ayoob files: dueling rifles - Jeffersonian's Home Page

COPTALK
oPINIoN AND FActs FroM tHe MeAN streets MAssAD AyooB
.45 to or…?
or 9mm
9mm … to .45 …
Ayear or so ago, the St. Paul, Minnesota police department
went back to the 9mm Glock 17s they adopted so long ago,
the first big department in the country to do so. For some
time since, they had used the Glock 22 in .40 S&W. The S&W M&P
9mm will also be optional there. The change back to 9mm saved
on ammo costs, reduced recoil and allowed many officers to shoot
better than they had with the snappy .40s. The department’s rationale
was with modern ammo, the 9mm got the job done well enough that
larger-bore pistols were no longer needed.
Some months ago the Columbia, S.C. Police Department traded in its
SIG P220 .45 autos for FN FNS 9mm pistols. Increased capacity was cited as a major
What’s “enough” for duty: reason for the switch. Yet in the Hoosier state, the Indiana State Police announced their
.45 Acp (L), .40 S&W or 9mm? 9mm Glock 17s are being swapped for the Glock 21 SF in .45 ACP. Scuttlebutt is the
troopers just weren’t comfortable with the power level of the 9mm, and were more
than willing to swap four rounds of cartridge capacity to carry .45s. A long list of other
MoDerN Is .45-caliber pistols will be approved options for those ISP personnel wishing to buy one
Better
the 9mm’s longstanding
reputation
for sub-optimal power
came mostly from older
loads. Los Angeles County
Sheriffs and LAPD are
reportedly both using Winchester
147-gr. Ranger for
their issue 9mms and are happy with its
street performance. The confidence is
out of their own pockets. This leaves New
Jersey State Police as the nation’s only state
troopers required to carry 9mm, to the best
my knowledge at this time.
not 100 percent across the board, however.
Many LASD deputies have bought
optional .45s, and many LAPD officers
have likewise voted with their wallets
the Glock 19 is the most
popular of the 9mms
authorized for nypD.
so they can carry their own .40 or .45. which have adopted
Portland (OR) Police Bureau reports the .45 GAP (Glock
high satisfaction with their standard Auto Pistol): Florida,
pressure .45 ACP in ballistics, but with
issue Federal HST 147-gr. subsonic Georgia, New York,
shorter overall length to allow pistols
9mm rounds.
Pennsylvania and South Carolina. narrower in girth which will fit a wider
This topic came up at the Panel Of None are reporting any dissatisfaction range of hand sizes. NYSP traded up
Experts session I chaired at the 2012 with street results of this round, which from 9mm, while the other four agen-
conference of the International Law
Enforcement Educators and Trainers.
is functionally identical to standard cies swapped .40s for their .45 GAPs.
The panel all but unanimously agreed
they were comfortable with modern
9mm ammo. The favorite loads most
often cited were the Speer Gold Dot
124-gr. +P, which has been used with
great success by NYPD, Chicago PD
No PAt ANswer
there is no one sidearm perfect for the locally-identified needs of all of
our myriad law enforcement agencies, let alone one sidearm that will
be absolutely ideal for the perceived needs of each and every one of
and Las Vegas Metro. They also cited America’s 800,000 or so serving police officers. Working alone or in small unit
the Winchester Ranger-T 127-gr. +P+, strength, police don’t need the ammo and magazine interchangeability that comes
which has performed spectacularly in with a single standard gun so much as they need the absolute confidence and
dozens of shootings for the Orlando, competence that comes with carrying what the individual officer can shoot the
Fla. Police Department. I couldn’t help best under pressure.
but notice, for what it’s worth, many So, is it 9mm to .45, .45 to 9mm, or something in between? It’s simply not
of the experts endorsing the 9mm were an issue on departments like Chicago, Las Vegas or Los Angeles where working
carrying .40s or .45s themselves.
cops have a broad choice of makes, models, and calibers. The one thing certain in
Going in the opposite direction, we the matter is the debate as to what’s the best police gun or cartridge is
now have five state police agencies probably never going to end.
the .40 S&W
round was created
to be a compromise between the
9mm and the .45. here an escambia
county deputy sheriff shoots with his
department issue Glock 22 RtF in .40.
Some officers find the snappy recoil
of a .40 hard to manage though.
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28 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • MARCH/APRIL 2013