what are your favorite handgun calibers for home, personal defense? how about just for fun or target shooting?
And why? what do you like about it?
i like the .45acp and .380acp but, i'd use just about anything that's not a .25 or .32 for personal protection. but then again, any gun is better than none (in most cases)

The pistol calibers I currently own are,

9MM, .357SIG, .40S&W and .45ACP

The calibers i frequently shoot at the range are, 9MM, .357SIG and .45ACP

The caliber pistol i frequently carry for personal protection are, 9MM and .357SIG

I've shot plenty of other calibers but i seem to always come back to my 9MM at the end of the day.

Federal 9MM 124 +P+ JHP mimics the charecteristics of the .40S&W, plus you get less felt recoil, less muzzle flip, less flash (dependant on load).

Generally it's a all around performer, the .357SIG tends to have a edge over the 9MM when it comes to penatration. However i've seen plenty of tests where the .357SIG has failed to realiably expand. Whereas if the 9MM has enough velocity behind it, it'll reliably expand to .50-.60" (from a .355" bullet).

9x18mm

Gunfight rule #7:

Use only handguns whose calibers start with the number "4" such as .40 S&W, .45 ACP, .44 Magnum, .454 Cassul...

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.44 Magnum, .454 Cassul...

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lol try to rapidly put two or more rounds from these guns within a three inch group in less than one second.

Those are not combat or self defense calibers.

With technology today, any decent self defense round generally outpreforms itself. Penatrating reliably and expanding to two times it's inital size.

True that a forty five will never shrink and a nine millimeter may not always expand, that is not always the case, once again today's ammunition manufacters have out done themselves. The federal 124gr +P+ 9MM is a good example.

A lot of agencies that once did away with their nine millimeter service guns are now taking them back in.

9MM vs .40S&W is like comparing apples to oranges.

.45ACP is not to be reckoned with, although it is not for everybody. I love shooting my forty five but at the end of the day i always go back to my nine.

From what i've heard .45SUPER (basically .45ACP +P) is pretty devasting, expanding and generally fragmenting creating a large wound channel. Basically sending a forty five caliber slug up to and exceeding a thousand feet per second. Although i've not read any conclusive testing on this.

i like 9 for self defense because a good 45 is too rich for my blood and 22 for target since its cheap and fun

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Originally posted by I Love Poop:
From what i've heard .45SUPER (basically .45ACP +P) is pretty devasting, expanding and generally fragmenting creating a large wound channel.

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My Springfield can shoot .45 super. It was worked over by Ace customs. The reason it's not very popular is that the gun needs to be customized to shoot it reliably and the switch back and forth between .45 super and .45 acp usually involves a recoil spring swap. They say that changing recoil springs isn't necessary, but the one they put in was a little too strong for .45 acp to cycle reliably. I use a 18 lb spring for .45 acp and the one for .45 super is several pounds stronger.


Favortie calibers for me would be .45 acp, .454 casull, .40 S&W, and .44 mag.

.45 acp cause I've shot several thousand rounds of various brands and have complete faith in it.

.454 casull because it's such a fucking beast

.40 s&w becasue it's a small round with attitude

.44 mag also because it's a beast

But with the .44 Magnum and .454 Cassul, you wouldn't need to put 2 or 3 rounds into the fellow. Hell, 1 round would be enough for two people if they were lined up right!

My favorite is actually the 9x23mm Winchester Magnum, although it isn't the most common cartridge out there. A pity.

Near .357 magnum performance
Great selection of bullets
relatively short, light kick
you can load more into a magazine than .357 Sig. (GOD DAMN HI-CAP MAGAZINE BAN!! BURN IN HELL, CLINTON, FEINSTEIN, & SCHUMER!)

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Originally posted by HailHound:
But with the .44 Magnum and .454 Cassul, you wouldn't need to put 2 or 3 rounds into the fellow. Hell, 1 round would be enough for two people if they were lined up right!

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Double taps are always a good idea with ANY handgun caliber. Even then you might have to empty the magazine(or cylinder) into the guy to get him to stop shooting at you. I don't know of a handgun that I would depend on to make 1 shot kills with.

the .357sig did impress me when i tried it. i'd definitly buy one over the .40s&w

the largest handgun i've shot was a .44 magnum. i wouldn't really want that for self defense unless i had a backup gun.
i can imagine a .454 casull being a real pain for practical defense use.

desert eagle

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desert eagle

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Nice caliber choice! lol way to narrow it down! Considering desert eagles come in what... atleast five different calibers?

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(GOD DAMN HI-CAP MAGAZINE BAN!! BURN IN HELL, CLINTON, FEINSTEIN, & SCHUMER!)

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lol just hope for the best... 2004 might be the end of all this nonsense. You do realize the ban is set to expire?

http://www.angelfire.com/goth/thorazine50mg/hicapmags.htm

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Originally posted by I Love Poop:
Nice caliber choice! lol way to narrow it down! Considering desert eagles come in what... atleast five different calibers?

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Maybe he likes them all.

lol i'd be impressed if he could actually name them all.

Sleepy, Grumpy, Happy, Sneezy, and Fred.