Right caliber for the job

[Petrov]

Hi, I am sorry if I sound dumb and this probably is going to sound like a dumb question, but I thought you guys could help me out.
If I knew that I would have to shoot through the windshield in a car or at a door or wind shield of another car and my caliber choices were 9mm or .357 mag what would you recommend?
I am in NY so I am constrained to 10 rounds, and my .357 wheelgun is an 8 shot S&W 627 with a 4" barrel. Chances are I might have to be shooting with one hand from the car seat.
Or am I overthinking this and should concentrate on shot placement?

[Psalms144.1]

Petrov - what percentage chance is there of you having to deploy your pistol shooting through or out of a car? If's it's really a significant probability, then I'd say that you might be better served with a different caliber - like a good, bonded .40 S&W. Most .357 Mag ammunition is fairly fragile, and expands violently on impact, so might not be a whole lot better against auto glass/sheet steel than the 9mm.

If you're "planning" for a possibility that's in the single digit percentiles of your possible SD needs, then I'd stick with the 9mm's better shootability over the "power" gained with the .357...

Regards,

Kevin

[Averageman]

If that was a likely thing to happen I would prefer a rifle in a rifle caliber starting in 30.

[BuzzinSATX]

All I'll say is you need to remember any bullet you fire potentially comes with a lawsuit or jail time...be careful. Shooting 1 handed through glass? Bad spot to be in for sure...

[Uni-Vibe]

Hi, I am sorry if I sound dumb and this probably is going to sound like a dumb question, but I thought you guys could help me out.
If I knew that I would have to shoot through the windshield in a car or at a door or wind shield of another car and my caliber choices were 9mm or .357 mag what would you recommend?
I am in NY so I am constrained to 10 rounds, and my .357 wheelgun is an 8 shot S&W 627 with a 4" barrel. Chances are I might have to be shooting with one hand from the car seat.
Or am I overthinking this and should concentrate on shot placement?


This. Get a nine.

[KenB987]

I have been going deep with the 10mm

1911 10mm, 9 in the mag, one in the pipe, 135gr moving at 1600fps, or 200gr hard cast going 1275, or basically.40 S&W

Edit: Your scenario is a little confusing. The only time you would be shooting through glass in a car defensively is if someone was basically aiming at you, and if thats the case you probably can't draw and fire before the bad guy pulls the trigger.

If you're in your car, drive away. (I know blocked in at the atm, in traffic etc)

10mm is still badass

[JimmyB62]

I started out shooting revolvers and carried one on duty. I have quite a bit of time behind a S&W 19 and 686, both 4". They really do require more training time to be proficient than most autos. I'd probably stick with a 9mm in your scenario and find a good bonded bullet load. Full power .357 loads have A LOT of blast and I'd not want to be in a vehicle when firing one.

[sevenhelmet]

I also recommend the 9mm for reasons already stated by others.

[El Cid]

1) Yes, I think you're over thinking it. Get a handgun that fits your hand and you shoot well. Don't worry about such rare and unlikely events.

2) All handguns are crappy at stopping a threat when no barriers are present. Add a barrier and performance drops.

3) Use ammo that is either bonded or solid copper. This will ensure most of the bullet gets through. The solid copper (Barnes X billets) seem to do very well through auto glass. In a Pannone class last year my 9mm Corbon DPX got through the windshield and had minimal deflection. I got all 4 hits. Lots of other shooters had zero hits and the target was at the front bumper.

4) The concussion shooting inside an enclosed vehicle is VERY distracting and not fun with ear/eye pro. Doing so without may well be painful. All .357 will do is make it worse and it's not going to give you a real advantage.

5) Using a 9mm means lots of bullets. You may have to shoot enough glass out of the way to get your hits on the threat. A 9 gives you the most ammo in the weapon to do that. It also minimizes the need to reload which is not easy in a car, from concealment, in scenarios that few ever practice/train for. Yes you're in NY now and limited to 10 rounds but the laws can change and so can your geography. If you travel out of state you'd be able to use proper mags while transiting free states.

6) Get a 9mm.

[MegademiC]

9mm. Your first shot will go godknowswhere, and 9 gives you capacity and follow ups to make a nice hole to get actual hits through.

357 has an advantage with wad cutters for a trail gun. Other than that 9mm, or even 40 is what you want.

Edit to add, after re-reading op, I would just use 38spl in your current gun.

[The Dumb Gun Collector]

.357 Sig?

[19852]

Is your 627 cut for moon clips? If it is then reloads can be surprisingly fast, just make sure the clips are protected from bending. Your .357/.38 is very versatile, one can use .38spl if the intended use calls for it.

[TehLlama]

Handgun calibers universally aren't going to one-shot knockdown anything... bullet construction and shot placement both dwarf caliber for importance on terminal ballistics, so find a pistol that is reliable, and which you can be accurate with (and can afford to train enough with to be able to reach good proficiency indicators on some shooting standards) and then run a well-vetted solidly performing modern JHP load that your particular pistol will feed reliably, and drive on from there.

Start seeing if you can get smooth and somewhat quick (reloading, drawing to single round, drawing to failure drills) with what you have - the great news is that .38Spl, .357, and similar stuff is so common there are some really good go-time loads available, and lots of cheap ammo for training too.

[Co-gnARR]

.357 Sig?

That was my thinking when said caliber was hot stuff a few years back.



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