Is 9MM good enough to bet your life on?

[Jcon268]

For me the choice of 9mm really boils down to capacity and how cheap it is to shoot. Shooting is a perishable skill. I like to put at least 500 rounds down range a month at an absolute minimum to keep the rust from building up. That's much easier to stomach with 9mm with cost per round. My CZ P09 also holds 21 rounds per mag. I'm over 60 rounds with 3 mags or 40 with 2. Loaded up with hollow points I'm not too worried about "stopping power" because I'm likely going to hit something vital if I keep the shooting sharp.

 

[StacattoP]

 

[Duge]

I met this guy a while back, he had a glass eye. I asked him how he lost his eye, he told me he was on pcp and raging towards some guy. The guy pulled his pistol and dumped a magazine at his torso, he showed me the scars from all the bullet wounds. When the mag was empty and pcp guy was still coming, he pistol whipped him in the eye. I can't remember what caliber round he said it was so this story isn't super helpful. Just a crazy story.

 

[Ratfink]

I think, from personal experience, shot placement is everything. Practice, practice, then practice some more.
Each year I line up with retiree's for my Federal Concealed Carry qual and hear these old farts talk about how "haven't taken this gun out since last years qual" or "I really need to clean this thing after shooting the last couple years" etc...That's scary

 

[Certaindeaf]

I think, from personal experience, shot placement is everything. Practice, practice, then practice some more.
Each year I line up with retiree's for my Federal Concealed Carry qual and hear these old farts talk about how "haven't taken this gun out since last years qual" or "I really need to clean this thing after shooting the last couple years" etc...That's scary

Ain't nobody got time fo dat.. this is why everyone buys an 18 shot 9mm so they can just hose the general area.

 

[Ratfink]

Pray n spray

 

[bbbass]

Seconds later I had my gun in hand and, with training taking over, I cleared my house and made my way outside (training again) to find a position of cover and concealment with movement opportunity as opposed to being cornered in my house somewhere. I do NOT buy off on the often espoused 'safe room' idea - but then I have a a lot of room outside and places to go - and conceal - if necessary.

Leaving a secure area for an unsecure area....

Stated advantages = space to move and places to hide/conceal
Risks = unknown number of assailants, ambush by BG helpers

I'll stick with my secure area and be the one doing the ambushing...

 

[CLT65]

BUT, what caliber actually killed that horse? Can 9mm be relied upon to consistently stop an attacking horse? What if there are multiple horses, in a gang, and they're on drugs?!

 

[American123]

I met this guy a while back, he had a glass eye. I asked him how he lost his eye, he told me he was on pcp and raging towards some guy. The guy pulled his pistol and dumped a magazine at his torso, he showed me the scars from all the bullet wounds. When the mag was empty and pcp guy was still coming, he pistol whipped him in the eye. I can't remember what caliber round he said it was so this story isn't super helpful. Just a crazy story.

So really the best pistol for self defense is one that is good at eye pokes

 

[Rickenbacher39]

I can see it in 100 years.
Someone somewhere posts the ultimate question;
"Is the 9 watt phased pulse semi-auto good enough to bet your life on"?
Everyone jumps in with "No, only the 40 watt is good enough"!
Ten minutes later a bunch of folks chime in with "Are you kidding? A 45 watt
is the only one a real man would think of carrying".
Some thoughts have a half life of 20,000 years.
As for me, I will be carrying a belt fed, battery operated, remote controlled, 10,000 watt
4 barrelled Pepper-box. Concealment is a challenge though.
The fact that it will rip your arm off when you shoot it is of little consequence.
I had the biggest gun..........I won.

 

[CRBMoA]

Too bad we don't have some large, invasive species of animal in our necka' the woods (like hogs in Texas) we could go shoot indiscriminately for weapons testing - and some good eatin' !!

Actually, we do have hogs.

 

[G1GRANDEUR]

carry what you are comfortable with, not what other people tell you to carry.

anything is better than nothing.

 

[Jcon268]

BUT, what caliber actually killed that horse? Can 9mm be relied upon to consistently stop an attacking horse? What if there are multiple horses, in a gang, and they're on drugs?!

It's rather clear the horse was beaten dead with a baseball bat or some piece of wood shaped like one. This is why we need common sense baseball bat control.

 

[RVTECH]

Risks = unknown number of assailants, ambush by BG helpers

assailants ? ambush?

I guarantee you when experiencing the real thing you most likely won't be considering scenes out of action/adventure movies.

I was fairly certain however it was just the one person as he fled immediately out my back door when he saw me.

To be accurate however after clearing the house I called 911 and explained what had taken place. I informed the person I was heading out to my front deck and would wait there until the LEO arrived. This gave me a clear view of the front of my property as well as concealment should the person come from around the back to the front - as I would have been able to see him and he would not have been able to see me. I could have also left the deck if necessary and easily made my way off my property to the road or to the woods.

Long story short when LEO arrived I signaled them with my flashlight and they exited their vehicle and two started walking up my driveway. When they got close enough they asked if I was (name) to which I acknowledged and they asked I clear my weapon.

Another LEO vehicle pulled up and when the two were about about halfway up the driveway (50 yards approx.) I heard a loud yell 'Stay on the ground!" and the two turned and ran back to join the other LEOs who had a canine and it discovered the guy hiding in my neighbors yard laying down near his fence line and they all drew down on the guy.

I'll stick with my secure area and be the one doing the ambushing...

The decision to stay in a secure area or leave might be predicated on the current situation.
If there are multiple family members to protect then staying is probably the right decision.
If one is in poor physical condition, infirm or elderly then staying in place is probably the best thing to do.

However I am by myself, in pretty good physical condition AND I prefer to be out where I can move quickly if necessary as opposed to being boxed in or backed in to a corner.

 

[Jcon268]

I think the original question was "is 9mm good enough to bet your life on?"

It seems the answer is yes, given you've trained properly with one and take into account ammo selection, etc.

We sure do get off topic quick around here - we're not doing caliber wars here folks.

 

[RVTECH]

Actually, we do have hogs.

Ever seen one?

I have - ONE - about 30 years ago that was shot by a guy who was deer hunting north of Redmond.
Since then I have never seen any more and I live in the middle of one of the 'Red' areas.
I have heard a couple unverified stories of them being seen but nothing more.

A couple years ago I read a pretty good story in Northwest Sportsman magazine and it debunked a lot of 'myths' about the hogs in Oregon.

There were at one time some scattered hogs throughout Oregon and estimated to be a few thousand. Most became 'feral' partly due to escapes from ranches as well as the ones that were brought in for illegal hunts on private land escaping as well.

In the last 10 years or so the ODFW has been aggressively hunting them by air and have estimated the remaining population to be about 200 and are scattered from South Central Oregon to California. The story mentioned the majority of the feral hogs had congregated onto private land and this made the eradication efforts much easier as these animals seemed to want to stay in tight groups and not 'range' out such as the hogs do in Texas or other states where they have high numbers of them. Oregon's environment and weather is also not conducive to supporting large numbers of hogs as well.

 

[CRBMoA]

Ever seen one?

In the flesh, no.

One of my former employees runs cattle in Sherman county. Her SO enjoyed aerial hog hunting. TBH, I got tired of the videos.

I did not say we are overrun with them, but I also did not produce that map.

Peace.

 

[Geardo]

Ain't nobody got time fo dat.. this is why everyone buys an 18 shot 9mm so they can just hose the general area.

Screw your general direction!

 

[MannyGlocks]

9mm is what our armed forces and law enforcement use, must have some merit...

 

[titsonritz]

^^^Pretty much.

Bottom line, all handgun rounds suck, but their launchers are handy.