quote:

I don't know why, but the .45 acp has always carried a lot of appeal for me. It's hard not to like.

Yeah me too. It’s not a “the 9mm is just .45 set for stun” thing as I am plenty knowledgeable about ballistics and such to know there really are only small pros and cons from pistol round to round. I don’t have some “they all drop to hardball” mentality but there is just something mentally about the .45 ACP. A SIG P220 or any of the HK 45’s just ....... do it for me so to speak.

yes most want 9mm but i will grab those 40cal pistols and be very happy with them.

quote:

Originally posted by bcjwriter:
I’ve been tinkering with my Colt 1911 Commander and wondered if people have all gone to 9? I used to carry a 9 Glock 19, a S&W 640-1, and a colt commander. Now all I carry is my 9’s (and the 640 when I’m feeling saucy...). I’m feeling nostalgic for my 1911’s...do you carry one? Or is 9 the king now?

Post pics - I need to feed my 45 envy...

9mm, 45, 40, 357SIG...

They are all handgun calibers and they are all weak.

9mm is currently king simply because of price, shootability, and mag capacity.

All while doing just as well terminally as the rest. Anyone that thinks any other handgun caliber is better is ignorant and or delusional.

If you want "better" use a rifle or a shotgun.

In addition to my Sig 1911, I carry my G30 some. Neither as much as my G19, but when I get the urge. I keep it filled with Speer Gold Dot 185 grain HPs. I just put some new XS Defensive Express Sights on it.

I still carry my G41 from time to time.
Pro steel competition has diminished my 9mm stock.
I’ve brought out the G22/23 for range time as I have 40 stacked pretty deep right now. I still have a fair amount of 45 on hand as well.

Since my post in March i picked up 2 10mm, and briefly flirted with .45 again. I just couldn't see any justification for it. 10mm is better for heavy duty work, and for punching paper and self defense 9mm is fine.
I also trade my .357's off because 10mm fills that void.
So i am now 9mm, 10mm and .38. What do you .45 folks see as its strength ?? Nothing wrong with it but just curious as to the main draw to it.

quote:

Originally posted by longjohn:
Since my post in March i picked up 2 10mm, and briefly flirted with .45 again. I just couldn't see any justification for it. 10mm is better for heavy duty work, and for punching paper and self defense 9mm is fine.
I also trade my .357's off because 10mm fills that void.
So i am now 9mm, 10mm and .38. What do you .45 folks see as its strength ?? Nothing wrong with it but just curious as to the main draw to it.

I love my 9s but there is just that feeling like my 45s have more stopping power. Also, there is the subsonic issue for suppressing a 9. So, in my pocket you will find my 365 (9), in my tuck console my 220 (45) and a full size 1911 (45) within my reach at home.

One of the prior posts said all handgun ammo was weak. Absolutely correct compared to high power rifle ammo. My dad always says “use your pistol to get to your rifle”. True enough but... I don’t have a safe for long guns and just will not have anything that my grandson can get his hands on.

All that said, it’s more of a personal choice. My bias likely comes from another of my dad’s sayings- “why pierce a hole when you need to kill the mother f**ker”.

shot a friends Springfield Armory XDs single stack, 45acp

not sure of the exact model, (single stack, 3.3" barrel, came with one flush, and one extended or finger grip mag)

put a few rounds downrange on some steel,


very nice little pistol,

I carry a Glock 30s in the winter months and love shooting my 1911's but most of the year is 9mm for carry.

Everyday carry is a 1911 45acp.

Gonna take this little guy out for some fresh air today-

There's a number of reasons 9's are the majority choice now. One is there's been more research and development on the 9mm bullet in the last few years than any other bullet in history. The result is several produce very effective wound channel and the 9mm can be accurately handeld by more people,
with the ladies in mind.
So, mostly it's the bullet designs.

That said, Browning himself designed the Highpower in 9mm to replace the 1911 for military use. The 1911 was a fine pistol in its day...Carried one in the Marines years ago.... but it is an old design.
Good? Yes But so is the Colt Peacemaker.
Many folks still prefer to carry the 1911... in various configurations.
John Browning had a reason to design the Highpower.
Several nations issued it as the preferred sidearm during WW II.
Stay safe
Poli Viejo

I would answer 'yes' to both parts of the OP's question.

I carry a Sig C3 daily. The majority of people either by their own choice or job requirement probably carry a 9x19. I don't mean the majority of people on a gun forum but the majority of people in the general public.

It's a 9mm world. Has been for a long time. Doesn't mean that carrying a .45AUTO is wrong, just less popular. When it comes to the Big 3 calibers, it seems the prevailing thinking these days is that quantity matters more than the size of the hole. Hollow point tech has gotten to the point where 9mm doesn't have to make excuses for itself.

As for me ever carrying a .45AUTO pistol; I only have done it on one occasion several years ago, with my E-series S&W Commander. For an actual barbecue, no less. "Flashiest Gun" themed night. Being a known and confirmed Glock guy I caught real hell for doing that. All in good fun, but I've never been back. Instead I went all snappy and now carry a .40. Done so for the last decade.

I've carried my G21 on several occasions out in the woods, except technically it was reconfigured for 10mm each time. So I'm guessing that doesn't count, does it?

I winter carry the P220 and summer carry my P938.

Personally, i'm a 9mm guy.
But my BIL carries his P220 everywhere.

It's a 9mm world because people are cheap, and it's easy to shoot, and it holds more rounds, and more is better, especially if one can't hit the broad side of a barn. Just run to to a steel match and watch people run out of ammunition trying to knock down a spinner. A magazine dump'll do ya.

It was funny hearing "9mm ammunition has come a long way," years ago. Funny, because it's idiotic. We're still shooting the same projectiles. At the same velocities. From the same manufacturers. Mostly with the same powders...that have been in use for 30-40 years. Some a lot longer. Those "nothing-but-gold-dots-cause-the-FBI-loves-them" cartridges...have been around for several decades. Not really new. No plunging developments that pushed 9mm to the forefront, nothing can touch it, erases the hand of God, not your grandpa's 9mm. Nirvana doesn't really exist, and neither does this new-fangled 9mm that's come so far with "technology." It's a fucking chunk of metal going the same slow speed most of the others go.

It's just that people finally came around to realizing that it's about shot placement, that big bullets don't actually knock people down, that one-shot-stop was a gun rag myth (along with "second strike capability" bullshit) and all the marshall, evans, sannow stopping power tables and comparisons..really don't mean much. Except that .357 still separates a man from his soul and 10mm splits atoms and bends dimensions until doves cry. Other than that, they're just handgun rounds, and all that really counts is where you put it when you shoot it.

That said, .45 still goes thud, and during the last round of gun buying panic, everything went off the shelves locally, from 9mm to .45acp to .22LR to weird hyphenated cowboy cartridges that haven't been available since Wyatt kicked a squirrel. Joe Dirt will still pack his Lorcin or Jennings, Taran Butler could kill a platoon with a bb pistol, and John Wick has only to look in his opponents direction and they die of fear (except Chuck Norris). In the meantime, .45 still works just fine.

Glock 21SF for me, but just got a P320X in 9mm that I need to try out.
As for ammo availability, at my biggest LGS 10mm and above (as in 44 mag etc.) is still in quantity.

Those G36’s shoot amazingly well...

Like a little Austrian hammer.

I think my local shop has them on sale....May have to check it out.

I EDC the P220 in .45 ACP