9mm Para. vs. .45ACP
This is probably a very argued topic but which round has more knockdown power.Nothing to do with recoil,comfort,placement,or accuracy just plain in simple which round has more knockdown power.
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.45 has the edge. 0 -
Ditto on select. the 40 is right up there with the 45 acording to some site that had terminal balistics from some study in africa where they had actual shooting's to determin performance. 0 -
I have to agree- .45. You're taking a relatively large bullet (around 200gr.) moving pretty slow (800-1000fps) and when it hits, almost all of the available energy is absorbed. With the 9mm, A relatively small bullet(around 120gr)and that suckers moving 1200-1500fps or so. It usually passes through the target quickly and most of the energy is not absorbed. I've never shot anyone or anything other than targets with either cartridge, so i'm just passing on what i've been told. There is a formula to calculate energy. I think it's something like bullet weight X velocity (fps) divided by 1000=energy, but i'm not sure. Maybe someone else knows. 0 -
GPWEAPON.. he was comparing the 9mm to the .45. Your 40 wasn't in the question. I personally like the 9mm. Get off more shots with less recoil. 0 -
Dano,
Let's let this board ignore being politically correct! Ha Ha
cbxjeffIt's too late for me, save yourself.0 -
Easy to answer. When you get into trouble you never wish you had a SMALLER gun. And when people are shot they don't get knocked down. Often they just blink and run off. Stopping with any handgun is asking a LOT. 50% of those shot in the heart will survive and if the heart is destroyed you could have up to a minute or more to deal with a person. Dead people can talk and KILL. 0 -
.45 nuff said 0 -
The Dept. of Justice has studied what you're asking--they haven't called it "knock-down"; the term they use is "Relative Incapacitation" ('RI" for short).
I won't relate all the complicated criteria involved in making RI tests, but I will tell you that many 9mm 115 grain, or lighter, rounds have been demonstrated to have a higher RI rating than most 45 auto rounds.
Speed kills--or perhaps I should say "speed incapacitates." Faster bullets can create the "shock waves" in the body that can stop the heart, interfere with breathing, rupture the spleen, etc., better than slower bullets.
When it comes to bullets, "bigger" is not always better.0 -
Kind of like asking which is better transportation, the yugo or the Cadilac? Despite all the hype about various 9MM bullets, they are just trying to play catch-up to the .45.
Quod principi placuit legis habet vigorem.Semper Fidelis0 -
I'm a 45 guy all the way, but those who point out that handguns
are "iffy" when it comes to stopping power are right. The only certain stop on any large critter is one to the central nervous
system, a small target which, though sure, is difficult to hit.
That's why they all teach double taps to center mass. If you are going to target an area as vague as center mass is going to be under
stress, you will need the broadest area (diameter) and the maximum
thump. Kinetic energy figures, the kind you see in reloading manuals,
are skewed in favor of velocity (v squared). Velocity really works at rifle levels (2800-3300 fps) but at pistol speeds what,s the real difference between a 115 gr 9mm at 1250 fps and a 230 gr 45 ACP at
900 fps? Mass, weight, diameter and momentum, all in favor of the 45.
Would you rather be hit with 9mm or a 45?0 -
Let's see if I remember this right:
K.E. in Ft. Lbs. = Mass in grains x Speed in ft/s squared /448,000.
So a 115 grain 9mm @ 1120 fps = 322 footpounds.
230 grain .45ACP @ 850 fps = 371 footpounds.
for further reference,
180 grain .40S&W @ 990 fps = 394 footpounds.
158 grain .357Mag. @ 1235 fps = 538 footpounds.
240 grain .44Mag. @ 1180 fps = 746 footpounds.
and just for giggles,
125 grain .357Sig @ 1350 fps = 509 footpounds.0
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