karder wrote:I like .45 and love 1911's, so I could never argue with that EDC choice.
At the last tactical shooting course I took, the instructor had an interesting take. To paraphrase, he noted:
"There are two things that kill you in combat. Blood loss and an obstructed airway. Guns kill you the same way knives do. They make holes and let your blood out. When enough blood gets out, you die. That is important to understand, whether you are trying to stop an attacker, or trying to help someone who has been shot. 9mm, .40, .45, .357, any major caliber will let the blood out just fine. Your job is to let the blood out a quickly as possible to stop the aggression. Whatever tool you choose to use to do that is up to you."
Sure, this is an oversimplification, but still, as someone who like to pour over ballistic information, I found it to be an interesting perspective.
Shooting an attacker to stop them is a lot like good real estate; Location, location, location. Shot placement is critical to up your chances of hitting vital organs/arteries.
One additional items that your instructor didn't mention was shock to the central nervous system. A shot that causes hrd shock to the CNS will shut down an attacker immediately. That is the best hope you can get for stopping someone. Bleed out can take 7-8 seconds at minimum, even with a heart hit, so they may still have time to shoot at you. So, the more energy you can pass along to the impact, the better the penetration and potential CNS shock or deep enough to hit a vital organ.
I realize bad things can happen anywhere, but I finally "matured" out some I guess because I try real hard not to go to places I need to take my gun safe to.
Carry what you are comfortable with and be good with it. That's (hopefully) all you will need if push comes to shove.