40 Caliber discussion

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HOUSTON RICK

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A criticism that I hear of S&W 40 firearms is that they wear out much faster than other calibers. Some say, "They tear themselves apart". For example James Yeager's You Tube discussions on 40 caliber. If there were not so much obscenity, I would provide as link. I just never got into 40 caliber because either 22LR, 9mm or 45 ACP takes care of my semi-auto world. Do you believe 40 caliber guns wear out "faster" than other calibers? What is the advantage of terminal ballistics of 40 caliber? All that I know is, that I could have acquired a few more nice guns at good prices, if I expanded to 40 caliber. Not likely to buy a 40 at this stage, but I am curious. Thank you!
 
As a general statement, of course it is untrue

The 40 S&W cartridge has been with us for more than a quarter of a century. Any hypothetical shortcomings of handgun design that might have not been up to the task have already been examined and revised

Handgun design/manufacture is constantly evolving



I am not a fan of the 40S&W cartridge. I only carry and shoot it when required

However I am a Big Supporter of both the 10MM Auto and 10MM Magnum cartridges

In almost half a century of shooting, I have yet to wear out or tear apart any hand gun
 
First off, my only experience with .40S&W was briefly owning and shooting a Glock 23.

Personally, I think .40 will cause more wear, particularly in guns that were originally designed for 9mm (I'm thinking of the Glock 23 from the Glock 19), but it's not to the point where the guns are going to shoot themselves apart. It likely won't even be a factor for most people. For example, let's say you have a 9mm with a service life of 80,000 rounds. That same gun chambered in .40S&W might end up with a service life of 70,000 rounds. Pretty much negligible unless you're shooting thousands of rounds per month.

Guns specifically designed for .40, such as the Sig P229, likely won't have an issue. The aforementioned .40 Hi-Power has a beefier slide than the 9mm, so again it's not likely to be an issue.

There isn't really an advantage to .40 in terms of terminal ballistics. In real world shootings, all the service calibers have about the same effectiveness. The appeal of the .40 was that it was a compromise between the capacity of 9mm and the power of .45ACP at a time when JHP designs weren't as effective as they are now.
 
I haven't worn out any of my three S&W M&P semi autos yet. I've got a FS Pro Series and two Shields chambered in .40 that haven't shot themselves apart yet.

Of course, full disclosure requires my telling that sense I started acquiring wheelguns three years ago I haven't shot them as much as I used too.
 
I watched a few James Yeager videos a few years ago. I never hit the subscribe button!

The S&W 40's are worth examining at possible additions to your collection.

I own ten Gen3 S&W 40s. Some of those 40s can be converted to 10mm because they're built on .45 frames.

The 40s are reliable. Police officers have carried the 40s for years and many have been forced to change to 9mm because of ammo budget constraints placed on their departments from budget analysts and politicians that control the purse strings.

Given a choice, I wouldn't want to get hit by a .40S&W, 9mm, or .45.

Some guy on a YouTube video did a comparison with the 3 calibers shooting into a stack of paper plates. The 9mm went the furthest, the .45 next furthest, and the .40S&W about half the distance of the 9mm. So, the presenter declared the 9mm as the winner on depth only. The .40S&W was the only round that had bullet expansion which is my prime tell.

I don't have enough money for ammo to wear out any of my Gen3 40s.

Too many of those guys posting YouTube videos are being compensated for their comments on certain firearms, so keep an open mind and investigate further.
 
Throughout my LE career I’ve carried all the standard LE calibers in an array of handguns, but for the bulk of my tenure I carried a P229 in .40/.357 Sig and have fired thousands of rounds without a hiccup. Like many I chose the .40 as a compromise between capacity and power. Other than minor holster wear the gun looks new. FWIW, I believe the P229 was the first gun specifically designed around the .40 S&W. If the SHTF, my P229 will be the first gun I grab!
 

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I've put a bunch of rounds through my bought new Gen 2 Glock 23. An armorer replaced the recoil spring a year or so ago. But it's never failed and shows no signs of wearing out. I like the 40. If I'm limited to 10 rounds, which I'm not, I'd rather it be 40 than 9. 9mm ammo is cheaper to buy but 40mm is easier to reload. With equally advanced bullet technology, with both at the same FPS, I'll take the bigger bullet.
 
HOUSTON RICK said:
Do you believe 40 caliber guns wear out "faster" than other calibers? What is the advantage of terminal ballistics of 40 caliber? All that I know is, that I could have acquired a few more nice guns at good prices, if I expanded to 40 caliber. Not likely to buy a 40 at this stage, but I am curious. Thank you!
Click to expand...
40S&W has been around since 1990 (G22 - adapted from 10mm) & S&W 4006 (designed around for 40). I think they figured out how to keep one together by now. I shoot lots of 40 every year competing, but no where near what USPSA GM superheros do every year. Many are running Open class modern art, but there are guys that shoot 100k+ rounds.... on production guns!
How long would that take you to shoot? How much would that ammo cost you?
Roughly 10x the cost of the pistol.
Back in the day some manufacturers rushed to put 40 into platforms designed for 9. This is not an issue with pistols designed to run 40. The 40 may not be for everybody, but I really like it. I shoot more 40S&W than anything else and like the balance of power & capacity. If you reload you can expand the cartridges ability even more.

You are an extremely lucky man if you are wealthy enough for all the ammo and have all that free time to wear out a quality pistol. I hope you are that blessed!
 
I agree wholeheartedly on what the cost if ammo would be to literally wear out a quality handgun. However if the question is as simple as "will a .40 wear out faster than the SAME pistol chambered in 9mm?" is the question, the answer must be "yes."

The first two .40's on the market were precisely that -- that companies' flagship full-size duty 9mm, but with a barrel and chamber having less steel around the bore and most importantly, around the cartridge case.

There was also some manner of a learning curve for handloaders back in the early 90's with the .40cal too. If you were a handloader back then (or if you still have published guides from the 1990's) you will notice that .40 S&W had it's own bolded and italicized graphic warnings regarding COAL and radical rises in pressure that no other cartridge also had (until the 5.7x28 hit the market.) For a while, it almost seemed like blown up .40's by handloading errors were a minor epidemic. This angle is as much handloading discussion as .40cal pistol discussion, but the two are totally intertwined.

Back in the 90's, I chose 10mm and I was opposed to the .40... with vigor. The 1006 and Glock 20 offered .45 sized frames, barrels and chamber meat with a smaller than .452" hole, leaving -STEEL- all around the fury, instead of exactly the opposite as the 4006 and Glock 22 had.
 
When the .40 first came out over 25 years ago it was the cartridge I always wanted. Big bore, good velocity and capacity, with medium size grip. I bought a cheap EAA Witness and it was my "go to" defensive handgun for all this time and I have had a WHOLE bunch of other defensive handguns. I fired thousands and thousands of rounds through the gun and shot in IPSC competition and it was extremely reliable and still is today and only needed a new recoil spring. I shoot mainly 9m/m now since its cheaper but I still have more confidence in the .40 and don't give a hoot what the so called experts say about.
 
I have been reloading for over 40 years. Because I had various 9's and .45's, I never saw the need to try the .40. There are a lot of high pressure rounds out there that have not worn out guns.
 
oink said:
I've put a bunch of rounds through my bought new Gen 2 Glock 23. An armorer replaced the recoil spring a year or so ago. But it's never failed and shows no signs of wearing out. I like the 40. If I'm limited to 10 rounds, which I'm not, I'd rather it be 40 than 9. 9mm ammo is cheaper to buy but 40mm is easier to reload. With equally advanced bullet technology, with both at the same FPS, I'll take the bigger bullet.
Click to expand...


What sort of 40mm gun do you reload for? A Bofors? :D

I know, it was a typo. Only the media really doesn't know calibers in normal form vs. mm...
 
My question is why are the common retail loadings of .40 S&W and 10mm so weak? That's why so little difference in 40 vs 9mm these days IMO.
 
My $0.02: when 10 light became the fad of the day certain manufacturers took existing 9 Parabellums and mounted 10 mike mike barrels, the additional energy (over time) caused more wear on said firearms than thier 9x19 forebearers.

Personally I rather like the 40 short and weak cartridge. I have a Charter Pitbull in said caliber I am quite fond of.

Google " 'The people who carry .40 S&W' Colion Nior". Can't post a link as it very briefly touches a forbidden topic.

Middle child with middle child issues.
 
Racer X said:
My question is why are the common retail loadings of .40 S&W and 10mm so weak? That's why so little difference in 40 vs 9mm these days IMO.
Click to expand...

JMO, not just .40, all commercially loaded ammo...

behind the scene at XYZ Cartridge...

Tested safe load 4.0 grains...
x0.9 for temperature variation=3.6
x0.9 for machine error=3.2
x0.9 for propellant lot variation=2.9
x0.8 for concern about product liability lawsuits=2.3
x0.9 just because=2.1 grains

On shelf at LGS 2.1 grains
 
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