Caliber Wars II, the 9mm Strikes Back

Peter gets into the caliber wars. I was going to comment, but the comment got pretty long, so I decided to post. I happen to be an ED nurse and a paramedic and have seen more than a couple of gunshot wounds. This is my take: The more energy you dump into the target, the more effective each individual shot will be. At ranges of 10 to 50 feet, nothing is nastier than a shotgun. A load of large shot or a slug will flat out stop an attacker nearly every time.

Likewise, a rifle is king at ranges of 50 feet on out. Carbines are a great compromise. So is a skirmish rifle like the one I built a couple of years ago– especially since a .308 will punch through most body armor.

I once had a firearm instructor tell me:

If you know you will be in a gunfight, endeavor not to be there. The easiest gunfight to win is the one you don’t get into. Failing that, bring a long gun. In fact, bring friends with long guns.

Of course, no one never knows when they will be in a gunfight. That means we need to carry a gun all of the time, and carrying long guns is inconvenient, so we carry handguns as a compromise. That’s what handguns are- a compromise. The handgun on your hip is better than the shotgun or rifle in your closet.

It’s simple for me- in a perfect world, you should carry lots of really big, fast moving bullets. All handguns are poor at stopping an attacker. Still, in a full sized handgun, I would carry a large caliber, more powerful handgun over a smaller caliber.

• My M&P9 holds 18 rounds of 9mm, delivering a 115 grain bullet at 1400 FPS, for a total of 500 foot pounds. A handgun in 357 sig is about the same power, but only holds 15 rounds.
• An M&P45 holds 10 rounds, delivering 200 grains at about1000 fps and 500 foot pounds.
• An M&P10 delivers 15 rounds of that 200 grain projectile, but at 1250 fps from a 4.6 inch barrel, meaning you are sending about 700 foot pounds of energy downrange.

Seeing this, you can see that a 10mm holding 15 rounds is a great handgun. Still, I wouldn’t feel undergunned with that M&P9. In fact, I have fullsized M&P’s in 9mm, .357Sig, .40S&W, .45ACP, and 10mm. I love the M&P platform, and any of those calibers would suit me fine.

The problem is that I live in Florida. It’s hot. It’s humid, and open carry it illegal. So as a result, people wear lightweight clothes that make it a challenge to carry full sized handguns, so you leave it at home. Like the rifle in your closet, the handgun in your dresser drawer isn’t doing you any good. As a result, we wind up carrying smaller, more compact handguns. When you start looking at compact handguns, the situation becomes more, shall we say, nuanced.

When it comes to concealing handguns in lightweight clothes, you lose a lot of the advantages of the larger bullets. Now large bullets are slowed down, capacity is reduced.

A subcompact .45 now gives you only get 6 rounds, and the shorter barrel means a slower bullet, perhaps as slow as 800 fps and only 280 foot pounds with a 200 gr bullet.

Similarly, you get the same performance out of .40S&W and out of 10mm with the shortened barrel of a subcompact, and you are now restricted to 8 rounds.

The .357Sig is now delivering 9mm like performance, but with an 8 round magazine.

Subcompacts are where 9mm begins to shine. The Shield Plus is now delivering 13 rounds and with its 3.1 inch barrel you are now sending 115 grain bullets downrange at 1250 fps, delivering 400 foot pounds of energy.

It’s a tradeoff. No handgun is perfect, and each caliber has its advantages and disadvantages. Look at what you are trying to accomplish in light of the restrictions that are being placed upon you by the tactical situation.

That is the reason why I own a lot of handguns, or at least that is how I justify it to myself. To make the manual of arms and shooting easier, I largely only carry one brand. In my case, I shoot the M&P line. You may decide to shoot other models. We all know how rabid fans of the Glock or the 1911 can be. I am not saying that people who shoot those are wrong. I am saying that those handguns are wrong for me. They may be right for you. At least let articles like this get you to think about what you are carrying. If that means you get to buy another gun, is that such a bad idea?

A word about revolvers- I own a few. My little 5 shot model 642 in .38 special gets carried more often than any other. Still, 38special from a 1.88 inch barrel isn’t a great performer. The length is about the same as a compact auto, but Again, compromise. I also have a 4 inch barreled revolver in .357Mag. I don’t carry it as a defensive handgun because, frankly I think revolvers are suboptimal for defensive use- capacity is too low, and reload times are too long.