March 23, 2008
Another good gun page
Stephen Camp has a website devoted to the Browning Hi Power pistol -- a gun much beloved by many a shooter, including the indispensible Kim Du Toit -- but he also has a number of informative articles about other handguns, too.
His views on what to consider when trying to select a self defense piece are well thought out (although I'm still not convinced about wheel guns).
The discussion on the effectiveness of the 9mm is refreshingly evenhanded, and his conclusions are quite reasonable.
It is my belief based on data from serious researchers that with FMJ, the 45-caliber automatic is more potent than the 9mm. That does not mean that I believe either to be anywhere near the top of the list for self-protection. I do not believe that "they all fall to hardball."
[...]
Probably the most important factor in stopping power (regardless of caliber) remains placement. That this can be difficult to obtain in the life-and-death fight scenario doesn't change the necessity for it if we want the opponent to go down for physical rather than psychological reasons.
With the best loads, I opine that .45 ACP is a better "man stopper" than 9mm with its best loads, but am not sure of by what margin.
I do not believe that a 9mm loaded with the better loads is an inadequate defense gun and frequently tote one myself.
I do not "trust" either the .45 ACP or the 9mm (or any other handgun caliber) to provide the elusive "one shot stop" unless the brain or central nervous system is destroyed.
[...]
Either of these calibers with any load may fail to provide the desired results even with a "good" hit.
Either may require multiple "good" hits.
Perhaps either caliber would provide fewer failures if we practiced as much as we worry about our caliber's stopping potential.
I believe that we will continue to see stunning successes and dismal failures with all commonly used defensive handgun calibers including the 9mm and .45 ACP.
Camp likes the Glock 26, so he can't be all bad, although I prefer the G-27.
Take a look around his site -- the non-Browning stuff resides behind the FAQs and Other Handguns buttons.
Posted by Mike Lief at March 23, 2008 10:11 PM
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