Hey all, a friend of mine and I were discussing the merits of a small .45 with a 3 inch barrel for concealed carry. He talked to some kind of an "expert" who told him that while the .45 is normally a good round, from the short barrel it loses more than a third of it's velocity and becomes borderline ineffective. He went on to recommend a 9mm in that barrel length because he thought it didn't suffer so much and was therefore clearly the better choice in a 3 inch barrel.
Of course, I know that ANY firearm with a shorter barrel will have some negligible fps drop compared to the same firearm and ammo from a longer barrel. That said, my gut instinct is that the short barrel .45 for carry would be just fine. Can any of you shed some light on this?
As a side note, my friend lives out of state in an area where there are numerous black bears (not grizzlies), and without having unlimited funds, would ideally like a carry gun that could reliably dispatch a black bear as well. We both agree that the average 9mm might be a little weak for a 400 pound black bear charging you and your family. Of course, everyone is going to want howitzers and .500sw huge guns for that, but realistically, would a .45 or any other normal carry gun do the trick in a pinch? He would rather not buy 2 guns! Any thoughts?
Of course, I know that ANY firearm with a shorter barrel will have some negligible fps drop compared to the same firearm and ammo from a longer barrel. That said, my gut instinct is that the short barrel .45 for carry would be just fine. Can any of you shed some light on this?
As a side note, my friend lives out of state in an area where there are numerous black bears (not grizzlies), and without having unlimited funds, would ideally like a carry gun that could reliably dispatch a black bear as well. We both agree that the average 9mm might be a little weak for a 400 pound black bear charging you and your family. Of course, everyone is going to want howitzers and .500sw huge guns for that, but realistically, would a .45 or any other normal carry gun do the trick in a pinch? He would rather not buy 2 guns! Any thoughts?