Handgun - Knockdown Power vs Concealment

Oh boy!

Youre gonna get a lotttttttt of bullshite answers.

I like horsepower. I have a 357sig which is a little bit more than 9mm +p+ and I wish it was a 357 magnum.

.40 gets lots of hate around here but i like it with warm loads. I dont like 9mm.

16 in the clip and 1 in the hole, Nate dogg is about to make some bodies turn cold.

Concealment and comfort are based on the individuals body size and type

Knock down can be acheived with a .22 if the shot is properly placed

The key here is carry whatever caliber is the most comfortable to the individual and practice, practice, practice

“Knockdown power” is a myth created by Hollywood movies literally knocking down people with a shotgun blast. None of that would happen in real life. And while I get that using the term “knockdown power” casually doesn’t necessarily imply this blatant ignoring of the laws of physics, it perpetuates bad information.

The terms you’re looking for are “muzzle energy” and “terminal performance.” Both more accurately describe how defensive rounds can incapacitate and “knock down” an attacker by causing blood loss, bone breakage, or damage to the central nervous system.

As for your question pertaining to .40 and .45, I’ll tell you what I tell all my students in my concealed carry classes - 9mm Luger, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP all pretty much do the same thing given you’re using tested and proven hollowpoint ammunition. One is light and fast, one is heavy and slow, and the other splits the difference. As for 12 gauge, it is certainly way above your standard handgun service rounds for terminal performance.

As for my personal preference, I carry 9mm for two main reasons: higher capacity and faster follow-up shots. As others have mentioned, it’s far better to learn to put shots quickly onto a silhouette target than to only shoot a bullseye with something like a 44 magnum. While the fundamentals of accurately shooting a handgun are important, for defensive handgun use it’s better to be fast and relatively accurate. Ultimate precision doesn’t matter as much as long as you’re hitting your target - I don’t care if I hit the left ventricle of someone’s heart, I would just prefer to hit them center-of-mass.

Sorry for the rant and you may have not meant it exactly how I presented it. Thanks for bringing up the topic.

Find something that naturally fits you, shoot it as much as you can, pray that you are never in that .0005% that has to use it. Knockdown doesn't really matter because no one likes to get shot.

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Now, thinking of upgrading for home protection

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I wouldn't think you'd want a howitzer firing inside your home.. one miss and you hurt someone you love on the other side of the wall

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held 12 in the clip

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It’s a magazine, not a clip.

As was noted by the first reply to your query, you've received an array of responses - much of which you might wish to ignore.

The FBI has studied this in depth. The FBI has adopted the 9mm handgun (Glock) as its default weapon to issue to agents. Here are the results of their study, along with their rationale:

FBI Study

For the TL;DR crowd, here are the conclusions from the FBI study:

CONCLUSION
While some law enforcement agencies have transitioned to larger calibers from the 9mm Luger in recent years, they do so at the expense of reduced magazine capacity, more felt recoil, and given adequate projectile selection, with no discernible increase in terminal performance.

Other law enforcement organizations seem to be making the move back to 9mm Luger taking advantage of the new technologies which are being applied to 9mm Luger projectiles. These organizations are providing their armed personnel the best chance of surviving a deadly force encounter since they can expect faster and more accurate shot strings, higher magazine capacities (similar sized weapons) and all of the terminal performance which can be expected from any law enforcement caliber projectile.


Just the FBI's $.02 worth.