Nobody sober has called it Short & Weak in ten years.
I was joking. Shot placement is far more important than the ballistic differences between a 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45ACP.
The only case where the .45 has a distinct advantage in effectiveness over a 9mm is when both loads are FMJ “hardball”.
There are those who feel their .45 is the ultimate manstopper, and the 9mm is a weak joke that only a fool would use.
The Strasbourg tests and compiled gunfight data tend to show that higher velocity rounds with hollowpoints that fully expand and transfer the entire energy of the bullet into the body make the more effective loads.
I’m not knocking those who choose to use a .45. My point is that if terminal effectiveness is the overriding factor in choosing a handgun caliber, one should use a full power .357 magnum or 10mm load.
The .44 magnum will tend to over-penetrate on human targets and waste some of its energy. That same logic could be used to justify picking a .40 caliber over a 10mm as well.