Is the age of the .40 S&W (and maybe .357 SIG) over?

LOL. This is has never been discussed before on here ...

Imma guess, ... No ...

Sorry for the snarky but we just had a thread on this very topic:

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/six-calibers-that-are-going-to-be-obsolete.888959/

Nope, been discussed like a dead horse being beat, and beat, and beat again just to be sure!
But of the two you mentioned, .357 Sig is probably the least prolific and will probably be the first to become "legacy" cartridge.

"Just about everyone has moved from .40 to 9mm"
You must have a huge number of friends and acquaintances to poll, since all the .40 users I know will continue to use them and could care less about the 9mm guys....

What does it mean for a cartridge to be "over"? Without some concrete meaning for that, how can we say which cartridge is over and which is not? Heck, I can buy brand new ammo for the 9mm Browning Long pistols I own - factory ammo from PPU, not handloads. But it's hard to think of any pistol cartridge that is more "over" than 9mm BL, except for those that were specific to just one pistol, like 35 S&W or 8mm Roth-Steyr. Until we know what is being asked, answering it like trying to answer "how high is up?"

Why do you ask? Thinking about buying some?

I’m still waiting for 38 Special to officially die.

I personally like 40S&W a lot. Nearly all of my semi-auto's are chambered in the cartridge. I shot tens of thousands of round of 40 S&W through both semi-autos and revolvers in competition. I have reloaded more 40S&W than just about all other cartridges combined.

Despite my love for the cartridge I do think the cartridge is in serious decline if not headed to obsolescence if the trend does not change. Sig has dropped the cartridge completely from the handgun product lineup. Several other manufactures offer significantly less 40 S&W handguns than 9mm or 45 ACP and less compared to the amount they have offered in the past. Very few manufactures of handguns or ammunition are increasing the amount of 40S&W products they are producing. If USPSA ever drops the 40 cal requirement for Major in several divisions I think we would see it disappear from that sport very quickly. It has pretty much disappeared from most 2-gun and 3-gun competition. How many LEO departments have walked away from the cartridge compared to new department adopting it? It is certainly far from a dead cartridge but I don't think you can point to any sector were it is growing, short of the surplus police handgun market.

The march away from the .40 S&W and back to the 9m.m. will effect the manufacturers more the shooters.
The gun makers may limit what they produce in .40 or just drop it altogether, but probably not all of them. Right now, you can expect a jump in the number of police trade ins that are available as agencies switch to the 9m.m. The same thing happened before with the switch to 9m.m. from .38 Special and from 9m.m. to .40 S&W. Good for all of us shooters.

The ammo companies may cut back production of .40 caliber, but right now, how would we even know. I noticed that in a number of guns shops, .40 is easier to get than 9m.m., but that will change, eventually.
The switch to 9m.m., may mean a poorer selection of ammo types. Right now, just about everything made in 9m.m., is also available in .40 S&W (like Gold Dot, HST, Golden Sabre, etc....). On the other hand, if the .40 becomes unpopular enough, then newly developed bullets may take awhile to become available in .40 S&W.

The .357 SIG never really took off the way the .40 S&W swept the law enforcement market, but the 10m.m. is still around and seems to be more popular than ever, so may the .357 SIG will stick around, even as a niche round.

I carried the .40 S&W round on duty for 22 years and still shoot it on a regular basis, but given a choice, I would prefer a 9m.m.

Jim

The .40 S&W and the .357 Sig may be less common and in less demand than the 9mm and .45ACP but I would not call them in decline. That said, I am a couple of decades past my "Best if Used By" date, so I may be optimistic. I have several .40s and a .357 Sig barrel for all but my Beretta 96A1. I am very fond of both calibers.

Harry

The .40 will make a comeback.
Already has, sorta.
.40 was the last ammo to become unavailable recently. When 9mm becomes unavailable, people resort to old standards.
The .40 is just as good as it ever was. For the same reasons the 9mm got better, so did the .40.

Even the proclaimed dead 10mm has made a remarkable resurgence. Mainly, because of ammo and gun availability. It’s still as good as ever.

For two generations, the .45-70 was considered “dead”. Now, more popular than ever...

Well, that’s the current “politically correct “ view.

However, I can watch the morning news in Atlanta and based on reports, tell you which agencies/calibers were used/involved.
1-2shots, subjects collected by coroners, or crime lab.... likely .40S&W was used.
5-7shots, subjects taken to Grady Memorial or Atlanta Medical Ctr. In guarded or stable condition, most likely a 9mm used.
I didn’t make this up. I’ve been seeing it for three decades. Before the .40, it was the .357magnum vs 9mm.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve shot National Records with a 9mm. I keep a 9mm in my car (S&W Shield). If shooting an action sport, give me a 9mm (if not a .22rf!).
But if I was asked to spend the night in metro Atlanta, I’d have my G22 with circa 2004 Winchester SXT issued ammo... I’ve seen it work...

It's strange, cartridge popularity ebbs and flows. One minute a cartridge is top 3, next it's future is bleak. Been watching it for decades now and I'm sure you all have also and despite all the "Dead" calibers our there, I can still walk to my local gunstore and pick up a box of .32 ACP that I believe no LE or Military uses, so maybe Dead or In Decline isn't the best description. How about, "No Longer King of the Hill?"

I'll keep my legacy calibers, my 25-20 thanks you.

I'm good with my supply of ammo for mine. I still qualify with a 357SIG for my retired carry. Every time I shoot it the more I like it. Then I pick up my 45acp and I like it. Then I'll shoot one of the 9mms and think it's a great pistol too . . . . . then I spot one of the revolvers . . . . .

As a reloader I find the .40 easier since there seems to be less barrel and chamber variations in my guns than in my 9mm's. I found that bullet shape and OAL were critical in 9 and I would have to bring a 9mm revolver to the range in case there were some issues with the semis. OK, ok, maybe I am not the smartest reloader or I have too many guns, but I like the 40, have plenty of brass, and the bullets can also be used in 10mm, so I'm in the .40 camp.

It is a good thing that I reload. I am in the process of accumulating parts to build a 40 S&W and 357 SIG Commander size 1911s.

Military and law enforcement contracts are always the holy grail for arms manufacturers. Their profits ebb and flow on these contracts. Civilian sales tend to follow what the military and law enforcement groups do.

Glock recently introduced their brand new G27 Gen5 model to the marketplace chambered in .40 S&W.

N9NWO said:

I should have searched first.

What I was getting at is that most police agencies are moving away from the .40 S&W. The military never adopted it. Even agencies that went to the .45 ACP are now moving to 9mm.

Also .40 S&W does not have the base of fans that the .45 ACP has.

I would have loved that the military had gone to it. It has the best of both the 9mm as well as the .45 ACP

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Need to qualify the word "MOST." Since I can easily say that MOST of the agencies within a SHORT (yes, I would need to define SHORT) driving distance of ME, are still using .40s.
The US military never adopted due to our allies never adopted the round and from that perspective, makes sense.
I never carried a .40 overseas when working for Uncle Sam...why? Nine Mill basically was every where, .40 was no where.
And believe me, from experience...9mm will do the job just as efficiently as .40 or .45, so implying it cannot do the job is ludicrous.
I will agree .45 has a fan base, but that fan base, IN MY OPINION, is dying off from old age. I don't see the the younger generation into .45s. One reason why I THINK, there are more and more 1911s in smaller rounds. Again, IN MY OPINION, just from talking with new shooters about their very shiny and (and nice looking) 1911 models.

And how does someone read this this forum and not see other .40 are dead posts? I just skim it everyday unless out in the mountains of WY, MT, ID, UT, far away from any type of interent/phone service and see these posts.

Blue Jays said:

Glock recently introduced their brand new G27 Gen5 model to the marketplace chambered in .40 S&W.

Click to expand...

And the G22 and G23 Gen5s. Glock is strange though because they are still producing and selling (I believe) 45 GAP pistols. NOBODY cares about the 45GAP but there they are at online stores.

My favorite carry guns are 40 S&W and 357 Sig - but I am neither small stature nor weak wrist.