.40 vs .45

[Rocco]

Welcom
I am a die hard 40cal fan, for many reasons. Its my duty caliber, (free ammo)I like the mag capacity and the ballistic peformace which equals or passes (depends what rounds u use) the 45acp.
As stated before you cant go wrong with the 9mm 40 or 45acp. All three calibers will serve you well in either a home defense platform of the CCW. BUT if I had to choose one caliber it would be the 9mm. Let me explain how my warped and somewhat paranoid mind works. The 9mm is a NATO round you can go any where in the WORLD and buy or find 9mm. All foreign armies have a 9mm as a sidearm. Same holds true for the 5.56mm or the 7.72mm. SO god forbid the zombie attack happens you can be fairly certain if you have to bug out and leave this country. You will find 9mm ammo Fd up I know but thats me. Having said all that, MY 40c will be my EDC until that day comes.
thats all
1Sg
Out

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Brad426]

Yeah I agree..I shot him in the head sounds better....I like...I felt my life was in danger and I stopped the threat

Way better.

[Brad426]

Welcom
I am a die hard 40cal fan, for many reasons. Its my duty caliber, (free ammo)I like the mag capacity and the ballistic peformace which equals or passes (depends what rounds u use) the 45acp.
As stated before you cant go wrong with the 9mm 40 or 45acp. All three calibers will serve you well in either a home defense platform of the CCW. BUT if I had to choose one caliber it would be the 9mm. Let me explain how my warped and somewhat paranoid mind works. The 9mm is a NATO round you can go any where in the WORLD and buy or find 9mm. All foreign armies have a 9mm as a sidearm. Same holds true for the 5.56mm or the 7.72mm. SO god forbid the zombie attack happens you can be fairly certain if you have to bug out and leave this country. You will find 9mm ammo Fd up I know but thats me. Having said all that, MY 40c will be my EDC until that day comes.
thats all
1Sg
Out

You are far from the only one that thinks in that delightfully paranoid way. If I had to choose one caliber it would be 9mm (and I consider myself a ".45 guy") for a bunch of different reasons. Now if I had an unlimited free supply of .45 ACP... well then, the story changes course.

Oh, and welcome to the forum.

[Lindy1933]

If it were my decision, I would buy a Shield 40. The feel of the 9mm and the .40 Shields are exactly the same, the safety is exactly the same while the only difference is the power down range. I happen to be a laser fan so I would have both with lasers. The most important part is to get out to the range more often.

[SATCHMO1960]

Rocco...Totally agree with that analysis about 9mm...very true about finding 9mm !!!!! That is why I bought an AR with a 5.56 barrel .....nato round and will be easy to find if SHTF ...Love your way of thinking :)

[Fausty]

i had a hk usp 45. couldn't hit jack with it. i now shoot a glock 23 and it is way more accurate for me. hk makes a quality firearm so i know it wasn't the gun. for me i have a better time with the .40.

[marinevet1994]

I would agree with earlier posts and say that you should find what works best for you. Also make a concerted effort to try to get to the range more often, if at all possible, because your caliber won't make a bit of difference if you can't put rounds on target.

[glockman10mm]

Recoil is subjective. For me, the 40 is not even noticeable in the recoil dept. Neither is the 45.

But technically, you are looking at higher velocity, lower weight and more sectional density with the 40, and a higher round capacity.

With the 45, you are looking at slower velocity, more weight, and lower capacity for the same platform.

2 different routes to reach the same destination.

What is also something to look at is how important that first shot is to you. The 45 with the heavy bullet will most likely be more consistent in penetration, but that is not an absolute, it's a general rule.

The 40 could do as well in most scenarios.

I'd say what it comes down to is what your expectations and goal is for the task.
Everything else is good for technical debate, but in the real world I don't think it would be noticeable between these two calibers.

[miller_man]

Just my 0.02. All 3 are fine calibers for self/home defense - although HD goes to a shotty for me.

If funds were not an object, pretty sure I'd just carry/shoot 45. Why not, its the biggest.
I've shot all three in one range session - recoil is recoil. Sure, I didn't do double taps with each back to back or get technical at all when comparing the three, but for me they all kicked and none stood out as way better or worse than the other. Shooting a .380 out of my tiny little TCP/LCP's has prob been the worst recoil I've experienced.

Shoot em all and pick for yourself.
I've been able to recently shoot my G23 back to back with my friends G19, again nothing really made much difference to me. I like the 9mm cause its so cheap, but do like the idea of a little bit bigger bullet of the 40 for my EDC. Weather there is evidence as to it being better or not, I just look at the two bullets next to each other and choose the 40 because my little head tells me I like the thought of sending that bigger chunk of lead toward a BG if I ever need to. But again, any will do.

[buckshotshorty]

I am fortunate to have guns in all three calibers and everyone has given you great information above. I know that shot placement is key. A .22 through the brain will probably drop a bad guy faster than a 45 to the belly, but, I would never consider carrying a .22 given other choices.

For some reason that apparently defies logic, I have to admit that while I never feel under-protected with 7 rounds of Federal HST 147 gr. 9mm bullets, I still get a warm and fuzzy feeling about carrying 7 rounds of 230 Gr. HST 45 acp bullets, and almost as warm and fuzzy carrying 180 gr. HST in 40 cal.

[InTTruder]

What matters most is are you proficient in wichever you choose to carry. At .40 or .45, either is capable without you of defeating nearly all threats. Nearly. SO, the question is really, with which caliber are you a better shooter?

[multistage]

I prefer the 45 over the 40. Just an opinion. My SIG 229 and Glock 23 both seem snappier than my Kimber.

[40Bob]

Welcome,

Had to open this can on a Sunday?

I like the 40, really I like one loading with the 40 and that is the BP load of a 155 HST @1200 FPS. The commercial loadings really do not do anything that a 9mm or 45 will not do just as well ( ok there, I said it).

It comes down to what do you WANT.

[Sgt45]

Don't forget the .38 Super. I don't like the .40 because the recoil hurts my wrist. The .45 ACP is ok so far and I carry that quite a bit, but mostly I've gone to the .38 Super. It's faster than the 9mm and has as much or more punch than the .45 ball (I use Glaser's), it is supremely accurate and for me, the second shot is much faster, well maybe just faster. I love my Kimber Pro Carry II HD. There now I've opened up more worm cans and you have 4 calibers to choose from :)

[Raventhik]

Thanks all for the many welcomes
Sounds like i need to go back and rent some guns. I didnt want to open a can of worms. I appreicate all of the replys.
Thanks again