Ayoob: Is .45 Still Better Than 9mm?

[Annihilator]

Hard to beat Jordan’s book, “No Second Place Winner “.

Very good read, I also love to read Elmer Keith’s books, guy was amazing

 

[3L120]

Gents, we grew up in the early days of bullet development. There is no question in my mind that the 9mm with a modern bullet design is WAY beyond the days when Col Cooper condemned it. Having said that, I still believe in the .45 ACP because it does not count on bullet design...even in "hardball" form it is formidable. If the bullet works as designed, the 9 MM is a great performer. But if the modern bullet design fails, the 45 still works. If a modern 45 works as designed, its performance is remarkable. But if the bullet fails....it is still 45 hardball. Which has worked in two World Wars, in Korea, and in Vietnam to protect out boys when everything gets close. My Uncle Bill was close lipped about being one of the Frozen Chosin...but he believed in the .45 ACP. That is good enough for me...with the bayonet scar on his face from the night a Chicom fell into his foxhole.

Remember Super-Vel ammo in the 70s?

 

[Belt Fed]

Remember Super-Vel ammo in the 70s?

Yep, they still make it

 

[3L120]

Well, I see your point Lab.
But then again, would the price of 9 be all that low if it wasn’t so popular? ( Leaving out for the moment LE and Mil consumption).

.38 used T be dirt cheap and 9mm the expensive round until departments switched to it. Then the price point shifted.

 

[CEW]

If it wasn’t for capacity and (maybe) availability, I wonder if 9 would be as popular as it is?

(That’s not to say the 45 would be any MORE popular).

Like I said in 1986 when I first tried the 38 shor... I mean 9mm. I bought a S&W 659 and started shooting steel and from the tone realized, why you needed higher capacity. More than the wheel gun it was replacing after they took my .357 ammo away. Forty plus round load-out on the belt... That was later confirmed in my assignment of those years with interviewing survivors of their encounters with 9mm rounds. Not too many with those that encountered the .45 slugs, but there was one. So, a S&W 645 quickly replaced my 659 as I could not afford both back then. Now I know that ammo has improved and by multiplying the mass by the *** getting it there, that it delivers "X" on the target (if the small diameter doesn't allow it to pop out the other side). In short, I have both and carry the 9mm (or the short version .380) for its size and the bedstand has the thick boy. BUT, John Browning built it for a "spec"ific reason and holds true today, baseball bat or baton and how good is your placement...

As for the writers and Ayoob, well I have learned from his presentations and don't agree with them all, as they are making a living and I am out of popcorn for the moment, lol. But I do enjoy the show...