Why is the .40 cal still around?

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LiveLife said:
Yes.

I have helped select guns for females shooters quite a few times over the decades. I always advise the boyfriends/husbands to stay quiet and allow the girlfriends/wives to shoot various 380Auto/9mm/40S&W/45ACP pistols in peace and let them pick the pistol they feel most comfortable and be able to shoot fastest most accurate.

To our surprise, many of them shot 40S&W and 45ACP (Particularly 1911s) well and ended up choosing them. :eek: And I have noticed, vast majority of them end up shooting Glocks faster and more accurate than other pistols. When my state agency office female workers wanted to be armed because federal judge released a bunch of inmates from prisons due to "overcrowding" and crime rate shot up, most of them chose 45ACP as their caliber of choice (I took all of them to the range and had them shoot different caliber pistols) and rest chose 40S&W. Yup, none of them chose 9mm.

My sister is 5' 5" with smaller hands and after shooting various 9/40/45 pistols, she chose M&P40 as she felt most comfortable and she was very accurate with it to the point she shoots matches with it. My wife shot all of my 9mm/40S&W/45ACP pistols and comfortably shoots 40S&W/45ACP pistols as well as 9mm pistols. Her favorites? M&P45 and Glock 22.

Last year, 20s neighborhood couple showed up at the local shooting spot and boyfriend wanted to get his girlfriend (who never shot before) a carry pistol because her workplace got robbed at gunpoint along with other businesses. After she shot various 9mm/40S&W/45ACP pistols we had, she ended up shooting my Glock 23 with factory ammo the best. Her boyfriend and I were surprised as we both thought she would do well with a 9mm. After repeat shooting different pistols, she said, "I like this one the best". I taught both of them defensive point shooting (took over 4 hours that day) and she was producing fast tight groups at multiple targets at 7-10 yards using Glock 23 and factory ammo. After several hundred rounds, she never complained about the "snappy" felt recoil several days later when we did a follow up training session. (BTW, when some Glock owners who never replace their recoil spring assembly complain about snappy recoil, I hand them my spare new RSA I keep in my range bag and their complaint disappear afterwards ;) Same for 1911 shooters with noticeable reduction in muzzle climb :eek: I like Wilson Combat 18.5 lb spring for factory JHP loads)

So yes, I would say 40S&W is still very relevant, even for female shooters.
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My Wife loved the 1911. More then any pistol i had at the time. Still a 45 girl to this day.
 
It has been awhile since we had a caliber wars thread. Whose turn was it to pull the dead horse out of the shed? I did it last time.

Simple economics. Demand for 40S&W means there is supply for it. Besides, the next time there is a run on handgun ammo I can have options having near identical firearms in 9mm and 40. And soon to be 45.
 
WrongHanded said:
Of course the .40 is made of magic. Bad Magic!

It makes for lower capacity and a heavier carry weight than 9mm. But it's basically the same diameter and weight of projectile. It produces (with absolute certainty) the exact same wounding and energy transfer. And beats your gun to death.

All whilst quadrupling the felt recoil and causing 5 minute split times, because you have to gun find where your gun landed after it flew out of your hands.

I'm joking of course. There's a scale, and generally the more powerful the round, the more recoil you pay for it. Everyone gets to pick the best compromise for them.
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Can’t get much more similar in size than the G17 and G22. In the G17, I’ve always shot +P or +P+ 9mm, or NATO ammo. The recoil of the G22 Gen4, with the upgraded recoil spring assembly, seems pretty similar to my Gen3 G17. Both are negligeable.
 
I know this likely a troll thread, since you are asking why the third or possibly second most popular auto loading round is still around but I will answer it anyways. In some mystifying way, a 180 grain .40 inch round moving at 1000fps is more powerful than a 147 grain .355 inch round moving at 1000fps. Regardless of capacity, cost and recoil.
 
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Aim1 said:
Doesn't the .40 cal have very similar characteristics to the 9mm?

If a standard 9mm pistol can carry more rounds with less recoil and with the quality and technology of todays ammo making the 9mm nearly capable of the .40 cal, why is the .40 cal still around?
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Wider bullet, heavier bullet = better bullet. Recoil is not an issue for those properly trained, and more bullets does not mean better. I am happy carrying my .40 BHP when I don't feel like carrying a 1911 in .45ACP. You won't catch me ever carrying a submunition.
 
I still believe the 40 S&W the most effective between 40, 9mm and 45. But the difference is very small, not enough to justify the added cost, recoil and reduction in capacity. The only reason I don't own one is because I have 10mm.
 
Since Smith and Wesson still makes 40S&W pistols, used Police Glocks by the thousands, and Ruger making a 40 PCC that takes Glock mags......................well you'll see
40 is taking over in 2020!
 
No worries as soon as it is shut down I will start a AR vs AK thread. :evil:



cougar1717 said:
The last "hate on 40" thread was 118 days long, with 244 posts, lasting from August 8th to December 4th, 2019.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/is-40-s-w-dead-or-not.854665/

The JY youtube video one lasted September 5th, 2017 to March 16th, 2018 with 205 posts.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/james-yeagers-latest-40-sucks-video.825975/

This is post #87.
The over/under on this one is set at 224 posts before shutdown.
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Under 224 posts. Because:

40 expands better than most 45s and penetrates deep with good capacity and small enough grips for most everybody. It’s the perfect handgun caliber.
 
earlthegoat2:
You made an excellent my point with a broader context than mine; that there are so many excellent police trade-ins, i.e. the Sig P229 I suggested.
Their mostly (?) DAO triggers are better than I expected. Very smooth and little stacking at all.

Had the "collecting recent German police handguns Bug" such as Sig P6, P225 ('87 original) and Walther P99 not infected me, I would have bought such a used P229 in DAO.
So what.... if most .40 owners seem to be selling them as if they might be infected with the Corona virus...afraid that they will never be able to sell them without almost a give away.
 
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cougar1717 said:
The last "hate on 40" thread was 118 days long, with 244 posts, lasting from August 8th to December 4th, 2019.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/is-40-s-w-dead-or-not.854665/

The JY youtube video one lasted September 5th, 2017 to March 16th, 2018 with 205 posts.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/james-yeagers-latest-40-sucks-video.825975/

This is post #87.
The over/under on this one is set at 224 posts before shutdown.
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Ah, yes. The Great Caliber War of 2019. That was a memorable one.

It's been too dang long since we had a "hate on 270" thread too, come to think of it. I don't think there's been any "hate on glock" threads this year either though I could be wrong.

p.s. I love all 3
 
amd6547 said:
Can’t get much more similar in size than the G17 and G22. In the G17, I’ve always shot +P or +P+ 9mm, or NATO ammo. The recoil of the G22 Gen4, with the upgraded recoil spring assembly, seems pretty similar to my Gen3 G17. Both are negligeable.
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When I competed in GSSF matches, I was told that my .40 S&W Glock was too snappy and my scores would go up with a G19. They didn't. Pretty much the same. I reloaded for matches and the most accurate 9mm was actually factory Remington UMC 115gr JHPs. Compared to my mild and more accurate .40 S&W loads, recoil was the same.

Now, my former "pocket pistol" was an XDS 40 and with self-defense loads, it actually hurt. Now I carry a smaller P365 and it feels like a full-size Glock in terms of recoil, even with +P defense loads.
 
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