9mm, 10mm, .357 cal, .40 cal, .44 cal, .45 cal, for carry?? Which has the best knockdown vs. overall range vs. reliability??

Any suggestions?

I find that a .38 Special fits my carry needs quite well. When I lived up in the climes of Everett I found that I could wear a 9mm Beretta 92FS some parts of the year without issue. Here in California it never gets cold enough to wear much more than a light jacket which makes anything more than a small pistol hard to hide.

There are a couple of ultra-lightweight .38's made by Tarus and S&W that I don't feel under armed with. I don't see myself ever having to defend myself against a platoon of gang members without reaching for a long arm.

There is no semi-automatic made that can come close to the reliablity of a revolver.

What's "knockdown"? Been reading lots of magazines eh? The most powerful round of your list would be the .44 Magnum, the weakest the 9mm - which our military uses to kill people with.

The longest range of even the tiny 9mm is better than you'll ever be able to shoot it with accuracy. Pistols are close in weapons with most shooting coming within 20 feet in defense use - all of these calibers have "ranges" beyond 3000 yards - and are certainly accurate out to 100 yards and lethal beyond that.

Wow, I have a question for you then. When I was in the Army I qualified with the Beretta. I noticed that the round dropped VERY quickly, at about 20 meters it would hit the dirt. Now I've never shot the other rounds in any type of firearm, but according to you, they would drop even quicker?

By knockdown, I mean I want to make sure the person is not going to get up again, without having to unload every round in the mag.

Also, How in the world did you get a CCW in Cali? It's shall issue here in Snohomish Co., but I thought you had someone special/Law Enforcement in California?

Not to sound like a smart-ass, but if you're hitting the ground at 20 meters, it's because you're aiming at the ground.  Most handgun bullets do not drop appreciably at 25 m, and (like Paul said) are accurate out to over 100 meters for the purposes of hitting a man-sized target.

I don't know much about carry, but I do know that I LOVE my .45 after I converted it to 400 CorBon.  That's a fantastic cartridge, with enormous kinetic energy and geat stopping power.  A Colt 1911 is probably too big for carry, but 400 CorBon may be available for other frames.

Quoted: 9mm, 10mm, .357 cal, .40 cal, .44 cal, .45 cal, for carry?? Which has the best knockdown vs. overall range vs. reliability?? Any suggestions?

ah yes the age old question.
let's start with diameter vs. speed.
you can kill very effectively at 2600fps because of hydrostatic shock.  water will not compress and the human body is 95% water so when something fast hits tissue the water acts to channel energy thru out the body cavity.  the problem is other than some exotic single shots you can't get that kind of speed out of a pistol.  the slower the speed the larger the diameter to do the same level of damage.  so I opted to go to the other end of the spectrum with the 45acp because in my mind it is a good compromise between speed(min) and diameter (max).  the larger diameter acts to better channel the available energy.  also the energy in a 45acp is optimal for killing people.  the bullet expands and delivers maximum energy to a human target.  with something like a .44mag their is not enough meat in the human torso to allow the energy to transfer at an optimal rate.  the 38 special will expand in a human torso but does not have the diameter and speed to do optimal damage.  the .357 magnum has the speed but not the diameter so it zips through and can do a lot of damage far down range. the .45 will kick some but if you practice it is very manageable and you can live with shooting it.  my maximum shooting range is now 30 yds in that I feel comfortable hitting a human silhouette at 30 yds.  the .45 is also small enough to carry easily.

I have a sw .44mag with a red dot scope that will hit clay birds at 100 yds but it is to big for tactical use.

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