{"id":328,"date":"2007-04-02T22:49:30","date_gmt":"2007-04-03T05:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ignatiuspiazzafrontsight.com\/2007\/04\/02\/firearms-training-trumps-equipment\/"},"modified":"2007-04-02T22:59:46","modified_gmt":"2007-04-03T05:59:46","slug":"firearms-training-trumps-equipment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ignatius-piazza-front-sight.com\/2007\/04\/02\/firearms-training-trumps-equipment\/","title":{"rendered":"Firearms Training trumps equipment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Piazza,<\/p>\n

I’m getting ready to buy my first handgun.\u00a0 I read all sorts of things about which caliber is the best for this reason or that reason.\u00a0 I know that a hit with a .22 is better than a miss with a cluster bomb but I need some help.<\/p>\n

Why do you carry a .40?\u00a0 Can you give me some resources to help in my decision?\u00a0 I’ve narrowed it down to a .40 or a .45.\u00a0 I know the bad guy won’t be impressed that he was shot with a mack-daddy best on the market hollow-point but what really matters in caliber selection? Should I go with a lightweight but higher fps .45 as size sometimes matters, or go with a medium weight .40 to try to be fast like a 9mm with the punch of a .45?\u00a0 I’m looking at Springfield XDs if you were wondering.<\/p>\n

I know I opened up a huge can of worms and wouldn’t dare blame any unhappiness on a selection based on your opinion, but it would be nice to know why you carry what you carry to protect yourself.<\/p>\n

Thanks for your time,<\/p>\n

Nolan.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dear Nolan,<\/p>\n

I am assuming from your question that the primary purpose of the caliber you select is self protection.<\/p>\n

The first choice that must be made it the type of gun to carry. If you select a 1911 the caliber you should choose is .45ACP no question about it.\u00a0 The .45ACP has stood the test of time.<\/p>\n

If you choose a Glock, as I did, and do not have large hands then the .40 caliber is the correct choice.\u00a0 I would carry a Glock in .45 but the size of the Glock 45 is too large for me to carry and shoot as comfortably as the .40 caliber Glock.\u00a0 The .40 caliber has a good track record of one shot stops on the street. Shot placement is really the most crucial aspect of using a handgun for self defense so I feel fine with the Glock in .40 caliber.<\/p>\n

I would stay away from the 9mm unless small size for concealment is the ultimate need and realize that the 9mm is distant third choice.<\/p>\n

The smaller the caliber, the faster and more accurate YOU must be to use the weapon and the more likely a cranio-ocular cavity shot is needed to stop the fight.<\/p>\n

The XD is a fine weapon and is available in 40 and .45.<\/p>\n

Hope this helps.<\/p>\n

Above all, remember that training always trumps equipment.<\/p>\n

Ignatius Piazza<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Piazza, I’m getting ready to buy my first handgun.\u00a0 I read all sorts of things about which caliber is the best for this reason or that reason.\u00a0 I know that a hit with a .22 is better than a miss with a cluster bomb but I need some help. Why do you carry a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[364,864,983,1194,2872,2219,1791,2921,2142,119,887,3176,283,1683,71,4769,3190,579,26,19,2054,997,581,187,107,10,3451,2764,2256,690,232,290,142,2302,3446,3681,1814,1511,4788,2652,693,266,3353,4774,339,69,4592,1386,1272],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ignatius-piazza-front-sight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ignatius-piazza-front-sight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ignatius-piazza-front-sight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ignatius-piazza-front-sight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ignatius-piazza-front-sight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ignatius-piazza-front-sight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ignatius-piazza-front-sight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ignatius-piazza-front-sight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ignatius-piazza-front-sight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}