I've never hated the "nine," but worse - I've always been pretty indifferent to it.
Early-seventies, my dad had a Browning High-Power. We loaded it with a Lyman truncated cone and it fed reliably and was accurate. It took a ridiculous number of rounds to fill the magazine. My first handgun experience was with a OM Super Blackhawk, loaded to full potential with the Lyman 429303, the pointy one. I was ten and THAT got me hooked on shooting handguns, revolvers in particular and the big bore and big boom were the datum-point for me from that moment forward, so those puny, jelly-bean-sized cartridges of the "nine" did not particularly excite me.
I do love the 45 ACP. It seemed more "normal" to me.
I've ever owned ONE 9mm that I can remember - A tiny Kel-Tec, which held ten rounds, was utterly reliable, with whatever I stuck in the mag and a small paper-plate stood no chance at seven to ten yards. The trigger was like some kind of industrial stapler and made your finger hurt after four or five magazines.
I always despised the 357 Mag though. Thought the 38 was a "cute" throwback to the deprived days of weak handguns. I've at least changed my mind on those, but that only happened through the implementation of either in a carbine. The complementing revolvers followed and I use these more than anything these days. I've got it ALLLLLL figgered out now, boys!
Until
@Outpost75 posted his tome-lite on the 9mm in the same context. Dangit, man! It makes SO much sense! NOW, I am no longer ambivalent to to 9mm. NOW, I feel like I NEED one - in revolver, carbine and probably a smallish auto-pistol.
I'm pretty sure I'm sticking with the 357. I'm fully vested, have nothing more to buy, build, fix, experiment with or test. I like being in that position - finally.
It sure has weighed on my mind though. I ignored the 9mm for a long, long time, but recently, it's been on my mind almost constantly.
EDIT: I will say this; if a 9mm Contender pistol barrel shows up for sale at a decent price it's going to cost me a small fortune. I'd have the cost of threading it, another stamp for an SBR, dies, moulds, sights, another red-dot, a revolver and probably a smallish auto. So. I scour the ads several times every day in hopes that one won't be posted. THAT is how determined I am to avoid the cartridge in question.