9mm or .40?

NExd said:

I'd rather have a smile on my face than a hopped up pellet gun round

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do i feel some distain for the 9mm??
Remember Dana T's info? 9mm JHP performed almost as well as some of the heavy .45acp loads..


Minor Hijack..
EDIT: And when the zombies come, my shot placement with my 9mm will be easier to maintain and I'll have 15+1 rounds of uber zombie killing, head popping, and god empowering super JHP ammunition while you deal with your simple dimple 7+1 or 8+1 loaded mags..

























:twisted:

LOL...a debate that's always worthy!

No disrespect for the 9 mm, that's what I carry everyday. But I am a firm believer that the .40 is a better round for protection. I say that only because of the FBI shooting that occurred in Miami, and the resulting ballistics investigation...along with the trend in LEO's being issued .40s more and more often.

http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/shooting.htm and also

http://www.thegunzone.com/11april86b.html

http://www.thegunzone.com/miami-ammo.html

I would suggest that if you are going to rely on the 9 mm, go with a +P load, JHP for defense. (that's what I do, anyway). The price of WWB .40 and 9 mm at Wal-Mart is nearly the same price, for range purposes.

All in all, a well placed shot with either will do the job.

I have the Xd-40 4-incher and love it.

Recoil? Oh...don't go there! Reciol is a very personal thing. Based upon your experiences in the shooting world, you will either be bothered by the 40 or it won't bother you at all.

Since I shoot mainly 1911s in 45acp, a 44 Special Colt SAA and a 357, I was not bothered by the 40SW at all. Its not disturbing in the least.

I also have a 9mm Hi-Power and yes, the 40SW XD is a little snappier on recoil, but not enough to bother me. I am not a big guy, either at 5-9, 165lbs and I shoot 100s of rounds through my 45 1911s and have put 100 rounds through my XD-40 at one session and was not bothered in the least.

The 9mm is cheaper to shoot in volume, so that may factor into making the 9mm XD a better choice for you. Since I already had a 9mm Hi-Power, I opted for the 40SW XD. If I did not own a 9mm auto already, I probably would have gone for the 9mm XD.

Don't let the stopping power argument cloud your deceision. The 9mm, with a good load, is very close to the 40SW in that area. Shot placement rules the day, not bullet size.

I'd say, if you do not already have a 9mm pistol or are not that familiar with autopistol recoil, go for the XD-9 - it is a solid choice. If you want more power and don't mind the extra cost of ammo or, like me, are not planning on running gobs of ammo through it, go for the XD-40.

-Brickboy240

Well,

I have thought long and hard on caliber selection.

I will day this. I have many different calibers (cartridges) in handguns.

The ONE common cartridge that I don't have is 40SW.

If ONE person can tell me something the 40SW will do that other cartridges I have won't do, I may buy a 40SW.

If I want a big hole: 45
If I want highest capacity: 9mm

Now my 45 is 12+1 rounds. That meets the capacity of most 40SW. My Large 9mm is 17+1. The XDSub 9mm will hold 12+1.

I see no reason for 40SW unless you want a "girl-cop" cartridge (so as to be politically correct and not sexist, I should also cal 40Sw the "girlie-man-cop" cartridge too). Afterall, why does the 40 even exist? Is it that the girlie-man-cops couldn't handle a little recoil?

But to answer the posters question. I would recommend a 9mm. Why, as I have stated before, odds are you will never have to fire the gun at a person. Therefore caliber doesn;t matter. 9mm is cheaper to shoot and cheaper to shoot means more shooting which means more fun.

If you have a tough-guy-image to uphold and can't have the smallest pecker (ooops gun) on the block, go buy a 500SW Mag.

-Dana

The 40 exists, so that a larger caliber, slower moving bullet can be launched from a 9mm sized gun platform. This is something the 45acp cannot do.

You can get very close to 45acp stopping power out of a 9mm sized pistol platform and only give up a round or two in capacity. Recoil is about a manageable as the 9mm too. Not a bad idea. I dont see it as whimpy or girlish at all.

It does serve a purpose and I can see a niche that this round fills, whereas I don't see as much importance on the 357sig or 45gap, though.

Since its inception in the early 90s, the 40SW has proven itself in defensive roles.

Yes, the 40SW is a relevant round.

-Brickboy240

<begin rant>Oh, @#$%@, not the 9mm "failed in Miami 20 years ago" garbage. God help us if the next once-in-a-lifetime shootout involves a .40 cal that supposedly "fails" or was "inadequate". There will be a flood of cheap hanguns chambered in .40 cal because some eggheads determined it was a "hardware" problem.

I do believe there must be a large segment of the population that buys one car over another because one has 3 more horsepower and 2 more cupholders than another one.:roll:
<end rant>

Whew, now that I got that off my chest, please ponder the odds: IF you ever have to draw your gun and IF you ever have to fire and IF you hit the BG and IF he doesn't go down....do you really think it's going to matter that your bullet was a 9mm instead of a .40 or even a .45?

Buy the 9mm and spend the money you'll save on ammo attending a defensive driving class or removing all the sharp objects from your home.

Geez, there's a list of about a million things (or more) in life to worry about ahead of your cause of death being due to "insufficient caliber used in self-defense".

<begin rant>Oh, @#$%@, not the 9mm "failed in Miami 20 years ago" garbage. God help us if the next once-in-a-lifetime shootout involves a .40 cal that supposedly "fails" or was "inadequate". There will be a flood of cheap hanguns chambered in .40 cal because some eggheads determined it was a "hardware" problem.

I do believe there must be a large segment of the population that buys one car over another because one has 3 more horsepower and 2 more cupholders than another one.
<end rant>

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:? ...that's why I went on to say what I did about a well placed shot. I don't disagree with you on that. But the .40 is a Hell of a compromise between the 9mm and the .45. The Miami shootout just confirms that a 124 gr. 9mm is better for defense that a 115 gr. (At least that's what I got out of it, and that many LEO's now carry .40s instead of the 9mm--for SOME reason). Aren't all shootouts a "once in a lifetime" shootout.

Here is a quote from one LAPD officer following the N. Hollywood BOA shootout, "the bullets from our 9mm handguns bounced off and they mushroomed and they fell to the ground" off the suspects." (Due to the body armor). No round or load is perfect...not even the almighty 9mm...use the one you feel most comfortable with and can shoot accurately.

Let the loyalists rant! I like the idea that we all carry .500s.

The Drew:

Exaxtly, that's the point--I meant for that to be a dubious quote.

In any event, I don't think that most XD-40 people like me will be convinced to sell our .40s and buy an XD-9.

Let me ask it this way:

If you were forced to be shot in the bicep of your dominant arm, and you could choose the round to be shot with from: a 124 gr. JHP 9mm from an XD-9; or a 147 gr. JHP from an XD-40; or a 230 gr. JHP from a Glock 30, which would you choose to be shot with? (Assuming the exact same angle and entry point from each round).

That's a serious question...let me know all of your thoughts. I'd pick the 9mm...is that a bad or stupid choice? Am I missing something?

Do not worry about the recoil on the 40. I was a little apprehensive myself and was thinking along the same lines as you. I'm telling you right now don't let the fear of the 40s recoil be the deciding factor in which caliber you get. I went out with a couple friends of mine and was able to shoot their guns before I decided. I shot a 9mm, 40 s&w and then a 45. I really liked the 45 and almost bought one of those. But I went with the 40 and purchased the 40XD service model. Put the Dons guide rod and wolff #22lb spring in it and it is a real pleasure to shoot. With a lot of the government agencies switching over to 40s the price of ammo will go down the more it gets mass produced. We are already starting to see that happen. I think a lot of people let the fear of recoil get blown out of proportion. I don't know what I was thinking or expecting to happen. It's not like the gun is going to fly back and hit you in the head or push your shoulder out of socket or break your thumb, It's nothing like that. It's barely noticable. If you want a 40 because you like the thought of a little more bang for your buck and you are more at ease with having a slightly larger round for defense then by all means get the 40.