Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com
I have long said that the selection of a handgun (or long gun for that matter) is an intensely personal choice. Not only does the weapon have to be one that the owner has faith in, it has to be one the owner can handle and shoot competently. Further, it has to be one that evokes a sense of confidence from the owner / shooter; NOT confidence in himself or the weapon, but confidence in the TEAMING of the shooter, the weapon and the caliber / bullets used.
Depending on when you started in police work and whether or not you served in the military, your first weapon may have been:
- A revolver in .38 Special or .357 Magnum
- A pistol in .45ACP
- A pistol in 9mm
Yes, there is the possibility that your first duty pistol was in some other caliber, especially if you've "joined up" anytime since 1990. The .40S&W has become immensely popular for law enforcement use.
Still, when I have the privilege of sitting around in a room full of veteran gun writers, instructors, shooters, etc it's always interesting to listen to them discuss the age old argument of which is better. The argument usually starts out big/slow versus small/fast, and somewhere along the way evolves into what is a "good compromise" which inevitably winds up revolving around the .40S&W.
For clarity's sake, this is NOT an article about the .40S&W. Truth be told, I'm not much of a fan of it. I started out on a .45ACP, evolved to a .38Special (got out of the Army and entered civilian police work) and eventually moved on to the 9mm (agencies got smarter). As a police instructor I can tell you that the large majority of the officers I take to the range are shooting weapons of .40S&W caliber - but those are DUTY weapons. OFF-duty weapons - where the officers get to make some of their own decisions, vary a great deal.
Knowing that, and having a preselected list of what I believe to be "acceptable" fighting calibers, I set up a poll on the Officer.com homepage to ask "What is your preferred caliber for off duty weapon?" As I type this there have been over 800 votes and the rankings are as follows:
39% = .40S&W
20% = 9mm
13% = .45ACP
7% = .380ACP
6% = .38 Special
4% = .357Sig
4% = .357 Magnum
4% = Other
2% = .45GAP
1% = 10mm
Now of that list I'm not much surprised that .40 is at the top. I'm also not much surprised that the .45ACP and the 9mm are next on the list. What DOES surprise me is that the next one is the .380ACP which is generally considered the bottom of the "acceptable fighting caliber" list (if it's even there at all).
That the .38 Special is still being carried by 6% doesn't surprise me. That's probably about an equal percentage of the number of active officers who started out carrying those weapons 25+ years ago.
I think it's interesting that the .357 calibers - the .357Sig for pistol and .357Magnum for revolvers - are running tide.
I have no clue and don't want to speculate on what the "other" 4% is. That could be anything from .44 Magnum to .22lr. Remembering an article posted here on Officer.com not that long ago,
Mouse Guns Anyone? I
HOPE that the "other" is STRONGER than the other calibers listed and not something smaller / weaker.
Given how new the .45GAP round is I was kind of surprised that even 2% are carrying it off-duty. I surmise that those voters are issued a .45GAP weapon and are authorized only it for off-duty. That's not a negative statement about the weapon but given the cost of the ammo I'd personally opt for the .45ACP just to save the dollars.
The 1% that carries a 10mm must be Ted Nugent. If not, then at least you are in good company as he favors the Glock 20 in that caliber.
Now let me make a few predictions and in two decades we can all meet back here and see if I'm any good:
I predict that the percentage carrying .38Spl and .357Mag are going to go down just a little bit. They'll never go away completely because of the huge numbers of fans of the snubby revolver. I'm a fan of it too but I like to have more than five shots and I suck at using speedloaders.
I predict that the percentage carrying .45GAP will go up some and that, in correlation, the percentage of .40S&W will go down. Yes, the 9mm will go down some too, but I'd bet that most of those switching to .45GAP are doing so because of a department change in duty weapon and since most agencies are carrying .40S&W weapons I see those as the ones most affected.
I predict that we won't see major changes in the 9mm or the .45ACP because they have such a loyal base and such large numbers of choices of weapons. You can find any size gun in these calibers and every bullet design out there.
I predict those carrying 10mm off duty will remain a small percentage, but I also predict that Ted Nugent will continue carrying it until he gets too old and arthritic to handle the size / recoil, at which time I predict he'll switch to the .45ACP.
What do you think?
