which is better?

[llama.45]

9mm or 38 special?

what do yall think?

[Marlin]

I have both but like the 9mm best with Personal Protection HP ammo, because of greater capacity, if needed. My CCW 9mm is a Browning Hi-Power with 15 round mags, Browning made/sanctioned under license.

I have a Smith Model 60 as a back-up with Personal Protection HPs. Carry it on the ankle, when wearing long pants!

[Neil]

I have had both for ccw, but I liked the balistics of the .38spl. but when it all comes down to it either will keep you alive.

[Tony Mig]

I voted for the tried and true .38 Spl. The .38 has a much wider range in regaurds to bullet weight & design, and a larger case capactiy for a wider variety of powders from Bullseye fast, to 2400 slow.
A much more versitile cartridge, and with good marksmanship and a well placed round, it'll do it's job..

[IShootBack]

Originally Posted by llama.45

9mm or 38 special?

what do yall think?

For What?

[inplanotx]

I'm with ISB here. Pray tell us what and why you want a comparison. One is .355 and the other is .357. What is it you really want to know?

[llama.45]

for a self defense round

[inplanotx]

What are you looking for, stopping power or spray and pray power?

[Xracer]

Do you prefer a semi-auto or a wheelgun?

In a semi-auto.....obviously, 9mm.

In a revolver.....obviously, .38 Special.

(Yeah, yeah, I know. There a few autos that take .38 Spl. and a few revolvers that take 9mm....but the 9 is primarily a pistol cartridge and the 38 is primarily a revolver cartridge.)

Just cartridge vs. cartridge......38 Special. Greater case capacity, much larger bullet selection, and inherently more accurate.

[147 Grain]

9mm's easy recoil and rapid-fire make it a better caliber.

Load it up with.........

* Double Tap 147-gr. +P
* Ranger T 147-gr. (RA9T)
* Golden Saber 147-gr.

....and there you have the top 3 performing self defense rounds on the market - bar NONE!

[JohnK3]

Originally Posted by 147 Grain

9mm's easy recoil and rapid-fire make it a better caliber.

Load it up with.........

* Double Tap 147-gr. +P
* Ranger T 147-gr. (RA9T)
* Golden Saber 147-gr.

....and there you have the top 3 performing self defense rounds on the market - bar NONE!

Sorry, 147gr, but just kinda have to yank yer chain here:

"rapid-fire?" Do you have a problem hitting the target the first time that you have to throw lots of bullets downrange rapidly? [grin] Also, I've never found a problem with recoil in a .45ACP except when I've been shooting .22lr through the Kimber all day and switch back to the .45 barrel and forget the difference. [grin]

Now, for the serious stuff:

The 9mm was designed with 115gr in mind. In the 15 year Marshall-Sanow study of thousands of actual shootings, comparing rounds based upon "one-shot stop" statistics, the 115gr. Cor-Bon +P achieved the highest of all the 9X19 rounds, with a 91% effectiveness. As the mass of the bullet went up and the velocity of the bullet went down, the percentage of effectiveness went down, not up.

Your assertion that 9mm has better stopping power is correct, however, as the best 9mm, the Cor-Bon 115gr. +P loads outperform the best .38 Special loads by 8%. The Marshall-Sanow study showed 115gr. Cor-Bon +P .38 Special with only an 83% effectiveness rating in "one-shot stops."

Recoil on the 9mm is actually greater than the .38 Special in +P. In a 2.25 lb. gun firing a 115gr. bullet at 1100 fps, you'll get right over 4 lbs of recoil. That's the .38 Special. If you're shooting a 9mm in a typical 1.5 lb gun with a 115gr. bullet leaving at 1250 fps you'll get 7.3 lbs of recoil delivered to the shooter's hand. Of course, this changes if you use an extremely lightweight revolver or a heavier pistol. Your mileage may vary.



Reference: http://www.chuckhawks.com His references are listed on his webpage. Unfortunately for many, it is now a subscription site for most of the more useful information, including the above statistics. Fortunately, he doesn't charge an arm and a leg, just enough to keep the site going.

[delta13soultaker]

Seems like any pistol I can buy that shoots 9mm also has a variation with .40 cal...ya know.

An exception being the Browning Hi-power (as fars as I know it doesn't have a .40 cal variant)but if I got room for that then I got room for my 1911; and I ain't leavin' behind my .45 for no 9milli.

I don't guess the .38 Spl looks better on paper than a 9mm, but I shot plenty of both and always felt better about the .38. More than a few nights, before I had a .45, I left my CZ-75 at home in favor of a plain Taurus 85 loaded with hydrashoks.

[denfoote]

I have 9mms out the ying-yang!!!
That's all very well and good.
However, you know what goes with me 90% of the time when I step out that door???

This.



It shoots well too!!




I keep it stoked with 125gr Golden Saber .38spl +P!!!

[yoric]

Marshall just makes all that crap up as he goes along. Every time that he's DARED reveal one of his "sources", a checkup has always proven him to be lying or mistaken about what really happened.

Revolvers wear out of time pretty quickly, the 9mm, especially in SA format, is a lot easier to hit with more swiftly, with more power. Neither one amounts to much, tho. Most of what the 38 is "tried and true" at is failing to stop men, as is the case with all but the "meanest" 9mm's as well. The 9mm is wussy-loaded in the USA. It can be loaded to over 700 ft lbs of power, but the typical load has half that much energy.

[Pistolenschutze]

Actually, I think it depends much more upon the circumstances of carry than on the caliber. Like Denfoote, the handgun I most often carry is a .38 snubbie loaded with +Ps, though my rig is a Smith 637 loaded with Speer 135 grain Gold Dots instead of the Taurus/Golden Saber he chooses. Both, I think, are excellent however. I will also carry a 9mm sometimes (usually a Steyr M1), if the circumstances I'm in allow me to carry a larger handgun. I categorically refuse, though, to carry one of those damn miniature 9mm DAO automatics like the Kel-Tec because I can't hit the broad side of a barn with it past about 5 feet. The trigger pull on one of those takes so long that you could go out for a full meal and a couple of drinks befoe it goes "bang!" With the snubbie, at 30 feet, my targets look like the one Denforte uploaded.

[Kahr]

I gotta go with 9mm. But only because I'm not a big fan of revolvers. I can tell you that having shot both calibers for thousands of rounds the .38 is far more accurate. But I just prefer the 9mm. The .38 is more accurate, it's all about what you want to carry. I carry a Kahr Arms T9 and I love it. I got it about a year and a half ago and haven't carried anything else since.

[Pistolenschutze]

Originally Posted by denfoote

However, you know what goes with me 90% of the time when I step out that door???

You and me both, denfoote, though mine is a Smith 637. We can argue all day about which is technically more effective, the 9mm or the .38 Special, but in reality, there is little actual difference. Both are good calibers. What makes the difference, I think, is the packaging they come in. It's nearly impossible to find a smaller, lighter, easy to carry handgun than a Smith J-frame unless you resort to one of the really small-frame, heavy trigger pulls on the Kel-Tecs and the like. Personally, I can't hit a bull in the butt with one from more than 5 feet. With the J-frame, I can put 5 rounds into a 6 inch circle at 25 feet every time . . . more than sufficient for self-defense I think.

[Kimber Man]

I like the 38 spec. loaded with + P bullets. It's a stopper.

[user_error]

Originally Posted by JohnK3

Sorry, 147gr, but just kinda have to yank yer chain here:

"rapid-fire?" Do you have a problem hitting the target the first time that you have to throw lots of bullets downrange rapidly? [grin]

You jest, but ask *any* self-defense weapons instructor (or police officer for that matter) whether you should stop after one chest hit. The answer is a catagorical "NO"! You stop when the threat is neutralized, and not a second earlier. If it takes one shot and they go down from shock or nerve damage, good news! But if they're jacked on something or just plain huge, you'll probably need more than one shot, and shock just won't cut it: you need nerve damage or massive trauma, and that's where multiple shots come in. My instructor always says, especially with women, that it is NOT illegal to empty a clip into a guy, EVER. Only to reload and do it again *L* That's one of the reasons I carry 9mm: 10-15 round mags, with good controllable recoil, even in a compact (styer s9).

[berto64]

I chose the 38 spl just because I don't like the 9x19 rd. In 9mm I much more prefer the old 9x23 Bergmann-Bayard (Largo) round. It has the same dimensions as the 38 Super with lower chamber pressures.

And you didn't even mention 45 acp.

My P-32 Keltec goes everywhere with me and if I am going to the city my Springfield 1911A1 also goes along for the ride with extra mags for both.

[thunderstruck507]

I have both, my Cobra case is on top of my 9mm case above my bed. Of course right now it's loaded with Silvertip .357 mag, but usually its .38plusP.

I've hit too many dead rounds at the range and such to ever want to reach for an auto as primary weapon.

The .38 has less felt recoil, I hit better with it, and if I hit a bad one I keep going. Of course I'm just as accurate with .357 rounds as .38, I'd just be worried about going deaf

[Deputy Dawg]

Originally Posted by thunderstruck507

I have both, my Cobra case is on top of my 9mm case above my bed. Of course right now it's loaded with Silvertip .357 mag, but usually its .38plusP.

I've hit too many dead rounds at the range and such to ever want to reach for an auto as primary weapon.

The .38 has less felt recoil, I hit better with it, and if I hit a bad one I keep going. Of course I'm just as accurate with .357 rounds as .38, I'd just be worried about going deaf

That my friend is why they make ear plugs, or muffs.

[thunderstruck507]

Originally Posted by Deputy Dawg

That my friend is why they make ear plugs, or muffs.

Yeah...but I want to hear the ****er who is breaking in or attempting to steal my car...don't want any surprise attacks back at me

[JohnK3]

Originally Posted by Deputy Dawg

That my friend is why they make ear plugs, or muffs.

Huh?

What'd he say?


[grin]

[wolfgang2000]

One mans trash is another mans treasure! If I had to use ball ammo for self defence the caliber would have to start with a 4. Since I'm not limited to ball, I choose lots of light fast hollow points in my 9mm. Either cor-bon 115 or hydro-shoks 124 +P+. My Glocks like both of them. I made a choise years ago to have lots of bullets over big bullets. Not to spray and pray, but because most incounters involve mulltiple suspects. Reloading in a gunfight is a real drag. As far a the 45 being the ultimate stopper, why did the Texas Dept. of public safety switch from the Sig P220 in 45 acp to the 357sig round? They did this approx. 5 years after going to the 45. For a big department that is BIG bucks! I belive the quote was, "the 45 is a OK stopper, but it doesn't have the drop them like lighting hit'm like the 357 mag."

I think you should carry as much gun as you are comfortable with and can HIT with. If you know you are going to be in a gunfight you most probably wouldn't be there! So find that " medium" and become proficient with it.