Help me pick my 9mm

I can't state this enough: There is no "stopping power" associated with a bullet. I have killed hundreds, or maybe even thousands of animals, and I've seen many different bullets do many different things that caused a wide variety of deaths and there is no sure calculation for that sort of thing.

That being said, a 9mm is MORE then enough. I, personally, keep a 9mm in PPK by my bed stand and when I carry a handgun I carry a 9mm, even in the woods for a bear gun.

I'm a fan of springfield, so that's what I voted, but I will say this- A single action is really the best choice if you're willing to spend some time with your gun. Glocks and such are great, but if you want to get to know your gun intimately enough to drop a magazine of rounds in the same exact spot every time you pick it up, do some research into the single action area.

Happy Hunting.

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Originally Posted by zib

I have a Springfield XD 45, great weapon. In 9mm I have a Baretta 92FS which I highly recommend. I also have a Kel Tec for concealed carry. I friend of mine had the opportunity to use his 9mm. Four armed individuals attempted to break into his house. He had a 9mm, He shot two, and the other two ran off. He chased them, One of the guys he shot, got back up and shot him 2x. He was in the Hospital for months. He's lucky to be alive. One Bullett hit him in the abdomen, the other round in the face. He figures if he had a larger caliber, the one he hit, would not have got back up...

The thing is, and I'm talking from experience, You don't know how your going to react under those circumstances. When your heart is pounding, and your nervous, and your life depends on it, Will you be able to hit someone with a 9mm? The best home defense weapon is a shotgun, and it doesn't have to be a 12ga. Buckshot doesn't travel as far as a 9mm, or a 40, or a 45 for that matter. It has a nice spead, and the sound of a pump action shotgun chambering a round is enough to send anyone running...Just something to think about.

The nice thing about my Beretta is the 30rd mags....
There are lots of good PD rounds, TAP, Hydrashock, etc...I like the Winchester Ranger Police Rouds...

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My heart goes out to your buddy. 4 against 1 is hardly good odds. Even with a shotgun, he may not have faired better. May have been able to put one down but not the other 3. We will never know. I am glad that he is ok.

I am a little guy with very little upper body strength. I need to know that I can hold and handle the recoil. Jimmy's suggestion of the smaller pocket gun in 40 sw sounds nice as the reviewer states that it pushes back into your hand.

I know that I should shoot them myself, but I have no place here that rents them to use on a range. In Ohio there were places, but not here.

I really want the stopping power of a 45, but without the potential of over penetration. I have considered a 10mm, but that ammo I think is exotic and expensive.

For those of smaller stature there's a Winchester 1300 Compact 12g. Or if you want 20g. almost every manufacturer makes a "youth" or "ladies" model which simply means the stock and other parts are scaled for a smaller length of pull.

Kahr makes some good 9mm, 40 S&W and who knows what now days (It's been a long time since I looked into Kahr) in compact autos. Their design concept was to make small, light-weight, compact autos for conceal and ease of use. I had one for a while and only gave it up because of superstitious reasons... or whatever you call it when you think an inanimate object hates you and is bad luck. ;)

BTW, I fail at poll taking and already ruined your results. I meant to click 'Other' and ended up clicking 'Glock 19' because I wasn't paying attention... my bad.

Keep in mind the friend he was talking about (and I'm assuming here) was using some super duper expanding plastic filled hollow point.

Those are good for shooting watermelons, but for self defense I'll always recommend a normal copper plated hollow point that cycles reliably.

I shot a rabbit once with a 9mm hollow point like that, and it literally knocked the skin off it's rear end and the rabbit lived long enough to run a 20 yards and for me to dig around for a different gun I could shoot that far with.

I've also done with same with a .204 on a coyote. Shot it in the head and it just skinned it, took three more shots to kill it. Cats are the same with a .17 HMR. Head shots simply do not kill with those types of bullets. I shot one with a .17, in went through the mouth, under it's ear and exited out the back, that cat was stunned and when I went to get it to toss it in the dumpster it came too and I had to run back inside and grab a .22.

Get a 9mm, find some bullets that work well in it, and aim for center mass if anything actually requires you to kill something.

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Originally Posted by JokiJo

I can't state this enough: There is no "stopping power" associated with a bullet. I have killed hundreds, or maybe even thousands of animals, and I've seen many different bullets do many different things that caused a wide variety of deaths and there is no sure calculation for that sort of thing.

That being said, a 9mm is MORE then enough. I, personally, keep a 9mm in PPK by my bed stand and when I carry a handgun I carry a 9mm, even in the woods for a bear gun.

I'm a fan of springfield, so that's what I voted, but I will say this- A single action is really the best choice if you're willing to spend some time with your gun. Glocks and such are great, but if you want to get to know your gun intimately enough to drop a magazine of rounds in the same exact spot every time you pick it up, do some research into the single action area.

Happy Hunting.

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I hate to disagree with you, but I'd love to see you take down a bear with a 9mm. Really, you'd have one ****ed off bear. You can measure take down, it's called "Ballistics" In addition to my friend putting two 9mm's in a crack head, and he got back up and nearly killed him, I don't think a 9mm is more than enough. Ask any cop. That's why most police went to 40's
I know cops that have unloaded entire magazines of 9mm into guys that kept on coming...I carry a 9mm myself with hot loads, and I still wonder if it's enough...

See, the difference is, Animals Don't shoot back at you. With that being said, You don't know how you'll react if someone kicks your door in and has a shotgun pointed at your face. Sure, if you hit him in the heart, or the head with a 9mm, but under those circumstances, That'd be one lucky shot. People don't consider the fear factor involved in real life situations. I was in the Gulf War. I'm now a disabled Vet. I speak from experience.

P.S. My friend that got shot was using Hydrashock ammo in his 9mm fwiw.

I read a book 40 or so years ago by Ed McGivern called Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting and also one by Bill Jordan called No Second Place Winner. Through those I became very proficient in double action revolver shooting. When I finally went to the semi autos because of magazine capacity I found I took to the double action only models like a duck to water.

For one thing on many of todays semis the first pull is DA and all of the rest are single action which is a much lighter pull. I like the heavier pull of the DA especially if it is in a combat situation. The last thing I want if I am pointing a gun at someone is a light trigger pull. The DA only models have consistent trigger pulls from shot to shot which I prefer. YMMV.

I have a 10mm Glock and I like it but the ammo is expensive and hard to find ... around here anyhow. It has significantly more recoil which is why the .40 was developed for the FBI and if it is going to endure the rigors of the cartridge the gun has to be large and heavy.

For a 9mm I have and enjoy my Sig Sauer P226, I have fired the Baretta's while in the military and also tried out the Glock and Springfields. My favorite always falls back to my Sig the weight and feel are just right it fires very smoothley and very little recoil so it can be very accurate.:)

Sig, Kimber, H&K all very nice, and very pricey. A buddy of mine has a Kimber, He paid a little over a grand for it. It's beautiful weapon, and shoots so smooth it's like a dream.

I can only tell you that many years ago federal law Enforcement Agencies which pretty much universally used 9mm dropped it like a hot potato. The round has little knockdown ability. The only reason some went with the Glock 17 is because you could put so many rounds in someone the weight of the lead would cause them to fall down. The round is too fast and too small. Most agencies went with either the S&W 40 or Sig 357 or 10mm. The 45 doesn't penetrate much. Its a large slow moving round.