Quote:
Originally Posted by rpmGator
Our military went from .38's to the .45 due to lessons learned in war. Guys were getting killed after they shot someone as it wounded too many that kept fighting back.
The 9mm isn't much better than the 38 on stopping power.
Go with a .357 and use the .38's for practice. Or if you go auto, at least a .40 cal. It has better stopping power than smaller rounds, and more rounds than the .45. Most of the cops around here go .40 due to those dual reasons.
But its hard to beat a shotgun inside a home. I don't use OO buckshot, fewer pellets and it iimits the spead and causes a lot of damage to your own home.
#2's or even 4's give you a lot more pellets and spread the shot out a bit more. At those ranges, it works fine.
Best advice is to get a .22 like the more powerful weapon you are going to use. Auto or revolver and shoot it often as it is much cheaper and safer to learn the way they work, and you can move up size without much change in your shooting style.
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45's stopping power is about equal to a 357's when you use the right ammo. I have a regent 1911 45 cal. and love the platform. 1911's and Baretta M9/2's are some of the nicest hand-held pistol platforms I've ever fired. That, of course, is with a bit of a larger hand surface.
I use a special HP round (pretty expensive home defense round) for the house, but usually, when you're using full matal jackets with a 45, you will fire right through the target and sometimes, they'll still be ableto fire back before they go down.
JHP's for max tissue damage are best for qucik, personal defense on most any caliber.
What I've found is that most "larger" calibers ranging from .40 on up will completely pneetrate a human target and tend to hit another behind it when you're using full metal jackets. Use JHP's which tend to expand and grab more tissue interbally and not penetrate all the way through when you're using .40 on up.