It seems like auto's not in 9mm, or 45, is being sold off cheap by dealers

Just like the Sig 2022 in 40 and FNS in 40 at steep discounts but not the 9mm. I've been tempted to jump into the 40 cal game due to these prices, but there are other guns I want more that are also on discount with rebates

george burns said:

Is it time to go and pick up some 40's?

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I don’t think so. If you want a 40, great. I didn’t want one before and I still don’t.

I picked up FNS 40 a couple of months ago for $360. It's fantastic. I'll gladly take the 40's at these prices.

The price reductions could be from a few factors...

Guns aren't selling like "Obamascare" hot cakes anymore. Most AR 15's are a great lesson in what happened with panic buying high and then losing gobs of resale value.

There is/was an overproduction glut. Everyone was running double shifts due to demand. Now there are pallets of guns in boxes collecting dust with makers, distributors, and retailers, and product has to move.

Cartridges lose favor, and new gun models are introduced. .40 and .to a lesser extent .357 Sig were the hot tickets years ago, especially when big agencies like FBI, Texas DPS, CHP etc. were buying and outfitting their folks. Now those older model guns are hitting their replacement dates, and these folks are going back to new models of 9mm or .45.

This means lots of the older guns are on the used market in great shape, which certainly may make buying a new gun at full retail much less attractive to a budget conscious buyer.

Snap up the deals you can, there is nothing wrong with these rounds at all.

They could be giving away 40s and I wouldn't take one.

george burns wrote:
Is it time to go and pick up some 40's?

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No.

I never saw the point to the .40 S&W.

No reason not to add some 40's to the collection, it's all I shoot outside of my revolvers. As long as you aren't shooting a subcompact the recoil is perfectly manageable, and I find fun actually. Fairly straightforward to reload for too.

Stuff in 40 s&w has been cheap for a while particularly after police agencies started dropping it in mass hell during both of the ammo shortages the stuff was forever the only rounds on the shelf. This is just the way things roll the "odd ball" in between don't do anything particularly better than whats already in common use dies off

I like 40's except 9mm ammo is cheaper.

The OP didn't ask to start a caliber debate. I wish we had more options here in CA. Our list is limited. To other free states, enjoy the reduced prices in any caliber.

I was one of those people that disliked the .40 for many years but after seeing the ammo panic for myself, when there was no 9 mm ammo to be found but .40 was everywhere I saw the value in having a least one .40 in the collection. So I picked up an SP2022 for a song, and it has to be one of the best shooting guns I've ever shot, especially for a .40. It's not my main gun or main caliber by any means but it doesn't hurt anything to have a .40.

Robert101 said:

The OP didn't ask to start a caliber debate.

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you mention any caliber and folks will argue how something else is better.
I'm one that never saw the 40 as necessary but the recent prices has caused me to add a few to my collection P229, PPS, FNS and XDm 5.25, I also found a smoking deal on FBI contract Ranger 180gr ammo and have 1K of that stockpiled.
And I have one of the $299 XDm compacts inbound.

I'm not a .40 guy either, in fact, I have been vocal on my dislike for the caliber. But...

For shooting sports like USPSA where you get more points by shooting a gun with a Major Power Factor, the .40 starts to look appealing unless you want to shoot .45 single stack.

I like 40's I have an M&P in 40 got a 9mm barrel for $69. Now it shoots both rounds.

At some point, supply will start to tighten up, as the surplus dwindles and manufactures finish adjusting (or go out of business).
So yes, now is a good time to buy, for those who can afford it.

Until the next panic

My take is 40 was popular, but folks have a newer and older player on the field,
as 5.7 starts to shine, and 10MM makes a resurgence. Now folks who have weighed
the benefits and drawbacks of 9mm and 45ACP all these years have two other calibers
to gravitate towards.

I've noticed this trend too. Waiting for the ammo to become cheaper than 9mm.

I have never been a big fan of the 40 S&W, but do own some, and think its a good idea to own a 40. I have lived through times when ammo was difficult to find, and with the 40 having been in such widespread police use, you may well find 40 when you cant find other calibers.

That said, 40 S&W is not all that popular right now. This should not affect your opinion of the cartridge. The arguments against it are not necessarily the best thought out. I don't think it can be argued that the 40 S&W is less effective than 9mm or even 45 ACP. Some will argue that the 40 S&W has more recoil, but many of these same people will then support the 10mm which has even more recoil. If you think the 40 has too much recoil, you must think you will break your wrist if you try to shoot a 10mm, 357 mag, or 44 mag. Trust me, you won't break your wrists, even if they are weak, limp, and womanly.

Over the years, calibers wax and wane in popularity on a cyclical nature. In the 70s, 357 Magnum was king. In the 80's, the 9mm took over. Then in the 90's, people said 9mm was too weak, and people changed to 45 ACP or 40S&W. Now, people are back to 9mm. What will probably happen is there will eventually be a high profile shooting by a law enforcement agency where the 9mm fails to perform as expected, and the agency will decide to switch back to 40 S&W. When that happens, popularity of 9mm will drop again, and 40 will be back.

Its also interesting to note that sometimes a caliber previously felt to be nearly useless will suddenly be considered as powerful as the Hammer of Thor. The 380 ACP was widely considered nearly useless in then 80s. Then we saw a lot of new gun developments leading to tiny 380s like the Keltec 3AT. Suddenly everyone realized that it was so much easier to carry a pocket 380 than a double stack 9mm, 40, or 45. So lot of people started carrying pocket 380s, and decided that the caliber was powerful enough to be useful.

All in all, the gun buying public (and law enforcement) are fickle. There is not a lot of science in many of the decisions that lead to a cartridge being temporarily popular.

You can argue this, or you can argue that, but at the end of the day, I don't care if its a 9mm, 40, or 45. Your caliber choice will not be what determines if you get home that night.

I generally carry a 9mm. I occasionally carry a 45. I don't think I have ever carried a 40, but I do shoot my 40s. I think a strong opinion in favor or against any of these 3 calibers is one controlled by personal opinion and not fact.

If you mean relatively cheap guns being sold even cheaper, that's true. I don't see any particular movement on price for the higher-end guns in non-9/45 calibers.

I've been watching the deals on .40 guns, new and used, for a year or so now and kind of chuckling. 3 years ago I had a .40 and no 9mm's, but I got tired of paying for the more expensive ammo so I sold my G23 in early 2015 and sold all my ammo to my brother and got into 9mm's. I certainly don't miss the .40, and I'm starting to wonder if many other people did the same thing as I because there's clearly a lower demand for .40 S&W guns right now. Personally, prices still aren't low enough to tempt me back.

I've seen used glock 24's that look good going for $350 or so at a local shop. Have seen low prices on other used 40's. I think much of what Balrog says about popularity waxing/waning/waxing again is good. I think now is a good time to get a 40 if you like it, some really great prices on them. In a few years folks will probably be talking about how they wish they got such and such a pistol in 40 when the prices were so low.

Kookla said:

I've seen used glock 24's that look good going for $350 or so at a local shop. Have seen low prices on other used 40's. I think much of what Balrog says about popularity waxing/waning/waxing again is good. I think now is a good time to get a 40 if you like it, some really great prices on them. In a few years folks will probably be talking about how they wish they got such and such a pistol in 40 when the prices were so low.

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Also at some point in the next 10 years, there will be another ammo crisis. When there is, 9mm and 45 will be the first 2 calibers you won't be able to find at wal mart. 40 will probably be on the shelves.