Is it enough: 9mm Luger for self-defense?

[rwsmith]

Ammo choice is important...

The 9x19mm is just fine as a primary defense handgun caliber, especially when stoked with modern hollow point ammo. It is my daily carry preference.



The 9x19 is quite capable of killing a man, but we all know that a 45 ACP will also kill his soul.

Comparing military vs. civilian is suspect, too because of fmj and jhp ammo.

 

[rwsmith]

Reality......

I got to say this. There is no 2 or 3 shot rule. That concept has killed some accomplished IPSC trained people in real life. You only stop shooting at the threat (be it with CB caps or .600 Nitro Express when the threat is over.

In a REAL situation I'm sure I'd pull the trigger until I heard nothing but 'clicks' and you couldn't see through the smoke.

 

[smoothshooter]

Welcome to the second entry in my weekly series of polls regarding the viability of semiautomatic pistol cartridges. Admittedly I'm skipping ahead a bit here since it hasn't been a full week yet since the last poll, but the results of the poll at this time are a landslide and it hasn't gotten many new votes in the past couple of days anyway, so I think it's safe to proceed, especially since my first poll was basically just to test the waters to see if folks would be interested.

Anyway, as you can see, based on feedback from the last poll, I've added more options to this one. It may not have as many options as you think it ought to because it doesn't have a precise answer that you would say verbatim, but that's what the thread itself is for, and posting below also has the fringe benefit of keeping the thread on the front page where it will gain better participation.
Overall, I still want the answers to be rather limited for the sake of keeping the results of the poll as simple/straightforward as possible.

Please note that this isn't a question of whether or not you personally carry the cartridge, but rather if you feel that it is effective enough in the role of self-defense to merit being carried in general.

Please exercise restraint and refrain from arguing with other posters in this thread. This thread isn't intended as a debate for or against the 9mm Luger cartridge, everyone has their own opinion and some folks have a bad habit of presuming that their own is better informed than those of others. In this thread, all opinions are welcome and we do not arrogantly presume the aptitude of other posters.

The main thing is to HAVE A GUN. A reliable one. Everything else is secondary.

 

[fredj338]

Shooting cinder blocks, old cars, new cars, steel appliances. etc. is all very interesting but have no bearing at all on the effectiveness of a a round on the human organism in a stressful situation.

Unless you need to shoot at someone behind those things, then it would matter. Hence the 357sig, especially with FMJ or even bonded JHP.

 

[Boriqua]

Unless you need to shoot at someone behind those things, then it would matter. Hence the 357sig, especially with FMJ or even bonded JHP.

Or these bad boys!!

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDvzul3rvTk[/ame]

 

[CajunBass]

Yea. It'll do. If not, I was having a bad day already.

 

[Protected One]

Get yourself one of THESE and you are all set!

 

[LCC]

consider my carry weapon a GTF off of me gun, and that regardless of caliber a couple of well placed rounds of quality ammo into center mass should give an assailant pause while I beat feet outta there.

Regarding penetration and the "this caliber round penetrates 16", that one only 12" discussions.

The average person's torso is between 10" and 12" thick, and the center of that torso is where the most damage can be done = most shock value. Does the size of a hole matter? Absolutely. However, even small holes in vital organs have significant shock value.

Talked to a retired LEO about this at the local FFL a while back. The former firearm trainer for his PD, well known for his match gunnery wins and now a private tactics consultant for many in state PD's, he stated over penetration during gun fights, particularly with the increasing tendency towards 'empty the clip at the threat' responses, is a huge concern of PD's around the country. Common for gunfight postmortems to discover on target rounds had passed through the target and kept going into neighboring domicile walls, missed rounds penetrating both exterior and multiple interior walls before being stopped, hopefully not by a citizen.

So will a 9mm be sufficient? Absolutely, especially if you center punch the target with it.

 

[Rastoff]

Get yourself one of THESE and you are all set!

Yeah baby! 116 rounds of 9mm and all in the palm of your hand. I want one.