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joek1 · January 22, 2013, 05:57 PM

Hi,

I read through the posts on this thread mostly because I am tossed between these three rounds.

I use to be able to shoot my .357 and .40 cal with no problem but I have since been diagnosed with a disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis which affects all the joints in my body but especially my hands.

I have shot my Ruger SP101 but after about 25 rounds I could barely hold on to it any more.

I am looking for a carry gun in either 9mm, .380 or 9mm MAK. In the 9mm I am looking at slim line (non-stacked mags). I have larger hands so I can get a better grip on it and the misses likes it too.

I am also only looking at guns made of metal looking to trade weight for recoil.

But to speak to one of the points about how a body reacts to bullets I have some experience with that.

I was a Paramedic for NYC*EMS in the '80's and worked in some busy areas and have seen my share of GSW's. First the hole going in through soft tissue (shot in the torso specifically below the rib cage) the entrance wound will be QUITE a bit smaller that the projectile because of skin stretch. Exceptions to that rule are when the round hits areas where there is very little muscle under the skin before hitting bone. So a head shot and when shot center chest (on the sternum) and center of the back directly over the spine the skin has no way to stretch because it sits right up against the bone. In these cases the entrance wound will be very close to projectile size.

As far as performance after a round enters the body I have seen a bunch of different and weird things happen. Point blank .45's not going all the way through the body, bullets hitting people in the leg and coming out the lower back (it rode the bone up the leg through the groin and out behind the kidneys), .38's that bounced off the skull making a fracture but not penetrating (the patient was actually holding the spent round in her hand). People shot seven times with a 9mm and were conscious and alert when we arrived and all the way into the hospital. The list goes on and on...suffice to say that you can shoot all the bullets into ballistic gel you want but there really is no way to tell what a bullet is going to do after it enters the body. They tumble, flatten out expand contract...

But I still go back to the original question, that I didn't really see and answer for here.

Eliminating the 9mm Lugar/Parabellum round, if one had to choose between the .380 or the 9mm MAKAROV for defense which is the better round and I will qualify the question by the following criterion:

Ammunition Availability
Cost of Ammo
Diversity of ammo
ability of guns able to eat the available rounds.
Hollow point expansion stats
ease of reloading
relyability of the guns made for the rounds
selection of weapons that chamber the rounds.

I am sorry for dredging up a post that is over 1100 days old but I am looking now not 3 years ago

January 22, 2013, 05:57 PM	#16
joek1 Member Join Date: January 17, 2011 Location: NE PA Posts: 19	Sorry for bringing up and old thread... Hi, I read through the posts on this thread mostly because I am tossed between these three rounds. I use to be able to shoot my .357 and .40 cal with no problem but I have since been diagnosed with a disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis which affects all the joints in my body but especially my hands. I have shot my Ruger SP101 but after about 25 rounds I could barely hold on to it any more. I am looking for a carry gun in either 9mm, .380 or 9mm MAK. In the 9mm I am looking at slim line (non-stacked mags). I have larger hands so I can get a better grip on it and the misses likes it too. I am also only looking at guns made of metal looking to trade weight for recoil. But to speak to one of the points about how a body reacts to bullets I have some experience with that. I was a Paramedic for NYC*EMS in the '80's and worked in some busy areas and have seen my share of GSW's. First the hole going in through soft tissue (shot in the torso specifically below the rib cage) the entrance wound will be QUITE a bit smaller that the projectile because of skin stretch. Exceptions to that rule are when the round hits areas where there is very little muscle under the skin before hitting bone. So a head shot and when shot center chest (on the sternum) and center of the back directly over the spine the skin has no way to stretch because it sits right up against the bone. In these cases the entrance wound will be very close to projectile size. As far as performance after a round enters the body I have seen a bunch of different and weird things happen. Point blank .45's not going all the way through the body, bullets hitting people in the leg and coming out the lower back (it rode the bone up the leg through the groin and out behind the kidneys), .38's that bounced off the skull making a fracture but not penetrating (the patient was actually holding the spent round in her hand). People shot seven times with a 9mm and were conscious and alert when we arrived and all the way into the hospital. The list goes on and on...suffice to say that you can shoot all the bullets into ballistic gel you want but there really is no way to tell what a bullet is going to do after it enters the body. They tumble, flatten out expand contract... But I still go back to the original question, that I didn't really see and answer for here. Eliminating the 9mm Lugar/Parabellum round, if one had to choose between the .380 or the 9mm MAKAROV for defense which is the better round and I will qualify the question by the following criterion: Ammunition Availability Cost of Ammo Diversity of ammo ability of guns able to eat the available rounds. Hollow point expansion stats ease of reloading relyability of the guns made for the rounds selection of weapons that chamber the rounds. I am sorry for dredging up a post that is over 1100 days old but I am looking now not 3 years ago