In the Look out…I’m getting a gun" thread the OP asked whether a 9mm or 0.40 S&W version of a semi-auto pistol was better for home defense. The thread drifted way off topic, but to summarize the “home defense” related answers:
**get .40 S&W, bigger bullet, higher velocities
don’t get a handgun, get a shotgun, great stopping power and you don’t have to be on target
don’t get a shotgun, they’re too big and bulky to use in close quarters. Use a handgun and hold it close to your body so it isn’t easy to grab onto.
Shotguns aren’t that bulky.
They are too!
Use a small caliber handgun to avoid damaging your ears shooting in a confined space. Suggestions were .25 and .380.
Use a revolver, they’re more reliable. If you want more capacity - get two revolvers!
Use glaser (hi velocity fragmenting) or magsafe (super high velocity) bullets because they have more “stopping power” and don’t over-penetrate.
Don’t use glaser or magsafe, their low penetration means they won’t take someone out if they pass through an arm first. And they don’t have the stopping power they claim anyway.
They do so! There was a study performed on goats in Strasbourg which showed glasers and magsafes had the greatest stopping power.
No they don’t. The “Strasbourg test” probably never happened - it’s never been published in any journals or even magazines, and nobody put their names to it.
Don’t use 9mm, it doesn’t have enough “stopping power to guarantee that you’ll down any opponent in a single hit.” Use a .45 ACP.**
There’s a bit of a lack of consensus here!
Trawling the web didn’t help. There are people out there who are religious about revolvers vs. semis. There are people are religious about .44 magnum, glaser and magsafe bullets. (“Shoot them anywhere, the shock alone will kill them instantly!”) .45 ACP is practically a cult.
This site has advocacy articles by different authors for 9mm, 10mm, .45ACP and (shudder) .380. The same site has an ammo choice article which says:
"Let me say that again: the single most important factor in handgun stopping power is hitting your target. Conventional wisdom is to aim for center of mass (COM), which basically means the upper torso. If you score a solid hit or controlled pair (“double tap”) to COM, there won’t be much difference between a standard 9mm JHP and a high-tech .40 or .45 wonderbullet."
So, at risk of starting a religious debate, is there any advantage in going above 9mm? With identical shot placements, is there really any difference in “stopping power” between the higher caliber rounds? How great is the danger to your hearing? Is the Strasbourg test a UL spread by glaser lovers?