.357 magnum, 45acp, .40, 9mm +P, or a .38spl...which would you bet your life on?

any of them. I have carried on a professional or civilian basis for 30 odd years now. I have carried all over the years,

Mind set

Skill Set

Gear Set

If you have the first two down... caliber is just a formality.

hmmm if it must be those choices, I'll take the 9mm. becasue it's not about power, it's about what you can shoot most accurate. 357 might be the most powerful, but I've got almost no experience shooting a 357 (don't even own a 357), i doubt i'll even hit him! if I can't hit hi, it's no use to me.

but if any choice, then i reverse my decision, it's all about maximum power. shot placement really not important. I want a round that will stop any threat in one shot... there's only one handgun round I know of that can do that and I'm the only person in the world that has them...

.500 S&W Magnum Enhanced Defense 45. Designed for rifles like my H&R Handi Rifle (a single shot rifle) but should yield satisfactory performance out of handguns too (with barrel of at least 10.5")

It's a special load that uses ordinary sub-caliber pistol bullets- Hornady XTP 45 caliber in a high pressure/high velocity sabot, capable of sending the bullet downrange at very high velocities. in otherwords, nothing more than a very high power 45 acp load. in a different case. it shoots a 45 acp bullet.

the result is a round that will vaporize soft targets or able to zip right thru 2" of laminated glass or 3/8" AR500 steel plate (at 15 yards) and still have more stopping power than 44 magnum!

I'm with Archer. I have good weapons in all of those cartridges. Right now? I've been spending a good deal of time behind my Sig 226R so probably a 9mm +P in a good quality controlled expansion bullet, 124 grain is usually what I carry.

Thinkingblade

There is a press release circulated every year with statistics showing which pistol (and rifle) calibers rank in terms of stopping power. Statistics gathered from "real life" events.

This may piss people off....but its didn't come from me. .45 acp.

You have a 3% chance of walking away from an impact. And that impact can be just about anywhere on your person.

9mm you have a significant chance of surviving.

It varies between calibers for obvious reasons.

Of those, the 357 mag is the best stopper! I would trust a revolver over a semi any day!

I have carried all but a .40 over the past 24 yrs. I don't carry 9mm +P either. I usually carry something in 147 gr.

In the one shooting I was involved in I used a .38 snub. I don't think the bad guy cared. As far as he was concerned all he wanted to do was get the hell away from me before I killed him.

Of what you've listed the .357 mag and the .45 ACP.

A .357 for sure. Revolvers are simply more reliable than semi-automatics. And a .38 special isn't enough for me to bet my life on. I want to make sure that one shot is going to blow a big hole in him.

I carry a Besa thunder 380 loaded with .380 remmington golden sabers. I guess you can say I'm betting my life to a 380.

.357 Mag, with out a doubt.