I want to take the time to address the same comment I get almost daily on my channel in regards to testing 9mm+P VS .45 ACP VS .40 S&W. People will ask why the 9mm and .45 ACP are +P but the .40 S&W is not. It's pretty simple, the 9mm and the .45 ACP are both over 100 years old and their original design was for guns that could not handle more pressure. Now fast forward over 100 years and modern guns can easily handle more pressure, so under SAAMI specification the .45 ACP maximum pressure of 21,000 PSI was bumped up to 23,000 PSI with +P. The 9mm under SAAMI specification max pressure of 35,000 PSI was bumped up to 38,500 PSI with +P. The .40 S&W was created around 30 years ago well into modern metallurgy times, so it's creation simply started out at what is essentially +P pressure of 35,000 PSI, but not labeled as +P as there's no need to label it as such. There IS NO .40 S&W+P under SAAMI spec, so I do not use what does not exist.

Sir, you are much more experienced than I, yet you demonstrated why I do NOT have safeties on my carry weapons.

Best test I've found. You used the same Ammo brand, all JHP ammo, and a clear comparison of each caliber. Thank you for taking the time to put this up!

Your videos helped me choose my carry ammunition for my HK45. Thanks for the detailed ammunition reviews.

I love all of your videos, I like how fair and thorough they are as well as how many different things you test, from large bear defense guns to lighter recoil calibers for self defense. I think this really goes to show that with all handgun rounds there is no guaranteed fight stopper, all of these will do the job if placed correctly and none of them are a magic bullet that sends the bad guy flying like in the movies.

.40 s&w is the ideal cartridge caliber, but 180gr was always too heavy for the .40 s&w, great for the 10mm auto though, between 135gr minimum and 165gr maximum parameters is best, with 155gr/150gr being the ideal bullet weight for the .40 s&w!

A great test! Thank you. I have been a big advocate of 185 grain jhp in the 45 for a long time. Hollow point bullets need velocity to expand and that often means heavier isn't better.

Thank you sir. I just bought some underwood 40sw 150g nosler to load in one of my carry pistols(4” barrel). I feel very confident now it packs a punch.

Great job! Very thorough, educational, and fun.

PWC FOR ALL MEASURED IN VOLUME: 9mm - 4.75 cubic inches. 40 S&W - 8.64 cubic inches. 45 ACP - 6.53 cubic inches. It seems in this test, 40 S&W was far and away the best. Typically we see largest expansion with 45, so this particular 40 S&W load is very good.

Finally, someone addresses sectional density in one of these ballistics gel tests.

Second video in this series: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jsqoo8yd2K2qe58.html

I’ve owned and loved 45… I switched to 40 because of higher capacity and similar ballistics… I was forced to switch to 9mm because of injuries…. 9mm is the easiest thing to use that still works ok 👍

Nice! I appreciate the test and video. LFC tests are always interesting to me. Those head shots were fun. Good commentary on less than ideal, real world rapid fire (but it happens).

Good demonstration. All calibers hit the gel blocks violently. I have all calibers from .45 down to .22, revolvers and semi's. I carry .40 almost exclusively same as I did during my 25yrs as LEO. I will carry a J-frame on special occasions though. Keep up the good work.

Good results. Great comparison test. Thank you.

Excellent video. Can't wait for the video your going to put out next.

A 🔨 of a test Sam!! Lol awesome demonstration and test 👍🏻👍🏻

Really liked this comparison. Great video. Great shooting too.

Great format for a good video testing light bullets in each caliber, comparing apples to apples instead of apples to oranges. I'm looking forward to the heavier bullet test, and I think I'll subscribe now. 😎

A really nice presentation. I was impressed with you did the comparison camera screen shots.

That 9mm was hot! Looks like it kicked just as the .40 . But the 40 was the clear winner in the gel!

"Velocity and expansion are variables! Mass and cross section are constants!" The late Colonel Jeff Cooper

I had the same problem with the safety on my M&P 2.0. It ended up breaking so I removed it and put in the frame plugs. It works much better now.

That was entertaining. That’s for the efforts.

excellent presentation sir! One of your best I think!

Man those M&P pistols are making my jealous. I got the compact 2.0 but those 5 inch models gotta be great shooters.

Next Sam! The fairest test between .45acp+, .88 magnum +P+, and a 40W laser plasma. Great videos and testing. Well done Sir!🎩☯️♠️

P.S. I hope a couple of your future tests w ammo I am sending will prove that Old School tech bullets still can work great for civilians not as worried about barrier penetration like LE has to as long as it is pushed to a fast enough velocity. Real World results tended to say those worked really well (and better than the same bullets at standard velocity). Old Tech, from longer barrels, at plus p or hot velocity. It's the modern Micro/Subs/Snubs that may need higher newer tech bullets...And in Ammogaddon that might mean the expensive stuff for the short barrels and old school/cheaper for the longer barreled pistols IMO. Thanks again!

I own a Glock 17, 22, and 27 -- the recoil is a little less with the 9mm. But I would rather carry the .40 S&W. The .40 is a good mix of power and capacity.

Heck yeah, this is gonna be a good one!

12:20 that's a beautiful shot. most people would have lied and said yep right where I wanted it to go. lol. props

Impressive ammunition to say the least and highly consistent. Underwood makes really good stuff. I always see Scott from Kentucky Ballistics using it, or Federal

Thanks again for the great work

Those were all quite good by modern defensive standards. I’d carry any of them. 45 years ago, the options were pretty much ball, or a 200 cast SWC in .45, and ball or JHP that didn’t work in 9mm. Back then, I chose the .45 and I’d carry a 200 gr.H&G cast SWC now, if it was all I could get. Some of today’s bullets are really good. I still have Federal 9BPLE in my Beretta 92, but science keeps advancing.👍 Thanks.

Interesting vid. Thank you. And thank you for mentioning sectional density. Practically nobody these days talks about it. I think most have no idea what it is. Me being an old time deer hunter, i always think in terms of S.D. Hence my reason for choosing heavier for caliber bullet weights. Not the top weights, since I want some velocity also. But in the middle. 124 for 9mm, 180 for 40sw, etc.

Here’s more empirical data that folks may have retired their .40s way too soon. Such a superb street proven round. I choose my Glock .40 over my Glock .45 for HD. Thanks for the great video.

BEAUTIFUL hat brother Sam

Love how everything is on the same playing field in this test

Thanks for comparing pistols ofnsimiliar size and caliber density. Good job and data points

Good video. I agree with Cliff. Take care.

Very great Idea ! Thanks for this vidéo. I would like to see non-expensive comparison with g9 n co. And .380.

P.S. been said Seal Team 6 had 185 plus p jhp in their Mark24 HK45c as I discussed in my 2 hk45c vids...guessing Golden Saber but who knows. Would love to see what a 185 plus p hst would look like.

Amazing video! Those Noslers dump a whole bunch of energy really fast with all that push behind them. Good shooting there Tex. But par for the course with you, sir. I think the biggest issue as far as choosing 9 vs 40 vs 45 is you can factor out capacity in California. Which sucks.

Excellent video! Very well presented. Also, you are one helluva good shot! I was impressed with the force of the .45 ace rounds. Fine penetration with perfect expansion. All the rounds did well, but I would say the .45 would have the best stopping power. Love your videos.

Finally!!! Great video

Thanks for sharing the link to this video. I just acquired an FN FNP-40 and am looking forward to handloading bullets in the 150-165 range. Several candidates with the 150 Asp near the top of the list

I appreciate that you don't edit out the malfunctions. Shows us that we should shoot plenty of defense rounds through our carry pistols before counting on them. In light of this, I will be taking a few boxes of GD and HST with me to shoot next time I go camping.

(I paused during the chrono session to write this so no idea yet how they perform) -- That 9mm loading was giving you, from a pistol, very, very close to what I clocked Federal 9BPLE (115gr +P+) from a 10.5" SMG barrel (Colt 635). That was back probably just over 20 years ago (geez, I'm getting old) so this speaks wonders on what companies have managed to do with powder chemistry.

Good video, I like the 9 vs 40 vs 45 vids

even when you handicapped the .40 s&w as much as you did, either on purpose or clumsily, it still performed the best.... by a mile

Awesome video boss man‼️👍👍👍👍🎯🎯🎯💯💯

👍👍Great test!!

The .40 cal.is more expansion than 45 acp and 9mm so the .40 cal.is the best

Kudos for matching sectional densities between the 9, 40, & 45 to .130. I think when you match sectional density you get a more fair comparison between dissimilar bullet diameters/calibers vs the common tendency to match bullet weights. Although I'm puzzled why you are measuring to the backside of the bullet on a couple of the shots versus to the leading edge? That aside was a good video, I enjoyed it. Much appreciated. BTW I doubt limp wristing was an issue with the 40. I've never noticed a 40 to be affected by that with the higher slide thrust they generate.

Cool video thanks.

When seconds count between life and death. Thanks for sharing why it's best to stay away from anything with a safety.

Great comparison and excellent reason I don't own any defensive handguns with manual safeties. We all just watched you come in second in a gun fight.

I was prepared to debate your video title, but I instead agree it was a very nicely done comparison outside of lab conditions. I switched to carrying 10mm and 45ACP after the Live Goat tests that the FBI did way back when I was in the academy but I am starting to concede that modern 9mm is not the crap show that it once was.

What does this show that GODS Caliber is still relevant 😌

Thanks for testing these, Sam. They appear to be powerful and effective in all three calibers. I have it on good authority that even in a shorter barrel the 9mm will expand and penetrate about the same as from the longer barrel. Nosler makes good bullets, and IMHO, Underwood loads some excellent ammo.

Perfect performance all across the board. Take your pick in caliber because they all work great.

My G23 shooting 180gr HSTs has better pen(13"-14"), better wound cavity, and better expansion(.68-.73) that the (150-200fps)faster heavier 10mm 200 gr HST from my G20(11-12".... .59-65). To much speed causes rapid expansion that slows the round faster and then peels the petals back further to quickly, so you lose pen and expansion.

You did a fantastic job with your test! My S&W .40 doesn’t have an external Safety.

I’m considering a handgun of home defense and EDC. This video clearly shows the .40 and .45 rounds really tearing up the gel, but it seems that the 9mm holds it own. Your ability to stay on target with the 9mm gives me confidence that the 9mm has plenty of lethality to stop an intruder or attacker. Thanks again.

When you read off the bullet weights I thought "Holy crap this actually is going to be fair".

Very interesting test. That was the first negative I have seen with your 9 mm M&P 2.0.

I carry a Glock 32c in 357Sig, but been thinking of changing it to a 40 caliber. I love the 357Sig though!

Sam, I noticed you have a 1.0 and 2.0 M&P. I have the 1.0 Full Size M&P 4.25 and a Compact 2.0 and noticed a substantial difference in the trigger pull. Did you do any work to the 1. like smooth it out or anything??

Overall not a bad review. I believe with bullet expansion, fpe and penetration I would choose the .40 cal. . Although I normally choose my EDC by season. I have a few in each cal. 9mm, .40 cal. , 45 ACP and 10 mm. 10mm normally when I go hunting as a backup to my rifle or shotgun.

I have many pistols in all three of these calibers but I still prefer my Springfield XDs in .45 acp. I use 6+1 185gr Golden Saber rounds which produce 1013fps/422fpe consistently. They have excellent expansion & penetration. My 2nd favorite is my Glock 29 in 10mm, but it gets to heavy and bulky after several hours of carrying.

Just to simplify it all for everyone here. .40 is the best for everyone, and 10mm is better if you can handle it. Thanks for watching.

Hi Sam, ballistics aside, you put a .45 slug in the guy's face, it doesn't get any worse for him :D A suggestion: could you shoot loads at different heights (load A, height X) in the gel? MDF first on the left, without on the right? We would be able to see the cavities better, this way.

Those are definitely the hottest 9mm loads I've ever seen

So… shoot what you shoot well, because they aren’t too far apart performance-wise. Just be first to make hits.

Very impressive ammo... that 9mm is the same velocity as the .38 Super JHP I use...

I agree with the idea of quality shots over quantity of shots. Fewer deeper shots > more scattershots. However, to achieve that deeper penetration, I would skew toward heavier loads.

Back before Underwood got really big I contacted Kevin Underwood several times. Real nice guy BTW. I doubt you can call him on the phone these days. At that time Kevin used actual firearms while developing all his loads. I was told he used the most common firearm commonly used for the caliber under development unless he was developing a load for a specific platform. I can't say he still does the same these days but my guess is he does. So if you keep in mind what the most common firearms for each given caliber is you should have a good idea of barrel length used to get the FPS stated on the box. Most ammo manufactures use test barrels and you cant extrapolate anything from their rated FPS on the box. In my limited testing Underwood ammo has always hit or exceeded the rated FPS stated on the box when using a standard sized firearm for the caliber. AKA Glock 19 (4 inch barrel) for 9mm and a full sized 1911 (5 inch barrel) for 45 ACP. No .40 here. It's strange the 45 ACP you tested did not make close to its rated FPS in your 5.3 in Glock 41. My Underwood ammo is from back in the day and either uses Speer Gold Dots or Hornady XTP's BTW. Maybe they had to back the 45 ACP down and did not change the rated FPS? Oh well I cant wait to see the testing with standard for caliber bullet weights.

Thanks, You tested that underwood 45 ACP +P 185 grain before and it performed slightly better than rated velocity of 1200 fps and this batch is quite a bit lower so that's kind of puzzling - I think you were using the same pistol...even so it's still a good round!

your land is beautiful, I cant wait to buy some land.

Still staying with Hornady critical duty.and my Beretta storm.no safety. No malfunctions.

Yeah I’ve never seen a +p 40 cal.. makes sense GunSam!!!

Ya do a good show, dude 😂🤣👍

These light for caliber performed well, but I really excited to see how the heavier bullets perform. Thanks for addressing the real world vs. "spray and pray." This thinking that you are unarmed unless you have 15 plus 1 in your gun needs to be debunked.

We have all 3 calibers in our home but the 40 sets on my bedside table. Any of these will work fine for self defense but after witnessing first had the damage the 40 does hitting targets, trees, the ground or whatever I feel the 40 has a lot more destructive effect. So it’s my go to piece.

The most fare would be comparing the top performing or top rated round of each caliber against each other.

I’d be happy with any of them. They all produce over 500 foot pounds of energy.

I like the comparison you did. So much similarity between the 3 calibers. Great expansion on all three in full sized guns. Do they work the same in a micro sized gun or is the velocity loss too great to over come like some revolver ammo. IMO it is shot placement that is the key item as long as there is a decent amount of penetration. No handgun is a really good terminal tool for people compared to a rifle and shotgun. But even with those you have to get a GOOD hit. Yeah a wound in the extremity "can" be fatal ( ie femoral artery) but a center punch or cranial hit with at least 8" penetration will do damage to critical organs.

Thanks for the comparison, Sam. For the most part your penetration seemed to be in a great zone.

What they made a 45 ACP? I (still) be rocking the 45 Colt! The “Taylor Knock Out Index”: Velocity (in fps) x Weight (in grains) x Diameter (in inches) = _ divided by 7,000 [to convert into foot pounds of energy]. 9mm: [1901 AD] (Original) Standard P - 1180 x 115 x .355 = 48,173.5 divided by 7,000 = 6.88 ft pd Underwood Ammo 9mm: Standard P - 1300 x 115 x .355 = 53,072.5 divided by 7000 = 7.58 ft pd +P - 1100 x 147 x .355 = 57,403.5 divided by 7000 = 8.2 ft pd +P+ - 1550 x 90 x .355 = 49,522.5 divided by 7000 = 7.07 ft pd - (?) Notice how big and slow is better than little and faster every time? Well now, it ain’t just what she said anymore! And on that note - 45 ACP: [1904 AD] Standard P - 835 x 230 x .451 = 86,614.55 divided by 7,000 = 12.37 ft pd Underwood Ammo 45 ACP: +P - 925 x 255 x .452 = 106,615.5 divided by 7000 = 15.23 ft pd Fools Figure, but Figures don't Fool! Which now leads us to the Facts - 45 Colt: [1872 AD] (Original) Standard P - 1000 x 235 x .456 = 107,160 divided by 7,000 = 15.3 ft pd Original Underwood Ammo 45 Colt: Standard P - 1000 x 250 x .452 = 113,000 divided by 7,000 = 16.14 ft pd - Xtreme Penetrator +P - 1400 x 250 x .452 = 158,200 divided by 7,000 = 22.6ft pd - Xtreme Penetrator +P This is the results of big getting faster. So, "faster can be goods so long as size is not compromised!" And I quoted her on that. [Liberty Ammunition 45 Colt: Standard P - 1800 x 78 x .452 = 63,460.8 divided by 7,000 = 9.0658 ft pd - Civil Defense Showing little going fast is just that, and nothing more!] +P - 1325 x 325 x .452 = 194,642.5 divided by 7,000 = 27.8 ft pd - Long Flat Nose Gas Check Hi-Tek Coated Hard Cast +P This is the results of big getting bigger! As so did her eyes!

Loved the test!👍👍 Not a fan of the Glock, (and a 1911A1 is THE .45ACP weapon), but all the same, the 45 hit like a sledgehammer!🔨🔨 Reckon thats why one of my favorite sayings is "There's not an issue that I can't resolve with good left hook, or a slug from a 45."

People hate on.40 yet it won in my opinion

. My point is mostly @ the 40 cal , @3:57 & again later it jammed . When you shoot ammo that is too hot for the DESIGN , bad things can happen . Slide speed is up , I don't recall the track record of THAT 40 . I think all this ammo would work at less Vel , I would feel better about it if it was used in a strong revolver OR rifle . +P can be hard on some guns , I would want to use ammo that's in the middle of the specs for any gun . Cold weather is a time when it's possible more power is OK .

.40 s&w is not a dead round, and in my opinion it should be the top choice and most popular, NOT the 9mm

9mm keeping up w that big boy

Dude this 150 gr .40 rocked! This, 165 gr gold dot, or 180 hst which would you pick and which have lowest recoil or all about the same?

What's your take on measuring of the deformed bullets? If a tiny bit of jacket sticks out the measurement is around .90'' for the .40 S&W while between .65 - .70 if a mean was taken. I just bring it up based on the other hp rounds tested that tend to stretch the arms out are either very uniform or wouldn't open at all with or without the fibre board. What do you consider the middle of the road round when the Nosler open a bit early while others like the Ranger T variants won't open even from the 5'' barrel? I'm looking forward to the 124gr. variant video.

This qustion has been going on a centry , Same with Compound Bows ,Question would you rather have a cender block from 100 yds dropped on your head , or a Brick from 200 yds ? No shot is the same ? I have Containers of Bullets from all calibers all removed from Ferral Hogs and sometimes bigger is better and sometimes smaller does better ? No absolute just Openions .

All three calibers are good. Pick the one you are most accurate with and easiest to control.

I've been looking at the Underwood 9mm 147 +P Nosler sporting hollow points but I don't know anything about Nosler projectiles so I haven't bought the ammo.