A .380, 9mm., 38, 357, all expand. But a 45 won't get no smaller!!!!!!!
a Long time ago a friend of mine took time at his wedding to take me aside and ask "Al, is it true? Your brother told me you bought a 9mm! I can't believe you bought a 9mm!"
As I explained it it was a compact 9mm, a S&W 469 and I bought an ankle holster with it.
It was a backup in case my 10mm had an "issue" (or I managed to burn through all three mags (one "in" and two spares) of 10mm Norma ammo that I usually carried with it
Frankly I can't imagine what situation I could run into that I could not completely solve with 28rounds of full power "old school" 10mm 180gr hollow points... that an additional 25rounds of 9mm is gonna fix, and frankly I hope I never find out...
But I've always been a believer in the addage that the pistol is only supposed to let you fight your way to a rifle...
Muzzle flash is also dependent on the powder used, my 700ft/lb 10mm Auto loads using AA#9 have almost no perceivable muzzle flash and pack quite a bit more punch than a .45acp.
I specifically loaded ammo for my 223's with Alliant Reloader7 for "low flash"
at night...
But what I like about the 10mm is that it shoots a 180gr hollowpoint, same weight as a 45ACP defense load at speeds that 38super afficianados wish they could safely achieve... if weight is good and Velocity is good both must be really something...
Though years ago I used to do some bowling pin shooting with a 38super.
and I was damned good at it, when I got the 10mm which I believed was more accurate I was politely asked to not use it, bowling pins I shot with the 10mm usually came apart and thus weren't much use for targets anymore...
Frankly the damage to the bowling pins was nearly indestinguishable from shooting similar pins with 12ga BRI sabot slugs. I say nearly because the 10mm didn't leave lead smudges.
On Dirty Harry
the 44Magnum Smith&Wesson Model 29 that Clint Eastwood "used"
in the first Dirty HArry movie was not a S&W Mod29 that much is true.
However it was not a 45LC.
What was used where the revolver can be seen clearly is a BORROWED S&W Model 41 in 41Magnum. when it is seen "shooting" it is actually a S&W Model 27 in 357Mag that would chamber and shoot the standard 38caliber blanks used in Hollywood at the time.
John Milius the director, not of that film but of the later films in the series
and an uncredited screenwriter and effects consultant of the film was unable to obtain a Model 29 in time for the filming of the movie and thus used the substitutions of the Model 41 and model 27 which from a short distance are identical as all are "N-frame" S&W revolvers.
John has talked about it at length in multiple interviews.
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