So I scored 300 .44 magnum cases from some guy, as one does. Dumped them in the tumbler. Brought them into the reloading shack and started sizing and depriming them. And stuck inside one of the cases I found one of those tiny little 9mm cases … as one does. They’re such wimpy little things…
Okay, look. I’m old, okay? I learned centerfire pistol when there was Only One. And it was designed by Browning, and Cooper was his prophet. Y’know, when IPSC started you couldn’t even compete major caliber with anything but a 1911. I’ve owned other pistols, off and on, but never took them seriously – they were just range toys. If I anticipate actually needing to shoot someonething with a semiauto, I don’t holster a plastic nine. Yes, yes, I know. I know.
Anyway.
I pried the 9mm case out of its big brother, and just before dismissively tossing it into the Bowl of Junk Cases I noticed something about the primer that seemed…weird. Off. Dare I guess…exotic? Hell, you never know where an old 9mm case has been, right? So many guns have been chambered for it. Some of them are cool.
So I took a picture of it…
…and then I proceeded to embarrass myself. I sent the pic to Ian McCollum, he of Forgotten Weapons, Gun Jesus Himself. I figured if anybody else on earth could tell me what gun made a rectangular print like that on a primer, it sure wasn’t anybody I know. I hoped he’d come back with a cool answer, you know? A touch of strange.
He answered very promptly.
And he said,
“Glock.”
Sigh. I probably should have known that.
I’m 9mm guy. Have been since I got a Browning HI Power back in the 70s. I can’t begin to count the rounds through that gun. It’s on it’s second barrel and third set of springs. Believe it or not it still looks good with good bluing except on the front of the grip and on the left side of the frame where my thumb rides in two hand grip. A few years ago I picked up a Model 92 Berreta and, while I like it, it’s not a Hi Power but it is the pistol that rides in my day pack when I’m out and about. My concealed carry is a Berreta Nano which is also nice but not a HI Power. I wound up with a Remington 9-11 in the traditional 45 ACP through a trade a while back. I took it out with a box of cartridges and brought it home and put it away. Wound up giving it to my grandson as a wedding present. Taken a lot of grief over my affinity for 9mm but I won’t be changing. I’ve heard all the jokes about 9mm, “a fine round for women and kids, ” and on down the line but I like them.
My EDC for social purposes is a stubby little .38SPL S&W. It was my grand daddy’s and now it’s mine. My Serious pistola is a Ruger Redhawk in .44 Mag. Elmer Keith would have loved it. God knows I do. My 1911 is a Taurus cause that’s what I could afford at the time. Then one day I ran across a Glock 19 in my cousin’s gun shop for $300.00 ( family price). Trigger pull is Wierd. Feels funky in the hand. But…it digests pretty much takes anything I cram into it from hot handloads to subsonic to off brand floor sweeping currently available locally and shoots all the above to point of aim. Much as I want to hate the damn thing it works and never breaks. Frustrating!
Huh. I never noticed. Guess I should shoot a bit and look at the primers. I think I’ll wait until I’m not half-buzzed on tequila and my roomie isn’t falling asleep. Being responsible is BORING…
45 guy here but I set on my ass for 8-12 hours a day in a crane. The old kimber was wearing me out so I’m trying sig 365sas been wearing it since Christmas with a hanks belt and crossbreed holster and love it. Break in on belt was a Bitch but it’s really comfortable now no roll even with 45 .
Glock, and a few others really…but Glocks are more ubiquitous.
Funny…when I anticipate the heightened possibility of needing to shoot something, the 1911 goes on the shelf in favor of just about anything else.
But thats the nice thing about our fair land (so far)…you can own as many thundertoys as you can afford, so if you don’t like a particular one you can go get something else. For now.
When in trouble, any firearm is better than an empty hand.
It’s not WHAT you shoot um with, it’s WHERE you shoot um. That fixes the 9 vs 10 vs 40 vs 45 discussion. My fave is a 1951, 1911. My EDC is a Glock 19, been shooting, carrying it since 1990.
Craneop, I had a chance to shoot a Sig P365 two years ago with Ian. He was making a video about a Bond Arms compact 9mm which sort of became all about the Sig because I was fanboying about it so hard. Great little gun, at least by comparison with an assortment of its competitors.
Most of the arguments about pistol calibers that I’ve seen have made it sound like X is light years better than Y and anyone shooting Y is dumb and putting themselves in danger because Y doesn’t have any power at all and is a useless POS, etc.
A closer inspection of velocities and energies more or less resolves the argument, in my opinion, because essentially you’re talking about pistol calibers. They’re all pretty wimpy, and remarkably closer to each other than anyone cares to admit.
45 ACP is, say, 520 ft lbs. 9mm, around 480. You might say “hey, 10% is nothing to shake a stick at” but then I’ll point out that the .223, almost universally lamented as a super weak “poddle popper” is 1,800, and it causes one to realize that the entire debate is pretty dumb.
Shoot what you like. They’re all, in the end, just pistol rounds.
I freaked when I saw my first Glock primer strike. I have had a few and I am down to three. Right now a full size Glock 20 in 10mm is the daily carry piece which replaced a Glock 37 45GAP. I wanted the extra 5 rounds of firepower. My primary range gun is a Colt 1911 Government model 9 mm. It is the first 1911 that was “right” out of the box.