Big Bore Carry...Moving to 45ACP

[Unkle Kurt]

I am moving to 45 ACP for carry. I know that with "modern hollowpoints the margin between 9mm and 45ACP is null" and "9mm is cheaper to practice with". Now I cannot argue with the fact that 9mm is king with capacity, but to stock up on good 9mm hollowpoints its going to cost some serious coin. 1000 rounds of 9mm hollowpoint will cost about double what 45 FMJ 230gr ball will cost. I have been carrying a G19 Gen4 and am looking for something comparable in size.

My initial considerations are the G30S, M&P45c, and commander 1911 al la Ruger SR1911c.

I am open to other considerations under $750.

Please advise.

FWIW, I am not selling my 9's just yet.

[theblackknight]

1000 rounds of 9mm hollowpoint will cost about double what 45 FMJ 230gr ball will cost.

I'm really confused as why you are considering your switch reason as comparing JHP in one caliber to FMJ in another.

[pingdork]

This logic confuddles me as well. Availability of 9mm has been a concern, but not so much as of late.

[montrala]

I'm really confused as why you are considering your switch reason as comparing JHP in one caliber to FMJ in another.

Probably OP believes than .45 FMJ is better defensive round than good 9mm JHP and that is why OP compares their respective cost.

[walkin' trails]

There's nothing wrong with a 45 ACP pistol for carry, and you would be well served with either a G30s or an M&P 45. On the other hand, a lot of good pistol shooters are realizing they're faster and sometimes mire accurate with the 9mm. Like the other posters, I don't see why you are comparing the cost of 9mm defensive ammo to 45 ball. A comparison with 45 ACP would show that good 45 defensive ammo costs more than 9mm. Ballistically 45 ball might punch a little bigger hole in the target than 9mm ball, but neither work as well as modern hollow points. While it makes some sense to have a pistol or two of another caliber to rely on when we encounter times where it's hard to get decent rounds in the caliber you normally rely on, I would not carry ball ammo for defensive purposes unless all things have completely broken down and that's all that is left. Then, IMO, one would want the pistol they could shoot quickest and most accurately to maximize the effectiveness if an inferior (for defensive purposes) bullet design, e.g. FMJ.

[Arik]

The M&P45c will probably be closest in size and thickness. S&W website shows their width at 1.2 without the safety

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[Five_Point_Five_Six]

1000 rounds of 9mm hollowpoint will cost about double what 45 FMJ 230gr ball will cost.

Please Dear God, in the name of all that is holy and righteous, tell me that you're not considering carrying or using FMJ's for defensive purposes?

[KiloSierra]

Just an observation on my part but .380 ball, 9mm ball and .45 ball all tend to work about the same in actual shooting where I work. Marginal hits equals marginal results. Good hits equals good results. I'll take a good 9mm JHP over .45 ball or a good .45 JHP over 9mm ball any day of the week.

[Unkle Kurt]

I can see why my OP was confusing. Let me clarify that I am not comparing the ballistics of the 9mm HP to 45 ACP FMJ.

The reason for my consideration is from a cost standpoint when buying bulk ammo. Sure, generally 9mm is less expensive than 45 as the last 1000 round pack of 9mm FMJ I picked up was just under $300. Now the same brand of 45ACP FMJ was slightly over $400 for 1000 rounds.

The reason I am making my consideration is that for 9mm to close the gap on 45ACP with performance it has to be in HP. The cheapest HP ammo that I would be willing to trust my life with runs about $25-$30 for a box of only 20-25 rounds and to acquire the same 1000 rounds will cost over $1000; more than double the cost of standard 45 FMJ that of which "modern 9mm HP's are designed to close the performance gap with".

Additionally, if the 9mm HP fails to expand for some reason you basically have a FMJ that just cost you three to four times what a 9mm FMJ will cost. At least with 45 FMJ you already have a larger projectile at half the cost that you do not have to worry about not expanding.

[CAVDOC]

All the compiled stats show there is no gap between 9mm hp and 45 ball except that generally 9mm hp performs BETTER than 45 ball in close to every instance. Hard data rather than old Jeff Cooper anecdotes ( no offense to Col Cooper) proves hardball in every caliber including 45 sucks for on target incapacitation capability