Seeing as I don't see myself storming any compounds anytime soon, (I'll leave that to the men of SEAL Team Six) I think any self defense situation would be over fewer than 8 round capacity of the USP Compact. I also have a DMPS AR-15 in 5.56 for home defense so that takes care of capacity and putting lead on the target.

 

You cannot go wrong with a USP Compact.

 

I have the HK Compact, in .40

As soon as i get my ccw, that is what i will carry.

But i do second the kimber above. For every day in the shop, i am going to get one of those in .45

I also want to end any fight in my store, right on the spot.

 

These discussions are always interesting.

My two cents would be that it is much more important to actually hit your target, than to worry about what caliber it is. And you should practice, often, with the gun that you actually carry.

And a compact .45 is roughly zero fun at the range. Particularly if you are putting a lot of rounds through it, as you should. I'm a big guy, and have shot a lot of rounds. And that still sounds like no fun at all.

I would prefer to shoot a well-placed 9mm round any day over a mediocre hit or a miss from a .45. There are so many incredible small frame, high cap, 9mms these day. Most of which are a pleasure to shoot at the range. I just don't understand the logic of saying you are not a big guy, and thus don't want a .357, and follow that up by saying you want a .45.

But there are plenty of right answers to this question. Just find what you are comfortable with, and practice with it often if you are going to carry it. If you want small size, ultra high quality and reliablilty, and an external hammer, I would look at Sigs personally.

 

I just meant that in the sense that .357 are normally fairly large guns. I was talking about the size of the weapon, not the caliber.

In almost any panic situation, you are going to instinctually shoot at center mass. A .45 center mass will drop someone every time.

 

FNP Tactical 45 (with silencer):

 

8 rounds is not enough. Bag guys do not travel alone. Don't kid yourself, seriously.
And Memphis is the hood. I wouldn't be comfortable carrying anything with less than 10 or 11 rounds in it.

Please don't get sucked into the myth of "knock down" power. Anything above 9mm will get the job done. Shot placement counts 1000x more than caliber as long as you're getting penetration and anything above 9mm will get that penetration.

I am guessing you're pretty new to handguns in general. Your concern about being able to see the hammer suggests that. Don't take offense, we all gotta start somewhere, but those with experience could not care less about seeing any hammer.
All internal firing pin pistols (Glock, XD, etc) don't have a hammer. You pull the trigger, and it goes bang. Every pull is the same too. The only guns where I'd care about seeing a hammer is a 1911 style pistol, and even then, I don't need to see it. I know it's ALWAYS cocked. And so is my Glock and my Sigs, etc.

Get out there, rent guns, get lessons and really learn what they're about before dumping money into some high dollar .45 that in fact, is MUCH less effective than a comparable pistol that gives you 16 rounds, or 13 rounds or something much more effective than 8.

Last thing about '8 rounds'. If you've ever fired under any kind of stress at all, you'd know how incredibly easy it is, to miss. If there's say 3 bad guys, which is VERY common, how much can you afford to miss with 8 rounds? Even an expert who is calm and cool would be stuck with only 2.6 rounds per target. That's crazy bad odds. Given how ineffective handguns are in the first place for stopping a threat quickly, you better be damn sure you can get 2 perfectly placed shots on each target. And I can guarantee you, you cannot. I don't even have to know you in order to know that. Buy for capacity and reliability. Forget "knock down power" and bling.

 

wrong.

That is flat out wrong. Center mass does not guarantee a quick loss of blood or damage to the nervous system. The ONLY way a threat is stopped by a handgun is either:
1) loss of blood (bleeding out to incapacitate... which can happen quickly or hours later)
2) knocking out the nervous system in the form of brain or spinal injury.

Other than that, they can stay in the fight regardless of caliber.
The difference between being hit by a .45 and a 9mm or most all other handgun calibers is negligible. The only thing that counts is placement and number of holes. The size of the hole is almost irrelevant because most handguns make holes about the same size and depth.
You want to make them bleed out and lose blood pressure as fast as possible. That's the only way to stop a threat (other than nervous system damage).
One shot from a .45 or (insert other caliber) are so close to the same that it really isn't worth arguing.
What is worth discussing is how many holes you can put in the bad guy.

 

Yeah, a .45 center mass will do that, IF you hit your target in A-the HEAD, or B-the pelvic girdle. Have you ever been in a situation where you HAVE to hit what you are aiming at? Everything changes at that point, and you are no longer shooting paper at the range. Get something that is Hi-Cap; 9mm has serious rounds that guarantee better accuracy and have the knockdown power of a .45. It seems to me that you don't really want advice, but want to be told that carrying a .45 in Memphis is a good idea...

 

Both of these points are wrong. But you speak from obvious experience since you say it with such conviction and authority. All I have left to say is good luck to you when the time actually comes that you NEED to shoot accurately...