Originally posted by bishop375:
The only problem here is a situation where you may ONLY have the chance to get one shot off... frankly, I'd rather know my ONE shot will knock said assailant off their feet, rather than just punch a small hole, and hope they fall over.



There's no handgun that will knock an assailant over, except maybe a .454 Casull or that freaky .500 that S&W makes. It's a Hollywood fiction.

Do you even know what a double-tap is? Two aimed shots to center-mass in about a half-second. That's a lot of kinetic energy and tissue damage in one instant...what stops an assailant in its tracks is shock, followed by blood loss. Sure, you'd ideally be defending yourself with a shotgun, but the most important thing is that you be able to deliver repeated effective hits to the target. If you can do that with a .45, great, but if it's easier with a .380, then load the best ammo for the job and practice hitting your target without fail.

I just hate the mindset that if the pistol caliber isn't a forty-something, you're effectively defenseless, when it just is NOT true. I fired a few magazines through a .22Magnum pistol one time and after the first stack of rounds, I felt positive that I could put down anyone with those extremely high velocity but easy-to-shoot slugs.

"Think of it, if you like, as a librarian with a G-string under the tweed." Clarkson on the Mondeo.