9mm or .40 S&W

C

Cyric13

New member
I am going to get my first semi-auto handgun and was thinking about the 9mm or the .40. This gun would be mostly used for self/home defense and to be taken to the range every now and then for shooting. I'm leaning toward the .40 S&W. What do you guys think.

thanks in advance and keep shooting
Cyric13
 
Cyric13,

I had the same decision to make 3 weeks ago and I chose the 9mm because of the following reasons.

1. Seem more accurate
2. Has less recoil
3. Rounds are cheaper

For the comparison, I used the Beretta 92FS (9mm) and the Glock 23 (.40)

For home defense, others will say that the .40 has more stopping power, but I would rather be confident that I can hit the target than having a huge caliber. You should go try it out for yourself first.

Ivan
 
I have several 9mm and several .40s&w . Accuracy can be good in either caliber, just depends on the gun and the shooter. Recoil is a subjective thing, different people have different tolerances. 9mm is cheaper to shoot, but not by that much, unless you're on a very tight budget. Don't rule out the 45acp either. I would suggest to go to a reputable gun shop and talk to the people that own the shop and talk to the customers.
I have acquired a lot of knowledge over the years by doing just that.Rod Black
 
Around here 9mm is a LOT cheaper than .40... I chose it because I can go to the range and fire away much cheaper than I could with .40 or .45 (that's why I sold my .45).

.40 has much snappier recoil than the 9mm or .45 in my opinion. My .45 had less recoil than my 9mm for that matter. My advice is to try them out before buying them if you can and give 'em each a test run. Buy what feels best to you.
 
For your first semi-auto, go with the 9mm--- less recoil; slimmer, more reliable round; more rounds per magazine; cheaper rounds for practice (Federal American Eagle or Winchester USA); somewhat less effective, but the Federal Nyclads and Hydra-shoks register about 82-84% one-shot stops according to Marshall.
 
Go with the .40.
It would be better for self defense. The FBI got rid of the 9mm and went bigger after the famous Miami shooting, where it took a fifth 9mm hit on a bad guy to shut him down. Trouble is, before the 5th hit, he killed some agents.
Besides, as what happens to some of us, we buy a gun & start shooting it. We like it so much, we may find out about a local range hosting combat style matches, and we decide to give it a try. It's an informal & cheap way to learn how to use your gun safely and accurately (over time) in a defensive scenario. If you go this way, the 9mm is penalized in combat matches, due to the smaller caliber, but the .40 is not. It's manageable. The big thing about recoil is that at first you notice it - but as you shoot the gun more and more you don't notice it as much. I personally have experienced this as I have shot a .445 Super Mag revolver so much in Metallic Silhouette competition, that I no longer notice the recoil - seriously. However, the above seems not to be true about your senses that detect noise and feel concussion - these seem to stay about the same.
Wayne
 
Remember that in the Miami shooting, one of the critters soaked up at least one blast from a 12 gauge and didn't slow down.

I've heard the .40 described in two ways: 1)It shoots a bigger bullet than the 9mm at a faster velocity than the .45, and 2) It shoots a smaller bullet than the .45, slower than the 9mm.

As with all other things that you may be betting your life on, go with what you are comfortable with.

LawDog
 
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