Pistol Caliber comparisons and generalizations

[Jeremiah]

I notice a good number of people comparing pistols calibers, and when they do they fail to compare apples to apples. 200 grain .45, 155-165 .40, and 124 grain 9mm for example preform well, have manageable recoil and produce similar effect on target, Be it Steel plate, ballistics Gel, or what have you.

I get slightly annoyed reading a post about how 9mm did nothing, but .40 or .45 really knocked the target around. Well when you throw 180 grain federal .40 at the same target you just hit with 115 grain wwb, you should expect different results.

likewise when dealing with recoil 230 grain .45 ad 165 grain +p .45 don't recoil the same. Likewise not all .40 is "snappy", and not all 9mm "has no recoil" compare 147 grain +p 9mm to 135 grain .40.


Am I the only one who notices this trend?

 

[tdoom15]

147gr is pretty soft shooting vs ANY .40, or most other 115gr or 124gr 9mm loads for that matter.

But you are right, knocking down steel doesn't really matter whatsoever in caliber comparisons. 45 and .40 are going going to beat 9mm every single time bc they have more momentum. Hitting a rigid steel target and flesh is a totally different story, and barrier penetration is the where that momentum will give them an advantage.

 

[Jeremiah]

See I disagree, I'd rather shoot 135 grain .40 in my glock 35 than 147 grain 9 in my G19

 

[jayhawk]

The key thing is force (energy)...how much weight are you throwing down range at what velocity. That same energy translates into recoil. Perceived recoil is a result of the inertia of the gun and the angle at which the recoil force is applied.

In general, the .40 and .45 tend to have similar energy numbers depending on the loading, while 9mm generally has a bit less energy.

 

[tdoom15]

g35 = 5.3" barrel vs 4" glock 19, have you tried a g23 vs g19?

 

[jgreiner]

This chart is quite telling:

source is here.

 

[KLB]

This chart is quite telling:

source is here.

Moral of the story is, keep shooting until they do not move anymore!

 

[jgreiner]

Moral of the story is, keep shooting until they do not move anymore!

LOL...amen

 

[jayhawk]

This chart is quite telling:

source is here.

What the chart doesn't show is that (if you believe Evan Marshall) HP vs. FMJ is an even bigger factor than .45 vs. .40 vs. 9mm in terms of quickly stopping a threat. Here is the original Ellifritz article, with some more detail: An Alternate Look at Handgun Stopping Power

 

[Jeremiah]

g35 = 5.3" barrel vs 4" glock 19, have you tried a g23 vs g19?

Yes I have, and I think you caught my point. People don't compare apples to apples and continue to spread less than accurate information.