Should I buy the 9mm or .40?

I prefer 9mm to 40 but I wouldn't buy a Witness in either caliber as they build both on a large frame so I could have a 38 super or 10mm. Someday I'll have a 10mm either elite hunter or elite stock.
 
Not sure but I think if you have a .40 you just need to get a barrel and you can shoot 10mm if you ever get the urge. I've been told it may even take the same magazines. Aside from that I would still go with a .40. These are large frame heavy guns that are good for soaking up recoil. Seems like it would be a great platform for a .40.
 
Not sure but I think if you have a .40 you just need to get a barrel and you can shoot 10mm if you ever get the urge. I've been told it may even take the same magazines.
Click to expand...

No.

You can convert a 10mm to 40... you cannot convert a 40 to 10mm. The breach opening isn't long enough, nor are the magazines.
 
Not sure but I think if you have a .40 you just need to get a barrel and you can shoot 10mm if you ever get the urge. I've been told it may even take the same magazines
Click to expand...
No.

You can convert a 10mm to 40... you cannot convert a 40 to 10mm. The breach opening isn't long enough, nor are the magazines.
Click to expand...

Right. Then get the 10 first.:)
 
40 and 45 are still KING

Folks follow the FBI lab like a religion, although they change their mind every time their bean counters need to change guns or with the Winds of the day!

There is more to the real world, out there in the field than the nerds in the lab and their gelatin lab tests can replicate in the lab. This is why African Pro Hunters never waver in the winds of new calibers and bullets ... what has worked for 100 years works today. Are today's bad guys more hardcore than those of the past, nay, I say wimpy in comparison to the old criminals who grew up hard.

The .45 ACP hardballs killed more enemy in Korea and the Pacific than anything today! That was the real lab, and my dad was a tester in Korea, he had no complaints, and demanded a .45 a couple of years ago in his mid 80s, and I got him his XD and he shot it well ... which is now mine. No 9mm for that vet...

The 9mm is a capable round, but to say the .40 and .45 is dead because of a new FBI test is blindness, as even in the FBI test it says a larger bullet is still more effective due to the larger size hitting veins and bones and ligaments that may be missed by a smaller bullet. The .45 and .40 are not only still here but still king!

If you can't handle the recoil or choose not to deal with it ... fine ... just fess up and admit the .40 and .45 are still king, and not use the FBI as cover...
 
Last edited:
Folks follow the FBI lab like a religion, although they change their mind every time their bean counters need to change guns or with the Winds of the day!
Click to expand...

You keep saying this despite the fact that it's untrue. The last change was in 1997, almost twenty years ago from now and they haven't even changed what pistols they're using yet. They don't change their firearms very often at all, likely less than most departments.

http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/history-of-fbi-handguns
 
It is true, whether it was 1997 or 87, THIS IS THE TIME I am talking about... They changed their mind again...
Click to expand...

So an organization or a person should never re-evaluate their own equipment and look to see if there might be a better option (with better being determined by a number of factors)? I assume you still ride a horse to work and use a S&W Model 10 as your primary self defense gun?
 
Last edited:
9mm has less recoil, cheaper ammo, and higher capacity mags for a given size.

.40 has a bit more frontal area, higher sectional density bullets available (200 grains) and makes a bit more muzzle energy.

With modern Self Defense bullets, performance is comparable on human targets, which is why I'd recommend the 9mm.
.40 could prove to be more useful for woods defense against thicker skinned animals due the heavier, higher sectional density bullets available.
 
The .45 ACP hardballs killed more enemy in Korea and the Pacific than anything today
Click to expand...
Is that not because they were using .45. I could reply the 9MM hardballs killed more in Europe than anything today. I would go for 9 MM as effective, less recoil, easer available cheaper.
 
I use a Flux capacitor!
Click to expand...

Gotta patent that my friend.

I also own a S&W Model 19 and a recurve bow. They're fun and they have their uses. But they're not my first choices out of my collection for defending my life and I'd imagine you have a semiauto that you prefer as well. Opinions evolve over time (we should be thankful they do), and every 20 years or so isn't my definition of following the winds of the day.
 
Whichever you shoot better. That is what 99% of these which one type of questions come down to. It does not matter if you cannot make positive hits on your intended target when needed.

Also what is the intended purpose of the gun? Range toy, gun games, concealed carry, home defense etc....?

In the end pick the gun you shoot best designed for your intended purpose.

The rest is internet posturing and puffery. 380 auto, 9mm, 40 S&W, .357 Sig, .357 Mag, 45 ACP etc are not man stoppers. They all can lay claim to one shot stops. They all can be sited in shootings were multiple positive hits have not taken down an attacker.

There is no magic bullet. The FBI keeps looking for one but it simply does not exist.
 
The FBI keeps looking for one but it simply does not exist.
Click to expand...
Yup. It's seems as if LEO and FBI agencies jump around with the calibers quite often. None of them does EVERYTHING they want, because they're looking for rifle like terminal performance from pistols, with minimal recoil, which simply will not happen.

Most pistol rounds are not fast enough, and the one's that are quick like 5.7x28 or .22TCM carry very little mass and energy to the target, and barely make it to the rifle like velocities you want to be seeing, to cause significant hydrostatic shock. It's never going to perform like a 150 grain SP from .308winchester, without 'over penetration' which seems to be what they're looking for in a service pistol. They're asking too much from their weapons. Put any common pistol cartridge/bullet combo, in the right spot, and you've got a 1 shot stop.
 
Last edited:
9 versus .40

Make it stop make it stop make it stop.....

Just go ahead and buy a gun. Any gun. Keep it if you like it. Sell it if you don't and get something else. Nobody can really tell you what to get caliber-wise. Only YOU can decide if it is right for you.

Staff.... Pleaseeee no more caliber debates.

Pico
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top