what caliber do you use, and what do bad guys use

[CajunBass]

I have owned a little bit of most everything over the years. 22, 32, 38, 357, 44 special, 44 Magnum, 45 Colt, 32 acp, 9mm, 45 acp...even a couple of 44 percussion handguns.

I've sold off most of my collection these days. Now it's a couple of 357's (Model 19's), and a 38 I carry (A S&W Model 12-2 airweight, IMHO the perfect carry revolver). Oh, I do have one 22 that I kept for plinking.

I figure they'll take care of anything I need or want a handgun to do.

[IRDWalrus]

.40 Golden Sabers in a G27
.410 3" Federal 000 in Bond Arms Derringer

12 gauge PDX1 in Mossberg 500

[skoro]

Originally Posted by WildBill45

SO ... WHATS IN YOUR SAFE? For street use and home protection in regard to caliber, and why???

Both my HD and primary carry piece are 38+P because I like revolvers and I have confidence in the caliber.

[TimSr]

The article referred to by the OP is from 1995. Hardly accurrate today. At that time, the Raven .25, and the Jennings .22 were about the cheapest thng you could find. .25 is pretty rare now, and budget companies are making cheap 9mm pistols. 9mm is probably number 1 for thugs, and thankfully they usually shoot cheap ball ammo.

.40 has become very popular for personal defense. 9mm is popular in small carry guns, and usually with good personal defense ammo. .380 is still popular as carry cartridge too, but underpowered to me. I'm still partial to the point and pull the trigger, snub nosed .38 with wadcutters for a carry gun, and a .357 w/JHP's for the home.

[TailGator]

A lot of folks say they NEVER carry smaller than 9mm, but I bet folks that say NEVER, never carry everyday either...

That is a lost bet. There are lots of folks who carry 9 mm daily, including me (Glock 26). And I live in Florida, where it is hot for much of the year and people say it can't be done. Well, it can, and the G26 isn't even the most concealable 9 mm out there these days - there are plenty of 9 mm pistols that conceal easily.

My wife carries a little .380 (Sig P238) so that she can dress more stylishly with a smaller pistol.

We also have .22LR and .25ACP pistols that are, respectively, a range pistol and a novelty/keepsake, and other pistols in 9 mm that we don't carry regularly.

My reason for sticking with 9 mm is the usual combination of ammo cost and SD effectiveness, with minor considerations for capacity thrown in.

[Bob Wright]

So far as the news items reveal, many crimes here in Memphis are committed with AK-47 lookalikes. Penetrate walls, windows, auto bodies. And they leave a bunch of empties around.

As for me, I carry a .44 Special as my daily companion:




Bob Wright

[codefour]

Bob, I love your six gun collection and photos. They always catch my attention..!

[zeke4351]

Originally Posted by 6459

Fingerprints from a shell casing is an invention of TV. The heat from the powder detonation destroys the oil from the finger and any finger print.

Will it destroy DNA also.

[skizzums]

heres a link to a fingerprinting "forum". read the lat story about 3/4 down the page. there's a story where they got a good print from fired .22mag casing'
http://www.clpex.com/Articles/TheDet...heDetail87.htm
although the article does note that usually you cannot get good prints from fired shells

here is another article showing that new technology allows fingerprinting on spent cases
http://wrongfulconvictionsblog.org/2...shell-casings/

[jimbob86]

While interesting reading, the referenced report was produced in 1995. It details stats from the early 1990's.

Not exactly relevant two decades later: the OG's from that era have traded in their TEC-9's for walkers and canes ......

[JD0x0]

I don't think the outside of a pistol case typically gets hot enough to burn off fingerprints or DNA. Ever touch a freshly fired case? They're usually warm if the gun isn't already hot, not hot enough to burn me. I've seen fingerprints survive significant heat on glass. I'm not buying that finger prints on casings get 'burned off' that easily. Never heard about that in my forensics class either.

It's more likely that the chamber would 'wipe' the print off or damage/disfigure it, as the case is expanded and being ejected.

I have used cyanoacrylate ester to recover fingerprints from spent casings many times.
- Crime Scene Detective

[6459]

I got the information from my daughter who actually runs a crime scene unit and not from an internet post or a class. Believe what you want, there is no point to a debate.

edit: changed "discussion" to "debate"

[skizzums]

it says in the article that a spent 9mm is about 145degrees. I don't think that would be hot enough to burn away a very oily print. your car's hood gets hotter than that on a sunny day. as for the article not being relevant today, I would think if they were able to do it 15 years ago, they would surely be able to do it today, even better.

[jimbob86]

I've seen fingerprints very permanently tarnish brass cases- some people's sweat/body oils do that.

I don't know what quality of print they need, but you could see the pattern of the fingerprint on the brass.....

[zach_]

I don't know what criminals carry. I do not associate with criminals. I use a 9 myself. Cops I talk to at the range don't discuss police matters openly. The cops say it is department policy in most cities to not discuss police business. They will tell some tall fish stories. Very tall fish stories.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by WilddBill45

It seems that bad guys like .38 special, with the mouse calibers ... .25 and .32 ... beating out .357 mags, and other calibers...

I don't believe that. At least in my corner of the universe, bad guys carry whatever they can steal, or buy on the street, but as a general rule they are NOT carrying 38 Special revolvers. Most are carrying Glocks, predominantly in 9mm and secondarily in .40 S&W.

But they'll take what they can get. Several years ago the owner of a gun shop in "the city" (not New York City, but what passes for "city" around here) told me (and several other hangers on) the sorry sage of one bad guy who was dumber than the average bear.

One day a gentleman of color entered the shop, and asked for a box of 9mm "bullets." The gunshop guy (hereinafter GSG) sold him a box of 9mm hollow points.

Later the same afternoon, the gentleman returned, accompanied by another gentleman of color. "These bullets don't fit my gun," with which he displayed a Beretta 92. GSG said, "They have to, that's what the Beretta shoots." The customer insisted the bullets wouldn't fit, so GSG took the pistol and the bullets with the intention of showing the young gentleman how to load his firearm.

But ... the bullets wouldn't fit into the magazine. GSG was getting increasingly puzzled, until he happened to glance at the slide of the pistol, which read "8mm blank." Sure enough, closer examination proved that the barrel was blocked off and it was indeed a blank-firing replica.

When GSG explained this to the customer, the companion started laughing hysterically and came out with "You dumb n*****, you done bought yo'sef a TOY gun, [mf]er." GSG said, "Hey, you can't call him names like that." The companion said, "Sure I can, because I'm black too. But YOU can't call him that."

But wait ... we're not done yet. The two gentlemen departed the shop, with the companion berating the would-be shootist incessantly. That should have been the end of the story, except that a couple of months later another young gentleman of color walked in and asked for a box of 9mm bullets for his new Beretta ...

This was several years ago. We still wonder just how many suckers have bought that thing, thinking it was a real Beretta 92.

My point being that the bad guys aren't interested in .38 Special revolvers, unless that's all they can get. They want "automatics," preferably Glocks or Berettas, in that order. They get them on street corners or in back alleys, wherever they can find a seller.

[Brotherbadger]

My EDC is my Sig P220, 45ACP. I've got a Walther P1 in 9mm in my safe, just in case.

[dayman]

I carry 9mm, .357, or occasionally .22lr.

[DannyB1954]

9mm or 38spl+p. Depends on my mood. Lately I have been favoring the 38Spl+p. On me, revolvers seem to conceal much better. Maybe because the back of the gun is more rounded.

How would I know what a bad guy would carry? I never asked one.

[AF22Raptor]

Quote:
I am a great believer that larger caliber will guarantee to stop bad guys specially with a couple of well place shots into the sternum or just go for the head shot and end the fight quicker.
No handgun calibre is guaranteed to stop a bad guy.

Caliber alone does not guarantee to stop a bad guy! But Proper Modern Ammuniton like Hornady Critical Defense, Glasser Safety Slugs, Liberty Civil Defense Ammunition 45 ACP +P 78 Grain Fragmenting Hollow Point Lead-Free traveling at a Muzzle Velocity: 1900 fps producing a Muzzle Energy: 625 ft. lbs take that with a double tap to the sternum and a single shot to the brain pan will STOP a bad guy.

[BIG P]

G30. 45.ACP.everyday. 454Casull & 357 in hunting season

[ZVP]

. .38 Special and .357 mag. 20ga buckshot in my Shotgun

[Dragline45]

The majority of my handguns are and have been 9mm. Real world studies have shown the .40 and .45 are on par with the 9mm for stopping threats. Stopping threats is not how well it performs in ballistic gel so don't get the two confused. So given that one works equally as well as the other, the added capacity, minimal recoil, and faster more accurate followup shots with the 9mm for me make it the clear winner.

My go to long guns are a 12g shotgun and an AR in 5.56.

[WESHOOT2]

My always is a 22LR.
My car gun is (currently) a 357 Magnum.
My favorite is a 41 AE.
My options are 22LR, 38 Special, 357 Magnum, 9x19, 9x21, 40 S&W, 400 CorBon, 41 Action Express, 44 Magnum, and 45 ACP.

Currently

[jimbob86]

Liberty Civil Defense Ammunition 45 ACP +P 78 Grain Fragmenting Hollow Point Lead-Free traveling at a Muzzle Velocity: 1900 fps producing a Muzzle Energy: 625 ft. lbs take that with a double tap to the sternum and a single shot to the brain pan will STOP a bad guy.

.... or it could disintegrate when it hits bone (sternum) and give the assailant a pair of "Hickeys From Hell" ....... that'd surely tick 'em off, if nothing else!

I'd avoid gimicky ammo..... an expanding bullet that holds together at around the speed of sound has, to me, shown to be the best compromise between energy delivered, penetration, and controllability .....