She likes the G22 and G21 for home, with G23 for CCW
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We have 9mm’s. 9mm is a NATO round so will always be accessible. My husband did buy a .380 to take with him when he runs but he bought it only because the gun was tiny. It also feels like a toy in your hand and not real comfortable to hold. I love my sig P938 and feel very comfortable carrying a 9mm.
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I think the best .40 is a 10mm. Joking aside, I prefer the 9mm because it’s cheap to train with, and with modern self defense rounds it is a very good option.
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Dawn hit it on the head with her reply.
Modern technology in external and internal balistics have come a long way. Regardless of which caliber you choose, I would safely say that any round mentioned is good. 20 years ago, not so much. And today gun owners are much more informed.
And enthusiastic I might add.
Been squeezin triggers for sixty two years , and counting.
Dang I love the smell of unique in the morning, bullseye ain’t bad either.
BOATS.
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As much as I enjoy shooting calibers such as 45 Auto and 357 Magnum, when it comes to training, cost, and efficiency, it is very hard to beat the 9mm Luger. Training, which I highly encourage ALL handgun owners to do, typically requires a certain volume of shooting. 9mm is fairly easy for shooters of all experience levels to shoot, and the light recoil in full size handguns means that fatigue is reduced. 9mm is also the cheapest round to shoot, outside of 22 LR. The problem that I see with 40 or 45 from a defensive shooting mindset, is that those rounds give you more of bad things such as recoil, weight, and muzzle flash/blast (especially in 40 S&W). With modern defensive bullets, ballistic tests have shown conclusively that 9mm, 40 S&W, and 45 Auto all create nearly identical wound channels in ballistic gelatin. With those factors added together, I personally prefer and carry handguns in 9mm for personal defense and training. I save the other calibers for “fun” use at the range.
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Welcome to the Community, @Nathan! The cost of 9 mm is so much less than 45 or 357 - it’s a lot easier to train with financially too. 
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I just completed the Handgun 104 course at the SIG Sauer Academy in Epping, NH last week. There was a mix of instructors, professional operators, and civilian “enthusiasts” such as myself. Every single one of us used firearms in 9mm, so take that for what it’s worth.
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That’s awesome!!! I’d love to go to the Sig Academy! How was it?
It was fantastic, and worth every penny! I took Handgun 103 back in September as well. I plan to take many more of their courses in the future. Check out their website, which was recently updated with very nice course progression charts. I cannot recommend SIG Sauer Academy highly enough to my fellow responsible gun owners!
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I’ll politely disagree with one part of your statement. 45 acp has less muzzle flash from equal barrel lengths as 9 mm. 45 is a low pressure round. The recoil, I call different, not more than a 9. 9 seems to “flip” under recoil, while 45 “pushes.” I’m not bashing in 9, as it is a fine caliber.
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Going with that right there ^^^
and adding… and the one that you enjoy shooting enough that you actually go to the range with it.
I’m accurate with my smaller caliber 5-shot Taurus, but it hurts my wrist to shoot it for very long. I much prefer shooting my .45 … it doesn’t hurt me … so I practice more.
My hubby swears by the .40 - I’m good with either the .40 or the 9mm.
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What a wise small gun shop owner told me was to go to one of the bigger stores in the area and hold some of the different makes and models they have on hand. Find what seems to fit comfortable in you hand and narrow your search that way first. once you have it down to two or three choices see if they have those same ones for rent at the range (of find a different range that does or perhaps a friend that you can twist their arm to go to the range with you so you could try theirs.
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@DBrogue before I bought my first handgun I was training in sporting clays at an outdoor range. they had a variety of handguns for rent and I went and shot all of them before I decided what to buy. literally 60 or more different handguns in a variety of makes and calibers. The range was close to work and I’d go at lunch and shoot 2 or 3 different firearms each time, three days a week. I ended up with the G21 (.45) because it was the most naturally accurate for me, reinforced by the fact that a former mossad trainer I spoke with said “get a Glock”. it’s still my favorite 
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That is a great tip - it doesn’t matter if it’s a Glock, Sig, Walther, Smith & Wesson, or any other brand. The gun you like and are good at shooting is a good fit for you.
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Honestly, my favorite is the one in my hand when I need one.
I will never be the guy who covers a hole pattern with a silver dollar, but then I have never seen a chest that small. Two quick rounds center mass then take careful aim if the threat continues.
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Years ago if someone talked about using a 9 mm the joke was if you get that you might as well get the skirt that goes with it ( no offense meant for awesome female shooters out there) but with maturity and experience and the change of ballistics over the years there’s lots of things to consider.
Over the years the ballistics and increase in technology for the 9 mm has changed quite a bit and when you look at the ballistics comparing the two calibers there really is none it’s negligible in my opinion anyway some things that are nice about the 9 mm over the other rounds it is usually cheaper and easier to come by which has several advantages
Size and weight also has some advantages especially if you have a double-stack magazine like mine. The capacity of available magazines is important to me sometimes it’s amount of Firepower not the stopping power that is important
When shooting recoil and recovery time are huge important things to consider with the 9 mm recoil and recovery time are much much less.
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From my understanding the .40 was the answer to the wrong issue. The .40 S&W came out after that bank robbery by those dudes with AK47s in LA in the 1980s. The 9mm rounds were defeated by armor (who would’ve thought?) So the FBI’s answer was the 10mm. They ended up having to dumb down their 10mm cartridges because smaller agents couldn’t handle the full power loads. The dumbed down the loads so much that they came out with the .40 S&W. Now, all those agents that were in the FBI during that robbery are retiring, so they can reintroduce the 9mm to agents without pushback from those agents involved in the robbery. Now police forces are following suit. One reason the .40 is being phased out is that manufacturers threw .40 barrels in 9mms, so it is known that .40s shoot themselves apart over time. In fact because of the caliber switch again, there is an oversaturation of .40s on the market. A lot of companies aren’t making it as an option anymore, and a lot of places aren’t accepting .40s as trade ins either. The answer to the bigger pistol bullet debate from after that robbery should’ve been giving agents rifles.
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Bingo. The 10 mm was the answer, and it was a good answer, until it was neutered. I’ve watched several analysis of the Miami incident. They all concluded that the 9 of the time was underpowered, and the agents were outgunned by men who were well prepared, and wearing body armor. 9, along with most other modern ammo, has come a long way since then.
Yeah, but I still believe the answer to that problem was rifles. The cops had shotguns loaded with buckshot at the time. The problem with that is effective buckshot range is within rifle range. And they had armor. Buckshot is defeated by armor. I thought it was in LA. I guess Miami then. Whoops!
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