Caliber Choice for Self Defense

Which Caliber for Your Carry Gun?

Okay, last time I submitted an article for Roger to post I promised the next one would be on which caliber was best. What was I thinking? This is just my six or seventh submission to Traditional Woodsman and now I’m about to alienate half my readership! Before I get started with my seppuku, I’d like to lay down some ground rules that might leave me with a modicum of self-respect and perhaps keep me from falling all the way to the bottom of your short list of gun gurus.

            The first rule is that we are talking about handguns. I know the old saying about bringing a rifle and ten of your best friends with their rifles. Remember, in the last article, I made the case that a handgun is what we carry when we don’t expect trouble.

Rule number two, dear reader, is to understand my caliber selections will be based on defending against a two-legged varmint. Also the caliber should do well against commonly domesticated animals and wild critters that might be found roaming Suburbia. While I understand that Tennessee is home to an Elephant Rescue ranch, I don’t expect you to carry a .600 Nitro Express derringer in your hip pocket. As for the readers living in proximation to grizzlies, moose, black bear, elk, Sasquatch, and other big, hairy, stuff, I recommend you call information for Cody, Wyoming and ask for a listing for my friend, John Linebaugh. His .475 or .500 Linebaugh single action revolvers are the perfect packing pistol for your neck of the woods. If you prefer double action revolvers with big bullets, fellow Tennessean, Hamilton Bowen can fix you up. If you use handguns built by these two you have the added option of pulling your bullets in the off season and using them for a game of “curling”. Just solder on a handle, get a broom and head to the frozen pond! Since the ground rules have been laid, we are ready to talk caliber.

Growing up, my dad wasn’t into handguns. He had one. It was a 4 5/8” Ruger Blackhawk in .41 Rem. Mag. on the old three screw frame. It was, and still is a fine, strong revolver. We reloaded for it using a Speer 210gr. SWC moving around 900 fps. My dad kept it in his bedroom where it could be called upon to defend home and hearth. That load was, no doubt, up to the task. As a kid I longed for a Colt Gov’t Model .45 ACP. It was my dream gun. In the early seventies (my formative years) it was understood that “old slab sides” was the self-defense handgun of choice. Forty years later, it’s still selling as well as any other model. So much so, that even Sig Sauer and Smith & Wesson are building them.

It was the second handgun I purchased when I turned 21, the first being a 6 inch Smith & Wesson Model 19. As a licensed private investigator and bounty hunter, my 70 Series Colt was my constant companion. I carried it every day for ten years. I have an awesome amount of respect for the design and the caliber. Along with the eighties came plastic pistols; I clung my Colt as long as I could but a Glock 23 stole me away in the nineties. Thirteen plus one rounds of .40 S&W in a design that re-wrote the book on reliability, was a good swap for the old Colt.

So, even as recently as the late 1990s, I was still carrying a medium/big bore auto. “Shall Issue” legislation was changing the market rapidly. Shorter barrels, polymers, and lighter alloys were answering the demand, but the biggest change came in bullet designs. The need for bullets that would expand at velocities achievable in shorter barrels became the holy grail of all the ammo companies. Pre-fragmented rounds by companies like MagSafe and Glaser solved the over penetration problems but were destroyed by things like auto glass. Cor-Bon answered the call by designing “light for caliber” bullets and pushed them to unbelievable velocities. Unfortunately, fixed sights and rifling rates of twist made these bullets perform better in some guns and not so well in others. The answer to the problem came in the form of controlled expansion jacketing, while bonding technology insured that the lead core and jacket stayed together.

Bullets, now, are not only designed around caliber and weight but also by barrel length/expected velocity. The jacket thickness is regulated to attain the desired expansion velocity. The Federal HydroShok, Remington Golden Sabre, Speer Gold Dot were all born within months of each other. And who can forget the Winchester Black Talon? I still have a few boxes put back for the zombie apocalypse. Hornady has also developed into a powerhouse for bullet technology. I dare say that their Critical Defense line will prove to be a game changer.

I’ve said all that, to say this. Caliber is no longer what it used to be. My instructions to students in regards to caliber are simple; use the largest caliber, in the smallest package that you will shoot well and often. This makes the 9MM much more attractive than the .40, .45, or .357 Sig in ammo costs alone. The old Luger round is now loaded in +P+ and can push a 100gr. bullet to 1400 fps. We are in the neighborhood of the 110gr .357 magnum revolver with a 4 inch barrel. I use Hornady’s Critical Defense in .380 ACP in my Sig Sauer P238. This load sends a 90gr silicone filled FTX hollow point out of the muzzle at 1000 fps. That’s close to where the 9MM was 15 years ago.

I’m not a fan of the .32 ACP simply because it’s a semi rimmed case. Fill up a magazine with them and push the bullet end of the top round down and you will hear a distinct “click”. Nothing will get that round out of the magazine short of using a small screw driver to push the lower rounds down further into the magazine. The extractor rim of the top round slips behind the rim of the second round essentially locking up the gun. The .25 ACP suffers from being the baby of center fire handgun rounds. It also costs as much as the .32 and .380 and more than the 9MM. Until somebody comes up with a small double stack magazine version that will hold thirty rounds and conceal in a pocket, it’s dead.

On the other hand, the rim-fire .22s are alive and well. That shouldn’t come as a big surprise. The .22 Long Rifle round is the official sweetheart of American shooters. S&W, Ruger and Taurus are offering revolvers in this caliber with a capacity of eight or nine rounds. All the semi-auto makers are producing miniturized versions of their big stuff for the .22LR. There are a lot of shooters who dismiss the .22 LR as too anemic for self-defense. These are the same ones who would tell you that a 3 inch .410 full of  #4 buckshot at 20ft, would be devastating. Hmmm…, let’s think about that. Federal’s Premium Defense .410 load boasts 9 pellets of #4 (.24 caliber) buckshot at 1200 fps. Compare that to a Taurus model 94 or Ruger SR22 auto with 9 rounds of Federal 40gr .22 High Velocity at 1240 fps. See where I’m headed? It's virtually the same ballistics as the shotgun round but instead of 9 projectiles fired at once, the pistol rounds come at tenth of a second intervals.

I have seen so many ladies come to my classes with guns their husbands bought for them on the promise that it’s the perfect “lady’s gun”. It’s usually an alloy J frame which they load with 158gr SWCs. By the time mom fires the first 50 rounds, her hand is inflamed and she has sworn off ever shooting again. Congratulations! You have just ruined your best possible ally. Thank goodness, Ruger has introduced their LCR in an 8 shot .22 version. Buy your dearest one and let her learn to love shooting before she has to learn to master recoil. It has the best trigger of any .22 DA revolvers on the market today, in it's price range. Once she masters it, the transition to an LCR in .38 special is easy. As she learns to shoot, she will see the attraction of bigger bullets with no convincing from you.

Caliber choice really comes down to this: find a gun that you love to shoot. Demand that it be reliable. Shoot it at least once a month, once a week is better. Learn it well. If you are confident and competent and you load it with the best self-defense style ammo available, you will be a force to be reckoned with, regardless which caliber you choose.       

Your comments are welcomed!

Jamie Spaulding