The US military adopted a hollowpoint round as part of the Modular Handgun System contract.
https://sofrep.com/gear/u-s-army-adopts-hollow-point-ammo/
This is not me saying 9mm > 40SW. This is me saying that the idea that the switch was solely to enable marginal shooters to pass a qualification is to me unfounded, which I would argue can be seen in the use of 9mm by certain units (both law enforcement and military) before and after the FBI switched.
The military was also slow to give up the .45 ACP, and some SWAT units still use it. The military is also enamored with capacity and weight, so overhauling the supply chain for a marginally better, more expensive, heavier, and lower capacity round doesn't make sense.
The FBI? Also had to contend with qualifying AND equipping this new hoard of woman clerical workers and limp-wristed males - a considerable increase in the ammo and training budget.
And as 9mm is considered "good enough" w/ current loading, and the woman clerical workers and limp-wristed males not needing it at all, why not BS the agency into a cheaper and easier to shoot budget item.
Not that any of this has anything to do with the performance of the superior .40/180 gr. load.
More expensive/recoil/energy/expansion/effective?
Yes.
Prohibitive, or even incidental to Law Enforcement or the civilian SD gun owner?
No.
It was the standard for Twenty-Five(25) years.
The .40 S&W has both a subsonic muzzle velocity and the same energy as the .45 ACP, as well as the 10mm performance the FBI deemed optimal, in a 9mm form factor pistol that fits most hands sans a coupla rounds in the double-stack magazine.
IF - a stop requires 2-3 good hits, where the .40 is closer to 2, and the 9mm is closer to 3? (and most data bears that out, excluding the time to incapacitation, which favors bigger holes)
3, is 50% more hits than 2.
And requires 50% more rounds fired to achieve those 50% more hits, which, in turn, will generate an additional number of missed rounds to achieve those 50% more hits as well.
The extra rounds in the magazine don't really cover the added exposure.
Not to mention the Time required to fire all those extra rounds.
The .40 S&W just requires marksmanship skills marginally in excess of those required for the 9mm.
So, if one chooses, enjoy the popular, less expensive, less effective, higher capacity option that is easier to shoot, or not.
The .40 S&W is not only a better round than the 9mm at its inception, it is a better round than the 9mm today.
If one can shoot it well.
Skill is like that.
Red