By Donovan Beard

February 15th, 2025

A question I have continuously received throughout my career as a firearms instructor is “what is the best handgun caliber for personal defense?” Unfortunately, there is not a “one size fits all” answer for that question and it is based on a multitude of factors. However, there are some trends we see and some recommendations that can be made to assist the new shooter with making a better-informed decision.

The first recommendation I have is to look at the overall availability of the ammunition in your local marketplace. Generally, the most common calibers that can be found will be .380 ACP, 9mm, 38 SPL, .357 MAG, 40 S&W, 10mm and 45 ACP. I would highly recommend staying within those calibers, and this is not to say that there are not other great cartridges out there, the ones I listed above just seem to be more prevalent at most retailers nationwide. This of course can be influenced by location, for example in more northern rural areas of the United States, we tend to see more of a selection of larger calibers such as 45 colt and 44 Remington Mag whereas in more urban areas we tend to see less of the larger calibers. Another factor would be newer calibers like 30 Super Carry and 32 H&R Mag, now both of those calibers are great, however they are new, and not all retailers are going to carry them until they become more prevalent in the marketplace. The retailers that do carry them will often be sold out or have a limited supply due to the people who purchased firearms chambered in those calibers identifying the scarcity post purchase. It takes a while for the market to “catch up” with new cartridges. The goal is to choose a caliber that is more likely to be in stock regardless of where you are geographically. Additionally, you are going to want to make sure that retailers, both large and small, will carry a wide variety of loads by multiple manufacturers. When selecting a caliber, you want to make sure that regardless of where you are in the United States, you can go to any retailer, and they will have ammunition that works in your gun.

The next factor to consider would be cost. Undoubtedly 45 ACP is going to cost more than 9mm and if the ammunition for your defensive handgun is expensive, then it could make target practicing and training with your handgun cost prohibitive. Remember, the goal is that you should be shooting your firearm at a minimum of four or five times a year for at least 100-150 rounds per session. It is very beneficial to have select a caliber that is economical to shoot because this could influence the frequency and volume of your training time on the range. The exception to this concept is mostly geographic, for example, if you are in the northern regions of the United States and your defensive handgun needs to be able to stop larger animals as well as people, then you may need to commit to the added expense of a larger caliber handgun that will work in your geographical area.

Another consideration is the balance of recoil to effectiveness on the threat. I have noticed that some shooters are “recoil sensitive” especially when firing smaller, lighter firearms chambered in larger calibers. A shooter that is sensitive to recoil will often flinch and close their eyes when they pull the trigger in anticipation to the recoil which is amplified with the volume of the firearm being discharged. When this occurs the typical advice is to reduce the caliber size and select a firearm that is a little larger and heavier to counteract this reaction from the shooter. Most new shooters will be less intimidated by a handgun chambered in .22 LR because it has less “kick” and is not as loud. However, I would usually not recommend a .22 LR for personal protection because it lacks the terminal effectiveness that we would want for defensive purposes. Having said that, accuracy is in most cases a more important factor than caliber. If you can consistently print a fist size grouping at 7 yards with a .22 LR and you are missing the target completely with a 38 SPL, then for starters I would say “stick with the .22 LR” and I would additionally advise working to find the middle ground between those two cartridge choices. In most cases I recommend against carrying defensive handguns smaller than .380 ACP, but there are circumstances where it can make sense. Remember that a hit with a .22 LR is better than a miss with a 45 ACP.

There is a good case for carrying a firearm chambered in 9mm and it is largely due to all the factors we have discussed already. The sheer volume of manufacturers producing 9mm handguns is astounding. This is good because it creates a wider variety of makes and models of firearms for the end consumer to choose from and there seems to be an endless number of configurations, sizes, capacities, and operating systems to choose from. 9mm is not a particularly expensive cartridge to purchase when you consider the cost per round of other calibers and it is currently one of the most widely used calibers for personal protection in the United States for civilians, law enforcement and military. The 9mm cartridge has a bullet weight that ranges from 100gr all the way up to 158gr and can have velocities between 850 FPS to 1300 FPS depending on what you are trying to accomplish. I would highly recommend starting out with a 9mm handgun to begin your training journey and using that caliber to influence the firearm and caliber you select for personal protection

After saying all of this, the key take away is to have a caliber you can effectively shoot that fits your environment. I highly recommend shooting multiple firearms in a variety of calibers and experiencing the attributes of each caliber before you make the capital investment purchasing a firearm. 

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