I am not exactly sure what your even trying to say here but with bullet designs being equal there is nothing that the 40 can do that a .45 can't do better. Like I said, I have two .40's in the house and I like them fine. I would trust them for sure in the protection of my family.
I used to believe that as well, but some of the FBI testing showed an advantage to the higher speed and sectional density combination of the then modified 10 mm in certain "barrier" situations. In geeral, I would say the differences between the two are statistically insignificant, and if one is better it is not clear cut that it is the .45. FWIW, I own 9mm, .40, .357, .45 plus a few others. I think guns get lonely if not kept in groups.
Stopping power comes down to shock to the body, under or over penetration, and the size of the wound channel. The larger the wound channel the more blood rushes in to fill the area and the faster the animal or person will drop. This is exactly the reason ball ammo for pistols are a poor choice as they have little or no expansion and create a small wound channel. Over penetration is why you don't' want to use a 454 casull with soft points in your house unless you have loaded them way down. Sure the perp is gonna die but you might also take out your kid in the next room.
I am guessing you are a hunter, and as such I am sure you have seen a deer hit solidly in some cases run a bit before dropping and in other cases instantly collapse. The physiology behind the difference is not well understood, but recent study is pointing towards CNS damage caused by a preasure spike traveling through body fluids. See the work by the Courtney husband and wife team from Harvard and MIT that have been investigating this for a few years. (
http://www.btgresearch.org/index.htm)
Bleeding into the wound cavity is fatal, but can take quite a bit of time. That is OK for most hunting but not for self defense.
The comment on the ball thing is the Army is forced to use ball ammo, so their handguns are useless no matter what caliber they are. They chose to use 9 mm to standardize across NATO. In other words, unlike the choices made by police, the choices made by the army are largely irrelevant to civilian self defense.
You strike me as the type who just likes to argue the other side like another person in this forum who shall remain nameless (Jerry)
That's fine if you do but just don't assume that others here don't also have some knowledge of the subject at hand.
I am not assuming others here have no knowledge, there is clearly quite a bit of knowledge. I just disagree with some of the opinions and conclusions. And yes I like to argue, but I truly believe in the side I am taking, not arguing just for sport (in this case)
I do know that many, many hunters hunt with much more gun that is needed for the game they are after. You don't really need a .300 win mag for deer unless your taking shots past 500 yards. More deer have been killed in this country with a 30/30 than probably all other rounds combined.
There are good reasons to choose a heavier than necessary caliber, but there are also good reasons why an experienced shooter can effectively harvest deer with a .22. The skill and self discipline necessary to have a high percentage of quick kills with a .22 don't apply to self defense like they do hunting. That was my point. The hunter can take his time to precisely place the shot, and if he can't put it exactly where he wants it, he can let the deer go and wait for another, better opportunity. If someone breaks into my house, I can't decide to let him pass and wait until I have an intruder who presents a clear shot. I need to take whatever shot I can and hope it is good enough.
In summary of my point, If it were legal and I had the motivation to, I could kill a deer with just about any caliber. I could also KILL (murder?) a person with any caliber, but when it comes to effectively stopping someone quickly, in less than ideal conditions, I am going to be much more selective about my firearm and ammo. It is my opinion, based on a lot of research by others, that there is a small but significant benefit to selecting a more powerful cartridge than 9mm, be it .40, .45 or one of the .357's. It is also my experience that even a smallish woman can easily handle any of these calibers with a little training and a properly fitting gun.
