40 S&W v. 357 Sig v. 9mm v. 380 for CC gun

[watchcollector1968]

Obviously 9mm, 40sw and 45 would be more effective than the 380, all else being equal...

You may have enough experience to know this, but I will toss it out anyways. Some of these larger caliber guns can be almost as small as the tiniest 380s but can be a real bear to shoot meaning you may not practice as much just to avoid the misery of shooting it.

My wife had a Kel-Tec 9mm and after a couple of times at the range she just would not shoot it...it got to be pretty painful. My Ruger LCP is not bad at all and much easier to practice with...its only a 380, but the more you can practice with something the better.

 

[hullxsm]

Really appreciate the round table so far. I am a Beretta fan and have several. I am looking at the Cougar and found a few in .40 and a couple in .357 Sig. Since my Storm is a .40, my thought is share the ammo instead of buying a new caliber. My .380 is the F84 which I purchased to CC but am not confident enough to carry. I can shoot the Storm more accurately. Looking over ballastic information it looks like the 357 Sig is going to be more than I would like to be responsible for if (when) it passes through.

 

[nofearfactor]

.40 is a great compromise between .45 and 9mm and ammo is easy to find.

I shoot 9mm because my first semi auto as a kid was a Beretta 92F that my dad gave to me and I'm used to it. Ive bought many .40s and a couple of .45s over the years but stick with 9mm because Ive shot it alot and am good with it. When the ammo shortage was at its worst I could still always find some 9mm. I only have 9mm's now but I never rule out buying a .40 or a .45 if its a good deal.

 

[WhiteyMacD]

Really appreciate the round table so far. I am a Beretta fan and have several. I am looking at the Cougar and found a few in .40 and a couple in .357 Sig. Since my Storm is a .40, my thought is share the ammo instead of buying a new caliber. My .380 is the F84 which I purchased to CC but am not confident enough to carry. I can shoot the Storm more accurately. Looking over ballastic information it looks like the 357 Sig is going to be more than I would like to be responsible for if (when) it passes through.

Stick with .40. Its a great round with a pretty cool history.

Since youde be sharing ammo, you will see some savings over buying a caliber you dont already own. But again, in firearms, what *IS* savings? What we save usually goes to buy more.

 

[hullxsm]

Stick with .40. Its a great round with a pretty cool history.

Since youde be sharing ammo, you will see some savings over buying a caliber you dont already own. But again, in firearms, what *IS* savings? What we save usually goes to buy more.

Very true. The last three purchases I made were followed by the mental note "OK. This is the last one I need. I don't need another gun. However I do need a holster for this one and I could use some extra mags for the range. Those laser grips sure look cool....."

 

[Blitzfike]

I once asked a coroner what he saw in damage to victims of shootings as to large caliber/small caliber and the amount of damage. He told me that in his experience, any bullet did major destruction to internal organs and tissues. He had seen 22 and 25 caliber wounds that had damage way out of proportion to what some of the experts claimed. He had also seen cases where large high power bullets just plowed straight through doing little damage. His opinion was that any caliber was devistating to the human body. I personally carry everything from 25acp to 45 acp as a ccw. My main carry gun is eigher a Beretta in 25acp or a Keltec PF9 in 9mm. I do practice often with all the weapons that I carry. I have two pistols that I have 357 sig conversion barrels for so I can shoot 40 or 357 sig by choice. I also have a 400 corbon conversion for one of my 1911's. That gives me the same power as a 10MM but in a 45acp case length. Lots of options out there. Blitz

 

[ruger461]

IMHO the 357 Sig is not really a good choice for cc. It is fairly snappy in a gun of cc size which will keep you off target longer. If confronted in a situation you will need to use it in your ears will be bleeding after the first shot. This is doubbly true if used in any confined place. It is by far the loudest handgun round I have seen. More of a scream than a boom(if that makes sense) My ears ring after a trip to the range where I AM weraing my ear protection. Also if used at night it has an awesome muzzle flash. This is going to play heck with your night eyes. Those last two points may work in your favor though. I seem to remember reading once that the mere sound of a gun being fired at an attacker can be devistating and demoralizing even when it doesn't hit. I carry a G27 and can do pretty well with it, cant say about the others because I only have full size guns in those calibers. Hope that helps.

 

[hullxsm]

I personally carry everything from 25acp to 45 acp as a ccw. My main carry gun is eigher a Beretta in 25acp or a Keltec PF9 in 9mm. I do practice often with all the weapons that I carry. Blitz

I was very pleased to hear the above as I too carry a variety of calibers from .25acp to 9mm depends on my activity and wardrobe. Usually people say they carry 9mm or 45acp. I thouhgt I was the odd-ball. The coroner's input is interesting. I guess it comes back to an earlier post that any caliber placed well can cause damage. I decided against the .357 sig and will go with the .40 S&W. Thanks for all the insight and comments.

now for another question on the CC forum about holsters.....

 

[criticalbass]

.25 has a horrible reputation in the gun community. The coroner's information would likely not include what the victim may have been capable of accomplishing after being shot with that, or a .22.

Certainly a well placed shot from anything can be instantly disabling, and a little gun is a whole lot better than a harsh word, but there are .380s not much larger than the usual .25 offerings. Even with those, I recommend ball only for adequate penetration.

Back to the original intent of the thread, my recommendation is the .40 because of ammo availability, less flash, less over penetration, and I suspect more reliable feeding (maybe I'm wrong, but bottleneck cartridges seem to present the occasional problem). CB

 

[Nraman]

and you can even get an aftermarket barrel such as the Lone Wolf that converts the G-32 to 9mm so you can have cheap practice.

My experience with Lone Wolf has been disappointing.
My recommendation is a G27 .40 or a G33 357Sig and a factory barrel for the other caliber. The Glock factory barrels are the best if you plan to use factory ammo. If you plan to reload the 40 I would recommend a KKM barrel that has more case support in the chamber. In 357 the factory barrel is fine with reloads, it is very well supported.