Posted: 5/30/2009 10:01:37 AM EDT
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I consider myself a scientific person. Engineer by training and lifelong trade. I read the gel tests and the analysis on SD ammunition performance and I sincerely believe what I'm reading. I have a 1911 (recent acquisition) but keep a Sig 226 in the car and carry a Browning HP hiking in the woods. I trust that with reasonable ammunition choices, placement trumps any debate over caliber 38 special and above. So yesterday..
My friend calls me. She has had her house near me in the mountains for sale for some time. Recently someone called her and said they weren't sure and probably not, but they might have heard noises like a vagrant hanging around. More likely a deer nosing about but she wants me to go over and take a look. Now, if there is a vagrant it's a job for the county Sheriff and I will certainly call them if there is any indication but the first step is to look around a little for signs of trespassers. I stop by after work and (damnit) I took the Sig out of the car for cleaning so all I have is my S&W 442 snubbie. I put it in my pocket and go looking around. This place is spooky. Empty horse stalls and a few other outbuildings that need to be checked. And it's a bit overgrown. There is no sign of anything being disturbed (as expected) but I was really struck by how much I wanted my 1911 with those big stubby 45 rounds. The S&W may have been perfectly reasonable for this application, but it didn't feel like it. Not like I would be opening fire or threatening anyone if they were trespassing and it's unlikely a vagrant would choose to attack someone checking things out, but try to explain that to the hair on the back of my neck as floorboards creaked and the wind whistled through the rafters. It may not be logical and I still prefer one of my 9's out in the open, but next time I go digging around barns and outbuildings, I'll take a friend and the 1911. |
| As much as I loved my P226... I sold it (to help fund another 1911 purchase). It was 100% reliable, but so are my 1911's. I shoot the 1911 better than any other pistol... having owned many different platforms, I'm MUCH more accurate with the 1911 which says a lot. And living in a ban state, I'll take 8+1 of 45 over 10+1 of 9 any day. That is why the 1911 is my choice for carry gun... |
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Gut feeling should be part of the equation. Feeling can influence performance, feeling/emotion can influence reaction and even how you feel/think what is going on. It can mess with your senses.
Bring the gun you are most comfortable with, regardless if the round does more or less damage. As they say "Shot Placement" I think comfort would be better going into an uncomfortable situation. It will help confidence and clear thinking. So I think the gut feeling is not unscientific or illogical. But it is illogical to remove those factors from the analysis and try to separate them from the equation that involves both. The difference between performance of rounds or the performance of comfort vs discomfort are two variables that should be considered and then compared with each other. But I guess once your there and in it, all you can say is fuck it and go forth. But that is just my thoughts. |
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The first popular point of criticism regarding the 1911 is its "dated" design, something which needs no explication on this particular board given most people's knowledge and experience with them here. The second popular point of criticism is that the 1911 runs on an ammo that's hardly the "be all, end all" of calibers and it has its own criticism.
The fact is that there is not a caliber that I can think of that is practical, adequate, and free from a handful of critical points. That said, the .45 has established itself in America as one of the best defensive cartridges made. The low pressure gives the sensation of a steady roll, instead of a spastic snap, and though the report produced is a deep, reverberating BOOM, it lacks the bigger flashes and high pressure cracks of its competition. Best of all, no matter how you slice it, a 230 gr JHP produces a bigger hole or tissue wound/crush cavity than anything else AND it is one of the LEAST likely rounds to overpenetrate bipeds. These are the factors which have firmly established the 1911 in an era where one can cram 1.5x - 3x the ammo with a marginal to slight profile increase, and that ammo is/was 1/2-2/3 the cost per round of .45. There is no round made that beats .45 when you consider the big picture instead of 1-2 variables. The handgun is historically a weapon of last resort, but our social policy and the constraints of practicality force it as the primary means of defense in the overwhelming majority of likely self-defense situations. I don't know about you, but I'd rather capitalize on EVERY advantage I can get away with when it comes to the potency of the cartridge, especially if/when I would ever find myself in a situation where I was alerted to potential danger. In this case, your second mistake was that you put yourself in (potential) harm's way without your 1911. Your first mistake was that you entered a known risk without a longarm where the situation permitted one. 
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I am no expert, but here's my thoughts.
I don't think it's unscientific, just look at the field of psychology. You felt under gunned, therefore you were. Just as with any other scientific work, you observed yourself being uncomfortable. The gun was plenty from a ballistics point of view most likely, but as stated earlier ballistics is only a portion of shooting. |
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I think the situation you described is psychological - a big heavy gun in the hand feels better - I'd rather have a full size 1911 than a compact, yet they both throw the same round at very similar speeds. No practical difference.
I read some older cops say when they switched from big shiny stainless steel S&W 686's with ugly hollow points in the cylinders to more compact black wonder nines, the "fear factor" of drawing their weapons was greatly diminished. Subjects were not as meek or peaceable as before - they simply weren't as intimidated by the black wondernines. Of course both are deadly lethal - it's just psychology. But psychology matters, of course. When I think of which of my guns is "intimidating" in my mind, it's not the .44 magnum or the 1911 - it's the big shiny 686 with that long, lugged barrel. Just mean looking, and big and heavy (abought the same as a 1911 actually - very, very close). |
| It's interesting how much feeling undergunned matters and I totally agree with the posts on the impact of psychology on performance. I didn't really think I was susceptible to this but I was wrong. Training might fix that. Of course, walking through empty horse barns with a thunderstorm just starting to build up outside, I might have felt undergunned with anything other than a buddy along and both of us with short barrel shotguns. Still, at the time I was thinking what I really wanted was the 1911. Big. Solid. Best SD ammo available short of buckshot. Safety under my thumb. Maybe that's part of the whole deal with liking these pistols. |
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the psychological effect is a big factor in carrying...
when i first got my carry permit after leaving the PRNJ, i would have weird dreams about having to pull my gun and it not working, or the trigger pull feeling like a 100 pounds... after putting some more trigger time on my CCW and carrying more often, those dreams went away. looking back on it, if during that "transitional" period I were to have to draw my weapon, I would have probably missed the target or limp wristed the gun just from my irrational fear/anxiety... in your situation walking through a creepy old abandoned barn in the dark with the wind whipping around and the threat of a potential lunatic lurking in the shadows, your adrenaline level is already high, the last thing you need to be worrying about is your choice of a CCW... to be honest, i would have had my CCW on my hip and taken an AR with me. |
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Quoted:
to be honest, i would have had my CCW on my hip and taken an AR with me. Or a Remington 870. People often forget shotguns...good knock-down, plenty scary looking, and not nearly as particular about aiming dead on. I love my 1911 and will happily walk through my house with it...but if the search goes outside, especially in very open areas, shotgun or AR all the way. |
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Quoted:
The first popular point of criticism regarding the 1911 is its "dated" design, something which needs no explication on this particular board given most people's knowledge and experience with them here. The second popular point of criticism is that the 1911 runs on an ammo that's hardly the "be all, end all" of calibers and it has its own criticism. The fact is that there is not a caliber that I can think of that is practical, adequate, and free from a handful of critical points. That said, the .45 has established itself in America as one of the best defensive cartridges made. The low pressure gives the sensation of a steady roll, instead of a spastic snap, and though the report produced is a deep, reverberating BOOM, it lacks the bigger flashes and high pressure cracks of its competition. Best of all, no matter how you slice it, a 230 gr JHP produces a bigger hole or tissue wound/crush cavity than anything else AND it is one of the LEAST likely rounds to overpenetrate bipeds. These are the factors which have firmly established the 1911 in an era where one can cram 1.5x - 3x the ammo with a marginal to slight profile increase, and that ammo is/was 1/2-2/3 the cost per round of .45. There is no round made that beats .45 when you consider the big picture instead of 1-2 variables. The handgun is historically a weapon of last resort, but our social policy and the constraints of practicality force it as the primary means of defense in the overwhelming majority of likely self-defense situations. I don't know about you, but I'd rather capitalize on EVERY advantage I can get away with when it comes to the potency of the cartridge, especially if/when I would ever find myself in a situation where I was alerted to potential danger. In this case, your second mistake was that you put yourself in (potential) harm's way without your 1911. Your first mistake was that you entered a known risk without a longarm where the situation permitted one. +1 Eloquent writing once again pulpsmack . Well said. 
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