best .40 S&W ammo for self defense

P

pacerdude

New member
hello I just bought a Smith and Wesson M&P .40s&w. I was wondering what the best ammunition for self-defense would be? Thanks:)
 
Federal HST 180gr in my opinion. They are supposedly LEO only, although are available from some civilian sources. Nice gun by the way. I put two mags of HST's through my M&P this week and had no problems. Why do I like them? They expand to nearly .80" in most tests while still penetrating about 14" in most tests in ballistic gel. That seems to be the best performance around.

Also, I did a very similair thread to this last week:

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=335277

Although I'm sure that's just one of dozens on this topic here at the TFL.

I think cor-bon DPX's would be my second coice, remington golden sabers third, and Speer Gold Dot II's fourth.

check out these links:

http://stevespages.com/page8f40sw.html
http://www.firearmstactical.com/ammo_data/40s&w.htm
http://ammo.ar15.com/project/Self_Defense_Ammo_FAQ/index.htm
 
Last edited:
It doesn't matter because the .40 Short and Wimpy has no stopping power...

In my town not so long ago some doofus shot himself in the leg and drove himself to the hospital and walked in and asked for treatment....

You gonna risk your life on that round?

Trade it off on a .45 or a 9 or 10 mm....

If you ever have to use it for self defense, you will be glad you did....
 
It doesn't matter because the .40 Short and Wimpy has no stopping power...

In my town not so long ago some doofus shot himself in the leg and drove himself to the hospital and walked in and asked for treatment....

You gonna risk your life on that round?


As a medic in both the military and civilian world, I disagree with this statement. You can be shot in the leg with a .45 and still drive yourself to the hospital. Unless shot placement disrupts the femoral artery, then damage would be limited to muscle tissue and/or bone. A shot to the abdomen or chest will result in critical CNS damage. You can get shot in the arm and still live. It is just not a critical wound zone. Caliber is only 50%. Shot placement is the other. A .22 will not kill you quickly if it hits you in the stomach, but in the head, it can be instantly lethal.
 
+1 Corpsman.

It doesn't matter because the .40 Short and Wimpy has no stopping power...

In my town not so long ago some doofus shot himself in the leg and drove himself to the hospital and walked in and asked for treatment....

You gonna risk your life on that round?

Trade it off on a .45 or a 9 or 10 mm....

If you ever have to use it for self defense, you will be glad you did....
Click to expand...

Please, you can be shot in the leg with an RPG and if you don't bleed out, you will survive.

Last time I checked, there were no vital organs in the legs.

Are you also representing that a 9mm is ballistically superior to a .40??
 
Well, now that I've heard about that guy in Somewhereville, USA, I'll stop using a round used and liked by law enforcement agencies all over the country because it lacks effective stopping power.
 
Ignore Mark Milton's misinformation about the .40 (I'm an EMT/Firefighter and have been to shootings where this caliber was used and belive ME that it IS effective and IS a "stopper")
 
Like you'll hear frequently here, shot placement is infinitely more important than the individual round you choose. But that said, I find myself rotating between the Remington 165 grain Golden Saber, and the Corbon 135 grain Powrball. Those are just two of the more consistant rounds I've tried and I'm comfortable with the performance I've seen from them. If I can get my hands on some of the .40 DPX I'd love to try them out, but I have trouble finding them..........and just about everything else from Corbon. :(

Bottom line: Experiment and find out which rounds your particular gun likes, and which ones you shoot the best with. That'll be the round to use. :)
 
Mark Milton,

Has it ever occurred to you that it may have been a grazing shot? I don't know, but I'm just saying.

You cannot argue the physics - the 40 S&W is a fine round. Capacity very nearly that of 9mm with more bullet cross section, and they can be loaded plenty hot. Anyone claiming the 40 S&W is an inferior round just isn't looking at it objectively.

I like Remington Golden Sabers myself.
 
Mark Milton babbled:
It doesn't matter because the .40 Short and Wimpy has no stopping power...
Click to expand...
So, did you decide the .40 S&W was worthless before you bought a pistol chambered for it and found you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with it, or aferward? :rolleyes:

pacerdude,

You can safely ignore Mark Milton, IMO. As far as what you should feed your new pistol: I recommend you try several and find out which you and your pistol like best. That's what you should shoot.
 
Mark Milton,

It doesn't matter because the .40 Short and Wimpy has no stopping power...

In my town not so long ago some doofus shot himself in the leg and drove himself to the hospital and walked in and asked for treatment....

You gonna risk your life on that round?

Trade it off on a .45 or a 9 or 10 mm....

If you ever have to use it for self defense, you will be glad you did....
Click to expand...

I can only suppose that you are intentionally starting a flame war here. If not, that has to be about the most uninformed opinion ever given on this forum. I.e. Stupid!

There is a very good reason that LE departments and other government agencies have flocked to the .40 S/W since its introduction... It works as well as or better than competing calibers. With the capability of holding nearly as many rounds as a 9mm and muzzle energy exceeding most .45 ACP rounds, it's no wonder that it does so well with LEOs.

You may want to read REAL facts and statistics before rendering boneheaded advice in the future. It might help get some of that egg off your face.

.40 Facts online:
http://www.firearmstactical.com/ammo_data/40s&w.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.40_S&W
http://www.sixguns.com/tests/tt40sw.htm (Final Sentence: The .40 S&W could well become the epitome of defensive handgun cartridges.)
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_9_51/ai_n14816182
http://www.firearmstactical.com/pdf/fbi-hwfe.pdf
http://www.brassfetcher.com/40 S&W.html
http://stevespages.com/page8f40sw.html
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/ayoob93.html (Ayoob says: Most other departments have gone to more powerful rounds. The .40 S&W caliber is the overwhelming top choice of police departments today, followed by the .357 SIG and the .45.)
http://www.handloads.com/misc/stoppingpower.asp?Caliber=11&Weight=All

Reading is fundamental!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top