Here’s a very well thought out and articulate explanation, backed by research and facts, of the comparison of 9mm vs .45 by Paul Gomez of Gomez Training Iternational:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dA36NYLqns&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Bio for Paul Gomez, provided at his GTI website:
http://gomez-training.com/who-is-paul-gomez/
Food for thought…
About an hour later since initially reading your post and watching the video. I ended up with the History Channel’s Zombies: A Living History.
This is gonna start another debate, but Gomez does point out some good things. After all those videos I watched, can’t remember if he mentioned the increased overall weight and bulkiness of a handgun chambered in .45 ACP. Which would be a negative to a smaller framed person.
Thanks for sharing.
Pretty good video.
Maybe 20 or more years ago, the 45ACP did have a slight advantage over the 9mm in stopping power. However, with the 9mm ammo we have today, this gap has closed so mush it is barely worth arguing over.
Carry what you are comfortable with and can hit the best with.
Very fine post IMO.
When I first started shooting Colt 1911’s in the mid 70’s, the .45 acp was the best SA cartridge choice for self defense bar none.
I also had a 9mm BHP which balanced beautifully, pointed naturally and was a tack driver.
But that was back in the dark ages when there were maybe two choices of 9mm JHP ammo available at my gunshop, Super Vel comes to mind. Anyone remember Super Vel?
Thank goodness 9mm ammo has evolved since then. 
Obviously, that was many years ago, I’m older and now find I can get more hits on target, faster and more accurately with my 9mm handguns.
Getting old ain’t for sissies. 
I own several 9mm’s and several .45’s. The last thing I’m ever concerned about is which one I walk out the door wearing.
I love that line, too!
Sorry if this was a duplicate post. I searched a few different ways and didn’t see this video.
Some guys I know are hosting Paul in Indiana here soon, it’s one of the times I still wish I was in that state.
This pendulum swings back and forth from generation to generation. In the 80s the 9mm was king. Wonder nines were dominant until the Miami shoot out then they pushed .40 as the solution. Then the ban came and everybody swung back to .45 because they figured hell, if you are down to 10 shots you might as well make them count. The war came along and everybody clamored for .45s. Then the ban went away and everybody was so tickled they could by high caps again people started buying bullet hoses again. It will never end.
The .40 is probably the answer which is funny because I don’t own a single .40.
Ya…so what happened to that superduper .40…? I have yet to see a single person do a 3-day class with it.
Bottom line: because - “In today’s economy”…(talk about a dead horse…)…and ballistics being a tossup sort of with shot-placement being more of a determining factor, I say its about what you can afford to shoot.
Meaning - what are you proficient with. Which takes XXXX amt. of rounds/week/month/year.
Anyone cared to price 2K rds of .40SW or .45ACP lately?
That super duper .40 pretty much took over law enforcement, that’s what. It has never been popular with civilians for the reasons you outline. Frankly, I suspect a lot of the reason for the 9’s poularity comes down to economics more than effectiveness. As an aside, I nearly always use .45 in class. I took one of Gomez’ classes with a .45 Officer’s model which I was told would not make it through the class (it did).
We issue .40 and its what I carry off duty. I’ve been through several 3+ day classes with mine. Price wise, I buy it buy the case through the state contract so its not an issue for me.
Spot on!
The pistol cartridge paradigm shift that resulted from the “Miami Shootout” was grievously misguided. A handgun is not a primary weapon. Training, tactics and tools, more specifically the lack thereof, should have been the focus of the AAR. Gomez’s assertion that modern ammunition of different calibers is engineered to be equal is just crazy.
Can you elaborate on this? After shot placement, penetration is the most important factor when talking about handgun ammo IMO. So if 9, 40 and 45 are loaded to penetrate to more or less the same depth what is so crazy about it?
If he’s talking specifically about pistol calibers, I believe what he’s saying has merit. The science of defensive handgun ammo has improved significantly over the past 25 years. We now have low flash, low recoil loads with bonded core bullets engineered for maximum penetration and expansion within a pre-determined velocity range. We even have loads that are specifically designed for short barrel applications.
Typical handgun velocities are not high enough to rely on temporary wound cavity as a factor in effectiveness. When comparing the permanent wound cavities between the most common defensive calibers, there’s not much difference. So long as you’re using top shelf defensive ammo, which caliber you carry (within reason) is nothing to be concerned with.
a handgun IS a primary if that’s all you have available. but the FBI response to the .38SPL 158gr RNL, and 9MM was the 10MM. too much of a good thing recoil wise and for the hands of smaller shooters. and from that we got the .40S&W which some now like but I personally don’t.
maybe Gomez’s assertion (if you quote it correctly) is not spot on but I have to assume that EVERY caliber of modern ammunition is engineered to be optimum for that caliber and so the resulting difference between them is not significant? that seems reasonable given the testing that has occurred…
I shot a 3 day class with my M&P40 full size just this past March. No problems at all.
Ammo cost? You gotta pay to play I guess.
My only observation is that cost-wise, .45acp and .40SW are pretty much the same.
Considering the availability of high(er) capacity .45acp platforms I wonder what .40SW delivers over 45acp.
Next - 9mm at an average of $5 per 50 rounds cheaper than above mentioned, that would make playing with 45acp/40sw quite a spendy proposition. Average 3-day class at 1500/200 rounds, would be a $150 -$200 difference.
Not exactly chum-change.
It is something seriously to consider, if one plans on maintaining a certain level of proficiency. So it’s good there are more affordable and equally viable ammo available, for those of us with a limited budget.
I think we’re all on limited budgets. I ain’t made of money either. As much as I want a 1911 45 I don’t have one because the $1400 disposable dollars aren’t available at the moment.
I’m just saying we all have made certain gear choices for whatever our reasons were. We all looked at ballistic tables or whatever and bought certain guns and calibers based on what we felt was best and what we shoot well. I went 40 and there’s a certain cost to shooting that I’ve decided to absorb.
Nothing against the other calibers at all. This is a pretty spend pursuit regardless .
