Friday, November 6, 2015

Latest entry in the old argument.

"How Does Your Ammo Stack-Up? 117 Handgun Loads Compared."
Back in the 90s, I was sitting around a campfire late one night after a militia FTX out in the Llano Estacado of New Mexico (a place dubbed "Fort Stinking Desert" by some wag in the 1st Brigade New Mexico Militia) and the eternal argument was raging around the men gathered there: which was "better," 9mm or .45?
We listened to the interminable argument for a while until Bob Wright got tired of it. "I can answer that question," he interjected. All faces turned to him and I asked, intrigued, "How's that, Bob?"
Bob smiled and said, "Well, I've been shot by both and .45 hurts worse."

11 comments:

Doug Rink said...

Gel tests and glowing reviews don't mean a thing if the ammo won't cycle in your gun.

I bought one of the popular ammo types mentioned in this story, and it wouldn't cycle dependably in a Glock we tried it in. Put it in another Glock (and different, previously tested mag), we also had a failure to feed.

Fluke? I dunno.

We tried other ammo types, all fed without fail in the Glocks. And the ammo that failed to feed in the Glocks fed without fail in a Taurus and a Ruger.

I'm not knocking Glocks or the ammo. Semi autos can be finicky. Whatever you carry or have positioned at home for self defense, make sure the ammo that's loaded works dependably in that gun.

Jim22 said...

"Bob smiled and said, "Well, I've been shot by both and .45 hurts worse.""

I would posit that Bob is still alive because he was shot wit handguns. As we all know, they are severely under powered compared to long guns. Had Bob been shot with a rifle or shotgun he would be less likely to still be alive.

Not many people address the difference in effectiveness.

Anonymous said...

New Mother Feeding Baby Pulls Gun, Fights Off Home Invaders

http://bearingarms.com/new-mother-feeding-baby-pulls-gun-fights-home-invaders/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Longbow said...

Shoot what makes a bigger hole.

Anonymous said...

Problem solved.

Anonymous said...

Shoot with as much as you're comfortable with, and can do repeatedly.

"Fort Stinking Desert". First I heard of that was from a Firesign Theatre album (yes, vinyl). "Waiting For The Electrician" or "I Think We're All Bozos", not sure which at the moment. But I still get a chuckle out of it.

B Woodman
III-per

Anonymous said...

Check this out. Here we have a longstanding feud regarding "which is better". Lots of heated disagreement, lots of arguing, bickering and even some butthurt once in a while. Yet, with ALL of the participants armed, the debate doesn't rise to violence, especially in the department of imposing one or the other on everyone else.

How can this be? How is it that gun owners don;t take disagreement to violence and imposition.....while the antigunners do exactly both, religiously?

Anonymous said...

"I would posit that Bob is still alive because he was shot wit handguns. As we all know, they are severely under powered compared to long guns. Had Bob been shot with a rifle or shotgun he would be less likely to still be alive."

A friend of my dad's was an 8th AF bomber crewman during WWII. He once opined that FLAK chunks hurt like crazy compared to the FMJ 8mm rounds fired at his descending chute by those other guys. Now if I could just figure out how to carry a FLAK 88.

Seriously, Folks! The best gun is one you're actually going to carry. It also needs to be one you're going to practice with, frequently. You're going to need to be able to draw it and bring it onto target rapidly and be able to operate all of the controls without thinking too much about them. If you need to have a gun in your hand you're likely to have other things on your mind. Part of that last is that your gun has to fit your hands. Amazing how many people forget that part. And after all of that prep you're probably going to want a gun/cartridge combination that goes bang every time it's supposed to, and doesn't when its not. Then if TSHTF, you're going to want your hits to be fight stoppers.

So that .44 Automag is probably out along with that cute little .25 ACP Baby Browning. I have always been happy with my Colt Government Model MKIV Series 70 in .45 ACP that I've had for 45 years. But it's too big for my 5' 2" daughter's hands. My advice would be for anyone new to defensive handgunning is to stick with either .45 ACP or 9mm Parabellum for the cartridge and pick a gun that fits their hand and fits within their comfort zone as far as recoil is concerned. Rather than spend gobs of money on many not quite right pistols, do what my wife and I did. Find a range that rents pistols and try as many types and calibers as you need to before you hit on a combination that works for you. She ended up picking a Beretta 92F in 9mm and now tells me to drop my chores and take her to the range.

pigpen51 said...

bigger hole going in or coming out?

Anonymous said...

I have a new Sig P-250 in 45 ACP, A new Sig P-250 sub compact in 9mm, a 1929 model Colt 1911 with just about all the nickel plate rubbed off, (it's ugly, but a ten land competition barrel puts all seven in a six inch circle at 50 feet), a John Daly competition 1911, a Walther PPKS and a 1966 Browning Hi Power.

I score perfect on my CHL shooting qualification with the Hi Power, leaving a big ragged hole where the X ring was. I can make torso hits at 150 feet consistently with it. It's my chosen carry weapon. The only drawback is the gol-damned single action trigger. If I can just get it cocked fast enough, any attacker is doomed out to 50 yards.

I still don't quite know where the Sig 45 shoots its bullets in relation to the sights.

Anonymous said...

Lol @ not knowing where the sig puts projectiles in relation to its sights. Mine decides it likes low and left - mostly. An important reason to know your particular firearm. I actually kind of like it that way in one sense. If an attacker was to be shooting at me with it because they somehow wrestled it away, they are likely to miss. Ha ha ha. The seemingly mindless ejection of brass in every possible direction torques me off far more. Haven't met one person yet who likes to shoot my sig 45 (220) but despite its quirks I absolutely love it and trust my life to it daily. I hit with it whatever need to (even if others trying use it cannot hit a thing).