Favorite handgun caliber and why...

[lonewolf23c]

If your planning on doing a lot of target shooting go with the 9mm. Ammo is easy to get and cheap.

 

[onac255]

I do because it will be my first handgun and therefore fill multiple roles i.e. carry, hd, target, maybe competition.

That is why I am considering a glock because everything is easy and cheap to get.

 

[gushrncir]

9MM is more comfortable for me and my wife to shoot, so we practice more

 

[chevydeerhunter]

.50 AE, for this reason:

flashguy

Nice!
:sign0101:I finally got the opportunity to shoot a Desert Eagle .50AE and had a lot of fun doing so! I wish I had one just for the halibut.
And now back to our regularly scheduled thread already in progress.

 

[chris_arnet]

.45 is definantly the best man-stopper, but expensive and has the most recoil of the three.
.40 is an excellent compromise between recoil and stopping power, but the most expensive.
9mm is the cheapest by far (in some places half of .45) has the least recoil, but also has the least stopping power.

Since you are using this as an all around gun, I would get a Sig P226 in 9mm. If you were looking at 2 guns, I would say that and some .45 (most likely a 1911). The main reason I am recomending a 9mm, is because you are using it for an all around gun and 9mm will keep your cost of shooting way down. And honestly, if your using JHP 9mm ammunition, and you get good shot placement, it will do just fine at stopping someone. Shot placement is key with any handgun (or gun at all for that matter), so with a 9mm, you may be sacrificing a little stopping power, but since ammo is cheaper, you can shoot alot more, and will have a much better chance of hitting your target in a vital point.

Practice and plink with 115gr ammo, for cost, but carry 147gr JHP for effectiveness, and you should be good to go.

 

[onac255]

That is exactly what I think I should do Chris thanks for the input.

 

[chris_arnet]

No problem.
Enjoy your new gun

 

[Old Man of the Mountain]

Lol What I meant by everyone having a Glock is that they must be pretty good guns when you get used to them.

I have shot all three Calibers. 9mm and .40 were my friends Glocks. I have shot .45 out of a Kimber 1911 and others.

.40 does feel snappy compared to the 9mm but I like it a lot more than the 9mm. But I also believe it is more expensive than 9mm.

The Kimber obviously was awesome to shoot. That is why I like the XD because it feel natural to me like the 1911.

I have shot the Glocks and they are great but when I wrap my hands around and XD I instantly fall in love with the feel.

That is they way I feel about my S&W M&P .40, could not fit my hand any better, and it always functions!

I don't like 9 mm either.

Between .40 and .45, they both hit about as hard, so the experts say. The .40 costs a bit less. The mags in my .40 hold 15 rounds, and there is a + 5 round extension that would give room for 20 rounds in a mag, but I have not tried that yet.

I like .45 just fine, but the ammo costs a little more, and the mag holds a little less, 10 rounds in the S&W M&P .45 pistol.

 

[robocop10mm]

A handgun collection should start with a good medium frame .357 magnum revolver. S&W 65, 66 or 686 would be a great starting platform. Inexpensive .38 practice ammo. Superior .357 magnum defensive ammo.

You can get a 9, 40 or 45. Then you can branch out to REAL calibers like 10 mm and .41 magnum.

This is Texas remember, a .357 is like a pick up truck. Gotta have one to live in this great state.

 

[Old Man of the Mountain]

A handgun collection should start with a good medium frame .357 magnum revolver. S&W 65, 66 or 686 would be a great starting platform. Inexpensive .38 practice ammo. Superior .357 magnum defensive ammo.

You can get a 9, 40 or 45. Then you can branch out to REAL calibers like 10 mm and .41 magnum.

This is Texas remember, a .357 is like a pick up truck. Gotta have one to live in this great state.

I do agree with that!

To me, there are only two calibers that have proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they are man stopping calibers: .45 ACP in an auto loading pistol and .357 Magnum in a revolver.

At the time that I was going to buy a high capacity handgun (because it suddenly became "normal" for victims to be jumped by five or more thugs) I was going to buy a high capacity .45 ACP pistol, but all the ones that I really liked only hold 7 rounds.

So I went back and researched all the modern high capacity calibers, and it seems to me that the .40 S&W is very similar to the .357 S&W Magnum, so I went with that.

Now, S&W makes an M&P .45 ACP that holds ten rounds, so I might have gone with that if it had been available back when I bought my .40 caliber M&P.

 

[wshbrngr]

I just wish more .40 S&W shooters would start reloading, so they wouldn't leave their empties on the range, where they get nested in my .45 empties!

Hey, I am re-loading them as fast as I can.
I have the same problem with the 9mm nesting inside my .40 S&W.

My Beretta 96 is my favorite to shoot and since I started re-loading, it got a lot cheaper.

 

[Rifleman55]

Wow .45 is almost double the price of 9mm?

That is what reloading machines are for.

 

[wshbrngr]

Wow .45 is almost double the price of 9mm?

and its twice as heavy.... 230gr vs. 115gr

Oh, and this too:

That is what reloading machines are for.

 

[Old Man of the Mountain]

Originally Posted by onac255

Wow .45 is almost double the price of 9mm?
​

and its twice as heavy.... 230gr vs. 115gr

Oh, and this too:

Originally Posted by Rifleman55

That is what reloading machines are for.
​

If you don't really think about it, it seems as if it makes sense that .45 would cost twice as much as 9 mm, but it is just unfair markup.

The bulk cost of lead is so little, and 115 grains is such a small portion of a ton, that the additional material does not justify that much of an increase in price.

When you buy lead by the ton (according to the price that was quoted to me by an "expert" and he might be right) 115 grains of lead is nowhere near to the cost of a penny.

What is even much worse is the fact that price gougers are charging nearly as much for .223 as what .308 is selling for- that makes no logical sense whatsoever!
​