Ok, before anybody asks why we're comparing .45ACP and .223 let me say, the answer is clear which is a better man-stopper. They're NOT comparable. One comes from a rifle, the other (usually) a pistol. Velocities, energy, range... it's all different.
The point of this is that I read ALLLL over the internet that .223/5.56 sucks and it's inadequate as a man stopper. Yet everybody RAVES about .45 knocking people over and being the best man stopper. Ok, we all know the hit from the bullet itself doesn't know people down. But how can people think the .45 is the end-all caliber, but then think the .223 lacks power?
I don't hunt. No interest. But I hear of people easily killing deer with .45ACP and other say .223 isn't enough power for deer. Wut?
Clearly .223 ballistics blow .45 ACP out of the water. The .223 has MUCH more power. All these stories of one shot stops from .45's in self defense and police shootings and then insurgents in Iraq taking several hits from 5.56 and still alive and kicking. This doesn't make sense. Are they just rare stories that are being told over and over again?
Obviously, the .223/5.56 is superior to .45 ACP, but why do some people think they way they do? People have so much faith in the big slow .45's, but wouldn't trust their lives to a .223/5.56... Why? I've even read awhile ago somebody stating that the .223 is no more effective than a .40 S&W, hahaha. How they came up with that I don't know.
As far as .223 vs. 7.62, that's another story. In the end, it all comes down to shot placement. Most of us can place very tight groups with a .223 where a handgun is out of range, especially a .45 at 100 yards. A .45, when shot parallel to the ground hardly reaches 100 yards.
But that's just one thing that's irritated me for so long, that people seem to think .45's can blow people into pieces, yet a .223 is only effective on rabbits. Yes .45 in handgun standards is a great caliber and .223 is on the lower end for rifle power, but to say it's ineffective?
This post is just for fun. It's not meant to be a caliber war post, but more or less a post about people mentality about calibers and why they think the way they do. :rolleyes: