[HOE] Re: 9mm vs. .45 ACP

[Theo McGuckin <tsm@jlab.org>]

> Reason one is ammo.  The 9mm round, as far as I can see it, did not gain the 
> same depth of sales as it did in our reality (Or perhaps it lost it), and 
> thusly was mostly only a US/Mexican Amry round in North America, with some 
> limited civilian purchases.  The .45 ACP, on the other hand, is the BOMB 
> BABY!!!  .45 Fanatics were probably all over North America, and you can 
> probably find some stores of this round practically everywhere (Whereas the 
> 9mm would be mostly found in the former United States and Mexico, with only 
> small staches found in the former Confederate States and Canada.).

I don't know that that's valid. According to the book the Southern
MILITARY adopted the .50 as the standard round (boy how times change). All
the civies out there were still using 12 million different types of ammo.
Sure the military will have some caches, but those will be the first to be
looted. By my thinking everyone should carry a 10mm becase that was the
round adopted by the police dept. of the North and South (the book just
says Police, I think). And there's going to be a lot more police station
caches scattered around than army bases.

> Reason Two is design.  The M-92 is a polymer/ceramic design (Because
> *ALL* US gun designs use that kind of stuff...  Ugh, Metal, how 20th
> Century!!!), and the few gunsmiths with shops around are probably
> going to be hard pressed to make replacement parts for it...  The .45
> on the other hand has been around since the First World War, and any
> Gunsmiths around probably can make parts for it from memory, without
> refering to their reference materials (Which may or may not have
> survived the Apocolypse!).  Oh, and Mr. .45 also uses gunmetal, which
> is easier to get your hands on.

Again, it seems silly not to assume that .45's got the same overhaul that
9mm did. I mean all the .45's out there are not going to 150 year old
models from WW II, most will be modern-made guns that still use the
"aging" cartridge and are bound to be totally imcompatible with the old
metal ones. If you can find an old metal one, great, but how reliable is a
100 year automatic? I mean that springs been sitting in that gun for a
century, think it still has all its springiness? In talking with some
gun-nuts I know one thing I've heard repeatedly is this:
"If you're going to have a gun for home-protection that just sits in a box
most of the time, get a revolver."
"Why? Don't automatics hold more ammo and all that?"
"Yeah, but if you stick a revovler in a drawer for 5 years, pull it out
and squeeze the trigger, it'll probably fire. If you stick an automatic in
the drawer for 5 yeras, pull it out and slide the action back to cock it,
the spring will probably give."

Or something to that effect.
 
Theo McGuckin - SysAdmin, JLab, Safety Warden (Bldg. 85)


	It's nice to have a plan, any idea what yours is?