.40 S&W Prediction

But most of the 9mm's history isn't with American shooters. It really only started making inroads here in the 1960s and started taking off in the late 1970s with the Wonder 9 craze.
 
I think the 9mm will remain the king of CCW guns. The .40S&W & .45ACP guns are better suited to larger, duty-sized guns. And, as more LEO's switch to 9mm, more duty guns will become available.

I like the looks of the Beretta 92, but I prefer the 96 for its size/power balance.
 
9mm will get the job done but I despise the round
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Why. ?

But most of the 9mm's history isn't with American shooters. It really only started making inroads here in the 1960s and started taking off in the late 1970s with the Wonder 9 craze.
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Fair point, from a young age when I got interested in firearms I have known about the .45 and 1911 and its history. I assumed that Americans with a similar interest in firearms would know about the 9MM its history and the famous handguns that used the calibre mostly in Europe as you say.
 
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I'm a big .40 shooter. It's my favorite service round.

I think it's completely wrong to expect the 9mm, .40, or .45 to go anywhere in our lifetimes or even our childrens' lifetimes. Removed from internet echo chamber debates, all three rounds are effective in different ways and all have extremely large installed user bases.

9mm is very effective on a target out of cover, affordable, and controllable, so it'll stay popular as it has for ages, but .40 remains a somewhat superior penetrator of intermediate barriers and many shooters (myself included) do not find the recoil much over 9mm, so it'll stay very popular with police forces thanks to frequent traffic stops. .45 remains big, fat, and proven, so it'll stay popular with most everyone.

I own all three. I'll keep owning all three. All three will stay popular.
 
The 38 super is a great but less than touted round. The 40 S&W is not a great cartridge, but promoted as one. I don't know where it will go but never 'got' the attraction.
 
Many PDs moved away from .45acp ... didn't announce the death knell of the cartridge.

Relative popularity will wax and wane, but go away? Not hardly. Visit the range where gun gamers need to have capacity and meet "major" power factor. Dang few .45 or 9mm. It's easy to hand load a super soft shooting major load in .40, but it's nearly impossible in 9mm. And 45 restricts capacity.
 
I hate to turn the Universe on it's head........

But could we have a link (or three) or other sources on this alleged mass migration of LE agencies to 9mm?

No disrespect, just want to check the "facts". With the multitudes of agencies in this country, FBI or not, I would like to determine for myself whether or not there is a trend or not.
 
The FBI agents are mostly desk jockeys that will never use a gun. The State Police that have to use a gun more often do not use 9mm. At the last count there were only 3 states using the 9mm. That says a lot to me. The 9mm is a good choice for non shooters and beginners. It is cheaper and not hard on guns.
 
40SW is only popular because of its LEO use.

Once that goes away, it'll be just a short, useless 10mm.
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The .38 Super round was resurrected from 25 years of disuse by IPSC competition, and .40 will continue to be very popular in that venue, as the rules were essentially written for .40.
.38 Super has now been all but replaced by 9mm, and if the rules continue to evolve in the direction of reduced power, 9mm could replace .40, too.
Until then, .40 is going to be a very popular competition round, even if the LEO and defensive markets decline.
 
The 9mm is a good choice for non shooters and beginners. It is cheaper and not hard on guns.
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The police here use 9mm and are shot at often enough, and the British SAS used 9mm on numerous anti terrorist operations. But what would they know, I have never heard of them being called beginners or non shooters. :rolleyes:
 
manta49 said:
The police here use 9mm and are shot at often enough, and the British SAS used 9mm on numerous anti terrorist operations. But what would they know, I have never heard of them being called beginners or non shooters. :rolleyes:
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I did not say that all people using a 9mm was a beginner. I said that the 9mm was the best choice for all beginners because of recoil. As for the SAS, any agency that carries a rifle is not going to use a handgun very often and they don't have to depend on it as their go to weapon like a Trooper does. The Army is dropping the 9mm. How could that be? If you had to be shot and could pick between 9mm or 10mm to be shot with are you really going to pick the 9mm.
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The 40 will always be around! The police will replace there guns every so meany years. It is up to the man in charge of the replacing them as to what caliber he wants. It has been this way for years!
 
With the FBI going to, or back to, the 9 mm along with a growing number of police departments, I suspect the .40 S&W will wane in popularity.

We'll be back to 9 mm vs .45 discussions. The .40 after a decade or so will become a hotly defended but greatly diminished round in its sales.
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All opinion nothing more nothing less. As I have stated many a time, neither right nor wrong
 
The Army is dropping the 9mm
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What army, are you saying that the American army is dropping the 9mm. ? If they are I am sure they are not going to 10 mm aneway there's more to choosing a calibre than its alleged superior stopping power, if that was not the case the army would still be using 7.62 mm.
 
I too doubt the .40 S&W is going anywhere. As others have said, there's just too many firearms out there that shoot it. If the popularity of the cartridge fades, prices on those gun folks are tradin' in will plummet, and thus there will be good deals on .40 cal guns, so other folks will buy them. Look at the surplus army rifles of 50 years ago. Some of the calibers themselves were not the best, but because the firearms themselves were cheap and plentiful, folks bought them and then needed ammo to go with them. No the .40 will not die, but it might flounder a tad tho. The .45ACP will do neither. It is too ingrained into the shooting world and the amount of firearms made for it over the last 100+ years means there will always be folks shooting them. Folks that reload, reload .45ACP for the same price or less that non-reloaders pay for 9mm. Virtually everyone I know that shoots .45ACP reloads.......same goes for folks that shoot .38 Special. Virtually everyone I know that shoots 9mm buys factory. Most I know with .223s shoot factory, because it is still so reasonable. This is why ammo sales does not tell the whole story when it comes to who shoots what. As for .38 Special sales, my two LGSs, have not been able to keep J-Frames in stock the last three years because of high demand. Doubt very much the .38 needs Hospice yet.
 
i love 9
i love 40
i really love 45
i hate loading 9 (its those darn tapered cases!!!!)
i love loading 40
i really love loading 45
 
I really love loading 45 ACP
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And that's why the 45 ACP isn't going anywhere - if for no other reason. It's easy and pleasurable to reload. And - and - it likes lead. No semi-auto cartridge plays nicer with lead than 45 ACP. And that makes it very economical to load - without the frustration associated with barrel leading that is all too frequent with other semi-auto chamberings.
 
I think the 40 will remain popular for a long time into the future. That said, I think 9mm and 45acp will remain bigger sellers.
 
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