If I am carrying both a Kahr CW45 with 6 rounds and a S&W 340 in .357 with 5 rounds, Assuming I am equally proficient with both and both are easily accessible which would you go for first in a situation where deadly force is warranted. I guess what I am asking is which is "ballisticly" (sp?) speaking more likely to neutralize the threat easiest?
This may not be the answer you are looking for but here you go. I personally believe it has less to do with the round used or gun it was fired from but more on how well it is used. Good shot placement with either of the guns you have mentioned are going to be more than efficient.
Edit: Left out that I would reach for the Kahr. Only because I am more comfortable with an automatic than a revolver. Just don't care for the feel of a revolver.
I would reach for whichever u are more comfortable with. 5 shots of 45 or 357 is more than enough if placed where they should be. So it all falls with you and what gun u like better.
They are equally effective. Any difference in the effect either would have on a human being is not worth mentioning...depending on how each is loaded, of course.
Of course, a carefully placed 9mm will likely produce a very similar result.
Between the two guns you mentioned...I wouldn't be carrying both, but if I was...either one would be fine, unless I was noticeably better at shooting one than the other.
I'm going to assume a major element here...namely, that you have had NO warning and you are in an "immediate" action mode. If that's a fair assessment, then I personally would go for the wheel gun. Why? Because no thought is needed as to whether or not you have a safety or a cartridge chambered...but that's just me.
I'm going to assume a major element here...namely, that you have had NO warning and you are in an "immediate" action mode. If that's a fair assessment, then I personally would go for the wheel gun. Why? Because no thought is needed as to whether or not you have a safety or a cartridge chambered...but that's just me.
I'd use a home-defense round in either. Or, risk killing the kids in the other room and/or losing your hearing forever, esp with a full-house round in the .357.
I used to have a great website bookmarked which dealt with this topic. Unfortunately, it became infected with a virus, my anti-virus kept predicting dire consequences for visiting, so I deleted it. This website tested different calibers with different cartridges, and gave a stopability/lethality rating expressed as a percentage.
In the .357 Sig caliber, there were two cartridges that were given a 96% rating- the highest of all calibers. One cartridge in .40 also achieved 96%. The highest in .45 was 94%, and the highest in 9mm was 91%.
I know this will stir the pot a bit, so I'll do some research to see if I can find the site again.
Since you are equally proficient, then whichever round you use that puts the most ft/lbs on target would be the one more likely to be "ballisticly" efficient.
Without knowing what your loads are, there is no way to answer your question. However, you can answer your question yourself by looking at ballistic tables from manufacturers published data....
I think I would ask the thug your going to shoot and see how big of a hole he would like to have, then use the other one instead because you should never listen to a bad guy in your living room!!!!
The real answer is, which ever one you hit the target with! 1,000 misses does not make up for 1 good hit on the target. Make, model, caliber, or barrel length doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is rounds in the target.
I'd reach for the .357. I know if someone broke in and I wanted a gun that looked nasty and put out a nasty round, I'd grab my snubby S&W mod. 66-4. Most of my friends think that's the scariest looking of my guns, so I'd be hoping that I could avoid shooting someone if I could scare them instead of shooting them; taking a life or shooting someone is not on my list of things to do.
In regards to the actual round, I'd say they're pretty comparable. Both are considered big rounds. I dunno the ballistics of each but I know the .357 is generally a slow moving round with a lot of momentum and I believe the .45acp is similar.
In this situation I would not be thinking anything about caliber, what is my favorite I would grab whatever was the closest to me.
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