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Competition, Tactics & Training
Self Defense & Handgun Carry
9mm .40 .45 ?
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<blockquote data-quote="Koshinn" data-source="post: 1551555" data-attributes="member: 18314"><p>Stopping the person in his tracks and knocking him down won't happen with 9mm, .40, or .45. The amount of actual energy imparted to the target's body, according to Newton, is less than the recoil felt by the shooter (due to wind resistance bleeding off some of the energy), so unless they're off balance at the time or you hit their nervous system or bones, you won't actually stop a person.</p><p>Killing, mortally wounding, and incapacitating are also done with direct hits using handgun ammo (at least, with regards to quickly stopping the threat... anyone can bleed out from a .22LR in some random spot on their body), so really what you're saying is: Stopping power = bullet diameter. </p><p></p><p>Doing some back of the napkin math, a S&W M&P compact holds 12, 10, or 8 rounds in 9, 40, or 45. Taking expansion diameter from the ar15.com post linked earlier, the total area (area of expanded HP bullet*number of rounds) is roughly the same for 9 and 40, and slightly lower for 45. Using FMJ bullets, it's so close as to not really matter.</p><p></p><p>In a S&W M&P full size, which holds 17, 15, and 10 rounds, the .40 has the most area covered, the 9mm second, and .45 last by a large margin.</p><p></p><p>A hit is better than a miss, so more rounds is also nice. And less recoil means quicker and more accurate follow up shots, so .45 really doesn't seem like a good self defense round in a S&W M&P... mathematically speaking. In a M&Pc, I'd take 9mm, but in a M&P FS, .40 seems the best bet in terms of HP expanded diameter vs # of rounds.</p><p></p><p>If you could get the actual gun you'll be using and take metrics on how fast and accurate you shoot with each gun, you could mathematically come up with the best caliber bullet / gun to use in terms of "stopping power." But that won't matter if you never actually carry that gun because it's too big or never practice with it because the ammo is too expensive.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Koshinn, post: 1551555, member: 18314"] Stopping the person in his tracks and knocking him down won't happen with 9mm, .40, or .45. The amount of actual energy imparted to the target's body, according to Newton, is less than the recoil felt by the shooter (due to wind resistance bleeding off some of the energy), so unless they're off balance at the time or you hit their nervous system or bones, you won't actually stop a person. Killing, mortally wounding, and incapacitating are also done with direct hits using handgun ammo (at least, with regards to quickly stopping the threat... anyone can bleed out from a .22LR in some random spot on their body), so really what you're saying is: Stopping power = bullet diameter. Doing some back of the napkin math, a S&W M&P compact holds 12, 10, or 8 rounds in 9, 40, or 45. Taking expansion diameter from the ar15.com post linked earlier, the total area (area of expanded HP bullet*number of rounds) is roughly the same for 9 and 40, and slightly lower for 45. Using FMJ bullets, it's so close as to not really matter. In a S&W M&P full size, which holds 17, 15, and 10 rounds, the .40 has the most area covered, the 9mm second, and .45 last by a large margin. A hit is better than a miss, so more rounds is also nice. And less recoil means quicker and more accurate follow up shots, so .45 really doesn't seem like a good self defense round in a S&W M&P... mathematically speaking. In a M&Pc, I'd take 9mm, but in a M&P FS, .40 seems the best bet in terms of HP expanded diameter vs # of rounds. If you could get the actual gun you'll be using and take metrics on how fast and accurate you shoot with each gun, you could mathematically come up with the best caliber bullet / gun to use in terms of "stopping power." But that won't matter if you never actually carry that gun because it's too big or never practice with it because the ammo is too expensive. [/QUOTE]
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