and your situation. I will offer up a personal opinion at the end for what that’s worth.

For those who are not interested in reading to the end, please allow me to sum things up for you right here. All calibers (rifle, shotgun or handgun) are a set of compromises, and different calibers do some things better than others. One size does not fit all. I don’t want to get shot with any of them. No one caliber can do it all (though some get closer than others). Only hits on target count, you can’t miss fast enough to win, and a slow hit beats a fast miss. If you can’t get hits with a particular gun/caliber, it is useless to you. You have to decide what works best for you not what works best for some data crunching gun nerd on the internet. Go to the gun range, beg, borrow or rent one of each caliber/gun combination you are considering (to the extent possible) and try before you buy. You’re welcome.

Now that the disclaimers, caveats, summaries and provisos are out of the way, let’s get busy.

If I had it my way, I’d have a huge collection of guns in every caliber possible with enough ammo to shoot them whenever I wanted. But, since I don’t live in the alternate reality where I won the lottery, I must make “wise” choices about what I do choose to buy. Statistically speaking, they're more people out there in the same boat as me than not. So, chances are good you need just as much help as I do making the best choice of caliber for your own individual circumstances (hint: it’s not the same for everyone).

To that end, the table below has some data points I will be referring to in the rest of the article for three common semi-automatic pistol calibers in use today. If you are interested in crunching your own numbers on different loads or calibers, part three in the series will jump into the deeper waters with the science and equations so you can go math yourself silly. However, some information, like SAAMI Max Pressure and charge weights, must be looked up or measured as opposed to calculated.

Caliber	9x19 mm	.40 S&W	.45 ACP
Bullet Diameter	9mm / .355 in.	10mm / .40 in.	11.5mm / .451 in.
Overall Cartridge Length	1.168 in.	1.135 in.	1.275 in.
Load	124 gr. @ 1115 fps	165 gr. @ 1130 fps	230 gr. @ 900 fps
Muzzle Energy	342 ft. lbs.	468 ft. lbs.	413 ft. lbs.
Bullet Area	0.10 sq. in.	0.126 sq. in.	.16 sq. in.
Bullet Momentum	19.75 ft.lbs/sec	26.64 ft.lbs/sec	29.57 ft.lbs/sec
Sectional Density	.140	.147	.161
Recoil Energy/Velocity	6.0 ft.lbs./16.0 fps	9.3 ft.lbs./19.9 fps	7.5 ft.lbs./13.9 fps
SAAMI Max Pressure	35,000 psi	35,000 psi	21,000 psi

So, let’s get the obvious out of the way. Larger caliber bullets are bigger and heavier than smaller caliber bullets. There’s a shocker for you. Thank you, Captain Obvious.

Yes, but, look at the other dimensions for a moment. There is only a 2.5mm / 0.096 in. difference in diameter between the 9mm and the .45 ACP, and there is only a 0.107 in. difference in the overall cartridge lengths between the two. However, those little fractions of an inch make huge differences in the design of the guns that fire these cartridges. From little things like the size of the bolt face to the size and position of the extractors and ejectors, to feed ramp angles, to bigger things like frame size, grips and magazines. Those fractions of an inch add up. For instance, most polymer .40 S&W guns can easily convert to shoot 9mm with a simple barrel swap. You cannot do the opposite conversion because the breech face on 9mm guns is not large enough to accommodate the case rim of the .40 S&W even though they are only 1mm different in size.

So, if versatility and modularity are important to you, a gun chambered in .357Sig (which is essentially a necked down .40S&W case) or .40S&W may be a better choice than a gun chambered 9mm or .45ACP.

Another size related consideration is frame/grip size. Due to the longer overall case length of the .45ACP, guns chambered in .45 generally have a larger frame/grip than 9mm/.40S&W chambered guns. Technology advances in polymer handgun design has mitigated this problem somewhat, but those little 0.096 inch / 0.107 inch dimensional differences require bigger magazines which require bigger magazine wells which adds up to bigger frames and longer trigger reach. Those shooters with small hands/short fingers may find it difficult to hold and control the larger framed guns. It’s one of the reasons the FBI went from the 10mm to the .40 S&W and now back to the 9mm. I have pretty good sized hands with longish fingers, and even I have trouble with some designs (the Sig P220/P227 in has a fat grip/long trigger reach combination that doesn’t work well for me). Bottom line, more people will have an easier time finding a comfortable fit with a 9mm than a larger caliber such as a .45ACP or 10mm.  

Moving on, let’s compare the size of the bullets themselves because size matters or so I’ve been told. If you hang around the gun community long enough, you’ll hear somebody say things like “carry something beginning with a 4”, “a 9mm may expand to a .45, but a .45 will never shrink to a 9mm”, or “I carry a .45 because they don’t make a .46”. My best friend gave me a t-shirt that says “.45 because shooting twice is silly”. While most of these sayings are just hyperbole and ignorant macho nonsense, differences in bullet size may be important to some especially those living in restrictive states or cities that have limits on magazine capacity.

The diameter of a .45 is only about 27% larger than the 9mm, the cross-sectional surface area (think of the flat top of a wad cutter) is 60% larger. In other words, it takes 3 9mm bullets to make entry holes covering roughly the same number of square inches as 2 .45s. Bullets do weird things once they go through things like car doors, clothing, skin, bone, etc. So, there is no precise way to compare wound channels or hollow point expansion except in general terms. Generally speaking, a larger bullet will make a larger wound channel and expand to a larger diameter than a smaller bullet.  So, bigger hole is better. Right?

Maybe. It depends on your intended usage and circumstances. There are situations where quantity can be a quality all its own.

So, let’s take a few moments to discuss size versus quantity in the self defense context. Size and capacity really don’t matter in target shooting unless you are involved in organized shooting sports with rules specifying calibers and capacities. For hunting, size and capacity may have a minimum requirement or be limited by law.

The object of any self-defense weapon is to stop a threat (whether the threat is human, animal, vegetable, vehicular or killer robot). A bullet can do this in one of three ways: 1) turning the lights out by hitting the threat’s central nervous system, or 2) poking holes in the body allowing air to get in and blood or other vital fluids to get out, or 3) wrecking the skeletal structure to the point that further movement is limited or impossible.

A shot to the CNS is the best way to stop a threat. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the hardest shots to make under stressful conditions…like a home invasion, assault or other social unpleasantness. The spinal cord is between ¼ and a ½ inch thick depending on where in the spine you poke it. The medulla oblongata is a little over an inch long, and the other critical areas of the brain are not much bigger than that. If you think you can hit those targets on command when your heart rate is through the roof due to an adrenaline dump, mad respect to you and buy me a lottery ticket while you’re at it. This is the reason people are trained to shoot center of mass because hitting a moving target barely bigger than your bullet borders on the impossible.

For the sake of argument, let’s say you’re a good shot, calm under stress and you want the best chance of hitting the CNS. A .45 with 10 rounds (like, say, a Glock 30s), you have 11 chances (10 rounds in the magazine plus one in the chamber) to turn the lights out. Those 11 chances are slightly more forgiving of less than perfect aim than the smaller 9mm, but not by much. If we change the gun to a similarly sized 9mm (like, say, a Glock 19), you have 16 chances (15 rounds in the magazine plus one in the chamber). 16 chances are more than 11 chances pretty much everyday of the week. However, if you live in a restrictive state that limits magazine capacity to 10 rounds, maybe the bigger bullet makes more sense for you.

Now, let’s move on to bloodletting. It’s pretty much a no brainer that bigger holes let more blood out faster and more force breaks bones easier. Again, if you are in a restrictive state, bigger bullets may make more sense for you than smaller bullets. Outside of restrictive states, some people like to tout the capacity advantage of the 9mm over the .45ACP. As discussed above, it takes 3 9mms to open roughly the same surface area as 2 .45s. So, unless you are successful in a 1 shot stop, the capacity “advantage” of the 9mm is pretty well washed away when you consider the fact that it takes 15 rounds of 9mm to create the same area of holes as 10 rounds of .45.

Bone breaking is hard work. A quick check with Google says it takes almost 900 ft.lbs. of energy to make a clean break a femur which is one of the hardest bones in the body. However, we don’t need to cleanly break the bone; and, besides, that’s not how bullets work. Bullets crush and shatter outward from the point of impact. All handgun cartridges above 9mm are capable of breaking bones. Even the lowly .22LR can poke through some of the thinner bones.

Additionally, the pelvic girdle and the femurs are not bad choices for secondary targets if you can hit them. Even trainer Clint Smith advocates for a first shot to the groin in a self defense situation. 

The femur itself is not very wide (roughly an inch or so…wider at the ends) which will be a tough shot on a moving target at up to 7 yards while amped up on adrenaline. But, the femur and pelvic girdle are also home to the femoral artery and a lot of other necessary circulatory stuff. So, back to our discussion a moment ago about the CNS, do you want a bigger round slightly more forgiving of less than perfect aim, or do you want more chances to hit the target?

Another consideration is the weight of the ammunition because ounces equals pounds and pounds equals pain. If you are going to carry a gun for self defense, you have to schlep whatever you choose. A 124 grain 9mm bullet is 0.283 ounces, and a 230 grain .45 ACP bullet is almost double the weight at 0.525 ounces. And that’s before you even factor in the weight of the cartridge case and powder. A little more Google Fu says a 124 grain 9mm case, powder and projectile run about 0.444 of an ounce vs. the .45 at 0.737 ounces.

What does that mean for a typical concealed carry load out of one magazine in the gun and one reload? A 9mm Glock 19 carries 15+1 rounds in the gun. So, gun + reload comes to a total weight of 36.97 ounces. For a polymer to polymer comparison, a Glock 30s (which has 10 round magazines and is close in dimensions to the G19) with an extra reload tips the scales at 37.77 ounces. Less than an ounce difference.

For another interesting apples to apples comparison, let’s compare the Smith & Wesson M&P Shield9 vs. the M&P Shield45. The Shield9 holds 7+1 or 8+1 depending on the magazine, and Smith & Wesson lists the weight as 18.1 ounces (they do not however say whether that is a laden or unladen swallow). The Shield45 claims a 6+1 or 7+1 capacity and a weight of 20.5 ounces. For the sake of argument, we will assume S&W is reporting unloaded weights which makes a full gun and reload 25.65 and 31.56 ounces for the Shield9 and Shield45 respectively. That’s just shy of 6 ounces.

Muzzle energy is pretty much a wash between the 9mm, .40S&W and the .45ACP when you get right down to it. The .40S&W has a slight edge over the 9mm and .45ACP in the energy category and is also available in a wider range of bullet weights; however, it comes at the cost of increased felt recoil. More energy is generally preferable to less energy in any given situation; however, too much energy can be a bad thing too. No one I know seriously recommends a .500 S&W magnum for home defense because of the possibility of over penetration. Since muzzle energy is a function of bullet weight and velocity, we get back to trade offs again. Lighter bullets typically move faster than bigger bullets, but shorter barrels allow for less time for powder expansion resulting in lower velocities. So, a bullet fired from a 3 inch barreled gun is going to have less velocity and correspondingly less energy than the same bullet fired from a 4 inch gun. Go look at the charts on Ballistics by the Inch if you are really interested in digging into this in detail.

That leads us to momentum. Back to physics class. Isaac Newton was a smart cookie. The Laws of Motion state that objects in motion tend to stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force and objects at rest tend to stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. Momentum coupled with sectional density is a pretty good indicator of how well a particular bullet will penetrate. Having said that, most modern self defense ammunition regardless of caliber is designed to meet the FBI recommendations for ballistic gelatin penetration of 12 to 18 inches. There’s some really good information on this done by others out there. Lucky Gunner’s test is pretty thorough and worth a look. 

Back to Newtonian physics, the “at rest” part of the laws of motion is your recoil. That big, fat, happy .45ACP needs a little heftier shove to get going in the morning than the smaller, lighter, zippy 9mm. We also have to pay the piper for one of Newton’s other notions: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you have 342 ft.lbs. of energy exiting the barrel stage right, you also have to deal with 342 ft. lbs. of energy pushing the gun, your hand and everything else stage left. This is where the weight of the gun, the stiffness of the recoil spring, etc. come into play to mitigate recoil, and it’s why no one enjoys shooting scandium or polymer framed, snub nosed .357 magnums. In part three, I’ll give you a link to a recoil calculator you can play with. I think it’s neat, but I’m an admitted data nerd.

Looking back at the chart, .45ACP has the best momentum number, and its recoil numbers are actually better than the .40S&W. If you are recoil sensitive, 9mm is a good choice for you.

Handguns exist as light weight, concealable, personal defense weapons (at least in comparison to rifles and shotguns) to get you out situations you’d rather not be in. I said at the beginning that it was not my intent to advocate for one caliber over another as the best for everyone and every situation. I will, however, offer up the following as my personal opinion:

For the majority of shooters including those new to the sport as well as those people who rarely, if ever, shoot and have a gun “just in case”, the 9mm offers the best compromise of capacity, size, shootability, economy, etc. and is more than adequate for most situations. Bigger, more powerful calibers are more appropriate to “expert” shooters and those knowingly making a trade-off for a specific reason (e.g. living in a restrictive state or in bear country, those that want to shoot major power factor in competition, etc.). Pick the one you shoot the best. Practice as much as you can afford (we’ll talk about the economics in part two), and quit worrying about