[camshaftprelube]

I'm mostly thinking about the wife. A .44 won't be useful if she doesn't practice with it due to huge recoil.
The instructor at the CCW class we went to recommended nothing lower than a .380, and says his wife shoots .38 special out of a S&W .357.

 

[Nose Nuggets]

Adler had this to say on the subject

I will say this. 9mm defense ammo has made leaps and bounds since the infamous FBI report of the 1980's and I feel that with good ammo(Speer Gold Dot, Corbons, Federal Hydra Shocks) you can get performance that is more than enough stopping power in the +p format. The problem with 9mm was always that it penetrated great but was too small of a slug going too fast to stop someone in their tracks. And the old JHP ammo didnt retain its weight or failed to expand reliabily. If you look at the new Gold Dots you see that they expand wonderfully and unlike the 40S&W or 45ACP you get less recoil in the same platform and although you cant benefit from the higher capacity a 9mm offers, it is something important to many.

 

[fatcat]

.38's is what my mom and sister have, there very good knock down power and low recoil as well as revolvers are the best for people that dont know guns very well. Use them with Magsafe ammo and thats even more knock down power and less recoil.

 

[camshaftprelube]

Actually, my wife already has a .38, she bought it from someone she works with. It's weird, an Astra-Cadix 5-shot revolver. I think she paid $150 for it. It 's in good shape, and other than the low capacity, I think it'll serve it's purpose.

I bought her a taser at a gun show Saturday, I guess that's why I'm thinking of it.

 

[Mach5]

.38

 

[jamz]

for me, .380 to start feeling comfortable with, but I don't get actually comfortable till .38+p. 9mm and up are fine with me.

If I had to cram a small pistol up my ass or something and could only choose a 22 mag NAA derringer or whatever that's fine, but I'd feel pretty undergunned.

 

[global]

.38's is what my mom and sister have, there very good knock down power and low recoil as well as revolvers are the best for people that dont know guns very well. Use them with Magsafe ammo and thats even more knock down power and less recoil.

hey fatcat, this is not a flame so don't take it as one...

please define "knock down power." i have never seen a round that will knock someone down... that is all movie bs. you can rip someones heart apart with rounds and they still have around 20 seconds of fight in them (thats how long it takes them to bleed out).

when you talk about larger caliber bullets in handguns, it's all about the amount of internal damage they can cause. the idea behind a jhp is to expand and stay inside the body cavity... bouncing around and ripping vital organs apart. why? so someone bleeds to death. the bigger the bullet, the bigger the holes it will rip. no round will actually knock someone down... if it did, you would fall down shooting the gun (physics).

because everyone has a different version of "knock down power," i am just interested in what people have to say...

 

[kilbie]

hey fatcat, this is not a flame so don't take it as one...

please define "knock down power." i have never seen a round that will knock someone down... that is all movie bs. you can rip someones heart apart with rounds and they still have around 20 seconds of fight in them (thats how long it takes them to bleed out).

when you talk about larger caliber bullets in handguns, it's all about the amount of internal damage they can cause. the idea behind a jhp is to expand and stay inside the body cavity... bouncing around and ripping vital organs apart. why? so someone bleeds to death. the bigger the bullet, the bigger the holes it will rip. no round will actually knock someone down... if it did, you would fall down shooting the gun (physics).

because everyone has a different version of "knock down power," i am just interested in what people have to say...

When people use the term knock down power they are most often refering to the ability to incapacitate or kill someone. Another common term is stopping power. Both mean the same thing and are understood by most people. A round with good knock down power will not "knock" someone down but a well placed shot will take them down.

 

[Makarov]

I can hit a 6" diameter target at 10 yards with all 8 shots from my .380 Makarov in about 5 seconds. I feel comfortable with that for self-defense. Shoot what you are reliably accurate with

 

[jamz]

hey fatcat, this is not a flame so don't take it as one...

please define "knock down power." i have never seen a round that will knock someone down... that is all movie bs. you can rip someones heart apart with rounds and they still have around 20 seconds of fight in them (thats how long it takes them to bleed out).

when you talk about larger caliber bullets in handguns, it's all about the amount of internal damage they can cause. the idea behind a jhp is to expand and stay inside the body cavity... bouncing around and ripping vital organs apart. why? so someone bleeds to death. the bigger the bullet, the bigger the holes it will rip. no round will actually knock someone down... if it did, you would fall down shooting the gun (physics).

because everyone has a different version of "knock down power," i am just interested in what people have to say...

I'll sometimes use "knock down power" to describe the likelyhood/chances of faster incapacitation as well, even though it's kind of an imprecise term. Knocking them down not with the energy of the projectile, but rather with the likeyhood of severe CNS disruption or destruction.

 

[Adler]

With the right ammo a 32acp is the bare minimum. my mom has a Walther pp in 32acp, unfortunately they made very few in 380acp.

 

[brucelee]

32acp if I really had to (with use of a small keltec pistol), but I'd like to stick with 9mm defense rounds if I had to... having a Glock 17, 19, and 26 is great cuz I get to use the 33rnd mags in it... and well, if you can't kill a couple people with 33rnds, you shouldn't have a pistol. I could probably put a good 40 people out with 33rnds.

 

[brucelee]

Oh, and my choice for defense rounds of any size (shot out of a pistol) would be good old .45acp shot out of my Glock 21. Don't even need hollowpoints. Dead accurate and reliable... slow and big = pwn3d.

 

[brucelee]

oh, and second in line would be 10mm shot out of a Glock 20. Wouldn't trust 10mm out of any other pistol.

 

[only mortal]

9mm JHP would be the absolute minimum for personal defense, figure it has been tested on enough bodies to prove it's worth beyond a doubt...

the preferred caliber is still 12ga 00 buck, def has the elusive 'knock down power' for any application you choose.

 

[Adler]

oh, and second in line would be 10mm shot out of a Glock 20. Wouldn't trust 10mm out of any other pistol.

The 10mm is dependable out of the S&W 1006 and Witness as well. Unless you want to spend the money on a BrenTen which is the first gun designed completely around the caliber.

 

[Kilo1Alpha]

I'd stick with my Kimber Warrior 45 ACP

 

[GTKrockeTT]

.380 or 9x18. wouldn't want to go any smaller than that. but, in a pinch, i'd be happy with a pellet gun.

 

[huareyou]

I'm mostly thinking about the wife. A .44 won't be useful if she doesn't practice with it due to huge recoil.
The instructor at the CCW class we went to recommended nothing lower than a .380, and says his wife shoots .38 special out of a S&W .357.

personaly i wuld perfer the 38 snub verry small and light weight

 

[Mndfusion]

38

.38 special revolver is what most females i know like. Its easy for them cause they dont have to rack the slide and its a redundent design..just pull the trigger.

We trtried getting my buddys wife to carry a MAK...she couldnt rackthe slide for some reason.