9mm vs 40S&W vs 45ACP

Specifications (Ball park ranges - not load specific)

Below are ranges commonly found for each caliber. The majority of the information comes from the Wikipedia articles on the individual cartridges.

	9mm	40S&W	45ACP
Bullet Diameter (in)	0.356	0.4005	0.452
Case Diameter @ Base (in)	0.391	0.424	0.476
Typical Cartridge Length (in)	≤1.169	≤1.135	≤1.260
Typical Bullet Weight (gn)	115 - 147	135 - 200	165 - 230
Typical Velocity @ Muzzle (fps)	1000 - 1430	985 - 1190	830 - 1060
Typical Energy @ Muzzle (ft-lbf)	419 - 704	400 - 490	352 - 518
Typical Momentum @ Muzzle (g*m/s)	2776 - 3496	3132 - 4160	3424 - 4290
Typical Balistic Gel Penetration JHP (in)	8 - 16	10 - 13	11 - 14
Typical Balistic Gel Penetration FMJ (in)	25	25	27
Typical JHP Expansion (in)	0.55 - 0.72	0.56 - 0.76	0.70 - 0.79

	Advantages	Disadvantages
9mm	Smaller case diameter allows increased magazine capacity Higher velocity results in flatter trajectories Light recoil	Smaller bullet diameter and lower weight can result in a smaller wound tract Trajectory is more affected by barriers Recoil is Snappy
40S&W	Middle ground between 9mm and 40S&W Moderate recoil	Middle ground between 9mm and 40S&W Recoil is snappy
45ACP	Larger diameter and heavier weight can create larger wound tracts Heavier bullet weight results in more momentum Momentum maintains trajectory through barriers Recoil is gradual	Larger case diameter results in a decreased magazine capacity Bullet drops over a shorter ranges Heavy recoil

The three most common self defense handgun calibers each have their pros and cons.

-- InBox485 - 09 Mar 2010

Topic revision: r4 - 15 Mar 2010 - SeanNewton

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