The Great Caliber Debate

I know you all have heard this before in some shape or form on the gun forums…

“what handgun caliber is best for home defense/self defense/SHTF?”

This is often followed by a hellstorm of debating back and forth that never really ends.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion so I figured I explain mine. I am not a firearms expert or ballistics expert or tactics expert, but I have been around guns for the last 20+ years. (i.e. having a very pro-gun Vietnam veteran father, military service & police)

My opinion is…there is no magic bullet. No caliber is going to magically solve all your problems. Even the one-shot stopping power of the 00-buck has its issues if the bad guy is standing too close to a good guy.

I am going to focus on the top 3 calibers I feel are the most popular in my opinion.

I understand there are many other very capable and popular calibers such as 10mm, 357 magnum, 44 magnum, 357 SIG, 380, 22lr etc. etc. but I am focusing on these 3 because they are the calibers that are easily found in stock at your local gun store or WalMart.

9mm – 9mm luger – 9mm parabellum

The good…

-         Its fast. Fast = a flatter trajectory / less bulletdrop. Most people train at roughly 25 yards or closer so accuracy is often reported to be fairly good at 25 yards depending on the gun of course.

-   Its known for its low recoil. This translates to faster follow up shots. 

-   9mm ammo is cheaper than 40cal and 45acp. Its also widely available in every gun store and WalMart accross America.

-         Its small. The smaller the bullet, the more you can carry in one magazine. More bullets is always better than less in the grand scheme of things. Also, more bullets = fewer mag changes. Fewer mag changes = less vulnerability holding an empty gun in a gun fight. My compact Glock 19 holds 15 rounds for example.

-         Modern 9mm technology such as a +P bonded JHP is for more superior than the 9mm ammo it once was when it was 1^st invented almost 100 years ago.

-         Modern 9mm ammo is still very effective at stopping threats in a trained persons hands so much so that the military and NYPD still use 9mm today. (2010)

The not so good…

-         Some argue that 9mm lacks true knock down power due to its small mass regardless of its technological advancements.

  

40 cal – 40 S&W

The good…

-         40cal is a rising star with police departments across America. This is most likely (in my opinion anyway) because they feel that it’s a nice combination both 9mm and 45acp.

-         40cal is larger than 9mm so it obviously has more mass and can hold more gun powder so in theory it should have more knock down power.

-         40cal is smaller than the 45acp so you can carry roughly 12 to 14 in one magazine vs the very popular 45acp platform, the 1911 which in general often only carries a single stacked magazine of  about 7 to 10 rounds. Of course there are other 45acp handguns that carry more but the most popular 45acp handgun on earth is the 1911.

-         Its often argued that it’s the best of both worlds.

The not so good…

  

 Not everyone likes the new kid on the block. Some argue that the 40cal does not perform significantly better than either 9mm or 45acp. Some say if they are going  to go to a bigger caliber from 9mm that they might as well move up to the 45acp to see a real difference in knock down performance?

45acp – 45 automatic

The good…

-         It’s a legendary man stopper that has served in our military for over 70 years.

-         It’s a big heavy bullet which is said to transfer its kinetic energy very effectively to its target, which is where the infamous term “knock down power” probably came from.

     

The not so good…

-         It’s a victim of its own legend and myth. People expect it to actually knock down a bad guy with one shot when in reality it still takes proper shot placement to drop a bad guy with one shot…even with the infamous 45acp that is still very hard to do when the target is moving and shooting back at you.

-         Its legendary size is also its weakness. The bigger the bullet, the less ammo you can carry in the magazine. The world’s most popular 45acp platform “the 1911” for example, is traditionally a single stacked magazine so on average it only holds 7 to 10 rounds. Double stacked 45’s are out there but they are not as common as the 1911 as a carry gun.

-         45acp hollow points can be an issue in some guns. Some 1911’s have issues feeding hollow points due to the large hole in the tip of the ammo. This can get hung up and cause a feed malfunction. Of course you can solve this problem with CorBon Pwr’ball ammo which is a hybrid hollow point with a polymer ball tip in the hollow point but they are very expensive and hard to find in stock locally.

-   45acp is expensive. Its often double the price of 9mm.

To me, what it boils down to is, you have to get out and shoot several calibers for yourself to get a feel for what is best for you. Most gun ranges usually rent all of these calibers.

Another thing to consider is the style of gun you choose along with the caliber it shoots which can effect your accuracy and defensive performance i.e. single action, S/A D/A, DAO, light trigger pull, heavy trigger pull, slide mounted safety and decocker, frame mounted decocker, thumb safety, grip safety, grip angle, single stack, double stack, bore axis, polymer gun, all steel gun and so on and so forth.

And lastly, even if you pick the perfect caliber with the perfect gun and you get good training…don’t forget the 21ft rule. (Research the Tueller drill.)

Just because you are carrying a gun doesn’t mean you are now equipped to stop all threats. A mentally disturbed person with a hidden knife can deploy that knife and stab you multiple times…before you can even draw your concealed weapon from its holster…inside of 21ft.

And even if you manage to actually shoot him, often times its not a one shot drop due to him moving quickly and you being pumped full of adrenaline (i.e. scared shitless). Even with a bullet hole in him he can still inflict a fatal stab wound to you before he succumbs to his injuries.

But that’s a whole other topic.

Stay safe. 

Honda CRV as a SHTF bug out vehicle? (the 1st generation CRV only)

Why on earth would I consider an underpowered 4cyclinder subcompact sized SUV that doesn’t have real off-road capabilities? Why? Because in a SHTF situation like hurricane Katrina or the 7.0 Chilean earthquakes or the LA riots or the 911 terrorist attacks…you don’t need a hard core rock crawler, tank of a vehicle just to get out of the city in my opinion.

You probably just need a vehicle that is capable of getting you and your loved ones down the road and away from danger. If the road is blocked or destroyed, your vehicle needs to be able to go off road into the dirt, mud, sand, snow, or be able to cross small bodies of water… which is where a Honda CRV comes in handy.

I dedicate this whole idea to a guy I bumped into on youtube. I had been thinking about buying a CRV just to get me out into the Nevada desert to go shooting but his youtube video about his CRV bug out vehicle totally impressed me. Thank you “LeonRFpoa”. Here is a link to his youtube channel.  http://www.youtube.com/user/LeonRFpoa

The 1^st generation CRV (1997 to 2001) is affordable. The 1^st gen CRV’s are the best for offroad in my opinion and luckily they seem to be priced very affordable at around $4000 to $5000 on average. You get a lot of reliability and performance for your money. You can buy a Jeep wrangler for $4000 but is it going to be reliable enough to drive to work every day let alone reliable enough to get your family up to the mountains when the SHTF?

The CRV is practical. You can buy it for work as a daily driver commuter car and if the SHTF you can use it to save your families life and get out of town even if the roads are down. It seats 5 and still has room for some gear. Most have a/c and a heater which my old Jeep Wrangler CJ7 didn’t have.

The CRV is small. If its just you or you only have 5 people total then you probably don’t need a huge 4x4 truck or SUV to get out of the city? Obviously bigger can be better but in a SHTF situation bigger can be a disadvantage because roads might be cluttered with debris such as broken down vehicles. Of course a big vehicle could just push through obstacles but I would want not want to risk breaking a perfectly running engine or drive train due to broken radiator or pop a tire etc etc. I’d rather slip past an obstacle with a tiny SUV. Big vehicles are harder to maneuver if you need to slip through congested traffic or back up and change directions. Plus big vehicles use A LOT of gas fairly quickly.

The CRV is good on gas. A big V8 4x4 truck or SUV is a seriously powerful but are gas hogs. I know because I currently own a Chevy Tahoe and I used to own a lifted GMC Yukon. You may be able to get out of the city quickly but how far will you be able to trek into the desert, hills or mountains after that? The range in a V8 is limited. Your range in a CRV can be extended substantially if you have 1 or 2 jerry cans of extra gas on the roof?

Also keep in mind that gas will be hard to find and what gas you to scrounge up outside of the city won’t be much. Having a small Honda 4 cylinder motor to feed will get you a lot further.

The CRV 2.0L engine in stock form is very reliable. In my opinion a stock engine = reliability and in my own personally experience from owning 2 Honda CRX’s and an Acura Integra I can tell you that they are far more reliable and durable in stock unmodified form than any other vehicle I have ever owned.

My Jeep Wrangler CJ7 and GMC Yukon were bad ass looking but they required a lot of maintenance to stay running reliably. And like I already mentioned they were both horrible on gas. Even though the Wrangler had an inline 6 it still drank down gas like a V8 due to the big tires.

The CRV is quiet. Why is this important? If you have survival supplies such as food, water, clothing, shelter, means to make a fire, guns and ammo…then you own the key to life itself. This makes you a target to those who did not properly prepare. Those people will be desperate and you can bet they would love to try to take it from you. To avoid this issue its best to stay quiet. A little Honda CRV is great at moving around quietly in the desert or woods. My lifted GMC Yukon with its powerful V8 was a loud even with the stock exhaust. My Jeep was a little less loud.

The CRV is a 4 door 5 passenger SUV. This means you can use it as shelter easily. My jeep had no room to lay down to sleep and its soft top sucked at keeping out the cold wind or rain. A small SUV like the CRV is essentially the size of a 2 man tent when you fold down the seats. Its water tight and will keep out the wind, rain, sand and snow.

You could carry a tent but that usually puts you on the ground with the dirt, mud or rocks, not to mention the snakes, spiders, mountain lions, wolves, bears etc etc. Sleeping inside a vehicle is just safer and you can just roll up the windows and lock the doors. If you have to bug out again, its just a matter of hopping in the drivers seat and taking off!

The CRV has a real time AWD system. This means it can get you in and out of places a 2wd passenger car or 2wd truck might not be able to? I live in Las Vegas so the possibility of needing to drive in sand is very possible if I want to get out of the city if the freeways are jammed. If you live in snow country then I don’t have to tell you how awesome AWD drive is.

The down side is that the CRV is basically a front wheel drive vehicle with a viscous limited slip differential (VLSD) in the back. It doesn’t have locking differentials to handle really rough off roading or rock crawling like a jeep or 4x4 truck or SUV.

I think for the average man trying to get his family out of the city, hopefully he wont need to hit the hard core rocks or black diamond trails to get to safety. I am taking a chance but hopefully all I really need to do is cross an open field, cross a muddy road, cross a dry creek bed, cross sand, cross a small stream or navigate through snow or ice covered roads without chains. A Honda CRV with AWD can do all of this fairly easy.

Here is a compilation of youtube videos showing how capable the little Honda CRV really is.

A hand operated winch and tow hooks can be used to get you unstuck if you bite off more than you can chew. This is a must have item for any off-road vehicle regardless of it capabilities.

The CRV’s suspension is higher than pretty much any 2wd car. The suspension is high enough to handle light offroad use. Its not going to be able to hang with lifted Jeeps, trucks and SUV’s but like I said, its just enough to get you out of the city and up into the woods or out into desert. It can be lifted up to 3” if you really want to optimize the capabilities of the little AWD SUV. This would obviously allow you to mount better off road tires which I think would be a wise upgrade. Ground clearance is always good for survival.

CRV parts are widely available. The 1^st generation CRV is based off the Honda Civic platform. That means there is literally thousands of parts and donor vehicles across the United States. I’d be willing to bet that there are more Honda CRV’s and Civics inside my 25 mile radius than any other type of car? More cars = more parts at my disposal to scrounge off of in a SHTF situation.

Some weakness of choosing a Honda CRV? Its very small so if you have more than 5 people or a lot of gear it might not be a good choice. Compared to any other SUV it is underpowered so you won’t be outrunning anyone or powering up serious hills. It doesn’t come in a V6 option if you want more power but you can slap on a K&N hi flow air filter, 4 in 1 headers and a hi flow exhaust to get a little bit more power without compromising reliability? It can’t tow very much with a 2.0L 4 cylinder engine, so no big trailers. High winds make it (and any small vehicle) unstable. It lacks true off road locking differentials so Jeeps and real 4x4s will leave you behind if they have enough gas?

So that’s my suggestion on a simple, cheap, reliable, practical, fuel efficient, offroad capable “bug  out vehicle” that most folks might overlook.

Of course there are other very good options like the Subarus with their legendary AWD or the Ford Escape AWD or a newer more reliable Jeep or a Toyota 4runner or Tacoma or RAV4 and so on, but I sided with Honda because of the sheer numbers of Hondas on the road and the huge supply of parts the Honda civic family of cars (which the CRV is based on) has across the country. And of course the cheap price! Those 2 reasons put the CRV on top in my opinion.

Stay safe...

My opinion of slide mounted safeties / decockers

Plain and simple, I don’t like slide mounted safeties/decockers because…

1. They can cut my hand and make my grip slippery with blood.

2. They can be swiped into the “safe” condition when doing the overhand technique of manipulating the slide.

3. They can be swiped into the "decocked" condition which can be distracting when not expecting it and can affect my accuracy and ultimately leave me vulnerable to being shot due to missing my target.

Here is how I came up with my opinions.

Many moons ago while in the military, I used to carry the Beretta M9 (9mm) handgun on my chest in a cross draw rig. I currently carry the S&W4006TSW tactical (40cal) as my dept. issued duty weapon.

If you don’t already know, both these guns have one huge feature in common…they both have slide mounted safeties and decokcers. (the safety is also the decocker combined) After a few years of past experience and current experience carrying this gun I have developed a first hand opinion on slide mounted safeties & decockers. For this topic I will refer slide mounted safeties/decockers as SMS’s to keep life simple.

If you ever ran your handgun through a demanding course of fire where you are forced to run, shoot from cover, from your back, shoot on the move, navigate through doors and rooms and hallways etc etc, and deal with malfunctions…all under stress and adrenaline…you may know what I am about to say?

When I experienced a malfunction, I did what was drilled into me for years, which is “tap, rack, bang!” Of course there are variations of the wording of this method now but you get the point. And no matter what level of malfunction there is, it usually involves manipulating or “racking” the slide with an “over the top” or “over hand” technique.

This is a part of my DNA now and I can’t remove it without some type of psychological brainwashing, lol. One time on the range after hours and hours of performing this “overhand” technique I noticed a warm wet feeling on my support hand. It was blood.

I had gripped that slide and rear sight with enough force to rip open the skin on my palm. Not so much a problem on my Beretta M9 but on the sights of the S&W4006. They are large, sharp and adjustable. Btw, I am also not a fan of adjustable sights on a fighting handgun but that’s a whole other topic.

Now this may not be a big deal since I will not die of blood loss obviously and in a real gun fight, adrenaline won’t allow me to feel the low level pain of a cut palm. The real problem is that my grip could get compromised due to the slickness of my blood. If this affects my shot placement then I could actually die from missing a critical shot on the bad guy who in turn takes advantage of my disadvantage.

At the end of the day, accuracy wins even though it’s popular to say “speed is life” on the battlefield.

So as you can see a small seemingly insignificant issue can turn into a real life and death issue in a split second due to a slippery grip.

Another big reason why I am not a fan of of SMS’s is that it is possible to do the “over hand” technique and accidentally swipe the safety into the “ON” position.This is very bad!

How is this possible? Well some hands are bigger (or in my case fatter) than others and my palm or fingers or both can push down on the SMS lever, actually pushing it all the way into the safe position.

This is obviously possible because the SMS lever is mounted high and pushing it “DOWN” is the safe position, whereas if it where mounted low on the frame and the action to put it on safe where “UP” (like on a 1911 and others) it becomes almost impossible to accidentally swipe your gun into a safe/no fire condition.  

On my S&W4006 if I did this in a life and death gun fight…I would obviously put myself in danger. I’d have to have the presence of mind to recognize my mistake, take my focus off the threat (or threats) refocus on my gun to identify my problem, fix it by flicking the safety “OFF”, refocus back out onto the threat and get back into the fight.

For some, this whole process might only take a second or 2 to recognize and fix? But as you know, 1 or 2 seconds is all it takes to loose in a gun fight. Again, this is where that old saying “speed is life”. Accuracy won’t matter if your gun is on safe!!!

Now on some models, like the HK USP if you accidentally swipe the frame mounted safety/decocker lever all the way down past safe, all you will do is decock the gun and be forced to shoot the next round in double action mode. That’s the mode that requires a heavy trigger pull. This can be distracting and throw off your accuracy but at least you are still in the fight.

I like the SIG's because they dont even have a safety lever, just the decocker lever which is strategically mounted on the frame...not the slide. You cant accidentally put the gun on safe. Good job SIG. This is a big reason why alot of cops carry SIG's. Glock takes it a step further and don't have any levers at all to accidentally hit.

Now keep in mind many folks never experience what I did. And even folks with big or fat hands may not experience what I did. This is just my personal experience.

If you have a gun with a slide mounted safety/decocker and you are effective and accurate with it, don’t change your setup. You have found what works for you, and in the end that’s what you really need in a defensive/fighting handgun. You just need a gun that fits you and that you shoot accurately with.

I have alot of love for the Beretta M9 and S&W4006 but they are not my top pick for a defensive handgun.

Stay safe.