Carry Caliber Quandary?

There is no law that says you can only own one pistol - well, not yet.

For me - it is not a caliber thing, it is a pistol size thing. I am 6' and 210 pounds but I still cant conceal a full sized pistol on a beach or a hot summer day wearing jeans and a t-shirt like everyone else walking around. Here - your choice is to not carry - or - go to a smaller gun.

I have a Walther PPK/s in 380 for those hot summer days and when wearing a business suit. I carry a 45acp Springfield XD (13rd capacity) on days Spring to Fall when it can be concealed. In the winter - I carry the FN FiveSeveN because it doubles as a personal defense and makes an awesome varmint gun. (I live in Alaska - a place where just a simply drive to dump the trash can turn into an opprotunity to nail a nice coyote or wolf).

There is no sense buying the biggest and baddest caliber that is guaranteed to drop a bull elephant in one shot - if you cant keep it concealed.

Just like you have shoes and boots for nice days and rainy days...... so should you have guns.

I HAVE chosen. The .38 Special. This over the 9MM. Never considered a .380 to be potent enough to stake MY life on. The 9mm does not seem to deliver consistent dependable performance. And yes, I agree in some cases the 9mm can deliver better penetration, then the .45ACP. But, I believe there lies my problem with the inconsistent results of the 9mm. Sometimes the 9mm can do the job even with a poor shot, others a well placed shot does NOT do the job.

Back in the day when the 9mm was popular on " the bad side of town ", it was not unusual that when there was a shooting, most often the victim drove themselves, or showed up at the hospital 2 hours later. A good 50 % of the time. Now poorly placed shots IDK ? But, there was also recently a head shot in the national news that also was not fatal. How can that be ? VERY LUCKY.

I think in my mind the slower .38 Special, with a 158 grain heavier bullet, does more completely deliver a higher discharge of the full energy of impact. That is the reason for my choosing the .38 Special.

Honestly, I do not really know, I have NEVER, and hope to NEVER, have to fire my carry gun at a person. EVER.

Thank you, Lord

edit : However, it WOULD be a mistake to think I would hesitate, if I made the decision it was time I need to do something REAL important.

Here is my two cents. I don't own a 9mm but I do have both a .38 special (Smith and Wession model 15 combat masterpiece) and a .380 (PPK clone). I like how both shoot but there is no question that I would prefer the .38 if there was trouble. The reason cops moved away from the .38 was not stopping power but capacity. They wanted a handgun that held more than 6 shots. I seldom carry (even though I have a full carry permit in NY state). If I do have a reason to carry, I would probably take the .380. Why? I can fit the .380 in my pocket. The .38 needs a holster and a jacket to cover it. It's better to have a .380 in your pocket than a .38 you left home.

A lot here depends on your personal preferences towards style and size of firearms. Many regard the 9mm and .38 special as the smallest self defense round that they feel comfortable with, with the .380 being marginal.

Realistically there isn't much difference between the .38 spl and 9mm, the 9mm typically has a little more velocity, and therefore a touch more power, but it's such a small difference that I wouldn't worry about it. Especially when comparing +p .38 loads to 9 mm loads the difference is pretty much negligable. If choosing between these it's more of a semi auto vs revolver question, and which you prefer more.

The only real advantage to the .380 is size, the handguns are typically smaller and therefore easier to conceal. This can be helpful on hotter days or warmer climates when people typically wear less.

For what it's worth I usually go with a .38 because I prefer revolvers, but often times in the summer I go with a small .380 due to it being a bit easier to conceal.

I would choose 9mm. Here is the reason why.

There is nothing wrong with .38 special, especially with proper +p loads. But I just prefer a semi for my primary, and a wheel gun would primarily be a backup.

There isn't too much wrong with .380. While it may be about the minimum I would choose for self defense, I find the ammo to be a bit more expensive than it should be, and the platforms it is available in to be somewhat limited.

The reason I would go with 9mm, is that ammo is cheap and abundant. There are tons of amazing loads available. And there are so many guns now made by a variety of makers that are much more concealable, which makes .380 all but obsolete. Plenty of small single stack 9's are available from ruger, springfield, kel-tec, walther etc...

With the choices you listed, I'd go with the 9mm, preferably a +P in a steel gun like the CZ75.

Why? More stopping power than a .380 or .38 Special. Good capacity, becomes a club if I run out of bullets, very accurate, nice trigger.

.38 Special is good in +P, but I'm not really a revolver guy. I'd just go with a full blown .357 Magnum if I got a revolver.

My carry weapon is a 5" 1911 with basic 230gr JHP rounds.

9mm Luger

I don't really see any validity to the argument that 40 or 45 has more stopping power than 9. it's really not that big of an improvement, and besides, we shoot to stop the threat. if the threat isn't stopped by one round, then shoot until it is stopped. there's not very many things that will shrug off 10 rounds of 9mm or larger. (more if you don't live in california)

if you need serious improvements in stopping power either you need to consider moving or you're in bear country and you should think about stepping up to a 44 magnum or 500 magnum.

which i have a 500 magnum, two of them, and lets just say that the power difference between 9 vs 45 compared to 9 vs 500 magnum is so tiny it seems silly to argue about it.

I'd pick 9 because it's common, economical, wide variety of handguns, and that it's a highly efficient caliber. efficiency isn't something most people think about when selecting a caliber, but its important to me. efficiency is primarily a calculation based on cost vs performance vs powder efficiency. you don't really notice this until you load your own ammo, and you still won't notice it unless you have some desire to make the most economical ammo possible.

380's main issue is availability.

38 spl main issue is power and efficiency, it's not an efficient cartridge. 38 performs worse than 9mm.

At this time of year, when people are wearing heavy clothing, I'd take a 9mm. Get as much power as possible. In the times when the weather is warmer, a .38 Special or .380 ACP should be fine.

I'm a strong believer in calibers that start with a four, and I'm a wheelgun guy, so your question really puts me on a spot. I guess I'd probably get used to the self-loader and get a 9mm Parabellum, which I'd give a slight edge over my 86 year old mother's 38 Spl. 380 ACP is a fine caliber: for a backup, in an ankle holster or some such, but I'm not one who needs that: I'd rather just not go where I'd need a backup gun.

Caliber doesn't matter if you can't hit what you aim at. While there are some good arguments for larger calibers, it all assumes you can hit your target. If you had a 155mm howitzer and can't hit anything with it what good is it?

Long before .40s&w and .45acp were the darling of law enforcements, the .38 special was what the police all over the US used followed in the '80s by 9mm. Unless the human race has mutated to being more bullet resistant, why wouldn't the .38sp and 9mm still be effective?

Choose the largest caliber you can shoot accurately with. It is that simple.