40 S&W becoming extinct?

[Barnfixer]

I have an Sig P226 Equinox in .40 S&W that is the nice gun I never use. With that said I thought maybe I’d trade it in on a Shadow 2. It might just be the shop but they offered next to nothing for it on trade claiming .40’s have no value. Is this the case or is it the shop? Next week I might try to work something out with my regular shop.

 

[Glockpride]

.40’s aren’t going extinct, but they are definitely not in favor right now. Most .40’s are selling well below their 9x19 competitors.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

They do seem out of favor now. Also, a TON of police trade in guns being sold now rather cheap which further hurts the value on 40's.

Not going extinct but not "cool" now. May be best to hold onto it and enjoy it.

 

[mingo]

I love the .40 Cal and really enjoy it being out of favor. Great deals to be found for the perfect caliber handguns and ammo. Now you can't beat that, can you!
American Handgunner has an article in the latest issue of the handloading dept. The .40 is perfect, and I couldn't agree more. What goes around comes around.

 

[Mike J]

I believe it is most likely because there are no large law enforcement contracts for .40 ammunition now but there is a large price difference between 9x19 & .40 now. I was at Academy recently & .40 was roughly double the price of 9 x 19. I have liked & shot .40 for a long time. I remember 10-12 years ago, I could buy a 50 round box of .40 for only a couple of dollars more than a box of 9mm. I still like .40 but I tend to shoot more 9mm now just because of ammunition cost. That definitely puts a damper on buying a .40. I would just hang onto it & shoot it occasionally. If I did want to sell I would see if I could find a private sale. A gun shop can't offer much because they have to leave room to turn a profit.

 

[General Geoff]

With that said I thought maybe I’d trade it in on a Shadow 2. It might just be the shop but they offered next to nothing for it on trade claiming .40’s have no value. Is this the case or is it the shop? Next week I might try to work something out with my regular shop.

Same thing happened to a friend of mine trying to sell his .40 cal PX4 Inox. They offered him next to nothing (one shop didn't even make an offer), so I bought it from him instead.

I paid less than half MSRP on a basically new gun, and I still gave him way more than any of the shops were offering.

 

[Barnfixer]

I think I’ll be hanging on to this one. I’ll always have a .40 of some kind. In my opinion I think it’s a great caliber plus the fact that not so long ago you couldn’t find 9mm anywhere. Guess I could get a 357 sig barrel to switch things up.

 

[Dirtybob]

These .40 cal is dead threads pop up every so often. Sounds like wishful thinking...
I'm only seeing about $0.05/round difference between .40 and 9mm on ammoseek. Tolerable price difference IMO.
Around here, the brick and mortar shops will rob you blind on most ammo sales. Main exceptions to that seem to be 12/20 ga target loads and .22 lr.
I picked up a .40 when 9mm was no where to be found, won't be getting rid of it any time soon.

 

[JohnKSa]

It's not going extinct, but right now isn't a good time to be trying to sell one. There are a lot of really good deals on used .40S&W pistols out there right now.

 

[tmd16556]

It’s not going extinct but definitely out of favor. 45 auto and 38 special are also out of favor and not going anywhere. 40 ammo is similarly priced and available to those two. It’s not as much of a classic, but I suspect it will outlive 30 SC and 45 GAP by far. At worst 40 ends up like 32 auto. Generally available but not everywhere. More likely, I still see it more like 38 special in the future. Some factory loads but dominated by reloaders.

 

[TTv2]

Goodness, it's like anything not 9mm is on its deathbed with some people.

.40s place in the market is changing, it will eventually settle to a place between 9 and 10mm and may find itself becoming a lower recoil option to 10mm with a barrel swap.

Wait for the next panic to sell a .40, now is time for buying.

 

[Peakbagger46]

Don’t sell that P226! Sig .40s are outstanding in their metal DA/SA configurations. Better ballistics with good hollow point as well.

 

[Ks5shooter]

No way! Great caliber will be around long time.

 

[lincen]

I also have a Sig 229 in 40 caliber and like it so much that I bought a barrel for another “dead” cartridge, the 357 Sig. With these Sigs all it takes is a barrel swap and I bought a good bit of ammo from folks who were getting out of both calibers.

 

[JDeere]

.40 will be OK. It's just not on the popular list because many are going to the less recoil is better camp...

 

[CDW4ME]

Gun stores not wanting to offer much for 40 on trade has been a thing for at least 6 years.
Becoming extinct? If ammo options are indicative of a caliber going extinct, other calibers are far more endangered.
Analogy on becoming extinct: 40 is like a whitetail deer, 25 & 32 acp are like Black Rhino and Sumatran Tiger.

 

[Walkalong]

Don’t sell that P226! Sig .40s are outstanding

Yea, not much market value right now and a excellent pistol, just keep it.

 

[bannockburn]

Another vote for hangin' onto your .40. It doesn't cost you anything to keep it around and who knows, it might come back into fashion some day.

 

[shafter]

It won't go extinct but the value just isn't there. Everyone wants a 9mm these days and I can't blame them. I'd have to stumble on an incredible deal to buy another 40.

 

[Mosin77]

I admire .40 as being a nearly perfect caliber for a full size combat/home defense pistol. Definitely not a bad time to pick one up cheap. Ammo isn’t as cheap as it used to be but it’s hardly unavailable and definitely cheaper than .45acp.

 

[MrBorland]

IME, if you reload, the .40S&W is a terrific cartridge and well worth shooting. I don't know if it still is, but it was favored by gamers, since, downloaded a bit, it was a soft-shooting cartridge that made big holes in paper. I used it to good effect for that very reason. I didn't worry about the cost & availability of factory ammo - I didn't shoot much of it (factory ammo), and there was always enough availability to have a box or 2 of premium stuff onhand if needed.

 

[JoeHenry]

I have shot and loaded countless rounds of .40. All of it went down the Barrel of a Browning HP.
Shooting a 180 g. Lead flat nose and down loading so it felt like a soft ball .45 ACP. With a 18 lb. Recoil spring. It was the ideal combination.

 

[eddiememphis]

.40 will be OK. It's just not on the popular list because many are going to the less recoil is better camp...

I think many are choosing 9 over .40 because the "Tactical Bros" on video and in print are claiming you need at least 17 round magazines and four spares anytime you leave your house.

Also, since you have to carry so much lead, you need the smallest, lightest gun you can find.

Once that nonsense dies down there will be renewed interest in the caliber.

 

[tarosean]

Pretty sure the millions of pistols produced in 40SW didn’t just vanish off the face of the earth.

 

[allisd17]

I have one .40 S&W and three 9x19 handguns. I shoot the .40 much more than the other 3 combined. I don't care if it's not "fashionable", I just know I like it and that's all that matters to me.