Why People think the 9mm is a weak round?

MrOrph

Do they? I don't think it is.

Hell, you can kill someone with a .22.

jeeper_peeper321

The military went to the .45 from the .38 during the Phillipine insurgency.

The .38 just didn't have enough stopping power, to put the Moro tribesmen down.

Just like the 5.56 rounds used in the M-16, don't always put someone down at close range now, the round is just to small and to fast.

Yes, you can buy self defense 9mm rounds, that will stop someone cold.

But the military, does not use those rounds.

Heck, even the FBI finally went away from the 9mm and went to the 10mm.

Amos S

Military ammo is full metal jacket ball type.Kinetic energy transfer looks at mass x velocity.240 grain .45 while slower in velocity,still has a greater kinetic energy factor than a faster/lighter 9mm round.simple physics.
As for knockdown power,1 round from a .45 will get their attention,no matter where they are hit.9mm requires a well placed shot.

David M

I think it is more a question of penetrating other objects that may be between the shooter and its intended target. My brother and I used to "test" 9mm penetration vs 45acp using phone books. We set up gallon jugs of water behind increasing numbers of phone books or small to medium size trees to see which round would "win". The 9mm almost always lost the penetration test and was more likely to ricochet off solid objects. Of course a direct hit to a vital organ is almost always fatal.

forhirepen

Mostly people say this because they are caliber snobs. However, 9 mm does rate poorly in "one stop shot" records. That is an almost sane reasoning and does dispute your "just as fast" comment. I'm not picking a fight because 9 mm is exactly the lowest power I pick for my own self defense. That doesn't mean I wouldn't rather have my 12 ga in hand...

You can't brag about how many kills 9 mm has because the number one killer is .22LR. But I sure wouldn't pick it for self defense! Not even if was a centerfire cartidge.

Stephen H

With a critical hit, a 22 will kill, as has been accurately observed. However, you don't always GET that critical hit. A shipmate of mine took a .38 round (that's about 9mm) through the thigh at point-blank range, (Through-and-through) and after a few days in bed, was back on duty. Had that been a .45, it would have ben a far-diferent story. ANY round will kill, if you hit well enough. but the larger the round, the easier it is to get a kill with a less-accurate shot, which is often what you get when you have to resort to a self-defense pistol shot. A little history might enlighten our readers a bit on the advantages of the .45 as compared to the 9mm. The U.S. marines were in the Phillipines, dealing with the Moro tribesmen in the Phillipine-American war. Our troops carried the .38 revolver as the issue sidearm. It was found to be innefective, due to its lack of stopping-power. The Moro's wore bamboo armor, and often used drugs to reduce any sensation of pain in battle. The M1911A1 was designed to give the increased stopping-power that a larger bullet has. Marine casualties dropped signifigantly in engagements where the pistol was used against charging tribesmen. The botom-line here is stopping-power, and the 9mm gives up a lot of that.

jasonsluck13

it's definitely not ineffective.. it doesn't have the "stopping" power that .45's and such have.. one shot from a .45 round will drop ANY man. 9mm will not always get the same result...but, i don't care who you are, i seriously doubt you'd want to be shot by either..

MadMaxx

You really need some serious ballistics lessons!

An actor once took a stage pistol and, fooling around, put it to his head and squeezed the trigger... now he's pushing daisies... so perhaps we should switch to blanks?

E=mc^2... ring a bell? Quick ballistics quiz hotshot... if c^2 remains constant... what happens to the energy (E) if the mass (m) increases?

Amos S has the other equation... study higher math!

Ryan R

like a former navy SEAL told me, a 9mm round isnt a "wimpy" round when you put 3 rounds into your head. Dead is dead.

Byte Me

I own a handgun that shoots the 9mm and another of a very similar type that shoots the similar-but-more-powerful .40 SW.

There is no doubt in my mind that the .40 is more powerful.

There is also, however, NO doubt in my mind that it would be BAD to be shot with the 9mm.

It is NOT "weak," regardless of armchair experts who might say it is.

GatorBowler

all bullets are effective,no one who has been shot will say , hey it's nothing like a 45acp, I will say this, the 1911 SFA is more effective secondary than the 9mm, but both will do the job

ducky

because if you have regular body armor on it wont even slow you down.

Ethan

Because when you say 5.6mm, 7.62mm, and 9mm, people in America don't know how big that is or isn't. They're more familiar with calibers. That's why a .45 caliber handgun sounds like it may do more damage than a 9mm. It may be ignorance, or it my be preference, I'm not sure.

All I know is that I think a bullet would pretty much hurt no matter what.

a_man_could_stand

Two reasons that I've heard:

1) Gun culture tends to be tied to the whole "bigger is badder" mentality. I mean honestly, what civilian needs a .50 caliber handgun?

2) I know several people in law enforcement and they believe in stopping power over penetrating power and mag capacity. One officer I know was on scene when a guy high on PCP attacked another officer with a knife. The officer put 4 9mm slugs into him and he didn't even break stride.

Military and law enforcement have to keep pace with the "bad guys." You got gang members out there wearing body armor and carrying .45 Glocks, you need something that'll definitely knock them down.

rev1115

thats proably why its standard issue for our troops.

A blank!

7mm shell will blow a hole in you and an exit wound as big as your fist in torso shot that is also a lot of stopping power.

NSA

9mm parabellum was designed to wound the enemy. It takes more time and resources to care for an injured soldier than a dead one.

9mm isn't ineffective, Americans, at the time 9mm was adopted, were more accustomed to the heavy hitting .45 ACP.

Part of the reason America shifted to 9mm was the majority of NATO nations used 9mm, we could then use the same ammo. But that wasn't the only reason, just the main one.

9mm has a tendency to overpenetrate; .45 acp, and .357mag have a tendency to stay in the body.

pumpkins

Yes it can kill a human of course if it could'nt it would not be used by citizens all round the world for self-defence and also military use them for wars. it can kill a human if it even hit the arms or legs blood vessels. it is VERY dangerous. hell you could kill someone with a BB gun if you hit the person in the right spot. it is a firearm and it can do alot of damage. once my buddy was shot with a gun 4 years ago. he thought it was a sniper bullet hit him. he was hit in the stomach luckly someone heard my friend yelling in pain and saw him and called the ambulance running out with his first aid kit. i was not there at the time but he was really hit with a 9mm pistol firing at 1176 feet per secound. why would someone shoot my friend is beyond me!

manny

In regards to Jimmy's comment above. Ballistic tests have shown that a .45 will dump alot of energy into a target, but sheetrock stops the .45 after two or three layers, where a 9mm can actually go through 3-4 walls. A 9mm will also go through a car door just fine.

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