Today, we revisit what may possibly be the oldest debate in firearms: 9mm vs .40 vs .45. Which is the best choice for self-defense?
Okay, so, that may not be the oldest debate in firearms. That title may go to the debate between musket balls versus cartridges, but we’re not going into that one today.
No, we’re actually going to go into the caliber debate that we mentioned earlier, and this particular video today is great because, in addition to giving a few chuckles for his oddball humor, the YouTuber in today’s video takes the time to fire all three calibers from pistols through plywood, ballistic gel, sand, and concrete. He takes the time to check penetration and (in the ballistic gel) the size of the penetration hole as the bullet continues through what it hit.
It’s pretty interesting to watch and actually see the comparison. You can watch that video below.
Did you have any surprises when you watched the video?
Many people, I’m sure, would have thought that the penetration tunnel from the .45 would have been much larger than the other two calibers, especially the 9mm. But it wasn’t a big difference.
And maybe you thought that the .45 would have had deeper penetration in the ballistic gel due to the greater mass and more grains of powder. But not much difference between any of the calibers in penetration tunnel size or distance of penetration.
In fact, for all of the materials that were shot at in these tests, there wasn’t a huge difference in terms of what most people would think of as the factors going into stopping power to stop a threat. And if that is really the case, then, you would have to look at other factors to choose the caliber that you go with for your home defense and everyday carry.
So, which one should you go with? Obviously, that’s up to you. Some people will still default to a .45 or a .40 just because they’re comfortable with it or are used to shooting it. But others may default to 9mm due to ammunition costs, the commonality of the ammunition (in cases of ammunition shortages), less felt recoil, and higher capacity that can be carried in pistols of that caliber versus the other two.
Which one will you go with? Comment below.