Well, I've never gotten into reloading. I just use the Cor-bon +P for now. It is an interesting idea though. I may have to spend some time out the garage with my dad the next time I go home to visit.

All the statistical differences between most popular rounds are pretty small. My spreadsheet puts the best 9mm +P at 91% (Cor-bon) and the best .45 at 94% (Federal Hydroshock). I do try to average all the stopping power data and look at which rounds are more effective in general. My logic being that if I have to just run in a store and buy something off the shelf, I want to know what round would most likely be effective. When you average all the data, the .45 pulls ahead of the 9mm a bit more (87% vs. 81%). You're quite right when you say a lot of discussions about caliber degrade into "my daddy can beat up your daddy" kind of nonsense, but every now and then you can weed through the noise and find somebody that can give you justified arguments for their position. <img src="images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Being a physicists, I've tried several times to explain the difference between momentum and kinetic energy to some people. I've even used the analogy of the military using high speed sabots to penetrate enemy tank armor. A lot of people have their minds made up and just ignore whatever you tell them. They seem to only be there to change YOUR mind and assume they've already got everything figured out. But I agree with you about kinetic energy. And since it scales with mass (linearly), but velocity squared, light and fast beats heavy and slow (if you wanna bore a hole right through 'em). But it only works that way if you assume you're on target. If you've missed all the vital stuff and are just embedding in muscle, knockdown power can be a very useful thing. And missing the vital areas can be a real concern in a stressful situation like a shootout.

It all depends on your skill level... if you're good, then a .357 Sig is the right gun. If you don't pracitce much, the .45 is a much better choice. I'm not sure where the 9mm fits in there, but I'd say its somewhere in between for sure.


Edited by benman (04/04/03 05:26 PM)