I guess people want a .40 now......

I like 40 in my Hi-Power, but it's a bit snappy in my SR40C. I much preferred the SR9C that is now long gone.

Fads and fashion come and go... but substance and style remain.

The .40, like the .270 Win and .30-06, will endure on its merit.

... an outstanding, purpose designed, service cartridge.




GR

.40 and 357 SIG are SIG-nificantly cheaper and more available than 9mm right now.

The only thing I don't mind taking out and burning ammo with is my 357 SIG. I can actually replace what I use.

I have pistols in 9 40 and 45, if I had to remove one I would send the 40 packing. I do enjoy the round and the guns I have chambered in 40.
I happen to live only a few miles from the gun club I belong too and drive by it on my way home. Stopped by twice so far this year after work just to pick up brass on one of the outside pistol ranges. In those two days I picked up far more 40 brass then I did all of last year.

Just like the 90s, if it looks like we may be getting closer to a 10 round mag limit, we’ll see a precipitous rise in popularity of .40 s&w. People want a little more umph from their cc. Deja vu all over again. .45 acp will become more popular also.

TTv2 said:

Had you gone to any lgs 6 months ago to ask what they have in stock for 9mm and .40 ammo and what price, then what they have for 9mm and .40 pistols you'd have been shocked. Plenty of .40 ammo, almost no 9mm.

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The last shortage was the same way. .40 was back in stock around here weeks ago. If I wasn't a reloader my backup guns would all be .40s

Some small departments still use the .40 as a duty weapon, but most have switched to the 9MM for weight and accuracy reasons. It didn't help the .40 cause when the FBI swapped to .9MM, and, as stated above, the 9MM 147 grain LE cartridge (G2 Speer) has shown performance approaching to the .40 in FBI testing, Our department donated approx 75 Glocks of various frame types to a neighboring department when ours swapped over to 9MM....but they really wanted them...apparently the .40 appealed to the chief because their officers were all Marines and they were used to them.

I think Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones said it best............ "Have you considered wanting something else?"

LOL! Just kidding. Good luck on your hunt.

amd6547 said:

I couldn't resist the cheap police surplus .40's last year, and ended up with a like new Gen4 G22 with night sights, for $279.
It quickly became my house pistol, loaded with 180gn HST.

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Ditto here. I never wanted a .40S&W until I walked into the LGS three years ago and the owner said, "I've got you're next gun..." It was a police cadet trade-in Springfield Armory XDm 4.5" in the case, like new, with eight 16-round magazines. The only negative thing is, the extra grip inserts were missing. He was kidding about it being mine because he knew I disliked "plastic guns" and especially striker-fired pistols but, for $300 OTD, I couldn't pass it up. I'm a steel-and-wood guy. I like my 1911's and Official Police revolvers. At that time, the XDm's in .40 were not selling new or used so I got it and 500 rounds of 180gr. Remington Golden Saber for less than I could buy a clunker Colt D-Frame .38Spl. I shot four magazines through the XDm, cleaned it up, put it away and it's still in the safe, in its case, loaded and ready to go. And there it shall stay until needed.

I stocked up on cheap police trade in 40's during the salad days. A couple of Sig 226s and three 229's. I remember what they cost new, there was no way I wasn't buying for $350 - $400.

I was a big .40 guy a few years ago and I didn't object to the price of the trade in .40 Glocks, which is why I got a Gen 4 27 for under 400 even tho I have no real intention of carrying it. I figured with a G23 mag, the X-grip sleeve it'd be just as good as a G23, but with a shorter barrel and ability to use a shorter mag for carrying.

The only other used .40's I have considered getting were a Kahr MK40 and a Beretta Px4. I didn't get them as I wanted a 9mm Px4 instead and the steel frame Kahr's are pricey even when they're used .40s.

I've always kind of viewed .40 and 9mm as polymer pistol calibers. About the only caliber I can't accept in anything other than metal frame (other than Hi Point) is .45 ACP. The .45 deserves to be paired with stuff that lasts forever.

A couple of shooters at the indoor range today were looking for.40S&W and were surprised to find out it’s considered a deprecated chambering. I butted in and told them both when primers and reloading equipment comes available again they may want to consider getting into hand loading. Gave them the names of some online sellers of brass and bullets, the guy behind the counter offered them discounts on powder and primers when they are back in stock. They both seemed to appreciate the info but I have to say they were neither one enthused. Too bad. Maybe it will make a comeback after the plandemic abates.

It is simple and complicated at the same time. The 40 and 45 make bigger holes than the 9mm. However modern ballistic designs of bullets and the powders that drive then have demonstrated that 9mm can do more than adequate damage to an adversary. I only have 9mm pistols. I am mote accurate with them than 40, 45,357, etc. A 9mm in the bad guys sternum is better than a 45 in his arm. Accuracy wins the contest.

Garandimal said:

Fads and fashion come and go... but substance and style remain.

The .40, like the .270 Win and .30-06, will endure on its merit.

... an outstanding, purpose designed, service cartridge.




GR

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I remember when the .380ACP was put in the grave, dead and buried, replaced forever more by tiny pocket automatics in the mighty .32ACP. Yup, that’s why no one makes a .380 anymore...

When the 40 S&W came out, I thought it had merit but I quickly did not like the guns chambered for the round. I still have the Beretta 96 but a Springfield P9C Compact I had has been sent down the road. The Springfield would tear itself apart under recoil requiring various parts to be kept on hand for repairs.

A few years ago, I bought a Sig 1911 chambered in 40 S&W and it is a dream to shoot. The 1911's weight soaks up the snappy recoil quite well.

Early in 2020, I bought a S&W 610. One of these days I'll shoot some 40 S&W through it but for the most part I will use 10mm cases in the revolver.

I'm in the big, heavy, slow moving bullet camp so I shoot 180 grain bullets mostly from my 40 S&W guns

Akula69 said:

Some small departments still use the .40 as a duty weapon, but most have switched to the 9MM for weight and accuracy reasons. It didn't help the .40 cause when the FBI swapped to .9MM, and, as stated above, the 9MM 147 grain LE cartridge (G2 Speer) has shown performance approaching to the .40 in FBI testing, Our department donated approx 75 Glocks of various frame types to a neighboring department when ours swapped over to 9MM....but they really wanted them...apparently the .40 appealed to the chief because their officers were all Marines and they were used to them.

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My local LE agencies switched to 9mm because of cost, not “weight and accuracy reasons.”

I've liked my Glock 23 since the day I first shot it:

The finish wore off carrying it in a crappy Kydex holster, so I sent it to Robar to have the slide done. Then, to reduce muzzle flip, I sent it off to Mag-Na-Port to have the barrel and slide ported:

I like it even more now.

A few years back I picked up a Ruger P944DAO and a matching Police Carbine PC4 for cheap money. (Some LEO's used these in the 1990's before AR15s &glocks became the rage) I also bought a boatload of 40 cal ammo that I am shooting during the pandemic. Saving my 380/9mm/223/5.56 for better times.

I like shooting 9 and 40 and 45. They're all fun.

I kept a couple of 40's around partially because I like the caliber, and partially so I could always shoot 40 if 9 and 45 were scarce.

Then the cheap LE 40 caliber trade-ins started showing up.

I got two Berettas, a Glock, and a Sig, all for for dirt cheap.

That Sig P229 sure is a sweet shooter.

The .40/180 gr. - is an Apex service cartridge.

There has to be a forcing function to drive a competent shooter from it.

... or a want.




GR

Mooncliped .40 in a 610 is oh so sweet!

bluecollar said:

Just like the 90s, if it looks like we may be getting closer to a 10 round mag limit, we’ll see a precipitous rise in popularity of .40 s&w. People want a little more umph from their cc. Deja vu all over again. .45 acp will become more popular also.

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Your seers ball is crystal clear. When (not if) the new administration revisits limiting the magazine capacities of pistols and rifles, lots of people will again be reassessing the merits of bigger bullets and the .40 caliber will once again assume the palate of Goldilocks: the porridge being not too cold nor not too hot, but just right.

Garandimal said:

The .40/180 gr. - is an Apex service cartridge.

There has to be a forcing function to drive a competent shooter from it.

... or a want.




GR

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Quite so. I think it is probably the Apex service round. Here in South Dakota it is still prevalent. My town cop (just the one, all we need so far) can't find any so I've been keeping him stocked up.

Although, I noticed about a month ago when GT Distributors got in a pile of Glock 37s ($289) and a ton of Speer 200 grain Gold Dots ($17.99 @ 50 rounds) they went pretty quick. I do love a .45 and have used the GAP for a long time. A Glock 39 rides around with me, but the .40s are peach too with more on board. Decisions, decisions, first-world problems!


Cat

I was a relatively early adopter of .40 S&W, with the Browning Hi-Power being my chosen pistol, to try .40, due to my being a long-established 1911 shooter. Well, the BHP turned out to not be my ergonomic cup of tea. I bought an S&W Shorty Forty, which would never run reliably enough to trust for street carry. I so much wanted the P229 to fit, but I could not get enough finger on the trigger, for a good DA trigger stroke. (I have long hands, but do not have long fingers.) So, for the rest of the Nineties, and into this century, “big bore pistol” continued to mean .45 ACP. I tried .40 again, in G22 Glock duty pistols, 2002-2004. Gen3 Glocks were just not my cup of tea, either. In 2004, I handled a P229R DAK, with the optional slimmer trigger, with the shorter reach, that DID fit my index finger. Hallelujah! Apex duty pistol, firing an apex duty cartridge. My qual scores went ‘way up, back to the level I had fired with medium/large revolvers, and the 1911. Life was good.

My right hand aged-out of shooting .40 S&W, in quantity, however, from the high-bore-axis SIG P229R DAK, by the time I reached age fifty, in 2011. I reduced my centerfire training round count. .22 LR, fired from a K-Frame revolver, became my norm. Fortunately, DAK closely resembles S&W revolver
DA shooting. I broke from my personal norm of using the same pistol system on and off the clock, and resumed toting a 1911 pistol during personal time, because an all-steel, low-bore-axis, 5” 1911 did not hurt to shoot, if I kept the round count reasonable. In 2015, my chief OK’ed 9mm duty pistols, so I transitioned to Gen4 Glock G17 duty pistols. (Gen4 is a much better fit, for me, than Gen3.) Shortly afterward, my chief re-authorized 1911 duty pistols, so, when I retired, in 2018, I was qual’ed with 9mm Glocks, and a pair of .45 ACP 1911 pistols.

My healthier left hand can still shoot my P229R DAK, and, just yesterday, managed to successfully order my first fresh .40 S&W defensive JHP ammo that I have been able to find, in quite some time. .40 S&W, chambered in a much-loved pistol, still has a place, in our home, even if I no longer carry it on the street. (I carry “primary” at 0300, but write lefty, and am functionally ambidextrous with most handguns.)

To be clear, I do not blame .40 S&W for wrecking my hand. Shooting is likely a major cause, but it would mostly be the too-many big-bore Magnum rounds, fired through N-Frame revolvers, in the Eighties, during my immortal twenties, with my K/L-Frame-size hands.

Not sure I would blame shooting on the loss of function of a hand, no matter how many rounds.

I grew up in a family of law enforcement and firearm enthusiasts, and have never heard of anyone being crippled in their hands from shooting firearms.

My step dad retired after 42 years in law enforcement and still can shoot his 5906 with no issues.

I think some folks just have certain parts wear out sooner than other folks.

No rhyme or reason to it.