Steel framed 40 S&W autos

I don't know what's the strongest, but I believe CZ, Kimber and SA all make them. (I was looking at a CZ75 Compact that seemed like a nice piece)

Regards,
Dave

No real idea which steel .40S&W is the strongest, but I'd guess the 1911s in .40S&W are up there since they are based on a .45ACP design while many (most?) other .40S&W designs are based on 9mm frames.

That said, I have only owned .40s in other materials. I had an allow CZ 40B and I have a polymer Taurus PT140 Millennium Pro. The CZ is owned by a fellow board member (Spot77) who has shot it quite a bit and I think it is still going strong. Polymer .40s seem to do fine as well. So, I think any steel .40 should be just fine.

P7 M10 , though no longer made it's all steel.

Smith & Wesson 40XX.

The Kahr K40 is made of stainless steel, it's quite heavy for it's size.

Browning Hi-Power in both .40S&W and 9mm uses a steel frame.

Browning Hi Power

the sig 229 is a pretty robust pistol. 'least, i haven't broken mine.

I have the CZ 75B in .40 S&W, and I highly recommend it. I really like the Sig P229ST also. Kimber and Springfield chamber 1911s in .40, but I'd much rather have a 1911 in 10mm than .40

CZ85 Compact, or the new CZ Compact 40.

Well most S&W 40XX frames are alloy. Same with the CZ40B........the BHP, CZ75B and others are steel and Ill bet they are all strong enough to take ALOT of 40 S&W.
The BHP frames broke when they came out with the 40, but after redoing the slide/going back to a better cast frame this stopped.
Shoot well.

been rumored some of the SW will take 100,000 rounds. though they weigh nearly 5 pounds. hear good things about the BHP in 40sw.
1911 might not be good choice may require barrel with feedramp only holds 9 rounds max. number of competitors use 1911 for 40sw but they load the bullets out long more towards 10mm standard reduces pressure and is more reliable for feeding.

The forged stainless steel 4006/4006TSW series are pretty rubust and durable pistols.

Having spoken to friends with the state for a number of years, and reading statements from other sources, it appears the CHP has received excellent service from theirs, and some of the pistols in use for training purposes have far exceeded initial expectations when it comes to rounds fired without significant problems.

The Baby Eagle, pretty much a CZ clone, has a steel frame and is quite robust. Ruger 40S&W pistols have an alloy frame but Ruger pistols are well known for durability.

Look at it this way guys:

In USPSA/IPSC shooting, the .40S&W cartridge is favored by "Limited" category shooters, largely due to some esoteric rules reasons.

These type of shooters tend to shoot LOTS of rounds thru their guns, both in practice and in matches. This is especially true of the GOOD USPSA/IPSC shooters. Thus, gun durability is paramount to these shooters, as it gets pretty costly to replace your gun often if you keep wearing it out.

And what type of gun do these guys prefer? Ones based on the M1911 pattern.

Yeah, there have been other patterns used by USPSA/IPSC shooters over the past 20 years, but most everyone in Limited keeps migrating back to the M1911 style. Part of the reason is DURABILITY.

Nobody has mentioned the Sig P226 ST. I have one in 9mm. Definately overbuilt, but IMHO that is a good thing. Sig also made a limited run of the P229 ST with a steel frame, similar to the P226 ST, only slightly smaller.

baby eagle makes a pretty nice 40

I've got two Para Ordanance P-16's. They are both compition guns I'm getting close to the 10,000 round mark in both of them. I've had nary a hiccup, at least since the race gun I built up got fully broken in.

I have a 1911 tuned trigger finger so I'm pretty biased about pistols. But the steel that EAA uses in its Witness guns is incredibly hard. Most gunsmiths hate to do any type of drilling or milling on thier slides because of that. However I don't think they are brittle either. They are decnet guns, I own one that my daughter shoots and she shoots it quite well in the open class. I may pick her up another one to shoot in limited class.

I'm not sure what your intended use is, but few of us can afford to shoot enough to wear out a gun. I'd be more interested in one that I could shoot well rather than in looking for something that I could use as a hammer.

Springfield P9 Ultra Longslide is the strongest 40 I know. Built like a tank, but very accurate and easy to shoot!



The Springfield is the lower one, the 97b is the upper.

RAP-440 is hard to beat.