Any 40s&w Fans?

I have 2 guns that came as 40 S&W. Both of them have each a 9x19 and a 357 SIG conversion barrel.
I don't consider myself a fan of the 40 cal. And I had at one time thought of getting away from the cartridge. But with the conversions, it makes life a little more interesting.

I have 5 40's. I carry 40 while patrolling the land. I have 3x more 9mm's and The 2 glocks have 9mm barrels. I shoot 9mm alot more. I only shoot 9mm because its cheaper.

Of all the pistol centerfire rounds I have found it to be the least accurate, so no. I put it just above carrying a bow and arrow

needmorecowbell said:

Of all the pistol centerfire rounds I have found it to be the least accurate, so no. I put it just above carrying a bow and arrow

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baloney,you may not shoot it well but it is just as accurate as any other pistol round,I have seen people praise the 10mm for accuracy while bad mouthing the 40 at the same time.....they are the same bullets... the 40 hatred is fueled by people pissed off because it is a better service caliber than their beloved 9mm or .45 and they can admit it

I like the 10mm Kurts (40 S&W). With all the recent police trade in guns you can buy a high quality top name gun and still be under $400. A local shop gets a lot of the trade in guns. I picked up a G22 for something like $260. Prior to the Woo flue they had pallets of 40 cal Jhp ammo for $13.00 a box of 50. They were pretty well cleaned out last time I was there but I am hopeful that when I do get back there I can still find a deal or two. If I could find a good deal on a five gallon bucket or two of once fired brass I would seriously think about grabbing them.

Just me though
WB

needmorecowbell said:

Of all the pistol centerfire rounds I have found it to be the least accurate, so no. I put it just above carrying a bow and arrow

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In my experience I've found the 9mm to be the worst of all the auto cartridges.

My favorite is the .45 acp but I have a .40 and will till I die. The 9mm I keep because it's cheap to shoot.

I have the SD40VEs and M&Ps and enjoy shooting them both the 165gr and 180gr, recently the M&Ps used were running $225 at auction and the SD40VEs were running $220 new, ammo is usually $10-15 more for 500 than 9mm. I've shot some that I didn't shoot well, but so far I can shoot mine to minute of paper plate

mongoslow said:

baloney,you may not shoot it well but it is just as accurate as any other pistol round,I have seen people praise the 10mm for accuracy while bad mouthing the 40 at the same time.....they are the same bullets... the 40 hatred is fueled by people pissed off because it is a better service caliber than their beloved 9mm or .45 and they can admit it

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OK the bow and arrow comment was only meant to strike a nerve, but it seriously does not shoot as well for me. I shoot a lot and have proven it out. I get the worst groupings and miss furthest from POA with 40. All shooting with Glocks. Have a G32 and when switch barrel from 357 sig to 40, accuracy goes down. Same with G29 switching 10mm to 40. Also have shot my Dad’s M&P 40 and same thing. I don’t hate it and will carry the G32 converted to G23 at times when worried about over penetration, but I definitely can tell a difference in accuracy for me. 357 sig is my favorite. Accurate and flame thrower.

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needmorecowbell said:

OK the bow and arrow comment was only meant to strike a nerve, but it seriously does not shoot as well for me. I shoot a lot and have proven it out. I get the worst groupings and miss furthest from POA with 40. All shooting with Glocks. Have a G32 and when switch barrel from 357 sig to 40, accuracy goes down. Same with G29 switching 10mm to 40. Also have shot my Dad’s M&P 40 and same thing. I don’t hate it and will carry the G32 converted to G23 at times when worried about over penetration, but I definitely can tell a difference in accuracy for me. 357 sig is my favorite. Accurate and flame thrower.

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.357 and 40 should have different height sights, I know Sig uses 8/8 for 9mm/357 and 6/8 for 40/45 (.215" vs .225
glock the g23 has a 6.4mm rear sight ,the G32 has a 6.9mm rear sight

I currently own 4, 40 S&W pistols. Two Sigs and two Kahrs. I have owned both 9mm, and 45s. I like them all but I realy like my 40s.

The trick to shooting 40 comfortably and accurately is using a metal frame gun rather than polymer. I shoot a P226 in 40 and feels the same as a 9mm in a VP9.

Maybe because I started with 40S&W when I got into handguns and handgun competition but I have never found 40S&W to be unpleasant to shoot in anything I have shot it in. From a 26 oz Sub Compact XD-40 up to a 50 oz S&W 610. It has always been a pleasant and accurate round for me. I have probably reloaded and shot more 40 S&W than any two other cartridges in my life, even counting 22LR.


The original XD-40 in all three sizes. The XD-40 Tactical has nearly 40k through it as my USPSA Limited-10 gun since 2005


My S&W 610, technically a 10mm Auto but it was my competition revolver from 2007- 2012 and was feed steady diet of 40 S&W. It probably has 100 rds of 40 S&W for every round of 10mm Auto.


My current USPSA Limited gun, Remington R1 Limited, assuming I can ever get to a match with Covid-19 canceling everything.

DFM914 said:

The trick to shooting 40 comfortably and accurately is using a metal frame gun rather than polymer. I shoot a P226 in 40 and feels the same as a 9mm in a VP9.

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I can tell the difference between the .40 USP and the 9mmP USP. On the clock I can’t quite shoot the .40 USP as fast as the 9, but it’s pretty darn close.

The buffer in the USP takes some of the sting out of the .40 S&W. I’ve shot other metal and plastic framed .40 pistols and just don’t like the sharper recoil. Don’t get me wrong, .40 is still a walk in the park compared to a Ruger SP101 in .357 magnum.

BSW

The only one I've shot was my brothers P94 Ruger. It took some getting used to but I finally figured out how to shoot it. After that it was a pretty accurate pistol and liked the 180 grain loads better than lower weights.

Trey Veston said:

I'm a .40 S&W fan and prefer it for self-defense. I really like reloading for it and have been very successful getting very accurate match loads that are more accurate than my 9mm guns and have the same, or less recoil.

Still, my primary EDC now is a Sig P365 9mm. It replaced a S&W M&P40c. I now have 12 rounds instead of 10 in a significantly smaller package. It just made more sense to me and I absolutely love my little Sig.

If Glock ever decides to offer the G23 in a Gen 5, then I will line up and get one, but probably still carry the P365.

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Quoted for posterity...

I did end up picking up the new Glock G23 Gen 5. And I still carry my P365. The new G23 is a tank. Great shooter with a great trigger and good accuracy that feel great in the hand. But it is a tank. The G19 is a tank. But the G23, with it's slightly fatter slide, is more so.

How did you resolve the holster issue, are manufacturers making a G23+ for gen 5 ?

I really like my G23 Gen 3. Bought it used for next to nothing. Shoots very well and is extremely accurate. The only issue with it was with the front sight the previous owner installed using red Loctite. As others have noted, ammo was still available when 9mm and 45acp were not.

Out of curiosity, those who talk about picking up a .40 and having a hard time with it or learning the P94 etc. etc. We’re you new shooters at the time? Had you only shot 9mm or below?

I don’t have a dog in the fight because my answer to 9mm, .40 or .45 is YES. . That said, although .40 caliber certainly has a different recoil impulse it certainly is far from difficult or abusive in all but the smallest platforms. I cut my teeth on DA revolvers, .45 1911s/SIGs/9mm SIGs etc. and .40 was never anything more then “different” then the others no more so then 9mm is different then .45 or .380.

My point is when shooting a .40 caliber pistol a well trained shooter will typically realize a slight time benefit shooting the same pistol in 9mm but I have never seen a trained shooter handicapped by shooting. .40 vs a 9mm

Now if the shooter has little experience or has exclusively shot a single caliber or platform then I can see where shooting .40 or .45 might be radically different to them.

Anyway I was just curious as to the experience levels involved. I totally understand somebody preferring 9mm or .45 or whatever but for the folks who speak of radical inaccuracy or abusive recoil etc. I have to wonder if they have a wide or narrow range of experience.

9mm is probably they best all around martial caliber one can buy for a host of reasons. .40 or .45 or .357SIG etc. are just as viable however and none of them provide any massive amount of recoil etc. Heck even 10mm in MOST of its loadings today isn’t all that noticeable.

I will concede early Glock 40 calibers were snappy, but that was more a matter of poor engineering / platform then caliber. By GEN4 Glock .40s had changed and their recoil characteristics are different then the earlier ones. (NOT A GLOCK HATER, FANTASTIC FIREARMS just calling out their early .40s for what they were.)

huntsman said:

How did you resolve the holster issue, are manufacturers making a G23+ for gen 5 ?

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Well, since it's not my carry pistol, I only needed one decent holster for it, and I picked up a leather Bianchi model designed for the Gen 4 G23, warmed it in the oven, slathered it with boot oil, then shoved the pistol in and left it for a couple of days.

It's a perfect fit, now.

Trey Veston said:

Quoted for posterity...

I did end up picking up the new Glock G23 Gen 5. And I still carry my P365. The new G23 is a tank. Great shooter with a great trigger and good accuracy that feel great in the hand. But it is a tank. The G19 is a tank. But the G23, with it's slightly fatter slide, is more so.

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Cool. I haven’t seen a G5 23 in the flesh yet. I sold a G23 years ago when presented with an offer I couldn’t refuse. Still wish I had a 23 today. Currently only have a G3 22, which is cool. Doubt I could tell the difference between the two.

So why did they “beef up” the Gen 5? I must have missed that.

Anchorite said:

So why did they “beef up” the Gen 5? I must have missed that.

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Because Glock has had various problems with all their Gen's of .40S&W guns.

The Gen 5 .40S&W's latest attempt is to basically use the slide from the .45 GAP guns. Folks in the past have used .40S&W barrels in their .45 GAP Glocks and had pretty good success with them. Glock took notes.

Nowadays the .40 is about all I cast, load and carry. I like larger holes and I can sacrifice some capacity over other calibers. I mainly carry a Beretta 96D (DAO) but my stand by is a Sig P229.

.40 is a great choice especially if you hand load. I carry .40 with 155 xtp going around 1230 FPS. Excellent balance of stopping power and capacity

I think it is all relative to what you started using or what you are used to. My first auto pistol was a 40 Taurus PT-101. I still have it and I like it enough to have never wanted a 9mm. Nothing wrong with 9mm, I have shot many of them at the range and I like the way they shoot.

My 40 was a little slow for follow up shots, but that is what Wolf springs are for. I bought a 4 pack and, I can't remember which I settled with, but I think I have a 18lb spring in it now. It is almost as fast shooting as a 9mm now. Recoil is maybe a little more than a similar 9mm, but not by much. To me it's more recoil, but less snappiness. I think the little 380's are the worst to shoot.

With the heavy spring, some may not like the force to rack the slide, but no problem for me (gun has good slide serations). I like it like this, as this is my nightstand gun and I don't have to worry about my young daughters racking the slide (my wife cannot even do it).