Suarez: GABE'S CALIBER CHOICE

[SeekHer]

Brought to your attention by: KNOW THY ENEMY™©

Submitted for your perusal and edification just as received in the e-mail to me from Suarez International

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GABE'S CALIBER CHOICE

I get asked what I carry alot. Recently we have gotten into quite a few discussions about my choice of calibers as well as why. Specially when they hear that it is a 9mm. So here goes --

1). 9mm holds more ammo and more ammo is a definite asset in a gunfight. I had a student that was attacked by three guys and his 1911 barely had enough. Another bad guy and he would have been screwed.

2). With modern ammo there is virtually no difference in performance in the typical CCW loads (9mm, 40, 45).

3). Ammo commonality and magazine commonality are a big issue. If you carry a 50 Auto +P+ and your dainty wife carries a mere 9mm you cannot support each other in the way that would be best.

4). Anyone who believes in the reliability of One Shot Stops with a pistol is an idiot that has never seen any action outside his daydreams.

Look gents, if it makes you feel better to carry a 45, do it. If you think that extra millimeter of size will help, then carry a 45. If you think you'd feel just fine at Mumbai with your 1911/45, then cool. Drive on. Its not my business to convice you otherwise.

Me? I have seen lots of people shot to be able to say this.

ALL HANDGUN CALIBERS ARE UNPREDICTABLE.

I have seen guys get shot with just about everything and nothing will work every time. I know of a guy shot in the chest with a shotgun slug and who not only survived but kept fighting. The ONLY sure way, outside of a clean brain shot, and that is still in question, is to multiply the damage. How do we do that? by lots and lots of holes....hopefully in chest and face.

One of my contacts in South America has a score of 47...many of those with a Glock 17 with Military FMJ. He prevailed by being generous with his trigger and accurate in his shooting. Good enough for me. For me, its a 9mm Glock 17 with alot of Corbon DPX rounds.

Modern Technique schools created a cult of the 1911/45 and believe that it would work 19 times out of 20. Yet, Fairbairn, a man who was operational in the same general era as Cooper, states that one man he knew emptied his 45 into a thug whom he had to club into unconsciousness with the empty pistol after he kept fighting. So much for legendary stopping power.

That is not to say the 45 is worthless, as it is certainly not. If I was limited by foolish laws to 10 rounds or less, or to FMJ ammo, I might opt for such a pistol, but I think the lack of capacity is a serious limitation.

I investigated an attempted suicide once where a man shot himself in the head with a 1911. He lived and walked out of the ER. What does that prove? Nothing other than the 1911/45 is NOT the death ray excalibur its cultists would have us all assume.

I was also present in an entry where a drug dealer was kiled with one shot from a Sig P226/9mm +P+ 115 gr JHP. The man fell before the Point Man could hit him again. What does that prove? That the 9mm is not the POS, or the "45 set on stun" MT people like to call it.

For perspective I also saw several gang killings with 22 pistols. No lack of stopping power there.

In my educated and experienced opinion, ALL handgun calibers will do about the same things in flesh. I have had ER docs tell me directly that it is impossible to tell what caliber a bullet is in the ER by the damage it does. We have info of the same things happening with just about every caliber out there. Chuck Taylor told me once of a Viet Cong who got his entire shoulder blown off by a 50 BMG that kept charging until he bled out. So again IMHO, the arguement of the Power Of The Pistol is simply a silly idea.

We carry them for convenience and not for power. The secret to dropping the adversary is not the caliber, it is the volume and the placement. Period.

So carry the biggest weapon you can control. That does not mean caliber. It means weapon size. And that includes capacity. For some guys with big hands it may mean a Glock 21, or a double stack Para Ordnance. For me, both of those pistols have an umanageable girth. I cannot shoot them as well as a Glock 17/22. If those who advocate them can, then I support their choice 100%.

I have a friend named Pierre. he is a big man with big hands and can shoot a Desert Eagle as well as I can my Glock 17. It would be foolish for me to force him to carry a Glock 17 and equally so for him to tell me that only his D.E. was suitable for combat.

Choose based on shootability - ignore the caliber...can you manage the weapon's size in your hand, in daily carry? Then choose on capacity. More ammo is more better. You will NOT be dropping one man with one shot. It will be taking more. One man, no big deal. Two men, maybe not a big deal. Three men and your seven shots begin looking bad. Four men and you will be forced to reload. But not with a high capacity weapon. Caliber is the last consideration to me.

Anything in 9mm, 40 S&W, 357 Sig, 45 ACP, 38 Sp. will work about the same. So CHOOSE WHAT YOU LIKE. As I said, mine is a Glock 17 with three magazines of Corbon DPX (and a couple of happy sticks thrown in).
__________________

Gabe Suarez

One Source Tactical
Suarez International USA
Christian Warrior Ministries

[D5CAV]

+1

I carry a 1911 because it is comfortable on my frame in a IWB holster. Sometimes I carry a P35 because it is almost as comfortable.

If someone would make a hi-cap 9mm that's as comfortable as my 1911, I'd carry that.

I haven't found an IWB rig that works for me with a Glock 17, but I like the gun.

[SeekHer]

+1

I carry a 1911 because it is comfortable on my frame in a IWB holster. Sometimes I carry a P35 because it is almost as comfortable.

If someone would make a hi-cap 9mm that's as comfortable as my 1911, I'd carry that.

I haven't found an IWB rig that works for me with a Glock 17, but I like the gun.

I like the Browning P35 although only 13 rounds not 17 but I really prefer a .41 Rem mag...

[Aglifter]

I'd suggest looking at Ruger's SR9, if you want to go that route -- Dad's is light, cheap, and very comfortable -- and, if anything, skinnier than a 1911...

If I'm at the plant, and my back's behaving, I usually have my G29, Rohrbaugh, and an XD45 on me -- it's a rough area. However, I tend to view carrying in rural TX/nicer parts of SC more as me playing w. toys, than as an act of preparedness... (Hence the P7, or various revolvers, etc.) If I still lived 22 miles from town, however, I would go back to mostly toting an AK.

[Rusty Ray]

At last, somebody speaks sooth about caliber. I would carry the 1911/45ACP combination because I love that combination, trust that combination and know in my heart of hearts that Mr Browning had me in mind when he made that 'gun of the hand'.

But equally I would not feel undergunned with 9mm or 357/38Spc.

Each to his own.

Cheers - Rusty

[mekender]

I'd suggest looking at Ruger's SR9, if you want to go that route -- Dad's is light, cheap, and very comfortable -- and, if anything, skinnier than a 1911...

If I'm at the plant, and my back's behaving, I usually have my G29, Rohrbaugh, and an XD45 on me -- it's a rough area. However, I tend to view carrying in rural TX/nicer parts of SC more as me playing w. toys, than as an act of preparedness... (Hence the P7, or various revolvers, etc.) If I still lived 22 miles from town, however, I would go back to mostly toting an AK.

i own a SR9 myself... i usually open carry, mainly because i dont have a good IWB holster... but even with a cheap nylon one, it carries well... it is thin, but it is a full sized gun so that means that the grip is long...

[Combat Controller]

He still has a chip on his shoulder. I shot a dog that attacked me with 6 winchester silvertips and it ran off and I never found it after an hour of tracking.

That is why I switched to a .45. His point of ammo being unpredictable is a true one, but larger heavier ammo will stand a better chance than the smaller stuff. It is playing the percentages. Do you want to hit them with a lot of BB's or a few before the stop? If it takes twice as many 9mm as .45 then you have the equivalent of a .45 in your average 14 round 9mm handgun. i.e. 7 rounds of stopping power. 17 rounds is the same as an 8 round .45, the standard these days. So his point is really that you never know and he wants lot's of BB"s. But from a practical stand point he needs to work on his reasoning. Plus, my 10mm has 10 rounds and has much more oopmh.

He ought to try explaining why so many departments left 9mm and .38 behind, ditto the military adopting the .45 in the 1911 format. His "one man, one right way of doing things" does not stand up to rigor. Ask the guys in the sandbox how they feel about the 9mm for that matter.

[blackeagle603]

Stuck with 10 rd limit here in CA so that tilts the calculus toward larger calibers.

[Combat Controller]

Yeah, and when nothing works, nothing works.

[skb12172]

CC: I agree with all of your points, but would ask for clarification on one. In the sandbox, aren't our boys limited to FMJ 9mm? It seems that might make a difference.