Performance of .40 from short barrel?

[Ignacio49]

I have a Keltec P11 (9mm). I now have the opportunity to buy a Keltec P40 (.40 s&w).

The rifled barrel lenght of the P11 and the P40 is +/- 2 inches. Is the performance of the .40 ammo really much better than that of the 9mm from this barrel lenght?

 

[SDGlock23]

From a 3" Kahr (not a keltec but it has a short barrel), most factory 180's hover around 950-980 fps, 165's around 1100 fps. Honestly my 3" CM40 Kahr averaged faster than my 3.5" G27 and nearly as fast as my 4" G23.

A few others off the top of my head were the low recoil 135's (Win Ranger JHP and Federal HST) that were doing around 1100 fps, the more "normal" 135's did around 1250-1275 fps. With a few handloads, I was still rockin' 180s' at over 1,100 fps from the 3" .40 and 200's over 1050 fps.

With factory stuff, it's my impression that a 3" .40 doesn't lose that much compared to a 4".

 

[MikeJackmin]

Compare the .40 155gr Federal Hydrashok with the 9mm 147gr version:

http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/40sw.html
http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/9luger.html

Seems significant to me.

 

[Scarpia]

9mm

I had three 40 S&W guns and found that caliber is, well, not too accurate. You can argue all day that it was my shooting, my handloads, my guns but that fact is I could only put about half the rounds into a 8" target at 25 feet. I sold one of the guns (traded in for a Browning BDA 380) and have not decided what to do with the remaining two.

If you have the option of buying a 9mm or a 40 S&W of any size, make or model, I would go with the 9mm.

 

[wally]

Search about the Kel-Tec P40. They discontinued the conversion kit for the P11 and stopped making them for a reason.

I would not consider it for other than completing a Kel-Tec collection.

If you want a .40 S&W you can count on, look to the S&W Shield, reliable with about best customer support there is, should you ever need it.

If you want a bit smaller my Kahr CM40 has been good, but Kahr customer support has been lacking when the front frame rail broke on my CW9, they are not answering my Emails.

I shoot the new Shield way better than the Kahr despite years of practice with the Kahr pistols since ~2004.

I had three 40 S&W guns and found that caliber is, well, not too accurate.

Its the Indian, not the arrow. My Shield 40 groups Winchester Ranger-T 180 gr into <2.5" off sandbags at 25 yards. Small for their caliber pistols are much harder to shoot than normal sized guns.

 

[Cee Zee]

I bought a used Springfield Arms .40 and found out it had some issues. I sent it into the company and they fixed it very quickly and for free. I didn't have a warranty on that pistol. I got the gun back in about 2 weeks which was still plenty of time to return it to the place that gave me a 30 day warranty should it have still had a problem. Instead a got a rock solid and dependable firearm that I carry all the time now. So S&W isn't the only company with good support. And the SA is an accurate piece too or I wouldn't still own it.

 

[Praxidike]

I have a Keltec P11 (9mm). I now have the opportunity to buy a Keltec P40 (.40 s&w).

The rifled barrel lenght of the P11 and the P40 is +/- 2 inches. Is the performance of the .40 ammo really much better than that of the 9mm from this barrel lenght?

I just recently was thinking about doing the exact same thing, but with a PF9. I would be hesitant to buy a discontinued Kel Tec especially being that their warranty does not follow the gun. It only covers for the original owner.

I choose to go with the Kahr CM40 because it can be had for the same price as a blued or less than the Parkerized Kel-Tec PF9 and P11. Buds has them for $290 and GrabAGun for $289.

The CM40 has a stainless slide and is smaller than the p11 you currently have.

 

[hardluk1]

Uhm. I have one 40cal that's my daily CC , a TP40 kahr My carry load is underwoods 155gr at 1302fps. at 10 yards if it ain't shoot one ragged hole it my fault. Same for my 155gr practice load.
Now we tried that same round in a buddies cw40 and some springs would need an upgrade as the ammo caused the slide to over run ether the mag or recoil spring, maybe both. Still fast as heck with 1283fps. Just only chambered 2 rounds out of 7. Some where flatly over run, never made up quick enough to pick up . Others stove piped.