I just took some friends to my range as guests. A match had just finished and the knock down steel Silhouettes timed for .45 were still up so we had fun knocking them down. My guests all had 9mm and the targets just rocked when they hit them. They said what do the guys do that use 9mm, don't some of you use 9mm? I said double tap and they will go down. One guy hit one three times in the belly area but not fast enough for a knock down. After a while they got the hang of it and started knocking them all down. I let them use my .45 and they really appreciated how fast the targets went down. Then I ran the course with one of their 9's and knocked them all down with one hit each. The said how did you do that? I said simple leverage notice I hit them all in the head. I carry both 9mm and .45 either one is fine as long as you can shoot straight when you have too. I can tell you from experience however that the adrenaline pump will almost always give you tunnel vision if the bad guy gets the jump on you then you will start wondering if you hit anything at all. Then the same problem arises spraying and praying vs getting the first hit with that big fat slug so maybe you will have a little time for that follow up shot or two. I always feel more comfortable with the .45 but can't always fit it into the dress code, still feel better with the 9mm then not having.
I almost bought it once going against 3 BG's with Glocks but the .45 was an old friend at it came out faster then theirs could get into action. As you all probably know the Glock is a very simple gun with no safety to snap off, but you have to have it in your hand to use it and they were not going to make, I did including the snap off. The speed that the 1911 came to hand and the fact that I knew how to use it was an obvious wordless comment that at least one of them wasn't going to make it, and they ran, BG's generally don't have any valor they are predators going against the sick and the weak. I was well blessed that day nobody died because I didn't have to. I beat the adrenalin pump that time and would have put one in each of them center of chest right through the sternum, if it stayed on line at least the center one would have lost his spine too. That still doesn't mean I would have lived dieing men have killed lots of people. I would have opened up if one of them had kept moving towards the gun.