What 40 S&W is comfortable to shoot?

S

sundance43.5

New member
I'm looking at 40S&W guns, but I want one that's comfortable to shoot and isn't to snappy or uncomfortable in the recoil dept., any suggestions?

Thanks
 
Which .40 ?

sundance, My first .40 was the Beretta Cougar 8040, I feel that it is a comfortable gun to shoot in .40 cal. It is a midsize auto and it fits your hand nicely, IMHO. I also shoot the Glock 27 which is a compact, and I've really grown fond of that one. I know some will disagree but I don't have a problem with the recoil, but I know some will say it's snappy.

Just my thoughts on the subject :)
 
I bought a Glock 19 instead of a Glock 23, simply because of the recoil. The G23 I tried wasn't bad, but it kept wanting to twist in my hand forcing me to get a better grip after every few shots. Of course, that's just what it did from my hands. Eventually I did get a .40, a HK USPc. It doesn't twist, and while the recoil definitely is noticeable it isn't anything that would wear you out after awhile.
 
The two main causes of recoil are lack of weight in the gun being used and the heavier the bullet weight being fired. If you want a 40 cal gun that lacks recoil, find the heaviest gun you can handle and shoot with the lightest loads you can find.....


Good= SIG/Beretta/Taurus/or other steel framed gun with light loads....
Bad= Glock/CZ100/Steyr/ or other poly/alloy framed gun with heavy loads.............

My favorite 40 is a Taurus PT940, light enough to carry and heavy enough to shoot....It had some pretty stout recoil with 180 JHP defensive rounds...but wasnt too much. My 357 snubbie borders....too much.

Go from there....and shoot well
 
If you can find a longslide witness of a springfield p9, these are big and heavy and have plenty of top end metal to soak up the recoil.
 
You have to go with a duty size gun to get much comfort out of a .40

Light=P229 SIG, P226 SIG(in .40), Beretta Cougar

Heavy=S&W 4006, Browning Hi Power
 
I found the Glock 27 comfortable to shoot as well as the HK USP Compact in .40.

Of course they tend to recoil a bit more when you get to the last two rounds because the weapon is significantly lighter.

Good SHooting
RED
 
My Steyr M40 is real comfortable to shoot ... I've fired a Glock 23 next to it and find the M40 to be much more comfortable, with less felt recoil and less muzzle flip (damn ... I bet the M9 is like butter :) )
 
OH. I thought you meant guns made by S&W. For me, the grip shape on S&W's .40s aren't very good, and I don't find them very pleasant to shoot at all.

The Kahr K40 fits my hand very nicely, and is pretty comfortable to shoot.

Perhaps the MOST comfortable .40 for me was, however, the Beretta Cougar.
 
I have to agree with Eric Larsen, I like shooting my PT940. But it is the only .40S&W I own, so I can't make that comparison. It sure is accurate & reliable though.

Eric, not sure if you meant to indicate that the PT940 was comfortable because it has a steel frame, but since you have Taurus grouped with the "other steel framed guns" list I will mention that the PT940 has an alloy frame, just to be sure we are accurate for Sundance43.5's benefit! :)
 
Good call

Gotcha...the Taurus's on the steel framed gun list would be the bigger Beretta copies, 100's and so on. The PT940 is alloy framed and I dont know if I would recommend it for a recoil shy person...its not as bad as some baby glocks I have shot..but has some good recoil depending on the loads. I appreciate the good call.........

Shoot well
 
My CZ 75B in .40 does not recoil much more than a 9mm. The heavy frame really soaks up recoil well, and takes some of the "snap" out of it.
 
The SIG P239 in .40Auto or .357SIG [or both...get the extra barrel!] is quite controllable. And the grip can customized to fit any size hand.

Shoot one before you buy...you won't be sorry.
 
Soft-shooting .40's:

Beretta full-size, especially with the Brigadier slide.
Full-size/Longslide Glocks, especially the C-models.
Stainless-slide SIG P-226's.
All-stainless *&* 4006/4046.
CZ and clones in .40.

Generally, any full-size service pistol in the caliber, especially those with double column mags (wide backstraps spread the recoil) will be softest-shooting.

Course, I think the midsizes (G23/P-229/XD-40/P99/etc) are pretty soft-shooting, too.
 
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