I know. I don’t take it that way.

The “FBI agents couldn’t take the recoil so they loaded it down” thing has been around so long it is almost like it was chiseled in stone. It probably started with one writer speculating as to why, then answering his own question with “It must have kicked too much!” Then they quote each other and it begins.

And there may be a kernel of truth to it. John Hall and crew may have touched off a 10mm Norma round and said: Yipes! We don’t need all of that.

I’ve sat with those guys and had beers with them. They said they liked the 10mm and wanted to have all that juice available, but didn’t think it was needed for day to day street agent usage. They wanted a round that would be to the Big 10mm what the .38 +P was to their familiar .357 Magnum. Thus the 10 Lite (and ultimately the .40 S&W) came to be.

Now that I’m retired I occasionally address the stuff I hear about the Bureau, which the Bureau itself couldn’t possibly care less about. People still think you have to be a lawyer or accountant to be an agent - which was never completely true and has not been even mostly true for 40 years. I will also sometimes ride to the defense of the guys from 4/11/86 - an event almost completely awash in internet misinformation.

Anyway, I should step down from my high horse! Thanks for the interaction, my friend, and stay safe.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

Every field office had some for issue. I started with one in New Orleans on a fugitive task force. Street guys that could be a little blase about a shotgun got positively bug-eyed when I pointed that little German subgun at them.

I worked Indian reservations in the wild west after that, and always used the MP5/10. I was the only one. My supervisor thought I was nuts and should have toted an AR, imagining long-range gunfights across arroyos and canyons. In reality I was pointing it at people in houses and cars, like anywhere else.

I had one until my last year, when I was on the Joint Terrorism Task Force in the big city. They wouldn’t issue me one since they expected them all to be recalled and destoyed. I had an 870 until I retired, but I sure missed that little blaster.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

I'd shoot several 40s before making a decision. I own differently sized 40s from the Walther PPS40, S&W CS40, and a couple S&W 4054s. The PPS40 starts to hurt my hand after 30 rounds. I can shoot 100 rounds through the CS40 and 4054 without a problem.

People follow fads. You can save a lot of money by going against the current now and buying a sweet 40. I just picked up a lightly used 4053 off GB for $325.

I like shooting my 9mm pistols but feel more comfortable carrying a 40cal. It really comes down to personal preference.

“Street guys that could be a little blase about a shotgun got positively bug-eyed when I pointed that little German subgun at them.“

So, like Linda Beaver of the Beaver Toyota commercials, you were there to WOW them?

Hasn't everyone learned by now that there only needs to be the 45 ACP for handguns and the 30-06 for rifles!?

I guess 357 mag for revolvers would be OK.

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Still Running Against the Wind

Good post. There's nothing wrong with a .40, or a .45, or a 9mm, or a 10mm, or a...you get the point.

Like you said, .40 suffered from the "curse of the fad". Like any fad, it's the hottest thing on the planet for a time...then a complete joke the next. It has nothing to do with the quality of the actual item. 40 never deserved all the attention if got, but it doesn't deserve the backlash either.

Personally, I don't like the .40, and yes, I've shot it in a few different firearms. The good thing is that my opinion doesn't matter.

I will say that I've seen plenty of used 40 pistols on store shelves as well as plentiful ammo. During the last ammo "OMG" panic buy, .40 will often the only ammo I could find in stores.

On a semi related note...everyone seems to be going all 10mm ga-ga now for some reason...

I knew a "slight built" FBI agent once. He was slightly over 6" and slightly over 250 lbs. A lot of muscle in that dude.

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Foster Positivity.

That should be 6' not 6".
Joe

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Foster Positivity.