So you have your "emergency situation" gear ready with a your long gun of choice and it includes a sidearm.  What barrel length would you choose and calibur?  A 9mm 5" or 4"?  A 40 cal. in 4" service or 5" tactical?

4 or 5 inch are both pretty "standard"..most quality ammo is specs to work well in both barrel lengths (we're not talking about super compact models here).

hmmm......for bugging out the ONLY advantage I can see to 9mm is the ability to carry a lot of ammo (upwards of 50% more per mag than 45).  If you can load em up with very good ammo, like Range 147 gr or 124g+P it's an pretty effective round.  With the 45 anything works to stop somebody dead in their tracks.

OK...final answer....I have my AR with 10 x 30 rd mags in my tac vest, plus more in the trunk.  That covers my quantity of ammo issues.  Given that, I'm out the door with my SigP220 45 Caliber.

Quoted: hmmm......for bugging out the ONLY advantage I can see to 9mm is the ability to carry a lot of ammo (upwards of 50% more per mag than 45).  If you can load em up with very good ammo, like Range 147 gr or 124g+P it's an pretty effective round.  With the 45 anything works to stop somebody dead in their tracks.

When will people stop posting this crap?

Some real world experience...

From In The Shooting Gallery: Security Contractor in Iraq

"Many disparage the 9mm’s stopping power, and knowing that only military “ball” ammunition was available, I asked if this had been a problem. Spook said that it hadn’t. He knows what some of the gun magazine chest-beaters claim in print, and admits that he hasn’t shot any blocks of ballistic gelatin. He has shot eight men with the nine, though, and all went down with center thorax hits. One or two shots sufficed, if well placed. Spook knows that others have complained about the nine, and wonders where they hit their opponents. He has talked with a couple of tank crewmen who shot Iraqis off their huge armored mounts, and they seemed satisfied, too. The Browning worked fine, and so did the Beretta M9 that he wore in 2003, provided that one used only genuine Beretta magazines. Cheap spare magazines from other manufacturers might fail."

As far as which one should you carry in a SHTF situation? Which ever one of your firearms you trust the most and\or shoot the best. If you insist and choosing based off of calber, I suggest a 9mm if only because in a true SHTF senerio, I'd be willing to bet you will be able to "find" more 9mm ammo then anything else.

Actually, I was looking more for barrel length as the subject says, not which calibur was better than the other.  I believe that a 9mm in the head is just as effective as a 45.  I would like to understand whether or not someone would prefer a longer barreled weapon for their SHTF sidearm.  I personally like the 4" barrel on my XD-40, but finding a mainstream side holster for it is a bitch (although spectergear.com does make one specifically for it).  Some may prefer a 5" for other reasons.  Just looking for what others like, that's all.

Whatever my glock 19 is.

From the untrained outsiders opinion I think the shorter barrel is for ease of manuverability and concealment.. the longer barrel is for accuracy.

in a SHTF situation I'd like to be as accuarte as possible with every round I shoot.... concealability be damned.... and not like another 1" of barrel length is going to hurt your manuverability much.

I'd go for the full grip long barrel in a 9mm for ease of finding compatible pickup ammo and accuracy. Higher capacity clips are another big bonus of both larger frame guns and more specifically the 9mm...

I don't own a handgun yet but that's the outsiders perspective.

Personally there are only two choices that appeal to me asthetically, the Sig 226 and the Glock 17.

I'd consider a 228 as well for nostalgic fan-boy reasons but that's a compact with a 20rd max capacity. In reality If you can shoot one well a G17 with it's massive mags will be more than enough firepower to keep the BG's heads down while you pop in another AK mag.

Quoted: Actually, I was looking more for barrel length as the subject says, not which calibur was better than the other.  I believe that a 9mm in the head is just as effective as a 45.  I would like to understand whether or not someone would prefer a longer barreled weapon for their SHTF sidearm.  I personally like the 4" barrel on my XD-40, but finding a mainstream side holster for it is a bitch (although spectergear.com does make one specifically for it).  Some may prefer a 5" for other reasons.  Just looking for what others like, that's all.

Go with what you like, if you like your XD-9 service, then stick with it. I haven't looked but I would imagine you will have an even harder time finding a holster specifically for the tactical model as it seem to be less popular?

Either way, on paper, the 5" barrel does have an advantage over a 4" as far as velocity and sight radius but in the real world, you will not see any real, measurable difference, especially in a SHTF scenario. If you are going to use the XD for SHTF or SD, I would suggest you upgrade the recoil spring guide as it is a known weak part on those guns.

My preferred weapon has a 5"x.45" barrel. YMMV.

Quoted: My preferred weapon has a 5"x.45" barrel. YMMV.

Mine splits the barrel length difference...4.4inch barreled P220.

That said, and although I don't feel to be "full of crap", the argument for what you shoot best and most accurately is the most important factor, be it in 4 inch or 5 inch, or 9mm or 45 or whatever.

SHTF. Beretta 92FS or Glock 17. The military uses 92FS so parts all around, the PD uses G19 so parts all around. I believe they are both about 5" and both 9mm

Quoted: Go with what you like, if you like your XD-9 service, then stick with it. I haven't looked but I would imagine you will have an even harder time finding a holster specifically for the tactical model as it seem to be less popular? Either way, on paper, the 5" barrel does have an advantage over a 4" as far as velocity and sight radius but in the real world, you will not see any real, measurable difference, especially in a SHTF scenario. If you are going to use the XD for SHTF or SD, I would suggest you upgrade the recoil spring guide as it is a known weak part on those guns.

The XD-9 5" Tactical will fit the available BHI holsters a little better.  My 4" is a little sloppy in the same holster.  I got Ron's rod guide and put a wolfe 22 on it - much better with the recoil now.

I agree with the accuracy point and noticed that at the firing range the other day with a rented Glock 19.  So, I will most likely get a Glock 19 or the XD-9 in 5" for the length since this is a SHTF weapon.  A 5" weapon seems to be the better choice in a "tactical" sidearm.