Best beginner semi auto in .40

If you shoot a TC pistol in .44, any full-size semi-auto in 9mm/40/45 shouldn't bother you at all... :D

Anyway, my vote for a nice .40 would be the Ruger SR40, and only because they haven't come out with an economy version like they have in the 9mm. A friend has an SR40 and last time we went shooting together I burned up all of the .40 he brought for it. I have some quibbles with it, like the hack-add-on thumb safety, LCI and magazine disconnect but none of that is really noticeable when putting rounds downrange. (Honestly it makes me think of a consumer-grade product in a sea of more polished service pistols.)

Runner-up would be a S&W M&P40, a pistol I've been really curious to try for a while but reluctant to because I have a pile of 9mm and am pretty content with that round for most of my uses. Got to try an M&P45 when they were pretty new and thought it was a pretty nice shooter. And the trigger didn't even bother me either. :p Bonus points to the S&W being available without the add-on thumb safety and magazine disconnect.

A Glock in .40 S&W is always an option as well, but I prefer them in 9mm, having had a Gen 3 17, a couple of Gen 3 26s and now running a Gen 4 G-19.
 
I'd look for a (used) Smith & Wesson Model 4006-one of the original pistols made for the .40 and still one of the best. You should still be able to find a nice one for well under $500.00-but this "buying" window may not last for much longer.
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Gotta go with this as well. The 4006 is a workhorse. Heavy and reliable. I also like the new S&W M&P line in .40.

That being said, I still greatly prefer 9mm.
 
QUOTE: My question is if you get a 40 for a beginner gun, will you be able to afford to shoot it enough to get accurate with it?

Just because he might be a "beginner" doesn't mean he's poor...:)
 
The "best" handgun for any individual is one that fits their hand and feels good.
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Incorrect. This is only part of the equation. Some guns may "feel good", but do not correctly fit. There are many other factors, including sights, weight, recoil impulse, trigger pull weight, trigger shape and so forth that must be considered.
 
No reason a .40 is unacceptable as a first centerfire handgun. When I bought my PX4 Compact in .40 it wasn't because I was enamored with the cartridge but because the law in Chicago then limited magazines to 12 rounds, so a 9mm gave no advantage in mag capacity and the way things worked out I'd have had to go down to a 10 round mag in 9mm because those were far more common than 12. So I chose the PX4 because it had a standard 12 round magazine. I admit I shot terrible with it at first but I have since greatly improved, prior to it the only pistol I had ever fired was my .22 rimfire Ruger MkII. Unlearned a lot of bad habits and now I can consistently hit an 8" target at 25 yards which is more than adequate for self defense.

And now I reload so my costs are about 16 cents per round which is much cheaper than 9mm factory ammo anyway, so even though Chicago's handgun magazine limit has died a well-deserved death (thanks to state preemption in the concealed carry law) I've seen no reason to go away from the .40. And frankly I haven't noticed much of a recoil difference between my PX4 and a friend's 9mm Sig I have shot, whether it's because the PX4's rotating barrel really does reduce felt recoil or her Sig's smaller size meant more felt recoil I don't know. But if the OP can rent a PX4 .40 I think he should give it a try, it's a high quality pistol that is reliable as sunrise... the only time mine ever failed in thousands of rounds fired was when a reloaded case split and got hung up on ejection. Even weak reloads in the 780fps range cycled flawlessly through it.
 
The Sig P229 is an absolute classic

It handles the 40 with ease


You can get a good one in your price range from CDNN (LEO turn ins.....
Mine looked to be barely shot)


I actually started with a P226, then went through 5 other pistols......
(I went through the tiny gun phase)

None were as good as the Sig IMHO

I just shot it better

P229 in 40
 
Nope... the CZ available in 40 is widely known, and based on how softly mine handled 9mm I suspect it tames 40 nicely.
 
I was new to 40 S&W, 9 years ago and I bought a HK USP 40. I have shot 1000s of rounds though it over the years. Somewhat expensive but see if you can find a used one.
 
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