.40 S&W Round problems?

Although the .45 ACP is my favorite caliber, I've actually shot more .40's in my life then even .45's. Personally, I've never had any malfunctions with the ammo. Our department as well as most of the other departments in our county are issued .40 Sigs or Glocks. None of the men I know have had any problems with ammo such as failure to fires or "exploding" ammo. I'm trying to remember if there was ever a failure to feed even out on the range by anyone else I was ever close to & honestly, I don't think I've ever even seen a failure to feed. And we're talking literally thousands of rounds having been fired over the years.

I'm very brand loyal, especially to Springfield Armory. But I did have one malfunction with my XD-45. Was shooting factory loaded Federal 230 HB and the slide just froze shut. The thing wouldn't budge at all. I ejected the magazine and tried and tried to no avail to get it to rack.

The guide rod was protruding out an extra quarter of an inch, maybe slightly more. Other than that, nothing else looked different.

I notified Springfield, they immediately e-mailed me a paid in full shipping label along with instructions to take it to a Fed-Ex for shipment back to them.

I received a telephone call two days later from a lady who said the pistol had ben examined, taked apart and re-assembled. She said the tech had a tough time getting the slide to open. She said even though it was totally locked up, it fired fine when they re-asembled it. Every part was in good shape when it was inspected. NO REASON FOR THIS MALFUNCTION COULD BE FOUND.

I received it back in another few days, along with a report that stated they received it in a jammed shut condition. No shell casing was found in the chamber, which is really odd, as there was still another 7 rounds left in the magazine. It was test fired prior to being shipped back. Ever since, it feeds any type & all brands of .40.

Personally, I have a lot of confidence in the caliber.
 
If you talk to the people who actual design and make guns they will tell you that the 40S&W is a little harder to work with. That extra work or tweaking is done long before they mass produce something. The finished product is just as reliable as any other caliber. As far as set back on 40 S&W catridge, It's never happened to me but I have had it with my 357 sig ammo, (nothing in the last few years though.) I've only seen two guns blow up, one was a G21 and the other was a Norinco 1911. Both of these were 45acp and both blow ups were attributed to reloads, (funny thing they were a couple years apart but the ammo came from the same place.) Everyone's experiences are different but I've owned a couple of 40s and had no problems.
 
Maybe the fellow that doesn't think the .40 is a worthy cartridge only likes cartridges that are over 100 years old.

Damn whippersnapper cartridge!
 
I had decided on the 40 except recently I asked a guy I know what his opinion was and he strongly advised against the 40 due to a bunch of apparent problems. Like feeding/reliability issues, cases of it exploding etc.
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get firearms advice from someone that knows what they're talking about.
 
Since some of you want to repeat the myths here let me tell you some of the real problems which I said HAVE been fixed !
Attempts to use the 40 in guns designed for the 9mm [they use the same platform ] without changes -poor engineering !! Because the 40 is more powerfull it needs more slide weight [ about 3 ozs ] and better spring to soak that up.
Importance of eliminating set-back .Ammo makers corrected this.
Importance of limiting unsupported chamber .Makers changed that.
The rest that I remember involves the less than smart operators !!! Check your reloaded brass and throw out thinned cases. don't go over recommended pressures [ "How hot can I load it ? "] If you insist on using lead bullets [not recommended] use hard lead and clean barrel often !

A great cartridge which I find closer to 45 acp than 9mm on chucks and things ! It's here to stay !:)
 
Sarge...that's not been my experience with the round...
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Rod, I have never used the .40 in a 1911 so that may be the difference. I have used the 1911 plenty and generally get them to group under 4" at 50 yards (5 shots, benched) before I pronounce them 'combat accurate'. Generally, I used 5.0 grains of W231 with a 200 grain LSWC; Federal 230 Hydra Shocks or Winchester's USA 230 JHP as standards, all being accurate enough to do it from a good gun. The Sig P220 is another service .45 that almost always groups that well.

Imagine my surprise when numerous Glock 22's & 23's, and S&W's much maligned Sigma produced that level of accuracy... even with my 170 SWC load in range mongrel brass. So that's what I'm basing my opinion on... shooting several service autos in both calibers and getting good combat accuracy from both.

As the old saying goes "Your mileage may vary" and it often does.
 
I did get a report once from an armorer that the barrels in the 40 caliber Glocks of the local police department had to be replaced every time they qualified. Never heard or read about that one anywhere else.
 
I did get a report once from an armorer that the barrels in the 40 caliber Glocks of the local police department had to be replaced every time they qualified. Never heard or read about that one anywhere else.
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You probably won't hear it anywhere else, either ;)
 
been shooting and reloading 40SW for a while.....never an issue,runs in all my guns have reloaded many types of powders and OALs and never hurt a thing

I think some folks do not know wth they are talking about esp on the internet
and that guy who said 40SW is a bad round in certainly one of them
 
I've shot a couple thousand rounds of 40 through my XD and the only cycling failures I've had were my own fault. I made some rounds where I didn't quite seat the bullets deep enough, so they hung up in one of my magazines. Other than that, zero failures.

As far as reloading goes, I find the 40 to be more forgiving than the 9. Maybe it's just my guns, or the powder I was using. Hard to say. Also, as far as shooting lead, that's pretty much all I shoot. I never have any problems, and I don't clean it all that often. The XD is a pretty robust platform(as are many others out there, I'm not one to bias one gun over another unless there is a reason to).

So like most others have said, what it boils down to is that if you want the 40, get it and enjoy it. You really can't go wrong with either the 40 or the 9 though.
 
Sarge...that's my experience with the 1911 in .45...and I use pretty much the same load for nearly everything...5.1 gr of 231 or HP38 under a 200 gr LSWC...that load will perk in any quality .45 I've tried it in...even a WWll Remington Rand whose outward appearance belies its fine accuracy. It'll also work well with a 7-1/2 SAA with its .45 ACP cylinder installed, and a S&W 1955 Target.

Your standard of 4" or under at 50 yds is more than adequate for most any purpose short of gilt edged NRA Bullseye competition...I'd have gladly settled for that in my 1911 .40 S&W.

I don't bother to load for carry use in the .45 ACP...I use Federal HRT's at 230 gr for that purpose...and I'm a revolver only guy for hunting.

Glad they've got the .40 working well in some guns...I've always thought the round filled a niche...I like the .41 Magnum for the same reason. (Good throw weight at moderate velocity, with manageable recoil from full size guns.)

Rod
 
Wow, the .40 gets accused of bad rounds, KBs, inaccuracy; I wonder when it will be blamed for hand cancer.

Since I'm issued a .40 and have been for many years, I have never had any type of problem with a factory load; never tried any re-loads. I have never had a problem with accuracy; other than caused by myself on an off-day.

I shoot also shoot my personal .40 and my 9mm as accurate as the issued .40. And I have never heard of any problems with the .40 as compared to other handguns.
 
The 4" .40 XD I shot was very impressive even though I'm a Glock guy. The XDs were developed after the .40 was introduced, so it's not a 9mm gun with a .40 jammed into it.
The .40's teething problems are in the past.
 
Thanks for all the clarification. I ended up picking up the XD SC 40 and shot it for the first time today. 70 rounds and not one problem.. imagine that. :P Happy with how it shoots. I need to work on how I shoot however.. The gun was really accurate from a rest and a lot less accurate without. Time to get familiar I suppose.

thanks again for all the responses!
 
fan of the 40

I only have one firearm in the 40 S & W and that is the Springfield XDM. I love the pistol, it is accurate and very dependable. I have shot various factory and reloads through it with only on small hitch - some used brass that apparently was shot in a Glock. Once I culled those out I have had zero problems. I took it to the range a couple weeks ago and at 25 feet feed a full mag on a rest and only had four holes in the center black - one big one nearly dead center. If I had to rely on one handgun to do it all it would be the 40. Yes, there are things to watch out for as listed above but like everything else, you just need some knowledge and be careful.
 
Wow, the .40 gets accused of bad rounds, KBs, inaccuracy; I wonder when it will be blamed for hand cancer.
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serious accuracy probs delayed the 40cal's introduction to the market.

once groups were brought to a reasonable level, it was marketed.

however, initial ammo still wasn't printing groups on par with 9mm or 45acp.

once the right powder/bullet weight was found, the 40cal's accuracy became the same as the other calibers.


all this happened years ago, and rumors of poor accuracy still linger.
 
he strongly advised against the 40 due to a bunch of apparent problems.
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I'm sure he can quote his brother's neighbor's uncle that knew a guy at work that heard it from.......
BS.
Love my Springer XD-40 Sub! Never a reliability problem, and for a short barreled, CCW weapon, it's as accurate as I can shoot it!
 
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