Quite a lot of misinformation floating around here. You can thank hollywood and a press that answers to nobody for that, I guess.
On topic, though... my main guns:
Glock 30 - Small 10-shot .45, goes with me everywhere. I love it... also takes the G21's 13-shot mags or the 25-round (I think, give or a take a few) extended capacity mag. Gotta love Glocks and their magazine compatibility.
Glock 20 - Full-sized 10mm. Most would agree that it's the best 10mm pistol ever made, probably the only one outside of a Witness that isn't known for having problems. And you don't need new springs for the "real" loads, either.
Side note:
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I must disagree with the theory that the 10mm is "too penetrative." The 165gr GoldDot expands to just over an inch in diameter after about 15.5 inches of penetration, which is optimal for humans. If it exits their body, so much the better... two holes are better than one.
All this talk about "energy transfer" is, largely, bullshit. It's only semi-relevant with high-powered rifles, where the speed of the projectile turns the temporary crush cavity of the wound caused into a permanent wound channel. I can't recall the ballistics off the top of my head, but I think there are two "levels" or "steps" of this that are reached at certain velocities. I can't recall what they are, but they're pretty damn fast... we're talking around 3000fps (or so) and 4000fps (again, not sure on this) when the projectile hits the target.
Anyway, none of this has anything to do with "energy transfer." Energy, measured in foot-pounds or joules, is just a handy way of gauging (sp?) the "overall effectiveness" of a round.
An example of this is comparing the GoldDot 165gr noted above to a 70gr LeMas (not sure about the name) round.
165gr@1325 = 643 ft-lbs
70gr@2400 = 895 ft-lbs.
The LeMas round is, mostly, just a "trick" round to show how fast you can get a 10mm round to go. I.e., largely worthless. Energy does not equal "killing power."
For handguns, "energy" is completely irrelevant. The only things that matter in stopping a threat are, in this order, shot placement, penetration, and wound cavity. Obviously, there are extremes and exceptions, so let's not pull any "so why doesn't everyone use .22s" shit.
If you can't hit the brain/CNS, you have to destroy important organs and make them bleed to death, or much more common, shoot them and hope they go into shock (this is pretty common actually, and probably the leading cause of death).
Of course, save a CNS shot, you can't rely on them going into shock, so you have to get them to bleed out. The point of this isn't just to kill, it's to stop (for which killing is usually the best and most reliable method, and has the benefit of being permanent as well), so the faster they bleed out and don't have the oxygen available to their muscles with which to attack you, the better.
And thus, two holes are better than one. Essentially, they "drain" quicker.
Plus, it's important to remember that while something might penetrate "too much" as far as people are concerned, there are other things out there to worry about. Windshields, car doors, and of course, animals. 10mm, in its full-power loads, is just shy of .41 Magnum "power," and suited quite well for most game in North America, save Brown/Grizzly bears, Polar bears and maybe Moose.
In other words, there's nothing the .357 magnum can do that the 10mm can't do better.
Also, since I'm already rambling, I'll go ahead and add a couple other things: One, the .45ACP isn't that much better than the 9mm. Sure, it IS better, but the difference isn't what you can call staggering, especially if you take into account premium hollowpoints.
In fact, the difference in wound cavities is pretty negligible when comparing all the common handgun rounds. Which is why shot placement and penetration are more important.
That being said, I'm a .45/10mm fanboy myself and will take any full-sized .45 over a likewise-sized 9mm if given the choice. I just feel more comfortable with it.
As well, the 5.56 is a perfectly acceptable round, if it's being used correctly. You can't use a M855 in a 1:10 (or is it 1:12?) barrel and expect it to perform properly. In fact, you can't use armor-piercing rounds on humans and expect it to perform like normal 5.56 ammunition, what with its wonderful fragmentation mechanism.
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End side note. Continuing:
S&W Sigma, SW40VE - A nice gun, doesn't deserve the shitty rep it has. Mine works flawlessly, and for the money, it's a pretty good deal.
Mossberg 590 - I saw someone else has one of these in this thread. 8 (or nine, if you put one in the chamber) shots of #000 goodness, nothing wrong with that.
And, just recently, I acquired a Mosin Nagant M91/30. I can't shoot it for shit, but it's a nice gun.
