DearSlayer357

how many rounds does the glock .45 acp hold and what is the pros and cons of a 9mm and how many rounds do glock 9mm hold. And whats the differense between 9mm luger and the others?

Charley

Best self defense gun? The one you have WITH you. Learn to hit with it, caliber, action type, etc, ARE ALL SECONDARY CONCERNS.
Rules for gunfighting.
Rule number 1: have a gun.

driftrider

The full size Glock 21 .45ACP has a 10+1 capacity for the civilian model and 13+1 for the pre-ban and LEO mags. The 9mm will also only have 10 rounds in the post-ban civilian mags. The pre-ban and LEO Glock 17 mags hold 17. The compact and aub-compact versions hold less.

But in reality it's not the number of rounds you have, its how you use them. Most defensive pistol encounters involve less than 4 rounds being fired. Sustained firefights are not very likely, so having tons of ammo isn't really a major concern. Regardless of the pistol you choose, the most important thing from your perspective is making sure that you can hit what you're aiming at. It doesn't matter if you have 15 shots in the end when you miss with the first five and the bad guy kills you before you get off the sixth. You're still dead. So what's really important is choosing a gun that fits you well that you can shoot well. If it's a 9mm, then get a 9mm. If you can shoot a 45 well, then by all means get a 45. A center mass hit with a 9mm you shoot well is far better than missing with the 45 you're a mediocre shot with.

Don't get all wrapped up in velocity and energy numbers, either. A good hit with a 9mm using good defensive JHP ammo will get the job done almost as well as a .45ACP. If I had to rank the most important things to consider in a defensive handgun it'd look like this:

1.) Reliability. Obviously a gun does you no good if it doesn't shoot when you need it to.
2.) Practical accuracy. When I say "practical" I mean it in terms of being the combined ability of both you and the pistol to put rounds on target at ranges typical of defensive encounters (25 yards). Almost all pistols made today are themselves accurate enough out to 25 yards to hit person center mass every time. The major variable is the shooters ability to take shoot the gun. A 2" snubbie isn't necessarily an inaccurate gun, it's just very hard to shoot well.
3.) This depends on what you're using it for. If it's for CCW, then the third most important factor is concealability. The saying goes, "the best gun to have is the one you have with you," is true here. A full size .45 is useless if you left it at home because it was too big to conceal or too heavy to carry around all day. But the .22WMR you always have in your pocket might save your life. If the gun is strictly for home defense, then the third consideration should be firepower. Basically, use the most powerful caliber you can handle and shoot well.

I hope this helps you.

Mike

driftrider

If you want more detailed info about the various Glock models, go here:

Glock Technical Data webpage

Mike

dep214

for me personally i have a15rd glock mdl 22,40cal.for my wife i have a dbl barrell 20gauge with 00 buck shot.revolvers are harder to shoot than people realize.they base everything on what they see on tv.

frizzellr

I must respectfully disagree. I have always found revolvers to be more "idiot resistant" then pistols. Where did the tv thing come in? Revolvers don't generally jam, don't generally have safeties, and are basically point and click. If you are talking a snubbie then yes they can be difficult to shoot accurately, but so too can a compact auto. Was that what you were talking about?

I feel the best self defense tool is your mind. After that it is whatever firearm you can use proficiently while under stress. Caliber and action are secondary, as has been stated before.

Nomercy

Here are a few things I'd keep in mind when you're considering a self defense firearm, especially when compare guns based on capacity...

Military agencies, Law Enforcement agencies, and Civilians all have different rules of engagement and combat: LEO's will RARELY be demanded to draw their weapon, and even less often will they be required to fire it-they're required to fire when situation dictates, based on their safety or that of others...Military officers will fire nearly whenever they draw, and will expect to draw in ANY confrontation-they also may be required to initiate a hostile situation...Civilians will never expect to need to draw, most civilians never have to even if they carry, and even fewer ever are forced to fire if they're forced to draw-the reasons for a civilian to draw and shoot are the fewest of any of the three. Less than 10% of cases where a gun is drawn in self defense ends up with a shot fired, less than 2% of such cases require more than one shot-you aren't likely to need more than 1shot, let alone more than 6 (revolver) or 8(.45acp), likely if you need more than 6-8, you're either taking LONG shots at a running target, or you're in a stand off and you're probably going to need more than the extra 2rnds a 9mm gives you (either that or you're a TERRIBLE SHOT).

You've also got to remember that Military and LEO's are trained to shoot, most civilians aren't so lucky to be...although a .45acp is hard recoiling (for a pistol), the stopping power advantage dictates necessity for most agencies, so the "difficulties of shooting it" are overcome by regular practice, and lots of it. (buying a .45acp because of it's stopping power is useless if you can't shoot it accurately, Grits Grisham once coined, "a .22lr in the eye is more effective than a .45acp in the knee," if you can't control the gun, it's not doing you any good, you can take the time to LEARN to control it, but you've got to do it.)

Military/LEO's normally have armed back-up or other soldiers present, you won't. If you for some reason should run dry, no one will cover you when you reload (Like I said, you'll never need that many shots, but if you'd ever need to reload, repacking a single action revolver is harder than a auto, and you'd get 20rnds for your time with a 9mm instead of 16rnds with a .45acp)

Military and some LEO's should expect to face multiple armed and hostile assailants in any given scenario, you will likely be one on one and won't likely be met with withstanding returned fire. (a LEO or Military officer needs a lot of stopping power on each shot, they need to alleviate each threat quickly and move on to the next, they can't afford to empty an entire mag into one assailant just to stop them before reloading and moving on to the second of 6 assailants...they usually pick a .45acp because it's known for stopping power, one or two shots and the recipient is no longer a threat, a 9mm is more likely to require more shots to stop a threat, so even though they get 2more rounds with it, they'll be more likely to have to reload under fire, which is never handy. Once you fire one shot, you're not likely to get more than one or two back at you before your assailant high tails it out of there, you're not going to get prolonged return fire, so stopping the threat immediately in one shot isn't necessarily as important-and since you're likely to only face one opponent, you don't have to conserve ammo, put 8+rnds of even 25acp Center Of Mass on an assailant and they're going down, you don't necessarily need a powerful .45acp.)

Military/LEO's will be in drastically different condition than civilians during a "gun fight", they've got to be prepared (especially military) to make shots from point blank to 50yrds or so. You're not going to be taking long range shots at anyone, if they're that far off, they're running away, and you'll be sued for continuing fire, you don't need to consider the extra down range energy of the .45acp because you're not going to be shooting down range-your actoin will be up close and personal. They're also trained to react if surprised, and they'll know to be on edge and have their weapon drawn and ready when going into a building after hostiles, while waiting out a gunman in a store or waiting in a bunker on an ambush, etc, they are trained to move using cover, they're likely to be wearing some sort of body armor, and if they're waiting anywhere, they're barricaded using effective cover-you're likely to be surprised and scared, likely to be in bed asleep-groggy and disoriented, in the dark, your gun will not be in your hand, the safety won't be off, it might not be loaded, you're not trained to be "intimate" with it, and you'll have to react faster than the trained personnel-find a gun that's easy to use, a double action revolver is great for ease of use, but you have to keep it loaded all the time, not safe if you have kids, an auto can be loaded faster, but is a bit more complex to use, and there are varying degrees of difficulty within different models.

Military personnel aren't likely to get sued for colateral casualties, LEO's are less vulnerable than civilians, but still must consider it. (you shoot through a wall and kill your neighbor, you're going to jail, accident or not).

(all that said, only the Air force continues to regularly issue 9mm's to officers, this doesn't include special ops or irregular issues, but on the whole, the rest of the Corps have returned to the .45--most LE agencies prefer the .45, but are quickly turning towards the .40S&W for it's ease of shooting vs. the .45acp and increased stopping power vs. the 9mm, it's kind of like the 16ga-all the power of the 12ga with the kick of the 20ga, it's ALMOST the power of the 45 but with the kick of the 9mm.)

Long story short, get what fits your hand the best, what you can use the easiest, and the most powerful round you can effectively control. It's sometimes good to base your decisions off what Military and LE agencies use, but you've got to remember they're playing in a different league, you're in a whole different rule set than they are, in some ways it's easier, it others, it's a lot worse for civilians.

bigcountry

dep, how do you figure revolvers are harder to shoot? Kinda confused. Trigger is usually a non complicated one stage trigger, ammo is in the cylider ready to fire. Maybe you could edcuate us on what you mean.

Nomercy

I believe that Dep is referring to the recoil, not the actual ergonomics, of revolvers...in which case I'm guessing he's a small guy, has small hands, or doesn't shoot revolvers very much...I've never had a problem shooting revolvers, the improved feel/balance/pointability of revolvers make them much nicer to shoot for me, regardless of how much more they may recoil...On the other hand, I'd rather spend a day at the range with my P-97 .45acp instead of my .45-70 BFR, but that's a pretty extreme comparison, compare a .44mag revolver to a .45acp pistol, and it's a matter of practice and preference for most men as to which is "easier" to shoot.

Mykey

I've never seen a revolver that was hard to shoot or handle. I like double action revolvers because of their ease of shooting and they are very reliable imo. I carry a 357 magnum and i wanted to get my wife something i felt she could handle and she ended up with a 38 special.