The 9mm

rbsivley

I was reading a gun rag today and the ads are flooded with 9mm handguns. I've never owned one and wouldn't consider one if I was in the market for a handgun but I guess they're popular.

Linefinder

Consider it somewhat between a .38 Spl and .357 Mag though closer (and a bit better ballistically) to the the .38 Spl.

Projectile choices, however, leave the competitors in the dirt. The 9mm  has many more. 

A .44 Mag is always a great choice, unless you don't care to stuff a 3 lb handgun down your pants.

I'm thinking I'm okay with a 9.

Mike

earlyagain

In the past, poor bullet choices and factory loadings of insufficient velocity caused some unreliable performance. Or so Ive read. Today's modern bullets and loadings seem to have given the little cartridge the perfect balance of size and performance with many LE agencies opting for it more so than other choices. Ammunition price is also a big plus.

Spk

I've kinda notice things seem to happen in cycles. I remember when Beretta was fighting for a military contract and the 9mm was the answer to everyone's prayer but then it fell out of favor in the civilian market so the .40 stepped up to filled the void and became the new great caliber but it to had trouble getting a foothold and then the .357 Sig popped up but didn't really catch on. The 400 Corbon poked it head up briefly but fell flat. The .38 Super tried to make a comeback beyond just competition circles, no dice. The .45 regained some popularity when all the talk about the military searching for a new Pistol/Cartridge combo but the military decided on the 9mm.

Now we seem to be back again. I don't blame those in marketing, they're doing their jobs. Sell, sell, sell.

I just take those adds with a grain of salt.

Zee

earlyagain said:

Or so Ive read.

And THIS.......my friends..........is a key reason for resurgent popularity. 

(and cheap bean counters)

I am about to forcibly become well acquainted with the 9mm. 

Ain’t by choice. But, I promise you, whatever opinion I form will NOT be from something I’ve read. 

:popcorn:

Zee

But, after years and years with the “snappy” .40cal.............I’m gonna be a ROCK STAR on the range with a 9!!!

😁

:ajoke:

Gene L

I've got a couple of 1911s just because.  They're good pistols for combat, no so good for everyday carry; for me, they're range guns, too heavy for me to lug around and fairly difficult to conceal.  So a 9mm is the most powerful SD round I carry. Since I'm 74 years old and have never had occasion to defend my life with a handgun and almost certainly never will, I will carry what pleases me most without regard to one-shot stopping power.  You might say I carry for fun.  I now carry either the 9mm Sig 365, a PPK .380, or a PPK .32 ACP.  If I were in a urban combat zone, I'd up the ante a bit, maybe, but maybe not. 

Uncle Fester

How many of them were for compact and/or subcompact pistols?  

Thanks to modern concealed handgun laws, people are avoiding big guns like the Beretta 92 and buying a ton of guns that can be easily concealed.  With small guns forcing capacity/size constraints, the 9mm is a good choice.

earlyagain

Zee said:

earlyagain said:

Or so Ive read.

And THIS.......my friends..........is a key reason for resurgent popularity. 

(and cheap bean counters)

I am about to forcibly become well acquainted with the 9mm. 

Ain’t by choice. But, I promise you, whatever opinion I form will NOT be from something I’ve read. 

:popcorn:

Well....
If I ever actually shot a 9mm I don't remember it. So...... I read about instead.😋

JasonMPD

I've seen 9mm do the job and not do the job--at least not always in a timely manner.  And I've seen the same dichotomy from 40, and 45.  Seen it with 223/5.56, too; and that one by my own doing.

If the interwebs could somehow market inexpensive shot placement we'd have a good bit more room temperature bad guys.  But shot placement is a skill and that takes ammo and range time and that takes money AND time.

JerryBobCo

I had a Ruger P97DC chambered in .45 ACP (is there any other chambering?  Probably not.).

I liked it.  It gave me flawless performance, I could shoot it well, but it was way too heavy for concealed carry.

So, I traded it on a Kahr 9mm CPW 9mm.  The Kahr is ok, but I don't shoot it that well.  It's a whole lot more convenient for carry, though.  I figure a 9 tucked away inside my waist band provides a whole lot more protection than a 45 left at home.

In other words, it all boils down to intended use.

GunNut

Zee said:

But, after years and years with the “snappy” .40cal.............I’m gonna be a ROCK STAR on the range with a 9!!!

😁

:ajoke:

Can we have some video?  I've seen what you can do with the snappy .40.  I'd like to see you running a 9mm like it's a .22 

GunNut

JerryBobCo said:

I had a Ruger P97DC chambered in .45 ACP (is there any other chambering?  Probably not.).

I liked it.  It gave me flawless performance, I could shoot it well, but it was way too heavy for concealed carry.

So, I traded it on a Kahr 9mm CPW 9mm.  The Kahr is ok, but I don't shoot it that well.  It's a whole lot more convenient for carry, though.  I figure a 9 tucked away inside my waist band provides a whole lot more protection than a 45 left at home.

In other words, it all boils down to intended use.

I keep going back and forth on this.  I've been carrying a Kahr .40 AIWB for months now and it is a peach of a CC gun.  BUT I recently decided to start doing the same with my Kimber Ultra Raptor and I'll be dammed, no one has noticed I switched to a bigger gun and I shoot the Kimber 10X better than the tiny Kahr.  It's a little heavier and bigger but not enough to make me wish for the Kahr.  

rbsivley

I qualified on the Army combat pistol range with the 92. I'm still carrying a full size 1911 on a daily bases.

Diver43

rbsivley said:

I qualified on the Army combat pistol range with the 92. I'm still carrying a full size 1911 on a daily bases.

Isn't America Great?  We all get to make choices.

Carrying a full size 1911 in South Florida wearing t-shirt, shorts, and flip flops may be difficult though.

Spk

Here's some good news. Soldiers are liking the new M17 MHS by Sig.

And some even better news.

The primary service round for the MHS will be the new M1153 9mm special purpose cartridge, a 147-grain, jacketed hollow point for improved terminal performance.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/10/22/armys-new-service-pistol-getting-rave-reviews-range.html?ESRC=eb_191023.nl

ilove22s

when i first got into guns, my 1st is a 22LR rifle.

Then my 2nd gun was a 44 mag revolver.

Back then i made a conscience choice to make a list of what i wanted long term and stuck with it.

no such thing as 40 Short and Wimpy, but there was the Bren 10, Miami Vice at that time, so the 10 was added to fill that void along with the 9.

Since i did my homework and figured out the 45ACP was a good round, but it was strictly a USA round, not many chances  of finding many guns outside of the USA made for the 45 back then.  

So i opted to add more calibers at that time including the 9, 10mm, 357 mag, 44 Mag, 45LC and some others just so i wouldnt get board with my collecting and collect.

If the 9 is making a resurgence, then its nothing new to me.  I still have alot of toys in various calibers to keep a smile on my face including the 22LR

rbsivley

Diver43 said:

rbsivley said:

I qualified on the Army combat pistol range with the 92. I'm still carrying a full size 1911 on a daily bases.

Isn't America Great?  We all get to make choices.

Carrying a full size 1911 in South Florida wearing t-shirt, shorts, and flip flops may be difficult though.

America is great and we all have choices.  

Bigslug

I've seen deer die by .30-06 and .45-70.  I've seen Zee's vids of hog dispatches with handguns.  It seems to take them about the same amount of time to end up on the ground regardless of what you shoot them with, provided you shoot them about the same.

Consequence - as a long-time .45 guy, I now fall pretty firmly into the bigger ain't automatically better camp. 9mm with bullet that penetrates - ideally with some crush & tear action - will suit me fine.

Gene L

Yeah, I've go more 9s than 45s and carry them more often.  I've not got a killer instinct, and don't much care if a larger caliber handgun is a one-shot pistol. A .45 is a good pistol if you're willing to carry the weight, but a whole lot of bad people don't want to get shot with a .32.  My objective is not to kill anyone necessarily, but to stop the threat.

BAMAAK

GunNut said:

Zee said:

But, after years and years with the “snappy” .40cal.............I’m gonna be a ROCK STAR on the range with a 9!!!

😁

:ajoke:

Can we have some video?  I've seen what you can do with the snappy .40.  I'd like to see you running a 9mm like it's a .22  :

My 9mm pcc literally does shoot like a .22. When i shoot 100 grain 380 bullets out of it you would think it was a .22.  My times between the .22 and 9mm are almost identical.  1.6 seconds difference over a 39 string match.  Only difference is the weight.

GunNut

BAMAAK said:

My 9mm pcc literally does shoot like a .22. When i shoot 100 grain 380 bullets out of it you would think it was a .22.  My times between the .22 and 9mm are almost identical.  1.6 seconds difference over a 39 string match.  Only difference is the weight.

That sounds like fun!

jbp-ohio

The AWB had a big hand in the .40 gaining traction. If you can only have 10, they might as well be 10 bigger rounds.

When the AWB expired it swung the other way. You can get 2, 3, 4 more rounds with a 9mm

earlyagain

Staggered column magazines have also slimmed down, improving carry and handling.

BAMAAK

GunNut said:

BAMAAK said:

My 9mm pcc literally does shoot like a .22. When i shoot 100 grain 380 bullets out of it you would think it was a .22.  My times between the .22 and 9mm are almost identical.  1.6 seconds difference over a 39 string match.  Only difference is the weight.

That sounds like fun!

It is, PCC has become a big thing in competition.  The "peak" times or time you have to shoot to become a Grand Master is the same for PCC and .22 rifles.  Rimfire still wins most speed steel matches but PCC is often in the top 3 or 4.  My daughter shoots pcc faster usually.

GunNut

BAMAAK said:

GunNut said:

BAMAAK said:

My 9mm pcc literally does shoot like a .22. When i shoot 100 grain 380 bullets out of it you would think it was a .22.  My times between the .22 and 9mm are almost identical.  1.6 seconds difference over a 39 string match.  Only difference is the weight.

That sounds like fun!

It is, PCC has become a big thing in competition.  The "peak" times or time you have to shoot to become a Grand Master is the same for PCC and .22 rifles.  Rimfire still wins most speed steel matches but PCC is often in the top 3 or 4.  My daughter shoots pcc faster usually.

That’s awesome!