Beretta 92FS 9mm Vs Colt 45 Handgun Comparison

It is pretty much a simple little survey of sorts. We currently have the M9 (Beretta 92FS 9mm) as the standard issue side arm for most military MOS's. I am just curious if there is anyone else out there that feels the 9mm is a piece of garbage and we should go back to the .45? No studies were done, no one's opinion was asked, the change was simply done. No military member I have asked would take a 9mm over a .45. Many people I talked to owe their lives to the .45. I've also heard that .45s are like gold over in Iraq, as soldiers there are trying to get their hands on one because the 92F doesn't do the job.

If the police had .45s instead of 9mm in the Hollywood shootout, they would not have had to get rifles from a gun store. It might not have gone thru the armor but would have knocked them flat and let them close. You can hit target on the earlobe with a .45cal and knock it flat.

As I understand it we converted to 9mm in order to conform to NATO. In my opinion, it was a ridiculous compromise. The purpose of a side arm is to defend yourself in close quarters. A 9mm will injure an adversary, but leave him active enough to possibly still do you harm. 45cal. on the other hand will disable the individual most entirely. Made by Colt the .45 is superior for flat out stopping power and NATO should have conformed to us. The Beretta 92F was brought in because the US needed to maintain the bases in Italy. It was very simply a Quid Pro Quo.

We have to remember that the weapons 'stopping power' depends on the shooter as well. You can put a .45 in a persons hand that cant shoot, and all the stopping power is still pretty worthless. There were failures of 9mm/40/45, and I have to say it really comes down the shooter.

Just ask the FBI about their tragic 1986 Miami shootout. On the linked chart note the weapons of agents Grogan and Dove, the two agents who lost their lives in the gun battle. The agents had to shoot the two suspects several times to bring them down--none of the FBI agents involved were armed with .45 caliber weapons. Jerry Dove shot one of the bad guys as he climbed out the passenger's side car window. The round entered under his left arm and penetrated to his heart. He shot and killed Grogan and Dove, and wounded a third FBI agent after taking this hit. It didn't even slow him down. The Miami office authorized their Agents to carry .45s, shortly after the shootout.

There's no substitute for the old Colt 45, but if you happen to find a 9mm Luger and the extractor and the ejector don't break, well there's just something about the Luger that is magnificent! The only way a 9mm can stack up to the .45 in stopping power is if you're using Black Talon or Gold Dot hollow-point ammo. However I have heard these two brands of ammo are now restricted.

Actually, the Military has a Request for Proposals out, to adopt a new .45 pistol. All interested bidders must present their pistols for evaluation later this year.

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Comments

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 at 7:08 AM, by brian
Have you ever used 9mm? Have you ever used a .45? I am big fan of the .45 but the problem with the 9mm berretas is not the calider but the type of bullet. Instead of the standard ball ammunition used it should be a hollow point round. If you do some research on it you will see that the 9mm hollow point round has a much effectivness as standard ball .45.

Fri, 3 Apr 2009 at 6:36 PM, by MAJOR DUANE FISH
I OWN BOTH THE 92FS BERETTA AND A SMITH&WESSON 45ACP . YOU CAN BRING DOWN A PERSON WITH EITHER ONE. I LIKE BOTH GUNS . THE 45 I USED WHEN I WAS IN KOREA IN 1953. THE BERETTA I USED WHEN I WAS IN IRAQ. IT IS NOT THE MATTER WHAT GUN YOU HAVE IT IS HOW GOOD YOU ARE. I COULD BRING A PERSON DOWN WITH A 22 CAL.

Sun, 5 Apr 2009 at 9:11 PM, by Jason
Major Fish you are dead on it matters not what you use but how well you use it. thanks for your service.

Sat, 23 May 2009 at 12:40 AM, by Pete
Actually, with ball ammo there are really no hand guns that are 'The Hammer of Thor'. Not even a 45 ACP. After all, Cor Bon ammo might actually kill someone and the folks who wrote the Geneva Convention would not like that very much.

More than forty years ago at a very conversational distance I shot a bad guy four times center of mass with a 45 ACP. After he went down I had to patch him up because I was the medic. He lived.

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 at 8:46 PM, by Bob Cook
Bullets do the killing. Right bullet for the right job. My 9mm Springfield spitting out a 115 grn hollow point @ 1330 f/sec kills much better than My 1911 chunking a 230 grn ball @ 800 f/sec. No argument ! But load a 185 grn half jacket hp @1100 f/sec the venerable 45 will ward off the buggers. But one center shot w/ a 22 is better than 6 missed 44 mag shots. But the best use of a pistol is to get back to where I foolishly left My rifle.

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