One of the great debates regarding doomsday protection or self-defense is what caliber ammunition to use, particularly if you are protecting yourself or loved ones during a home invasion.
Everyone obviously has their own preferences based on what they are comfortable with and can reasonably control in terms of firepower, but one type of ammunition stands above the rest with it comes to impact and stopping power.
That would be the .45 Automatic Colt Pistol (ACP) cartridge.
Developed in the early 1900's this “mighty-might” cartridge walloped its target and was so effective, it eventually was adopted by the US Calvary along with the Browning .45 Colt handgun as the .45 M1911 cartridge.
It was adopted because it was devastating to whatever it is – the only issue was a relatively high degree of training needed to ensure it was deployed correctly.
To read more on this incredible cartridge and why you should have it in your home, check out the next page.
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Well you should have a 45 acp, 9mm, and 40 for pistols even and a 357 sig and 10mm in. For rifles you should have 5.56, 7.62×39, 7.62×51 or 308 win, 22lr and 12 gauge. These are what every pepper should have one of if they can. This way you will have a chance of finding ammo any where in the US.
.45 caliber 1911 colt
I love it I own the 1911 and love it and could not agree more with all that was said 45 acp is one of my favorite and will always be on my side stay safe everyone
My caliber of choice,the .45,all 3 of my carry guns.
Any article that mentions “stopping power” can immediately be discounted as garbage written by a neophyte.
.45 ACP is a decent round, and having a pistol chambered in it is smart for round availability post shtf, but a 9mm in home defense loads will do everything a .45 ACP will do, sans recoil, making it a better choice all around.
Which is why, once again, the FBI is using it after extensive testing.
12ga, 20ga, 30-30, 30-06, .223, 7.62×39, .45, 9mm, .357, .38sp are all good choices for availability
I’m still a strong believer in archery.
Colt 1911 .45 all the way.
Lets not forget the 44 magnum. Able to take hogs and whitetail. And if you can’t find magnums the 44 special is a good choice
Well pratice pratice pratice ,I have a 45 acp a 40 cal a 9mm a sr22 hand a 357magnum and I can shoot and hit my target with all of them got to try different ammo in all of them to see what ammo is best for each hand gun even the sr22 ,I switch off carrying my hand guns ,If I had to chose and bug out I woud take two hand hung with me my sr22 talk about being accurate ,and either my stainless new ruger 45acp or my 357mag ,357mag has stopping power and has a fast bullet ,if I could get a 357mag not 357sig I would chose it in a revolver if you run out of 357 mag ammo you can use 38sp ammo put of it ,plus I have 5rifles and three 12 gauge shotguns one auto shotgun one pump and a single barrel .and I would probably chose my remmington700 30.06over my other rifles or shot guns I have had my Remmington 700 for close to 40 years and it is very acurate and smooth to shoot I have taken a few whitetail bucks with it got my biggest buck 4years ago with it ,that big buck droped in it’s track never took a step didn’t know what hit him .you have to know where to Aim bullet placement is everything to me ,and right Ammo ,so again go to the range with your fire arms get different ammo and see what the firearm likes best different ammo makers and different weight grain .
all calibers have stopping power.
if u are talking shtf time .22 for game taking…other wise u should have weapons in whatever caliber military n police use!
Stopping power is a myth.
stopping power is a real thing, but it can be achieved with any caliber. shot placement is key. to have good shot placement, one needs to practice practice practice. then practice off hand, then practice with distractions and short of breath. a 22 has stopping power with proper placement.
When did the FBI quit using .40 S&W and .357 Sig. The 9 mm is just common ammo cheap and available
After exhaustive testing showed that modern 9mm defense loads met or exceeded wound channels of .45 ACP and .40 SW with less recoil, allowing for more rapid and accurate follow up shots.
You forgot 357 / 38
Tom Walsh
Matthew Edwards
I’ve shot several deer with the common pistol rounds. All effective, but the .45 is king for common semi auto pistols. .357 and .44 are obviously better, though clumsy in self feeding pistols.
The FBI stepped down to 9mm to help accomdate all shooters – small handed, recoil shy and budget probably weighed in too. That said, modern 9mm ammo offerings have largely closed turbo performance gap between its larger siblings. I have no problem carrying a Glock 19 – I just prefer ol’ faithful – a steel 1911 in .45 ACP.
One last thought – the same benefits the 9mm has enjoyed in ammo development are shared by the .45. 🙂
I’ve shot several deer with the common pistol rounds. All effective, but the .45 is king for common semi auto pistols. .357 and .44 are obviously better, though clumsy in self feeding pistols.
The FBI stepped down to 9mm to help accomdate all shooters – small handed, recoil shy and budget probably weighed in too. That said, modern 9mm ammo offerings have largely closed turbo performance gap between its larger siblings. I have no problem carrying a Glock 19 – I just prefer ol’ faithful – a steel 1911 in .45 ACP.
One last thought – the same benefits the 9mm has enjoyed in ammo development are shared by the .45. 🙂
45 ACP would be my choice for a side arm ,5.56 and 7.62 rifle.
“the same benefits the 9mm has enjoyed in ammo development are shared by the .45”
Not really.
While the step down dealt with small hands, recoil shy, etc… first and foremost it was determined that there was no difference in real effects of round penetration.
The 9mm achieved the same results, and in many instances exceeded, the other two rounds.
When something is just as good, but allows for faster follow up shots, and typically more capacity, it is a superior round.
While personal preference is alright, carrying a Glock 19 makes way more sense than carrying a 1911.
Sure, I could have gone to war with a Springfield, as it is still a fine rifle, but there are far better options.
I don’t leave home without my .45.
9mm for me. I would like to try a .357 chiappa rhino.
Well ive always made the aurgument that 45 makes an excillent choice since most folks stock up on fmj rounds, 45 target loads are usually the same as good ole 45 hardball. I enjoy 9mm and carry it, but i try to stock up on decent jhp’s for both. An ar15 carbine and 9mm 17 shot 1911 double stack or 45 single/double stack is my go to combo for just about any situation/senerio one gives me
Serious defensive hand gun calibers: 9mm, .357, 40, 45, and the like are roughly equal in wound ballistics. This has been proven time and again. The most important part is shot placement, and multiple hits on target.
Multiple hits are where the 9mm shines, lower recoil for faster follow up shots. More hits on target means the likelihood of stopping the fight faster.
10/10 corpses agree! It doesn’t matter what caliber bullet you get shot in the head with!
Too heavy. Can’t carry as much ammo
45acp for WORL is stupid. It’s very seldom my used officially. 9mm and 40s&w are a the only pistol cartridges to go with, both. 9mm because of its official usage and growing usage. 40s&w because of is current official usage, but it’s dying off so it will be cheap to stick up in.
Big fan of the .45acp. FMJ ball is very effective as it’s basically the same diameter as an expended 9mm. Good hp’s are just a bonus. Most every factory load is already sub-sonic, so it’s a perfect match for a suppressor.
Oh yeah I carry the Glock 21 45acp.
Jacob Marshall
I’ve never been in a gunfight and I damn sure don’t want to be in a gunfight. But, I have a hard time believing there a whole lot of difference with anything between the 9s and the 45s with good expanding ammo. But it’s also very hard to argue with the military testing done on animals up the size of cows in the early 1900. They were very specific as to what they wanted in the end. 45 cal bullet at least 200 gr at about 900 fps. Just because it’s 100 years later doesn’t make it less true. Most veterans and people who we think should know , actually know very little about it. They take their issue gun and use it on maybe one or two people. There aren’t very many people that have been in enough gun fights with enough variety of weapons to actually know.
Most. “Doomsday” scenarios I envision do Not envision everyone being dead Except-
The guys with the correct bullets…
For my hand guns be 9mm an 38/357 more common to have an 22 can kill a man with it
Well since YOU guys say so I’ll make sure to stock up on .45ACP – Then you guys can come get it because it won’t work in my H&K USP-9 or my S&W 686 and I got overrun. (smh)
By the way; In the Strasbourg Tests the 125 gr. .357 magnum round was almost identical in performance to the best .45 ACP round. – And a .380 ACP round from MagSafe beat every round there.
The great thing about the .45 ACP is that it was designed to be highly effective using 230 grain FMJ bullet against drug-crazed fanatics. With a good 200 grain JHP, it is even more effective (200 Joules more enegy than the 230 gr. FMJ), Regardless of what you store in your SHTF ammo stores, this round will do the job at practical handgun ranges.
I’ll stick with .357. In a 6″ 686, I feel like I’m carrying a carbine
Well Brian I know where you might be able to find a barely used 4″ 686 since they said I needed to stock up on .45 ACP. 😉
Haha! Too late, just picked up a pre model 28, n frame with 4″
I like my 1911, but I’m a revolver man. Reloading is better with wheelguns
9mm is very common though.
45 is pretty common and when you can no longer find expanding ammo, hard ball 45 leaves a bigger hole than 9mm
True.
Need to be carrying something like a Glock 17 or Sig Sauer P226, with 17-20 round magazines. Capacity is and ease of reloading is everything.
Single stacks and revolvers have accounted for more dead “bad guys” than the 226 and G17 combined.
They are great guns so don’t get me wrong. But each person has their preference and that is what matters.
Besides; I think if I shot you with a single stack or revolver you’d complain just as much, if not more than if I had shot you with the 226 or G17. Providing you survived that is.
You would be very correct. It’s a really a question of logistics. Which there isn’t much of that for 45acp.
If it gets to that point in the world there will be plenty of guns laying around to pick up. By the time I’m out of ammo for my personal guns I’ll either be dead or or I’ll have whatever my attackers were using.
Yeah, I have all those. I keep coming back to the wheel gun. Accurate, better performance, blah, blah. arguably, a 10mm will perform better than .357, but certainly not better to shoot.
If I need more firepower than that, I have a black rifle in the truck.
In addition, a single action trigger on a smith makes it a 100 yard gun. I want to see you hit 17 soda cans with your glock at 100 yards