.40 S+W Best all around round

[WonderNine]

Alot of people really like this stuff

I think it's great too, but it's kinda pricey. The last case I bought will probably be the last one ever.

 

[OF]

I've come to the conclusion that the 10mm is the all-around most versatile automatic handgun cartridge available. It is also my opinion that the .40 is a solution in search of a problem.

9mm, 10mm and .45ACP, with the proper ammunition, are the best answers to pretty much any problem you may need to solve with an auto-loading handgun.

- Gabe

 

[BadJohn]

I have a bone stock Walther P99 in .40 that also has an uncanny
ability to find the 10 ring.One of the most accurate pistols I've ever fired.This kind of blows a hole in the customized eye candy theory.

 

[bountyhunter]

"I've come to the conclusion that the 10mm is the all-around most versatile automatic handgun cartridge available. It is also my opinion that the .40 is a solution in search of a problem."

Maybe, but the market place voted on that question and here's how it turned out: the 10mm round was here first, and despite that, is nearly extinct now (and very expensive because of it). The .40SW is taking off like wildfire and manufacturers are offering more models in that caliber which will accelerate it's gain in market share (even Kimber holds their noses and makes some .40's now).

In the next decade the .40 will likely displace the 9mm as the service caliber of choice. The 10mm will be about as common as a 454 Casull.

 

[seeker_two]

Maybe, but the market place voted on that question and here's how it turned out:

Yeah, but the marketplace also made Glock & the Osbornes popular... :banghead:

The 10mm will still be around. And people will rediscover how well it works. And I hope it shares the same fate as the .454 (new guns introduced every year).

It deserves its fate...

 

[denfoote]

10mm, what the 40 short and weak wants to be.
No such thing as knockdown, unless you hit them with your car.

Hey Delta,
My GLOCK 29 does both!!!

 

[DeltaElite]

Alright. I've had enough.

The 40 is popular because it fits in a 9mm frame and it recoils softly for all the wimps who are afraid the 10mm will rip their arm off.

The 10mm is a victim of bad press and lies.
All the cracked frame reports, arm amuptation reports and lastly the FBI wimps that couldn't handle the load ruined the public perception of the 10mm.
You can load the 10mm with a 135@1500 all the way to a 220@1000. Now that's versatile.

As for the marketplace speaking, well these are the same people who bought the Yugo, decided that Rap was music and think that Taco Bell is Mexican food.

The 10mm will never be very popular, since it is an acquired taste born of knowledge and class.

 

[BadJohn]

I have nothing against the 10mm.My problem is I don't reload and the ammo isn't common enough to just stop and pick up a box on the way to the range.

 

[DQed]

Less is more? The police arm it's people to the lowest common denomenator. A 120 pound petite framed woman has to be armed with a department sevice weapon. If you are too small .45's hurt ! Plastic guns absorb some recoil. So politics, political correctness and plastic have reduced the search for the best manstopper to the .40 short n weak.
I have one as I shoot USPSA limited class(oxymoron?). It's fun to shoot, holds lot's rounds and if the rules change can be converted to .45.
I hope I have stirred the pot enough to mingle the flavors.

 

[Min]

I don't own a 10mm, but will shortly!

If I find myself alone in an environment I'm not familiar with, like on the side of a highway at night, I'll feel better with a 10mm than any other caliber. It's just more firepower. I for one hope it makes a comeback. The .45 is second favorite.

 

[Poohgyrr]

Stopping power and handguns ??

Well maybe a good headshot...

You guys need to shoot a .40 Hi Power. More accurate and reliable than my good G23.

Quit all this girlie-man crybaby stuff and just go shoot.

Personally. for stopping power, cars are the bomb !!!!!!

 

[Blueduck]

Don't really have an opinion on the 10mm one way or another, but with all the .40 bashing just a thought:

Think of how much money time and effort ammo companies spend to come up with the "best" 40 S/W ammo. All those huge LE contracts Federal, Sate and Local provide a lot of insentive to develope the best loads possible. Tuning the jackets for just the right amount of strength for proper penetration but soft enough to expand well, but not too much. Powder selection for the highest velocity, but also low flash and accuracy etc...

Now think how much time and effort these same companies spend developing a 10mm round

 

[Handy]

The same argument applies to 9mm and .380. Would you argue that they are superior to .357 Magnum, since that hasn't been a popular cop round since the '80s?

 

[DeltaElite]

"Best 40sw round".
That's like asking which year was the best for the Yugo.

Actually most manufacturers just load their 40sw rounds into the 10mm case.
Since the 10mm has the velocity that the 40sw does not, all that research into expansion is not as necessary.

 

[Poohgyrr]

Actually, I always thought the 10mm looked pretty good. The main complaint I hear is "too much recoil that is uncontrollable." (Other than pistol durability issues- which is an engineering problem, not a cartridge issue.)

Folks said, and still say, the same about other rounds, like 357 & 44 Mags, & the 45 ACP. Then I remember people shoot the "Handcannons" in calibers that make these rounds look puny.

I know the .357 Magnum shoots much softer in a 1911 (Coonan) than in a 4" midframe revolver. So the 10mm in an auto should shoot easier than a 4" 41 Magnum. So OK, the 10MM should be fine.

But my .40's shoot a heavier bullet faster than the 9x19, and this has to be better. If it is not better, then why do we have more powerful rounds than the standard velocity 9x19????

 

[Blueduck]

The same argument applies to 9mm and .380. Would you argue that they are superior to .357 Magnum, since that hasn't been a popular cop round since the '80s?

-Handy

I'd compare the situation more to 357 versus 41 magnum in the eighties. 357 caliber had lots of proven street rounds available for it. 41 Magnum was more powerfull, but unpopular and only had a handfull of loads that people suspected would be better. Yes it that case I'd take 357

 

[Shake]

I've still never heard a good explanation for "inherent accuracy". For those of you who claim that the .40 S&W is not as accurate as the .45 or 9mm explain why it is not. No generalities please. If it isn't as accurate, there is a physical reason why it is not. I'd like to hear that reason. I've heard plenty of "It just isn't as accurate" explanations.

Seriously, we are talking about straight-walled cases with no large deviation in velocity. All of these different caliber projectiles are launched via an explosion in a straight walled case and travel down a rifled barrel. Why is it that a 9mm projectile will travel more accurately than a .40 caliber projectile (given equal quality of ammo, firearm, etc.)?

I'm no big fan of any particular caliber although I only own one .40, but several 9mms and .45s. The .40 I do own (H&K USP full size) is the most accurate gun I own in my hands. If I were to lock them all in a vise, I suspect my Kimber or CZ may beat it. I honestly shoot it more accurately than anything else I've ever fired.

Shake

 

[Poohgyrr]

Heck, we all know there is only one "inherently accurate" cartridge, and this is the S&W .44 Special , especially when loaded into a S&W N frame revolver....

 

[WESHOOT2]

ACTUALLY

You can get 10m from 135g @ 1800fps up to a 220g @ 1300fps.

The 40 S&W is ...................... another caliber choice; better than rocks.
Excellent in R-P 155g JHP.

The 10mm is a good auto-loader cartridge.
So's the .355"-bore calibers except 380, and .400" stuff, and the 41 AE, and 45 ACP, and who cares if you don't make good hits?

"Caliber of shooter"; "...there are only accurate guns..."; hasn't changed.

 

[agtman]

"The 40 S&W is .......... another caliber choice; better than rocks."


Maybe, but not near as accurate.

 

[KP95DAO]

My 40 is not "Weak."

Yes, I keep telling myself: 40 Short and Weak, 40 Short and weak, ...... as I send round after round of 155 gr JHP down range at 1300 fps. And I keep telling my hand and wrist that, "Really, we don't need a heavier gun, that G32 with the FAC 40 bbl, is enough to tame the recoil. And besides if you guys do your part it delivers 3" groups at 25 yds offhand. So quit your bitching, we'll shoot the 9mm or 45 for a while and give you a rest.

 

[Handy]

Shake,

It is probably not correct to say the .40 is an inherently innaccurate cartridge. Load it into a Contender and it could be the same as any other (people used to say that 9mm wasn't accurate).

However, the USP you mention is probably a clue to what is going on. The USP was designed around the .40 cartridge. Most other .40s were not and had to make use of steep feed ramps and large chamber clearences to get the stubby cartridge into battery, despite only the space designated for a the long ogive, tapered 9mm cartridge.

So I would guess that factors like:
1. Cartridge feed battering affecting overall case shape and setback.
2. Bullet/bore alignment from the loose chamber.
3. Varying lockup due to feed drag. Both the degree and amount of time the action is locked from shot to shot can have a big affect on where the barrel is pointing when the bullet leaves it.

If you want a 100% fact based analysis of the problem, that's going to be tough. Last I heard, no one was 100% on why Enfield Jungle Carbines have wandering zeros either, and that's a 60 year old problem. But many have experienced decreased accuracy with .40 pistols, and they question why they need to trade any accuracy to switch to this new caliber.

Nice to hear from you.

 

[bountyhunter]

BTW: if the .40SW was indeed "INHERENTLY INACCURATE", you would not be able to build guns that shoot it accurately. Since I own three that do, it follows the statement that the .40SW is inherently inaccurate is wrong. If you own a .40 gun that shoots consistently inaccurately, blame the gun maker. BTW: two of my .40 tackdrivers are 1911's, so the old BS about the 1911 not being able to chamber the shorter round is.... BS.

 

[BHP9]

I've still never heard a good explanation for "inherent accuracy". For those of you who claim that the .40 S&W is not as accurate as the .45 or 9mm explain why it is not. No generalities please. If it isn't as accurate, there is a physical reason why it is not. I'd like to hear that reason. I've heard plenty of "It just isn't as accurate" explanations.

The answer is quite simple. It is not the cartridge, it can be very accurate but it is the mid size guns it is chambered in which results in a lot sharper recoil than that which is found in the larger framed .45Acp guns like the 1911. The result is that few people shoot the .40 as well as the milder recoiling 9mm or the .45 acp.

 

[Handy]

You can stick a Glock 17 and a Glock 23 in a Ransom rest and you will get different accuracy.