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What is the smallest caliber you trust to protect yourself?
- Thread starter idahoskunk
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2010
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- 24
I carry one of two, either a 9mm with hydra-shoks, or a .357 mag with hornady point defense.
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2010
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- 4,441
I shoot my glock 22 better than any other pistol i own, so that's my preferred handgun, but my Ruger 22/45 isn't far behind, and i'd feel pretty comfortable carrying it
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2010
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- 5,902
.38 special for me too.
I carry a light weight (S&W Scandium) snub-nose .357 in a leather front pocket holster
when I am walking in the woods, for bears and such.
Harldy ever notice that it is there.
I carry a light weight (S&W Scandium) snub-nose .357 in a leather front pocket holster
when I am walking in the woods, for bears and such.
Harldy ever notice that it is there.
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- Aug 26, 2010
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- 4,441
I think i could defend myself with these if i HAD to...
People have killed hogs with this one... packs more energy than my Crossbow by about double
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2009
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- 1,750
I think i could defend myself with these if i HAD to...
People have killed hogs with this one... packs more energy than my Crossbow by about double
Lol.....
1.) I was just being silly. I don't even own a pellet gun....my Ruger 10/22 is the closest thing I have to one..... .380 is the smallest caliber pistol I carry on a regular basis (Sig P238)
2.) How can you read my posts if I'm on your ignore list?
That's odd. 
3.) To make small talk and keep Jaxx
off my back....I have hunted with a crossbow ever since i had back surgery a couple years ago. What kinda crossbow do you have? And the FPS? The pellet gun you referenced may travel faster than a bolt from a crossbow....but I seriously doubt it would do as much damage. Do you agree with that? And hogs are easy to kill.....much easier than an opossum! 
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2010
- Messages
- 4,441
Lol.....
1.) I was just being silly. I don't even own a pellet gun....my Ruger 10/22 is the closest thing I have to one..... .380 is the smallest caliber pistol I carry on a regular basis (Sig P238)
2.) How can you read my posts if I'm on your ignore list?
3.) To make small talk and keep Jaxx
1: I haven't owned a pellet gun for a long time musself. Didn't even know that PGs that powerful existed til i did a search after your post
2: I can always just click "show post" on your posts and there they are. I do that on occasion
3: I have a Parker Tornado 330FPS on a 400 Grain bolt. Yeah, i agree that a crossbow will do more damage with razor tipped bolts. I use Spitfire Maxx expandables, and they'll put a 2" wide hole from one side of a hog to the other. I think that they are more deadly than a .308 bullet for some types of shots...
That said, the Tornado generates 100-120 foot pounds of force. The gun on the bottom there generates over 500... and that's a HEAVY projectile. Just about the same weight as that crossbow bolt, but moving MUCH faster.
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2012
- Messages
- 19
.38 +p nyclad
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2012
- Messages
- 282
Glad someone resurrected this one.
Several years ago, in one of the conflicts we find ourselves embroiled in at the moment, my team and I went to assist in covering the extraction of another's team and their wounded.. and we were subsequently ambushed.
The issue Beretta I had at the time, found it's marks within a six inch area, center mass of my target during an almost hand-to-hand situation, while lying on my back. He was dying.. bleeding out.. but still alive enough to kill me before he bit it first. I like to say it was akin to me stabbing him with a very thin icepick. My bro Chase took him out with a .45ACP headshot before he fell on me.
4 days later, I had in my posession a 1911, that proved it's stopping power 2 weeks after that.
I own an XD45 Tactical now.. and that's what I'll use to protect myself.
Of course, I also have a good old "Judge" for the snakes when I'm stateside and out on the boonies.
.45ACP for me.
Several years ago, in one of the conflicts we find ourselves embroiled in at the moment, my team and I went to assist in covering the extraction of another's team and their wounded.. and we were subsequently ambushed.
The issue Beretta I had at the time, found it's marks within a six inch area, center mass of my target during an almost hand-to-hand situation, while lying on my back. He was dying.. bleeding out.. but still alive enough to kill me before he bit it first. I like to say it was akin to me stabbing him with a very thin icepick. My bro Chase took him out with a .45ACP headshot before he fell on me.
4 days later, I had in my posession a 1911, that proved it's stopping power 2 weeks after that.
I own an XD45 Tactical now.. and that's what I'll use to protect myself.
Of course, I also have a good old "Judge" for the snakes when I'm stateside and out on the boonies.
.45ACP for me.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2001
- Messages
- 2,558
.380 gets carried the most, but a 9mm is never too far away.
Jaxx
Moderator
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2006
- Messages
- 19,799
Lol.....
1.) I was just being silly. I don't even own a pellet gun....my Ruger 10/22 is the closest thing I have to one..... .380 is the smallest caliber pistol I carry on a regular basis (Sig P238)
2.) How can you read my posts if I'm on your ignore list?
3.) To make small talk and keep Jaxx
Gimme a break...
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2012
- Messages
- 6,973
The only real IMPORTANT differences between handgun calibers in my eyes are as follows....
-Carrying capacity, more is always better so smaller calibers get the advantage here.
-Penetration, this is possibly the most important aspect in my eyes. I do not believe in over-penetration, I want as much as I can get when your life is on the line.
-Recoil, again the smaller calibers get the nod here.
-Accuracy and trajectory, an often overlooked part of caliber selection. This also includes the projectile shape, velocity and bullet weight.
-Reliability, bottleneck cases like the 357 SIG are more reliable in feeding than straight walled cases like the 40 S&W.
-Sound Pressure Levels, a 357 Magnum out of a 2" barrel fired in an alley or other confined space will most likely temporarily make you deaf and cause you immense physical pain.
-Light Equipped, as most attacks happen in the dark it is VERY important to have a tactical light mounted at the ready. In order to own the night, you must have a white light.
-Intermediate barrier performance, you're not going to be shooting ballistic gelatin to save your life. How well does your carry ammo of choice do going through bone and heavy clothing? What if your assailant is wearing soft body armor?
My stance on hollow points is that I have no care for them at all....they were only popularized because police departments wanted to limit liabilities through reducing penetration.
Flat point bullets with a wide meplat can do more damage than a hollow point whilst penetrating significantly farther, especially through intermediate barriers.
I like Subsonic 147 gr. 9mm FMJ-FP myself. Carried in a Glock 17 w/ nickle boron coating on slide & barrel, no need to lubricate and 100% reliable. Surefire X-300 attached and carried at 3:00 with a Dale Fricke Gideon Elite kydex holster, custom made to fit G17 w/ X300.
For anyone interested...
Dale Fricke makes the finest, fastest, most comfortable and durable kydex holsters on the market, with a bombproof warranty that covers abuse and misuse....
http://www.dalefrickeholsters.com/
-Carrying capacity, more is always better so smaller calibers get the advantage here.
-Penetration, this is possibly the most important aspect in my eyes. I do not believe in over-penetration, I want as much as I can get when your life is on the line.
-Recoil, again the smaller calibers get the nod here.
-Accuracy and trajectory, an often overlooked part of caliber selection. This also includes the projectile shape, velocity and bullet weight.
-Reliability, bottleneck cases like the 357 SIG are more reliable in feeding than straight walled cases like the 40 S&W.
-Sound Pressure Levels, a 357 Magnum out of a 2" barrel fired in an alley or other confined space will most likely temporarily make you deaf and cause you immense physical pain.
-Light Equipped, as most attacks happen in the dark it is VERY important to have a tactical light mounted at the ready. In order to own the night, you must have a white light.
-Intermediate barrier performance, you're not going to be shooting ballistic gelatin to save your life. How well does your carry ammo of choice do going through bone and heavy clothing? What if your assailant is wearing soft body armor?
My stance on hollow points is that I have no care for them at all....they were only popularized because police departments wanted to limit liabilities through reducing penetration.
Flat point bullets with a wide meplat can do more damage than a hollow point whilst penetrating significantly farther, especially through intermediate barriers.
I like Subsonic 147 gr. 9mm FMJ-FP myself. Carried in a Glock 17 w/ nickle boron coating on slide & barrel, no need to lubricate and 100% reliable. Surefire X-300 attached and carried at 3:00 with a Dale Fricke Gideon Elite kydex holster, custom made to fit G17 w/ X300.
For anyone interested...
Dale Fricke makes the finest, fastest, most comfortable and durable kydex holsters on the market, with a bombproof warranty that covers abuse and misuse....
http://www.dalefrickeholsters.com/