Miami 1986 sure highlites some truth about balistic capabilities doesnt it?
Well in 1986 the only way to get a 9mm or .45 bullet to regularly expand was to make it light, fragile, fast, and by extension, a poor penetrator.
These days ammunition companies understand that making a good JHP bullet is about more than just making a cup and core bullet with a little cavity in the end of it. Bullets don't need to be moving 1200 feet per second to expand well and consistently, they can expand better than the bullets available in the 1980s while still reaching 12-14 inches of penetration consistently.
The 1986 lesson was that 1986 bullet design was woefully inadequate.
I don't disagree that better 9mm rounds are available now than in the past. But if .40 was better than 9mm back then, why is 9mm better now, when the improvements to 9mm are also completely available for .40? Wouldn't they improve in parallel, so that .40 retains an edge?
GrayGore, .40 didn't exist until I believe 1990. Also, like jmr40 said in post #36, none of the other service calibers ever really had an objective benefit over the 9mm to begin with.
And since all of the service calibers show basically identical performance to one another when using similar bullets, and our bullets have gotten about as good as they're going to get, the very real advantages of the 9mm like lighter recoil and greater capacity in the same size magazine make it stand out as a service or defense caliber.
The important thing is that the ammunition improvements don't really increase the differences between calibers, it shrinks them for the most part.
Though the .40 does stand out because it is probably the easiest caliber to develop bullets for that expand well and penetrate well. Except for the heavier recoil it's an outstanding pistol caliber.
To everyone who thinks it would just vanish or guns would stop being made for it because the FBI goes back to 9mm, keep on toking brothers. 9mm didn't go anywhere when they ditched it, .38 Special didn't go anywhere when they (and just about every police officer in the U.S.) ditched it, .45 didn't go anywhere when it started to lose ground to 9mm and then .40, and the .40 is certainly not going anywhere no matter what federal agency does what with it.
It's not popular because the FBI liked it. It's popular because it gives caliber junkies and capacity freaks something they can agree on, it's an excellent pistol cartridge, and it works for what a pistol caliber can be expected to do in a pretty size efficient package.