40S&W not so popular?

Guy, I think you're missing the point of why different calibers exist and the fact that not everyone is as sensitive to recoil as you. Also as has been repeatedly said, 9mm is also high pressure by your standards. You're digging yourself a bigger hole.
 
I try to find reasons in favour of an 40 sw for my particular situation. I reload.
Over here we can not get gun powder. So I scavenge gunpowder for reloading from 12 ga shothells. That is why I have to economize gunpowder the utmost maximum.
Lead is plenty for casting but gunpowder has to be scavenged.

An 9mm case slips rigth into an 40 sw case. So it may use more powder.

I wonder if the 357 sig would not be a better design case for economizing powder. But you can not seat as an wadcutter the 357 sig bullet which you could for the 40 sw to seat the bullet right on top of the powder.

It still seems to me the 9mm Luger is the most economic caliber regards powder use and decent muzzle energies compared to the other modern fancy high pressure calibers.
 
I'll give you .357 Maggie, I could be persuaded FAL...........but you are a soulless hethen, shell of a human being to not recognize the one true Maryanne.

Ohh and I liked.40 too. :p
 
TGOS... you are thinking waaay too hard about all of this. I suggest you simply shelve the idea of .40S&W for your situation in South America, settle back and relax, then enjoy 9mm. Your situation and conditions are far different than what we are so fortunate to enjoy here in "The States". Really... your struggle with this is almost painful to observe. 9mm can serve you just fine, go with it, be in peace, and enjoy life. :)
 
Seriously though. They are all handgun cartridges. They all have minuscule pros and cons vs each other. They all pretty much suck realistically speaking. 9mm is probably the best all around package these days. 180 grain Federal HST .40 however looks to be a really nice round and is really soft shooting.

Find the one or ones you like to shoot and as a late member use to say. BA/UU/R. I seriously doubt your pistol caliber choice will make our break your situation unless you are not capable of handling it.

12 gauge now we are taking minimum caliber.

At the end of the day have an arm be comfortable with it and have a modicum or more practice with it and you are better off than most and still have to deal with Lady Luck and papa murphy no matter the caliber. So moral of the story........

Do whatever possible not to get into fights.


And Maryanne dammit. :p
 
I just find different options interesting.

The reloading sport keeps people creative.

Tailoring and changing bullet weight, powder charge and empty air volumen of the case permits making a few interesting loads.

Yes 9mm seems to be the most economic caliber for my situation.
Nevertheless it is a nice intelectual exercise to see the posibilities of an given caliber changing those 3 variables.
 
I agree DHart. Well said. I am more comfortable with a 9 mm, but would be fine with a .40 if that's what I had to carry. I am confident with time and practice my speed and accuracy would not suffer much. I would not spend a second worrying about premature failure of any components, including the polymer frame.
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K_Mac: thank you.

Regarding you or anyone (possibly) trying out forty... if someone new to .40S&W were to ask me, I would strongly encourage seeking out pistols like the M&P40, Sig P320 40, HK VP40, Walther PPQ 40, or Browning HiPower 40. Load with run of the mill 180 gr FMJ from MagTech, American Eagle, Win WHite Box, S&B, or PMC. Then have at it!

First thing you'll notice is that the recoil is noticeably milder than .45auto, barely much more than 9mm +P, though the recoil impulse has a similar soft "push" to a 230 gr. .45auto round. And you'll notice that the pistol returns to target significantly quicker. Nice! And soft-shooting - not "snappy". Not the least bit uncomfortable - quite fun, in fact. .40S&W is supremely "in its element" when fired from any of these great pistols.

The triggers on those pistols are quite good, especially after they've had a few hundred rounds through them. More importantly, the grips on those pistols are so well designed that the guns just feel fantastic in your hand. The accuracy and reliability are fully there, as well. And, importantly, you'll also notice that the mag capacity is right up there.

Then load in some premium defense ammo, such as Federal 180 gr HST, 180 gr. Ranger, or 180 gr. Gold Dot.

Surprisingly, the recoil with that is hardly any more than with the basic target ammo you were just shooting with.

Then, do some homework on how well 180 gr HST performs as a defense load. It performs exceptionally well! And that bullet weight is known to bust through bones, without deflecting, and will continue on with very deep penetration and wide expansion. This is especially important if your target is not standing perfectly aligned toward you, straight at you, with his arms down to the side - but rather your adversary has arms outstretched in front toward you, or is turned somewhat to the side toward you... then you'll really appreciate the greater bone busting ability of heavier calibers with heavier bullet weight.

.40S&W, when the various loads are understood and when enjoyed with a great pistol that is expecially well suited to it, is an exceptionally smart choice in a defense pistol. It combines major amounts of the best of .45auto and 9mm all together. Potent power, easy-shootability, and high capacity. There is a lot to love about that blend of benefits.

And, though Glock forty caliber pistols are every bit as reliable and accurate as the other pistols that I mentioned, Glock forties do not feel as soft-shooting as those other models. Having owned and been shooting almost a dozen different .40S&W pistols over the last ten years or so, including three Glock forties, I would unhesitatingly steer any new .40S&W shooter away from Glock and toward any of the other models I mentioned above. The experience of shooting a Glock 23, for example, particularly with a 165 gr. Defense load, is nothing at all like the experience of shooting 180 gr loads in any of the aforementioned pistols. Like night and day, in my opinion. Ultimately, I've converted my remaining G22 Gen 4 and G23 Gen 4 to 9mm and now I can enjoy them again. But my favorite caliber remains .40S&W, firing an M&P40, P320 40, STI Edge 40, or Browning HiPower 40. I love .45auto, as well. For me, 9mm is "okay", and best reserved for my PM9 and P938. I enjoy shooting 9mm, but if I knew I needed to defend myself with a pistol, my top choices would be my M&P40 with 16-rounds of 180 gr HST on board, P320 40 with 15-rounds of the same, and my STI Edge with 18-rounds of the same.

Finally, if you somehow find yourself requiring a pocket-sized pistol - stick with 9mm. I know the temptation to acquire a pocket sized pistol with a 3" barrel in .45auto or .40S&W and while it is "do-able" I personally think that 9mm is a much more effective caliber than the larger calibers, in very small pistols. In my view, .40S&W is best served from compact, mid-size, and larger pistols. And .45auto is best served from mid-size and full-size pistols.
 
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I do not know the bozo who recently pronounced the .40 obsolete simply because there are surplus police pistols on the market. There was no like condemnation of the 9mm when gobs of them were released by European and Israeli departments mainly because they were replaced with other 9mm's.
The US police departments, upon trading in pistols, are often receiving an updated version of the same .40 pistol or another brand in .40. A purchase of weapons in no way suggests a change in calibers unless accurate reporting to the public is done and an be cited as a factual source of information.
Many of those who dislike the .40 caliber ( I am not terribly fond of it) joined in on the " doom and gloom" wagon and espoused their happiness the .40 is dead. That is far from the truth and as time goes on so will police and civilian use of the .40 caliber pistol. End of rant:rolleyes:
 
I'll start with the Sig p226/229 as being the least felt recoil, especially the all steel version. Compared to any polymer frame gun, is not even close in felt recoil.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
Ok list your best 40sw pistols perceived recoil wise. The least perceived recoil pistol first.
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I'll put mine in three tiers, first being the softest-shooting. Any of the pistols in my first tier are my top choices in a defense pistol, being exceptionally easy to control with rapid fire, having high capacity, and potent pistol terminal ballistics.

For EDC, the SIG P320 Compact .40S&W (14-rounds) and M&P40 Compact (11-rounds) are my top picks.

Tier One (these are very soft-shooting, luxurious feeling)
• STI Edge .40S&W 5" barrel 18-rounds (this feels like shooting 9mm target loads)
• SIG P320 .40S&W Full Size 4.7" barrel 15-rounds (nearly as soft shooting as the Edge)
• M&P40 Full Size 4.5" barrel 16-rounds (nearly as soft shooting as the P320 Full size)

Tier Two (these are very soft-shooting as well, with slightly more felt recoil)
• SIG P320 .40S&W Carry model 4" barrel 15-rounds
• SIG P320 .40S&W Compact model 4" barrel 14-rounds
• Browning HiPower .40S&W 11-rounds

Tier Three (not bad, but not as "cream-puff" feeling as the above models)
• M&P40 Compact .40S&W 3.5" barrel 11-rounds
• Glock 22 Gen 4 4.5" barrel 16-rounds
• Glock 23 Gen 4 4" barrel 14-rounds

In all of these pistols, my first choice is always 180 gr ammo, which I find the most enjoyable to shoot and also offers better bone/barrier busting with less likelihood of deflection than lighter weight bullets.

For defense, my #1 choice is Federal 180 gr. HST, a load which few other service pistol calibers can match in consistent, combined penetration AND expansion. 18.5" penetration and .72" expansion, consistently, in ballistic gel tests. And the bonus is that this load is very noticeably softer-shooting than my other favorite, 230 gr .45auto Ranger-T - allowing for fast follow-up shots. What a sweet combination of potency, high capacity, and soft-shooting! :)


.45auto 230 gr Winchester Ranger-T is an excellent defense load and one of my two favorites in .45auto (the other being 230 gr HST), consistently testing at 14.5" penetration and expansion to 1.0". But it's a significantly heavier load to control than the 180 gr HST load in .40S&W and capacity is more limited as well.

In .45auto, my top defense pistol choices are my Springfield 1911 HiCap Custom (13+1=14 rounds), my Glock 21SF (13+1=14 rounds), and M&P45 Compact (10+1=11 with high cap magazine). Of these, the relatively heavy Springfield 1911 HiCap is the softest shooting - fantastic pistol. I regret that SA is no longer making the high cap 1911 GI model.
 
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Three soft-shooting forty caliber pistols that I have shot (two of which I own) are the SIG Sauer P229, Beretta/Stoeger Cougar 8040, and the SIG Sauer P320 full-size.

I have shot a few others that seemed pretty tame. The FN FNS-40 comes to mind. The Beretta PX4 which shares the same rotary barrel breech locking mechanism as the Cougars I expect would do very well in the full-size version.

I also choose Federal HST 180 grain JHP for SD.
 
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lamarw... thank you, for your kind compliment! :) I feel very fortunate to have this great, custom, high capacity 1911. It is a joy to shoot and (mostly) relegates my other single-stack 1911s to the safe.
 
For lighter recoiling 40's, the Sig 226 would be a great choice. In a polymer striker model look no further than the Steyr L40-A1 or M40-A1. The Sig's weight is an advantage for less recoil. The Steyrs have that advantage of balance, low bore axis, and grip to muzzle location. While I like the PPQ a lot, they tend to be more snappy in .40 than some other models.

Capacity wise on the mentioned models is reduced with the .40 over the 9mm more than some others. 226 is 15 vs 12 and with Mec-Gar flush it's 18 to 13. The Steyr's are 15 to 12 for flush mags and the 9 also has slightly extended 17 rounds and no extended for the .40's. The PPQ is 15 vs 11.

Anyone who thinks the .40 S&W is obsolete does not what that word means. It's less viable/popular than it once was but, then again so was the 9mm at one time.
 
Shot a bunch thru my G35 over the weekend great shooter and really it's not much if any different than my G34. I carry 40 and I like 40! CM40 in my pocket now!
 
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