3 explosions,3 mfgs.guns,in 40S&W

W

Wild Romanian

Moderator
When posting on various gun related sites I have made no attempt to hide my dislike of the 40 S&W cartridge. I have always considered it the worst of both worlds. Low capacity, high recoil, short service life of the weapon, poor accuracy due to heavy recoil and the human reaction to it. In short it has neither the low recoil, or high velocity or high capacity of the 9mm nor the massive frontal area of the .45acp. I also have had a grudge against the .40 because if it had not been for the invention of that caliber the excellent High Power would probably ever have been redesigned. It would probably still be with us today in its orginal configuration.
NOW FOR THE BLOW UP PART OF THIS TREAD. I strongly suggest you read this months issue of COMBAT HANDGUNS UNDER THE COLUMN GUN DESIGNS & MODIFICATIONS. In the article you will read about bullet set back in the 40 S& W and high pressure spikes that blew up a High Power, A Glock and A Ruger. The article states that most of the Gocks blowing up are blowing up in 40 S&W and the Ruger that blew up blew the extractor out with such force that it killed the shooter standing next to the gun went it exploded. I also think you will find the rest of the article and the lawsuits agains gun owners who modified their weapons interesting and frightening. W.R.
 
I feel better now, thought I was the only one
who does not like the 40 and in time it will
go away like all bad ideas.!!!!
 
I think you have to include 10mm
they are both pre disposed to bang.
I have asked before if it could be detonation?
not sure BUT I know of no other cal, in Glock and colt guns that is so pre disposed to blow ups.
and they are not just case seporations but blow ups. And it is not just reloads either.
geo ><>
 
Could it also have been three cases of handloaders not knowing what they were doing, or not paying attention to what they were doing?
 
Wild,

The .40 question aside, what's your big beef with the Browning Hockey Puck being redesigned for .40?

I'd like to see it redesigned for .45-70, myself...

Were I to feel that way about my pet handgun, we'd still all be shooting Hand Ejector Model of 1896 Smith & Wessons in .32 Long... :D
 
WR,

Finally! Something we agree heartily on. I think the 40 was/is a bad idea and has given a lot of very good firearms very bad publicity. No doubt, however, that some of the blame must go to handloaders who think that they can apply the same sloppy/borderline dangerous techniques to the 40 that they've been using on older, more forgiving cartridges. Also, manufacturers who have tried to stuff 10mm performance into 9mm sized guns.

George,

I don't think the 10mm is anywhere near as prone to this kind of problem. The larger case capacity will make it much more tolerant of setback, etc.
 
IMNSLE...

I have a considerable cross-section of other manufacturers 40 S&W, and I suggest that bullet setback in THIS caliber occurs all too often.
 
I should add that setback can easily be defeated, as in any other caliber. There ARE some very good rounds available, but case neck tension (or a real good cannelure) is critical.

Safety first; guns can be dangerous.
 
OK, big deal. Three handguns go kaboom in a single caliber - OUT OF HOW MANY IN SERVICE? Given, Glocks seem to have a propensity to this anomaly due to the unsupported chamber, which, if fed a stressed reloaded casing, or an overload of propellant, has a tendency to come apart. This is the first instance of a Ruger or an HP that I am aware of, even so, what are the circumstances? Reloads? Super hot cartridges? Worn or neglected firearms? I'm not yet ready to accept your post that the 40 cal is dangerous. I have also read of .357s coming apart, as well as 44mags, 44 specials, 38 specials and a whole lot of other calibers. If you want to make a case for the 40 cal being inherently more dangerous that any other cartridge, then do some more homework and give some REAL STATISTICAL COMPARISONS.

DEAL IN FACTS - NOT IN BIASED OPINIONS!
 
Is this the magazine you refer too?

http://www.combathandguns.com/

Looked at the magazine online, trying to access the article you refer to. Couldn't find it in the june or August issue.

If what I saw reflects their journalistic abilities, I'll keep shooting my .40S&W.
 
I like the .40, I'll have to admit that.
I do not consider it to be any more dangerous than any other caliber.
As in every caliber - before you load a magazine to fire - you need to inspect each and every round for any and all problems and if you fine one - discard it properly.
Saying the .40 is dangerous because of this is to say that all motorcycles are dangerous because the tires could blow out.
:rolleyes:
 
Hear Hear!

Have to agree with the Wild Romanian on this one. There was a report out last year that tested and rated handguns for law enforcement. I will try to find the PDF file that contains this report and post it.

Essentially many of the guns that failed the test were .40 S&Ws and .357 Sigs. A few Kimber .45's as I recall failed also. But the .9mm pistols, except one I think, all passed. All Glocks passed in all calibers.

The report summarized that the reason for this was that re-engineering a .9mm pistol for .40 S&W and .357 Sig calibers created some basic problems in physics.

The .9mm or .45 in a pistol designed specifically for the respective cartridge seems to work best in my opinion. Learn how to hit what you are aiming at and the modern .9mm or .45 will do the job.

I prefer the .9mm over the .45 because I can control it better.
 
What bullet grain weight where they useing?I have done a little reading on the 40 and from I have seen most of the KB are with the 180 gr slugs.
 
Don't like 40S&W? Don't buy one. I trust my life to one every night at work. I could carry any caliber I want, but I choose 40S&W. As for all 40S&W pistols having a low capacity, are 15 rounds in a Glock 22 all that bad? That's the same number of 9x19mm rounds you will fit into a Beretta 92. I'll stick with what works for me. :)
 
The .40 isn't the problem IMHO

The .40 seems to be attacked as a caliber without much real fact to show what the weakness is.

I have also heard that most all KBs were with 180gr HPs and the fact that many are with reloads opens a whole can of worms.

If it is because of setback, the larger heavier bullets would be more prone to this, if I understand it right.

I also question the practice of using a 9mm frame and making the .40 work. I would rather have a gun designed to meet the needs of the cartridge myself.

I think the FBI and it's quest for unattainable performance helped screw this one up. Look what they did for the 10mm. Damn near killed it. It is just starting to be judged on it's true merits.

They want a gun that hits like a .45, has very little recoil,with a small grip for the ladies(and that has 15+rounds in it), it can use heavy bullets and light ones too, the gun can't weigh anything, and they don't want to wait around for true development to come up with a wonder caliber that bridges the 9mm and .45 with a balanced caliber.

So you get a .40SW, which came from the much superior 10mm that was too big for them. HMMMM

I like my .40s but the process of it's R&D is a bad read. It just seems unlikely a cartridge will ever be a," be all does all round". That's why so many exist, because each has it's purpose and you can't have it all. Well unless you get a phaser with settings. HE HE....

I have never heard of the 10mm having this problem and wonder where that came from . I love my 10mm and the FBI should have left it alone and not down loaded it.

Maybe they should consider making a lower grain bullet as the .40 calibers max bullet weight, if that is the problem. Just a thought.....
 
A few years back, my brother bought a new S & W model 19 .357 magnum. The barrel broke after 100 rounds of factory ammo.

The same brother and I met a man at the gun show who was trying to sell his Colt .45 auto for parts because the steel frame was cracked.

Obviously, the .357 magnum and .45 auto were bad ideas.
 
My state patrol, FBI and countless agencies are using the dangerous .40 cal in the even more dangerous Glock. Why no problems from them?

These guys frankly put more rounds through there guns than anybody else and I'm not hearing a thing about ka-booms from them. Maybe due to the fact that they don't shoot lead through Glocks and don't try to load up with "Really good" handloads.

Frankly I think blow ups with factory ammo are a lot like UFO and Elvis sightings, they always seem to happen to not so credible folks in desserted area's.
 
Obviously, if you have one it can't be a bad idea. :rolleyes: I don't own a .40, but I think it is worth some thought. I don't know for sure that the .40 is dangerous, but an accident waiting to happen isn't going to happen every time.

I noticed that the original post referred to bullet setback. I assume that means in the mag. If this critter has a problem with neck tension, to hold the bullet in place, that could be an unforgiving parameter. I've shot a few and they are right sporty in the sharp recoil department. BTW, just because 40,000 of the things are in use and cause no problem doesn't mean there isn't a potential problem of the type described here. It wouldn't be the first time a cartridge was found to be a solution in search of a problem.

Just my $0.02.:p
 
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