Reinere wrote:
The difference between that scenario and a personal protection scenario is that a combat scenario is proactive, a self defense scenario is reactive. I know by experience that in a reactive situation, shot placement is the least of your worries."
Respectfully, here is why I disagree. I am also former military... although a very long time ago... I served in the USMC in the early 60's... even back then we knew the difference you are alluding to .... proactive and reactive yes.... but Ken... the adversaries that we as civilians are dealing with... and this is a very broad statement.... are for the most part... not combat individuals... they are for the most part, street thugs, criminals who certainly are evil and are looking to do you harm but I would venture to say most are not and have not been trained to any degree to do what they are intending upon... most are scared, although they may not look it... most are ill equipped... and most have not trained with the weapon they are carrying... I am not talking about career criminals who plan elaborate robberies... I am talking about the usual, run of the mill thug that would break in your house or attempt to rob you on the street or rape or harm someone in a spur of the moment type crime....
Those scenarios and those perpetrators .... IMHO.... probably constitute 95% of the crimes that we.... as civilians... would encounter... as an afterthought... I might mention that even the ones that were involved in these mass shootings... with all their firepower and equipment... they still were not trained to a level that we could not stop if we are trained and have the confidence in our weapons as I am pointing out....
... and to that end.... to those scenarios... to those criminals.... I say and stick by my original post... if you train with your weapon, on a regular basis... become used to it... how it feels when you fire.... how to control the aim and how to "hit your target"... how to try (hard to do but everyone can work on it) and control your emotions and reactions during the adrenaline rush.... if you can work toward those levels, you will have the leg up on those that would do you harm... and as the end result of all that.... I still say... "shot placement is more important than caliber"
If we, as civilians, were up against trained combat individuals... then doing what we used to do... that is... "putting a lot of lead on the target".... would certainly be advisable.... and superior firepower would be foremost... certainly we have to react quickly, but if we are trained, we can have the upper hand. That is all I am saying....
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Center mass is always a sure thing in a reactive scenario, I carried a 9mm para in the army. I know FOR A FACT that a full jacket 9mm round takes at least 4-5 rounds center mass to stop someone. Needless to say, I talked with my CO about decommisioning our berreta 92fs 9mm stock for a 1911 .45 surplus.
No question that a .45 is superior to the 9mm in stopping power.... and the FMJ is designed to penetrate and is far less effective than the modern defensive rounds that are now available in any gun shop (at least up until recently)... a modern, hollow point, jacketed bullet in a +P configuration is far more effective than the old FMJ that you and I fired in our military weapons.... that is again... my opinion... I would also offer that the adversary you were attempting to stop was hyped up on adrenalin and very likely trained to a much higher degree than the thugs I described previously.... that is of course why the military double action revolvers in .38 Long Colt.. were replaced by the .45 during the Moro Rebellion of the Philippine–American War.
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The reason I feel more comfortable with a .40 is that it is a compromise between the .45 and 9mm. While still compact, and easy to conceal.
I am of the opinion that the .40 is one of the greatest developments of the modern firearm.... having owned a Delta Elite 10mm... which I held onto for several years, just because it was a collectable... and then traded it for another nice 1911 .45... the 10 was and I believe is... just too damn much... I believe the .40 (which is as mentioned a short 10mm) is an excellent caliber and I have at least 4 or 5... but alas... I still carry my little LC9 Ruger cause it just fits so good....
I think we are preaching to each others choir...
also... thank you for your service...
