Stopping Power? .45,.40,or .357 cal

[BeltfedMG]

Ill out shoot 95% of people with my SA Loaded factory 1911 45acp and them with their whatever in whatever cal. I have had folks ask me if i had the gun tricked out??? if i compete professionally, i shoot every day and 45 is my facorite. I have litterally over a ton of loaded 45acp ammo in my stash and that wont last me long at all. i wear out guns shootin them like i do but im pretty good with it. i shoot 1ft x 1ft gongs at 125 yrds all day long, 3" spinners at 60 yrds and beleive it or not steel shilloutes at 250 yrds, that shot requires knowing which limb in the tree above it to shoot at for the drop but its actually easier a shot then the 3" spinner. I dont expect people to beleive me, theres plenty that have seen it and i need not have people beleive me to be happy, i can shoot my 45, its what i do, lots of practice and tons of fun.

[Fish609]

Whichever one is in your hand when you need it.

[usmcxd]

opinions are very subjective on this one, but 45 gets my vote.

oh sorry, this is not a poll.

do you have anyone who has been willing to let you try the various calibers out on them to see the comparison of "stopping power?"

[eddyfinster]

Originally Posted by KEVWYO

I am most definitely more accurate with my XD 45 than I am with my Glock in the .40.

I'll have to agree with robinsre's comments in general. My gut says that the biggest round pushed at the safest maximum velocity that dumps as much kinetic energy as possible into a target coupled with good shot placement is the best .... (insert caliber here).

You said that your more accurate with ur xd45 than u r with your glock 40. I am completely opposite, Im more accurate with my glock 23 40 than my xd45 tac. Im new to the xd and not very crazy about the trigger. I hope that with time this changes but for now Im more comfortable with the glock trigger. Ive had the glock for a long time. Im just curious did u have your xd before the glock. Did it take u any time to get used to the xd trigger, or did you like it from the start.

[KEVWYO]

Originally Posted by eddyfinster

You said that your more accurate with ur xd45 than u r with your glock 40. I am completely opposite, Im more accurate with my glock 23 40 than my xd45 tac. Im new to the xd and not very crazy about the trigger. I hope that with time this changes but for now Im more comfortable with the glock trigger. Ive had the glock for a long time. Im just curious did u have your xd before the glock. Did it take u any time to get used to the xd trigger, or did you like it from the start.

I had my Glock 22 for 4 years before I even knew about XD pistols. To me the triggers seem very similar so it wasn't difficult for me to make the switch to the XD trigger. I think I may be more accurate because my XD tac has the 5' barrel so longer sight radius. I also perceive less recoil with the XD than the Glock. Could be due to the XD being bigger and heavier and the 40 round in the Glock just being a "snappier" round. Who knows ! At any rate, if I had to choose between the Glock and the XD for a serious encounter I'd pick up the XD if my choice at the time was limited to a pistol.

[chrisxd45t]

Originally Posted by nikon777

IF you can hit with 45ACP.

I can.

In case anyone wanted to know.

Enough people have said it already. Just use what you shoot accurately.
The empirical evidence (based on FBI reports, it's been posted before and I can't find it at the moment) puts them in this order for percentage of one shot "stopping power" (if we must use that term) I believe: 357mag, 45acp, 40S&W, and 9mm.
However, the difference is so small there's no reason not to go with 9mm or something else if it's what you shoot well.
I personally go with 45acp, but there's no need to carry 45acp if you have difficulty with the recoil just for a marginal amount of extra stopping power; often times simply saying "I have a gun" will stop someone even sooner.

[agalindo]

No such thing as "stopping power" in a pistol round. Foot pounds in pistol rounds don't mean anything, size of permanent wound channel and depth of wound channel is what counts.Permanent wound channel doesn't mean that cool "big" hole in clay most Mall Ninja ammo shows, thats temporary cavity and it doesn't do a thing to stop a bad guy.

Read up on it.

got to terminal ballistics

Tactical Forums Home

Just read the info.

FirearmsTactical.com - Home

[larz]

Chose a 45 that you can shoot accurately. I found the Sig 220, that's my HD gun, I do not find it practical to carry however, so I either carry my XD-9 SC with Speers Gold Dot for short barrel or if I need something lighter, my S&W 642 38 spl also with the Speers. It's not much stopping power as it is other factors, carrying my 38 has more stopping power then my 45 left at home because it's uncomfortable to carry. I personally think that a 9mm in the right ammo will protect you.

[ArmyGuy45]

Originally Posted by robinsre

Oh boy. Here we go again.

Okay here it is.

No traditional self defense handgun has "stopping power".

I don't care what caliber it is.

Handguns stop people through one of two methods :

Pain compliance (Oh crap! Ouch I've just been shot I think I'll stop now) or Permanent/semi permanent disablement via blood loss.

Barring that, there's just not enough of an "inertia dump" when a normal handgun cartridge strikes a human being to result in complete and total instant disablement or "stopping". Just ain't gonna happen unless you put one in the CNS.

So, this being said the largest caliber will inevitably cause the largest wound channel and result in the fastest bleeding (assuming a well placed shot has been made). However, with modern technology being what it is the difference in expansion between a .357 caliber bullet (9mm) and a .45 caliber bullet is a point of relative minutia.

In short, pick what you're going to make the most accurate shots with.

CNS
chest neck stomach
something nerve system
center not sideways

[KEVWYO]

Originally Posted by ArmyGuy45

CNS
chest neck stomach
something nerve system
center not sideways

central nervous system ... noggin and spinal cord. BTW, and just opinion on shot placement but a neck or throat shot should be a show stopper even if the spinal column isn't hit directly. With all the nerves and arteries in the neck area incapacitation would only be a close second to a penetrating head shot.