Is 40 S&W dead or not?

I own 3 semi-auto pistols in 40 S&W. Two Sigs and one Kahr. Shoot them, reload for them, carry them. This caliber will be around longer than I will!

 

The M&P was designed initially as a .40, not as a 9mm. In fact early M&P 9s had accuracy problems.

 

NOT!

 

Not dead, IMO.

I like it, and am considering going back to .40 for carry. I picked up a couple of mags for my Beretta Cougar 8040 today, as they are becoming harder to find all the time, and I fear as 2020 looms standard capacity magazine may start vanishing from store shelves, even though we all will be be swearing that none of us are "panic buying."

I know I'll deny it!! lol

 

Definitely far from dead. I have a couple and carry an M&P 2.0 40 compact with the 3.6" barrel. It's very accurate and has a good trigger with a really short reset. It's plenty compact to conceal and 13+1 of 40 is great too. I just put 54 rounds through it today, one magazine support hand only and the recoil is very manageable. The 40 hits harder than the 9 and faster than the 45, which makes it a great round. Don't get me wrong, I like my 9s and 45s too.

 

I have these 40's and the last 2 are 10mm revolvers that can shoot 40's of course. So I am well vested in the caliber. I have no issue with it and enjoy reloading and shooting it.

Kahr PM40 (EDC)
Sig Sauer P229
Springfield XDM
Sig Sauer X5
STI Apiero
S&W 610 (10mm rev)
S&W 310NG (10mm rev)

 

I have no use for the 40 s&w. that said, the cartridge fills a niche, has a large following and will be around for a very long time.

murf

 

Not at all! Not even close! I love my Glock 27 Gen3 in .40 S&W!

 

40S&W is so dead that the August "hate on 40" thread extended into September!

Six pages deep... I guess we are still deciding.

I bet it wouldn't get to the second page if someone started a "Is 480 Ruger dead or not?" thread - haha.

 

We're still going with this huh?

 

Ruger just came out with a new 40 S&W PCC............so it must NOT be dead!
Ruger® PC Carbine™ * Autoloading Rifle Model 19111

 

Not popular as 9mm. But not dead. I could see the round becoming less popular after most departments phase to 9mm. But i do not see it "dying", at least anytime soon.

 

Not in my safe it isn't. 226, 229 & 239 all in 40 plus a couple of 10mms. Do they count?

 

yes the .40 cal thread is not dead is not dead yet

 

40 rocks!!! Love mine!!!

 

I actually really wish I could declare the .40 S&W to be "dead." The entire market declared my favorite automatic handgun cartridge, the 10mm Auto, dead almost 30 years ago, largely in favor of the ,40 S&W. Cartridges don't die very easily though, esp cartridges that were once as popular as the .40 S&W. The 10mm Auto is proof of this, as it has never been more popular than it is now, decades after being declared "dead."

The .40 S&W is still admittedly a useful cartridge, and it will still do everything it ever did as good as it ever did it. I don't know if I would be getting into the cartridge now, but if you have one or if you just happen to like the cartridge, you can probably rely on it being available and relevant for years to come, and it will still provide good service for you.

That being said, handgun "stopping power" is a myth, and there isn't a lot of evidence to suggest that the .40 or the .45 (or the 10mm Auto for that matter) is quantifiably more effective than the 9mm. For the most part, handguns are handguns. They are all inconsistent stoppers.

 

My dept will never get rid of the .40. All other depts are going to 9mm now. Chief thinks it’s a fad so we are stuck with it

 

Nope. And I like to shoot it in the GSSF matches just to annoy the 9mm fanboys by beating them with my obsolete caliber...

 

40 is alive and well in my house. I own 4 of them. Mostly due to my USPSA days.

 

I think for some departments it is a case of "good enough." A nearby large city P.D. has issued 40 caliber Glocks for a long time and through several different Police Chiefs. The training department has recommended going to the 9mm as it is easier to train and qualify new officers, 9mm ammunition is cheaper and 9mm handguns also longer than the 40 cal. do. Instead the current Chief has equipped the Officers with body cameras and a different color of uniforms. Ok I can dee the reasoning for body cameras being at the top of the list but switching from tan and green uniforms to dark blue not so much. I guess the Chief wants to leave his mark long after he retires.

The surrounding "bedroom" communities are largely a case of "human see, human do". The Chiefs of some of these towns are retired Captains and top brass from the big city P.D. and mostly clueless about handguns. Since 40 caliber Glocks were good enough before they retired they are good enough now.

I have no interest in the 40 S&W. However if I lived in a State that restricts magazine capacity than 40 makes more sense than 9 in large frame handguns such as the Beretta 92 and plastic guns like the Glock and M&P.

So for these reasons we will always have the 40.

 

From my view, I wonder the 9mm isn’t dead due to the 40’s existence. OK, I suppose you can find dirt cheap ammo in 9 that’s less than 40 but I just bought 800 rounds of 40 in steel cases for under $12/50 delivered. Winchester white box.

I also enjoy shooting 40s in my 10mm Glock 29 as cheap practice since I sure can’t get 10 that inexpensively. Anyway, my idea for carry is to carry the largest caliber you can conceal well and IMO, as a stopper, the 40 is better than the 9 and equal to the 45 but as easy to conceal as the 9.

I’m surprised they 9 boys aren’t on the carpet defending their choice. I think that’d be a harder time.

 

Reload

I don't think anyone needs to defend what they choose to carry. Do whatever you want. There's plusses and minuses to 9, 40, and 45, and a bunch of others.

I wish 38 Super was chambered in more modern, single stack concealed carry guns. For me, that would render all three relatively moot in that carry class.