Feel the same about the 40S&W as you use to?

My attitude towards the .40 has changed, but in an opposite way.

My first two .40s in the 90s were major disappointments regarding accuracy and I became a little disillusioned about the calibre. (Springfield Armory Linkless .40 and a Smith & Wesson 4006.)

Once I got a Browning Hi-Power and was actually able to hit something, however, my attitude changed, and it is now one of my favorites. Currently, besides my Hi-Power I have a CZ 75 in .40, a Beretta 96 and a Witness, all of which perform admirably with .40.

While I do like 9mms, I think .40 is a slightly superior cartridge in the same size package.
 
Back to 9

Any truth to the internet rumors about the FBI and other agencies going back to 9 mm from .40? This seems very unlikely to me. I heard "increased wear" to the frames from the .40 is the reason.

Pico
 
Nope. I still think the idea that a more powerful pistol round would have solved the Miami shootout to be a laughable conclusion. The answer was rifles for officers on patrol and those going after suspects known to be dangerous. Sadly it took a long time before that became standard. People can have ridiculous expectations of pistols. I know that is what is the easiest to carry, but be a realist. There is no magic pistol round.
 
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One must plan, train, in hopes of never turning deadly force on another person, or persons. That being said, if I have to use DF against someone, I want to hit them hard enough to get them stopped. The only practical auto loader that is high capacity and hits harder than a .40 is its big brother 10mm.

I make use of both. In the country, I carry 10mm. In the city, a somewhat smaller Glock 23 is a good compromise of size gun, for round potential.

9mm is a good round, however, on any measuring platform, except capacity, which is close, it is less than .40, so why defend myself with less?




There is a not for public interview of the remaining officers from the Miami shootout,, that has made it to You Tube. Anyone studying that event, with the aid of this video, would have to conclude .357 revolvers with .38 ammo is pretty well one cause of the outcome of that day. Add to that dropped guns, lost guns, wounded officers unable to effectively return fire, no rifles or shotguns at hand ready to use, and under estimating the deadly force that was about to be unleashed at them.
 
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High end .40 loads are quite a bit more powerful then even +p+ 9mm loads. It's funny to see people complain about snappiness and then state there's no advantage over the 9mm. Do you not realize that "snap" is due to the increased power of the round?

Let's take a look at Underwood's cream of the crop loads for comparison

+p 124gr 9mm
Muzzle Velocity: 1225 fps
Muzzle Energy: 413 ft. lbs.

+p+ 124gr 9mm
Muzzle Velocity: 1300 fps
Muzzle Energy: 465 ft. lbs.

155gr .40 s&w
Muzzle Velocity: 1300 fps
Muzzle Energy: 582 ft. lbs

Most people wont even bother with +p+, so compared to +p that's about 27% more energy delivered. Usually you only give up about 12% ammo capacity going with .40
 
Yup. I thought .40 was a decent round 10 years ago and still think it's a decent round. I still like 9mm, 10mm, and 45acp too.

About the only round I feel a little differently about today than 10 years ago is .380. I have a tad bit more respect for .380 today.
 
I don't think that 40 is as much fun to shoot as 9, 38 super or 45 due to snap/shock. And it's probably psychological but I don't find I'm as accurate with 40, save a good experience with a USP. Thus, I only have one pistol in 40. I concede that it's more powerful than 9 or 45. I think it's a fantastic do-all round and bridge-gapper for those that shoot it, I just don't enjoy shooting them. I do CCW the 40 sometimes, though. It's just not a range caliber for me.
 
.40 S&W

I still like my .40 s&w as much as I always have. I have two and shoot them regularly. If you load them hot then the recoil is severe. If you load them moderately they are no more abusive than a 9mm or 45acp. They are accurate, especially if loaded properly.
 
Yeah, I still feel the same about it. It still isn't for me.

If I want double stack capacity, I want double stack capacity. That would be 9mm.

If I want slim concealable, I want slim concealable. That would also be 9mm.

If I want diameter, I want diameter. That would be .45ACP.

.40 S&W really doesn't do anything for me that something else doesn't do better.
 
When .40 came out I felt that the cartridge design was a big compromise - the short ogive of the bullet and high pressure was not at all forgiving of the guns it was initially chambered to.

Now I think the guns have mostly caught up, but the .40 case design still asks a lot of the gun. If you're going to replace a cartridge like 9mm, you could at least emulate the feeding and case strength of 9mm while you're at it.


At IDPA clubs, .40 used to be really popular. Now it seems to be in the minority to 9mm and .45. Either a lot of people bought gamer guns, or less folks are using .40 in general.
 
I like it, not for any advantages it may have, but because it gives my collection more diversity when ammo is scarce and 40 is all I can find.
 
I should have mentioned that I've always had an underlying (unadmitted!) appreciate for the success of the .40 S&W as it's popularity has quite simply guaranteed that I'll never have a problem finding component bullets for handloading the 10mm Auto which I prefer.

If WESHOOT2 had gotten his way, I'd be the poor schmuck left searching for oddball .400" slugs. :p
 
I just thought this would make a nice topic with many different angles of view. Like someone stated I do not want this to be a caliber war. I have never owned a 40 S&W always had 45acp and 9metric but that will soon change.
 
Haha, "9 metric"
Can't say I've come across that term before.

Neat. We could use another term for 9mm. We've only got like four or so, I say we build a collection of 'em! :D
 
The 40 S&W is a compromise round that gives a little larger caliber than the 9mm and performance of a mild 10mm. That was the intention when it came out and that still seems to be unchanged. I think it is as effective as any of the other common service pistol rounds so if one likes it, it should work fine for them.
 
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