9mm vs. .45 ACP
 

I'm looking to buy a handgun for self defense. I can't decide between 9mm and 45. I'm planning to get a Glock because of their reliability and affordability. But if you think something else is better, post it.

I'm not an experinced shooter, and I don't plan on spending a huge amount of time practicing.

I'm assuming the 9mm is easier to shoot, but the 45 has better stopping power. Is this correct? Are there any other factors to take into account? What's the difference in price for the ammo?

Re: 9mm vs. .45 ACP
 

9mm has higher capacity magazines.

"Stopping power" is largely irrelevent when you have 18 rounds in the gun.

Re: 9mm vs. .45 ACP
 

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I'm looking to buy a handgun for getting myself into mess I really wished I would not have gotten myself into

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Re: 9mm vs. .45 ACP
 

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I'm looking to buy a handgun for getting myself into mess I really wished I would not have gotten myself into

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What the [censored] does this mean.

Re: 9mm vs. .45 ACP
 

Glock 30 is everything you could ever want in a handgun. 10 rounds of .45 caliber stopping power, 100% reliability, and extreme accuracy out of the box.

Re: 9mm vs. .45 ACP
 

Hey, it took until the 2nd reply for this to turn into an anti-gun thread!

Re: 9mm vs. .45 ACP
 

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I'm looking to buy a handgun for getting myself into mess I really wished I would not have gotten myself into

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What the [censored] does this mean.

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Just ignore it. Anti-gun claptrap. If you rise to it NT! will (rightly) move your thread to Politics. You don't want that, do you?

Re: 9mm vs. .45 ACP
 

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I'm assuming the 9mm is easier to shoot, but the 45 has better stopping power. Is this correct? Are there any other factors to take into account? What's the difference in price for the ammo?

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Yes, 9mm is easier to shoot. As far as stopping power, for home defense its not going to make a huge difference. If you don't plan on practicing, you may not even be accurate enough with the .45 to hit an intruder anyway. 9mm ammo is going to be MUCH cheaper, and you can find some pretty wicked rounds.

Re: 9mm vs. .45 ACP
 

The difference in price in ammo can be notable, especially since the military uses so much 9 mm you can get it as surplus.

45 has much greater stopping power, but has the downside of being more likely to penetrate walls and shoot someone a room or two over or across the street. This can be a significant consideration if you have kids or just don't want to kill the neighbors.

9 mm is easier to shoot because there is less recoil, but the .45's are more fun. There are endless after-market modifications for .45's, too, and plenty of places with a huge amount of experience accurizing them. There's that for 9 mm's as well, but the options for .45's seem endless.

You might want to ask yourself too, what kind of action do you want, single or double? That might figure into what you buy.

Re not spending a huge amount of time practicing, you might want to reconsider. You will probably be much better at self-defense if handling your gun becomes second nature to you. It's hard to afford lots of practice, though, but you can still get in a lot of practice extremely cheaply if you buy a .22 pistol as well. It's great and non-intimidating to learn on .22's. And many are extremely accurate. Fun at the range, awesome to go out "plinking" with in the woods -- set up some cans to shoot, or just shoot at some random rocks or branches, whatever.

Re: 9mm vs. .45 ACP
 

Seriously I'd prolly get a 40.

As far as which one that depends on many things. The best thing to do is find a range that rents guns and try em out.

A few to look at :

Walther P99
Glock 23
Glock 27
H&k 40 compact
SigSauer P229
SigSauer P239


There are still many more that are of high quality. The list of what to stay away from is smaller than what's of good quality.

But to answer your question if I was buying for myself a 45 I'd get a Glock 30 (which is a 45)