Thoughts on .40SW

[golden]

A Step Up From The 9m.m.

FIREPOWER, the .40 S&W is a big step up from the 9m.m. in power and recoil. If you can get the high velocity 155 or 165 grain hollowpoint ammo, that is the load that I would use. I carried it on duty over a 10 year period. It is manageable depending on the gun and the shooter.
It performance was outstanding in my agency experience.

I found the recoil with this load to be more than I wanted in a GLOCK 22. In my BERETTA 96 it was fine.

HOWEVER, WEAR IS HEAVIER WITH THESE LOADS.

I would not bother with the 180 grain hollowpoints. I do not believe they offer any performance advantage over the 9m.m. +P hollowpoint ammo.

Jim

 

[Nomad101bc]

My signature says it all lol. But seroiusly ever since buying a carbine in .40 S&W I have been addicted to the caliber. I will take it over .45 any day and when i turn 21 the only debate will be between a beretta or glock for concealed carry.

 

[FRT007]

Platform warning. A .40 in a SIG 229 recoils noticebly less than a Glock 23. Personally, I think a 9 with 124 grain +P hollowpoints works just fine.

 

[Firepower!]

Well, it is established here that .40 is definately more powerfull and the gun of choice. However, before I venture into buying it I need to seek out steady ammo supply.

 

[CountGlockula]

It all depends on a .40S&W budget.

 

[UnTainted]

The .40 is great because you can switch to the 357sig, which is the end-all handgun caliber

 

[Nomad101bc]

Downside of .40 S&W is ammo availibility. Someone keeps buying up all my .40 S&W bulk ammo. Its like someone knows the 180 grain FMJ is my favorite plinking round...

 

[.357 magnum]

.40 Awesome Caliber!

One of my Best Guns is a SW-MP .40 In fact I intend to get another one down the road. My MP .40 is a Tack Driver. The .40 offers an Excellent Mag Capacity [all of mine are 15 rds.] The .40 really is a better stopper then the 9mm. Most LE agencies have changed over to the.40 from 9mm because of this. I own several 9mm's which I load with Federal HST 124gr + P Law Enforcement Ammo. So although I sure trust my 9mm's, statistics are showing the .40 is on par with the .45 as a stopper and ahead of the 9mm. I always keep either a .40 or .45 on my night stand, in the car etc. I use my 9mm's as back-up most of the time. My wife has a Nice Berreta 9mm which is her main weapon. I tend to feel a lot more comfortable when I have a .40 at my side instead of a 9mm. I was skeptical of the .40 until I started shooting the .40 and have found it to be a Very Powerful Round. I always recommend the .40 to people who want a Good Defensive Round with a High Mag Capacity. To those are Recoil Sensitive I do however always Recommend the 9mm. One added note, to lessen the recoil of the .40 try 180gr ammo. 180gr ammo gets Excellent Penetration. For SD I use the Winchester 180gr Bonded LE Ammo. Has great Velocity [1070 ft per second] and Very Good Energy 455 (ft-lbs. ) The Federal 180gr HST LE Ammo is also Excellent Ammo for the .40 caliber. I really Have come like the .40 as much as I like the .45

The Best to All!

Frank

 

[UnTainted]

It doesn't make a difference to me as to whether my nightstand has a 9mm or a .40 sitting on it. I feel exactly the same with a pistol of either caliber on it, but this only as long as the 18" 870 with 00 and #4 buck (and mag extender) is sitting next to it.

 

[moe.ron]

I wont shoot anything else but .40 S&W

 

[roscoe]

Well, I am not an expert on the .40, but if I were to abandon the 9mm for a $6500 pistol, it would require really stepping up, like to a 10mm.

 

[sm]

Solution to a non-existent problem IMO.

None of the students liked the snappy recoil of the .40 when it came out or the guns.
Understand we were doing all this before the .40 come to be, and it come to be and we had students inquire and LEOs come out and cuss the damn guns, and .40 cal too.

Once upon a time, 10mm was chosen as the gun for an agency.
10mm is a nice caliber, and the agency had some specs for a new gun and load to meet some needs.

Well the 10 mm is a big gun, it did not fit all hands well.
It also has more recoil.
So while the load looked great on paper, and testing results looked great...one thing not considered was folks actually having to carry and shoot this gun.

Dumbed this 10mm down.
Remember the whole idea of going to 10mm was it met specs, new specs, due to some events and all.

Dumb it down, and the .40 cal is the result.

9mm was proven and still is.
45ACP was proven and still is.

.40 cal is a dumbed down. *snicker*

Marketing sells, bid wars for contracts, special pricing and all, and if a Police Dept uses something, it increases the marketing strategy to sell to J.Q.Public.

The problems that caused the 10mm to be chosen were serious, and tragic, the reality is, it was not the handguns and calibers used instead strategy and tactics and other things.

9mm is more affordable to shoot, the more one shoots the more they become one with the gun.
Hits counts, quick effective hits count more.

.45 is a bit more expensive, even so, it has less felt perceived recoil, therefore quick effective hits are achieved.

Ammo again.
Economy is nuts, again, ammo prices are high, and 9mm and 45ACP have always managed to survive hard times.
9mm is the NATO ctg, and choice of other folks.

If matters really get nutzoid, a 9mm is real good caliber to have.

 

[Treo]

I prefer .40 over 9MM. but I would much rather have a 9MM I can reliabily get ammunition for than a .40 paperweight

 

[DougDubya]

People wanted the 10mm because they felt that missing a perpetrator 27 times was not as big a problem as hitting him only once with a slowly fatal injury.

Tell me again how a 10mm missing 97% of the time is better than a 9mm missing 97% of the time?

 

[sm]

10mm brass is bigger, thus easier to see when counting spent brass, that missed...*wink*

Every notice when sorting brass, .40 cal hides inside the .45ACP brass?
There is a lesson in that somewhere *grin*

 

[Firepower!]

Hmmm...seems like there are lots of .40 fans and yet some with reservations, nevertheless very genuine ones.

I am not aware of 10mm since it never made it to Pakistan, and I doubt there will be market for it since people here are big on capacity and variety. When going for shear power why not .44 Mag or 50AE Desert Eagle?

I guess the crux of the debate is what is sufficiant to knock down a hostile target and neturalize the threat rather what would make huge hole in him.

 

[DougDubya]

I am not aware of 10mm since it never made it to Pakistan, and I doubt there will be market for it since people here are big on capacity and variety. When going for shear power why not .44 Mag or 50AE Desert Eagle?

The 10mm is a better balance of power and controllability than a Desert Eagle.

Plus, in the 1911 platform, it fits the human hand better. It's at that perfect razor's edge of .357 to .41 Magnum power.

Plus, it's a cool little oddball that was after my own heart.

Oh, and Sonny Crockett carried one for a couple of years.

Lame reasons, but heartfelt ones. Actually, the .40 Smith is strong enough to duplicate the performance of the old .357 Magnums that the US Border Patrol used to use, and for a 100 yard gunfight, that's saying something.