ttusus said:
I am in the market now for a hand gun.
What is the difference in a .40 cal and a 9mm, in regard to
knock down. Also which has less recoil.
I have a Colt Commander .45 now.
What to compare these above to it, in recoil and etc.
Thanks
Be prepared to get differing opinions here.
First there's nothing at all wrong with what you've already got. Are you just wanting to experience another gun or another caliber? Or are you looking for a BUG?
I've recently sold off my only 9x19 pistol and while I miss the cheap ammunition, I don't miss the caliber terribly. It IS a lot of fun and I think I will probably get either a 9x19 conversion kit or possibly another 9mm down the road, but I'm not looking for it.
My carry pistol is .40 S&W. It's a "sharper" recoil but honestly a little practice and you'll be fine. Remember that felt recoil is very subjective.
To me the service calibers are all pretty boring and you should just pick one and live with it. I wanted something common, and I don't care very much about capacity, so .40 S&W was my choice. I'm starting to appreciate the cartridge it even though I don't like it. It's available everywhere and I have confidence in it. That's the bottom line. I feel 9mm is the bottom threshold of calibers I feel comfortable with, so .40 S&W is just that much better to me.
If the gun is short, muzzle flip with .40 S&W will be an issue. My XD40 Service does flip somewhat, but a controlled pair is still entirely manageable and I'm getting better at controlling it. In all honestly, I think under stress in actual combat, I won't give a flying bag of crap about recoil or muzzle flip because I won't be thinking about it at all.
Neither caliber has "knock down" power. No handgun caliber does. Now as to which one probably delivers more energy to the target, that should probably go to .40 S&W. No matter how you compare it, the best, finest 9mm loads won't ever quite match up to their larger bore counterparts in raw performance. I honestly think they are plenty close enough however. But that's just my opinion.
However, shot placement matters most and some 9x19 slugs delivered in a successful failure drill are good goblin medicine.
Draw up a list of about 12 guns and start narrowing it down. Pretty much anything you can get in 9x19 you can get in .40 S&W and vice versa for reasons already mentioned I think.