quote:

Originally posted by Lord Vaalic:
.45 GAP is going to come back big-time, and rule the market

Better watch out, because .327 Magnum is gaining fast.

I consolidated calibers years ago, realized that 9mm and 45ACP were all I needed. I have no use for the other calibers. I did get back into 40 for a short spell because I had to have that CZ40B!

quote:

Originally posted by Lord Vaalic:
.45 GAP is going to come back big-time, and rule the market

I have actually been looking for a Glock 38 to keep my 37 company...just wish they made it in gen 4.

I agree that one of the things that helped make the 9mm popular again was the sunset of the AWB. When you are capacity limited, a more powerful caliber makes sense. The biggest thing though I believe is the advancement in 9mm performance. Oh the other cartridges benefitted also, but now that you can carry 15-17 rounds that perform similarly to 12-15 rounds of 40 it's a no brainer.

I prefer the .88 Magnum. It shoots through schools.

I like 9mm because of the ease of use and cheaper ammunition (though, when my agency left 357 Sig we didn't see any increase in $ for ammo). But, I truly believe the tide will turn with one or two videos showing failure to stop. It won't matter why, just that a 9mm didn't knock someone down. A trooper in my state center punched a knife wielding attacker with a 45acp and the man straightened up, swiped at the wound like a bee sting and then charged the Tpr. and took several more rounds. If that had been a 9mm there would be cries for a larger caliber.

9mm will be here forever. So will .45.

Even though I am issued 357SIG and love it and have plenty of guns for it, my 9mm collection has more.

We've been a 357 agency for almost ten years now and we're not switching out of it for at least 5.6 more years.

When I retire they can do whatever they want but as long as they have me in charge of firearms, we will stick with 357.

The 9mm fad will blow over about the same time as the wearing clothing and brushing your teeth fads fade.

I didn't realize until just now how very traumatized are the .40 users. To see someone referring to the most popular centerfire pistol cartridge ever, as a "fad", well...

Shh, don't wake them from their slumber. Let them dream.

sorry the .40 is still a caliber is search of a problem. Having been in LE since 84 I have seen um come and go. Heck I miss my 65 loaded with 125 grain Remington .357s.

The 9mm has been around a long time so it isn't a fad but I do think that there will be another "latest and greatest" down the road. When that will be and what, who knows? It will likely be whenever the FBI decides it needs a new pistol caliber, for whatever reason and the rest of the law enforcement community and everyone else falls into step just like always.

The actual fad was the .40 S&W. Didn't last even a quarter of a century and fading more every day.

Meanwhile, the efficient little 9x19 is working on its 12th decade, and the sky's the limit.

Millions and millions of guns and billions upon billions of rounds produced. The 9x19mm is the king of pistol cartridges.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
The actual fad was the .40 S&W. Didn't last even a quarter of a century and fading more every day.

Meanwhile, the efficient little 9x19 is working on its 12th decade, and the sky's the limit.

Millions and millions of guns and billions upon billions of rounds produced. The 9x19mm is the king of pistol cartridges.

I can't speak to the effectiveness of different cartridges as I've only ever shot @ steel. I will say that all things being equal, 9mm is the most practical.

I like my P229R in 357/40 but the damned 357 round is so finicky. I've had more trouble with things like setback and jams on feed-lips with this cartridge than any other. The 40 seems reliable, but I don't like giving up two rounds to the 9mm.

The 45 I have in my little Shield 45 is actually remarkably comfy to shoot, but it is definitely a HUGE cartridge with much less capacity.

10mm - Is everything the 40 should have been, but suffers from the same pistol size requirements as the 45ACP. I've never had one, but am strongly considering a P220 in 10mm or an EAA Witness 10mm.

At the end of the day, I suspect in 5 years all that will be left on shelves is 9mm and 45ACP.

The first center fire handgun I fired was the 1911-A1 at Parris Island the summer of 1964. Since then I've had semiautomatic pistols in 45ACP and 9X19mm but never 40S&W. The 40S&W apparently is being relegated to obscurity.

quote:

.45 GAP is going to come back big-time, and rule the market

I hope so.... I've still got six boxes of ammo to get rid of!

quote:

Originally posted by lordhamster:
At the end of the day, I suspect in 5 years all that will be left on shelves is 9mm and 45ACP.

Exactly. Only two calibers left over in five years. Gazillions of guns in the following chambers will be donated to Goodwill and we'll all be shooting only 9 or 45.

<<sniff>> We better say goodbye to, and begin writing eulogies for:
10mm
25 ACP
357 Magnum
357 Sig
38 Special
380
40 S&W
44 Magnum
45 Long Colt
454 Casull
460 S&W
500 S&W

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:

quote:

Originally posted by lordhamster:
At the end of the day, I suspect in 5 years all that will be left on shelves is 9mm and 45ACP.

Exactly. Only two calibers left over in five years. Gazillions of guns in the following chambers will be donated to Goodwill and we'll all be shooting only 9 or 45.

<<sniff>> We better say goodbye to, and begin writing eulogies for:
10mm
25 ACP
357 Magnum
357 Sig
38 Special
380
40 S&W
44 Magnum
45 Long Colt
454 Casull
460 S&W
500 S&W

Once-upon-a-time I thought it would be a Good Idea to try to narrow-down the number of calibers for which I had to maintain stock. Here I am, a couple years later, with half of the above list, plus 9mm and .45 ACP.

That didn't quite go as planned

No pistol is a shot defensive man stopper unless it hit the brain.

I'll stay with what I have.

quote:

Originally posted by CPTKILLER:
No pistol is a shot defensive man stopper unless it hit the brain.

I'll stay with what I have.

That's not really what's being discussed.

That .355 to .357 sweet spot is never going away.

Of course new things will be marketed, that's the cycle of things. The pendulum swings constantly but until there is some quantum leap of tech it seems the 9mm / .38 bore size is a sweet spot for a handgun you can actually carry, shoot well, and does the job.

Just look back to when the repeating handgun came into it's own with the cap and balls.

There is always a place and a camp for the big bores with the number that is the sweet spot is the .44 and .45 caliber guns. There will always be bigger but the sweet spot is with the .44 / .45

On the lower side the .36 (actually a .38) cap and ball proved to be a winner and the 9mm / .38 still is today.

The mid-bore like .40S&W was tried before, it was called the .38-40 back then and results were the same, it wasn't all that much more than the smaller bores and it couldn't get there with the big bores. 41 Magnum and 10mm Auto stand out as winners in the mid bores but if it weren't for hunting and the performance junkies they wouldn't be hanging on in my opinion.

High velocity smaller bores come and go, .30 Mauser, 7.62 Tokarev, 5.7FN, .327 Federal - all have a following but remain niche.

Lower velocity small bores like the .32 (S&W, ACP, etc) and .25ACP hung on for a long time but the compact .380 and .38 revolvers won in the pocket gun category.

I only disliked the 9mm when I was younger because Jeff Cooper said I should. The military used the 1911 and my heroes were the .45 toting GI's who whipped the 9mm toting axis powers in WW2. I had to grow up and actually shoot a 9mm service sized handgun to appreciate it and gravitate to it. Even Jeff Cooper did too I suppose with the CZ75.

During the 40 caliber fad, they made so many guns that they and the ammo for them will be around during most of our lifetimes.
The ammo for them was the only caliber that was still available during the last ammo panic in my area. There still is a very limited supply of 357 Sig and 45 GAP even in the best of times.
I have one 40 caliber gun (G27) with plenty of ammo and that's one I will keep around for that reason. If prices on 40's continue to decline, I may pick up a full size gun too.
If I was starting out, I would first buy a 9mm for the other reasons already stated.

While it's true that a number of police agencies, offices, and departments have trended toward 9mm, and it may or may not have anything to do with FBI uses, police weapons are hardly the majority in this country.

I don't know how a cartridge that's been in global use for a hundred years could still be called a "fad." The fact that it's the handgun cartridge for most of the world's police forces and military and has been for a LONG time is a reasonsble hint that 9X19 has surpassed the "fad" stage by some margin.

I just purchased several .40 and .357 Sig handguns, and a .41 magnum, and while I frequently carry a G43 in 9mm in my pocket, a glance in my safes would suggest a continuing interest in other cartridges in addition to the 9.

It's generally understood today that none of the service cartridges in handguns offers any particular advantage in terms of terminal effectiveness, much over another. 9mm usually offers more compactness in a lighter firearm with more capacity and less recoil, shorter time between shots, less expensive ammunition, etc. These are not necessarily game changers, either; the differences are relatively minor. My G32 is the same size and weight as my G19, holds a couple less cartridges, but offers nearly double the muzzle energy. I'm not constrained by any policy or directive to carry something else, and I like it. Hence, I carry it. I don't care what any particular police agency, or the FBI chooses to carry.

I often drop a .38 special in my pocket. Still wildly popular, it's been a "fad" for a very long time, too. In fact, I just bought another.