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9mm — Is it great or does it suck?

jg7789

jg7789

Operator
Founding Member
I've been reading gun mags since I was a kid and forums more these days, and I remember when the 9mm was absolute "garbage" and worthless. If you didn't have a .45 you didn't have nuthin'... Then the .40 appeared and "fixed" everything. Now, the 9mm is back on top. The .40 is a waste, the .45 is too big and slow, and the 9mm is the greatest thing in the world. Now I know the "experts" are saying the 9 is fine now, but is it really? Has there really been any testing of new 9mm ammo to support this notion that the 9 is fine now? What do you all think?
 
Go to the range, shoot all the different one's they have there. Get the one that fits you best. The war of the Calibers is
something that will go on ad nauseam. Everyone has what they think is best. Big old 45, little 9mm, 40 cal or 10mm.
Get what you can put the slug where you want it. I've had gals that swear by their 380/9mm shoot my RO and do very well. But they are not ever going to carry a 45 no matter what. I have from .17 to 454 in the vault. I carry a 357SIG as it is a great little round. Sort of a 9mm Magnum. I do want to carry my RO at times because I like the
heft of it. You use what you can consistently get on target. 9mm center mass is better than a 45 center miss.
 
I do think that ammunition has come a long way for all calibers. They're all deadly depending on hit locations. If the U.S. military thinks the 9mm is appropriate for their sidearms, then I would say the 9mm is sufficient for the task of self defense.
 
The situations vary, personal preference and style. For me, 9mm is cheaper and seems to be easier to find when looking. They're smaller so you can fit more in a mag (depending on your state). There's less recoil usually with them so perhaps better for newer or casual shooters. Military Beretta M9s used 9mm, now the SigP320 uses it. On the other hand, the 1911 has been around for a good century, and it's done well for itself.
 
The nine is fine! :)

Based on my research, the FBI has gone back to the 9mm from the .40. They did quite a bit of testing. Ammo is less expensive for the 9, ballistics tests show is does the job, and there are some pretty sophisticated bullets available. I think it is a great caliber. Some prefer a little less recoil, and the 380 ammo available is also pretty good. Still, 9mm is my preferred caliber.
 
adam sr said:
With the new hollow points out the 9mm is better than it use to be.
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There are some pretty hot loads available also (relatively for a pistol). My understanding is that until the velocity gets up to around 2200 fps, the shock impact (or knock down power to use another term I have often heard) isn't all that great. The hole the bullet makes can close up, and the shock to internal organs just isn't there. You would have to actually pierce the organ. I haven't seen any 9mm loads that even approach that, but there are several in the range of 1200 fps or so.
 
somorris said:
There are some pretty hot loads available also (relatively for a pistol). My understanding is that until the velocity gets up to around 2200 fps, the shock impact (or knock down power to use another term I have often heard) isn't all that great. The hole the bullet makes can close up, and the shock to internal organs just isn't there. You would have to actually pierce the organ. I haven't seen any 9mm loads that even approach that, but there are several in the range of 1200 fps or so.
Click to expand...
yes I stated just better than before me i'm a fan of the 40.
 
I believe shot placement is critical but consistency of ammo performance is also imperative. That being said I am not comfortable dropping below 9mm for self defense. Smaller calibers are just too erratic in penetration depth and expansion for me to trust my life to them. For me 9mm offers the best capacity for power ratio in a package that is easy to carry/conceal.
 
I think 9mm ammo has come a long way in the past 30 years, and of course, so has .40 and .45. But most ballistic testing data I've read in the past few years indicates that most 9mm self defense rounds meet or exceed FBI ballistic gel penetration requirements. It's a case of 9mm being "good enough", and in the case of Federal agencies, 9mm is a round that more people can shoot accurately and control. Also, it can avoid over penetration that might be a factor with a real hot .40 or 10mm round. You don't want to blow a hole through the bad guy and hit the innocent bystander behind him.

For me personally, the real reason to carry 9mm is that first of all, as above, I know it is "good enough", and secondly, I can afford to practice more with it, since it is the next cheapest practice ammo out there, aside from 22LR. Plus I can carry more rounds in the same size magazine, which is something I like.

I will probably end up with a 45ACP or 10mm at some point, as I am interested in USPSA competitions, and my XD-M 5.25 in 9mm limits the power factor category you can compete in.
 
Observations from working in an ER. We could never guess the caliber from the entrance wound but we could guess the speed from the exit wound, hollow points tended to stay in a man and a solid projectile was almost always a shoot through and sometimes survivable. Upper torso hit with a hollow point created sudden loss of BP usually ending in a DOA. Speed kills and not just in sports cars. But remember multiple hits makes Fred dead. But let me end this by saying, I witnessed more dead bodies from a .22 than any other caliber.
 
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