1911 .40 S&W

otis24 · Apr 7, 2022

I’ve never owned a 1911. I have owned a couple of Hi Powers which, in my book, is pretty close. Someone posted on another forum that the 1911 makes an excellent platform for the .40 S&W. I owned a Betetta 96 in .40 many many years ago. I like the.40, generally speaking but gravitate towards the 9mm due to cost and availability. If I were going to go with a caliber larger than the 9, I would just as soon go with the .40 than the .45.

Does anyone make a 1911 in .40 S&W? Im intrigued by the idea of a.40 S&W 1911 that can be converted to 9mm with barrel and magazine swap.

waffles · Apr 7, 2022

I've seen a bunch over the years, but these days the .40's parent, 10mm Auto, is a much more common offering.

stansdds · Apr 7, 2022

I think most, if not all, of the major 1911 manufacturers have produced or still produce 1911's chambered in 40 S&W. It is my understanding that 1911's chambered in 40 S&W or 9x19mm are more reliable with barrels that have an integral feed ramp due to the shorter cartridge length compared to 38 Super, 10mm Auto, and 45 ACP.

I have heard, but do not know for certain, that Kimber uses the same size breech for their 9mm, 38 Super, 40 S&W, and 10mm 1911's. If that is true, then converting between 9mm and 40 S&W should be as simple as barrel and magazine swaps.

Sevens · Apr 7, 2022

I would love for you guys to prove me wrong so I can consider some buying choices!

Of all the different calibers that 1911’s have been offered in, I find precious few in .40 and many of those were offered for a stretch and are gone now.

Colt made a few, STI had some.

Who offers a GI-sized 5-inch steel frame, single stack, single action target sighted .40 S&W chambered 1911 now?

margethatcher · Apr 7, 2022

Para Ordnance did as well.

Grayfox · Apr 7, 2022

IIRC it was found that the recoil pulse of the .40 S&W wasn't compatible to the 1911 design. This led to some serious reliability issues with the .40 cartridge.
I know many makers tried it, but almost all have given up on the idea.

DWalt · Apr 7, 2022

You will need a .40/10mm slide, ejector, barrel, and magazine. But it can be done. Or get a .400 Cor-Bon barrel and .400 CB reloading dies.

Lonestar57 · Apr 7, 2022

Although the 40 has seemed to be the step-child of calibers today, I'm a fan of the caliber. I shot a Colt Government .40 for a number of years and thought it to be a great pistol. I actually had two and got talked out of the shooter but kept a like new in the box one along with a couple of others. Now they sit over in the collector stack.

Hair Trigger · Apr 7, 2022

otis24 said:
I’ve never owned a 1911. I have owned a couple of Hi Powers which, in my book, is pretty close. Someone posted on another forum that the 1911 makes an excellent platform for the .40 S&W. I owned a Betetta 96 in .40 many many years ago. I like the.40, generally speaking but gravitate towards the 9mm due to cost and availability. If I were going to go with a caliber larger than the 9, I would just as soon go with the .40 than the .45.

Does anyone make a 1911 in .40 S&W? Im intrigued by the idea of a.40 S&W 1911 that can be converted to 9mm with barrel and magazine swap.

I've not seen a .40S&W in a 1911, although that doesn't mean much.(I don't get around a lot

) I have a 10mm Auto 1911 and think the 1911 is a great platform for it; the frame is plenty robust, as is the slide and internals. A .40S&W version would be pretty mild by comparison.

I like both 10mm and .40S&W a lot. I also have a MkIII BHP that is chambered for .40S&W, and find it to be an excellent combination, as nice as the 10mm 1911.

bmcgilvray · Apr 7, 2022

I do esteem the 1911-gun and see it as a great choice in which to do .40 S&W. An early 1990s Colt Government Model Enhanced in .40 S&W also lives here. I think it was a one year production offering in 1993. I don't care for the Enhanced features, but the pistol gives perfect functional satisfaction with .40 S&W, at least it does with 165 grain and 180 grain factory and factory equivalent loads as well as mild 175 grain cast bullet loads made up using Unique powder. I can't see how the .40 S&W less compatible with the 1911 than the 9mm and we see how popular 9mm 1911s and derivatives have become.

I like the .40 S&W and think its a fine choice for most handgun chores and superior to 9mm for most purposes. Don't understand why firearms forums discussions so frequently seem determined to talk .40 S&W into an early grave, but everyone piles on that bandwagon. Must be the popular thing to post.

It's "9mm everything, all the time" that I don't understand. I'd love to live long enough to see 9mm dry on the vine as I'm heartily tired hearing about the overrated cartridge.

At any rate, 10mm has covered the .40 bore 1911-gun for most folks minds these days and that's not a bad thing.

oink · Apr 7, 2022

I have a Springfield EMP in .40. It's certainly not a full size 1911 but it is a shrunk one. It's all steel so not as light as some. I was going to suggest one of those but alas it seems they are no longer produced. A shame as it is a nice little gun and shoots well. You might be ale to find a lightly used one at a good price as 40 isn't so popular now.

SVT28 · Apr 7, 2022

I’ve owned two 1911s in 40 S&W. A rare-ish Colt Defender and an EMP4. Both guns appeared to be great on paper and looked great, felt great in the mitts. Both were garbage for reliability, even with factory mags and all types of ammo, neither ran consistently. I sold both and stick with God’s calibers (45/10mm) in 1911 platforms, haven’t looked back since.

YMMV
SVT28

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CALREB · Apr 8, 2022

Springfield made several models. Friend has a custom shop one commander size he loves. There is one on GB right now . I would wonder about magazines.

robvious · Apr 8, 2022

sadly the 10mm resurgence and the new wonder nines have bumped the 40s&w from popularity.. Para Ordnance made a wide variety back in the day in both single & double stack.. I really enjoy my P16-40... magazines were a challenge to find but the new Rock Island 10mm mags work... if you can accept double stack the Rock Island's are getting pretty good reviews and then all you need is to have a 40S&W barrel fitted.. just an idea to ponder.

just checked.. Rock Island makes a single stack too.

Mike0251 · Apr 8, 2022

I happen to have the DW SSC in .40 but it's a tough one to get. Was fortunate enough to get one from CZ custom a few years ago. They still list it but they don't make many and who knows when they will again. It is a fine shooter, superb trigger, and very nicely made.

bananaman · Apr 8, 2022

I have a Rock Island .40 Commander. It is a Tactical II. Lot of features for the price. lifetime warranty {as long as you don't alter it} Bob

rosewood · Apr 8, 2022

Almost any 10mm chambered gun can be converted to a 40 by merely swapping the barrel. Most all 1911 platformed 10 or 40 guns are identical save the barrel. You can buy a 1911 10, then get a drop in 40 barrel and have both cartridges.

Some argue it is safe to shoot a 40 out of a 10, but then you are relying on the extractor to headspace the cartridge for the firing pin strike instead of the case mouth. This can put increased load on the extractor and cause reliability issues. I don't recommend it. Get a 40 barrel.

And 40s function perfect from a 10mm magazine.

Rosewood

Hair Trigger · Apr 8, 2022

oink said:
I have a Springfield EMP in .40. I was going to suggest one of those but alas it seems they are no longer produced. A shame as it is a nice little gun and shoots well. You might be ale to find a lightly used one at a good price as 40 isn't so popular now.

SVT28 said:
I’ve owned two 1911s in 40 S&W. A rare-ish Colt Defender and an EMP4. Both were garbage for reliability, even with factory mags and all types of ammo, neither ran consistently.

I wanted a .40 EMP4, but they had been pulled off the shelves a month before I went shopping. LGS guy said it was because of lack of sales numbers. I ended up getting a 9mm EMP4, bought it used, but it had been used very little, from all appearances. Got the whole works, nice case, papers and three magazines.
Like you, SVT, I've had function issues with it for as long as I've had it. It often fails to feed, the round gets caught halfway in the chamber, or the extractor doesn't engage and the slide doesn't close into battery. I really like the size of the pistol, and I'm guessing the previous owner had the same issues and dumped it. I sent it back to SA, they've fixed it (hopefully) and it's on its way back now. The invoice says they reamed the chamber, re-cut and polished the feed ramp, pinned the ejector and tuned the extractor. We'll see how it runs in a few days.

I didn't think about it at the time, but maybe I should have asked if they could have converted it to .40S&W for me. I don't know what differences the 9mm and .40 EMP4's have with each other, I would assume the .40 had a heavier slide and more robust lockup than the 9mm, sort of like the differences the 9mm and .40 S&W BHP's have. At any rate, there was no charge for what they did to my pistol, not even for shipping.

I really like the .40S&W cartridge, prefer it way over 9mm. I have a Ruger SR40c that is my preferred CC, plus the .40 BHP, and the EMP4 would have made a nice trifecta if I had a .40 version.

mckenney99 · Apr 8, 2022

I bought a Colt SS Government Model in .40 S&W in November of 1991. It was a pretty basic gun with mediocre accuracy. I contoured the frame and installed a high beavertail grip safety, a Chip McCormick hammer/sear and a fitted Vidicky long trigger. Novak's fit a Bar-Sto barrel, installed BoMar sights and cut the slide for a dovetailed front sight and checkered the frontstrap (20x20) for me and I carried it as my off duty weapon for 15 years, until I retired. Using Wilson .40 S&W mags the gun feeds everything and it is ridiculously accurate. I am a fan of the .40 S&W despite the panning it currently gets, I believe it's too good of a cartridge to go away. When the same bullet research and development applied to the 9mm, that suddenly made the 9mm a more viable cartridge, I believe the .40 S&W will rise to the top once again.

Mike0251 · Apr 8, 2022

I also happen to have both the EMP 4's as well. In 9mm and .40. The .40 is a steel frame whereas the 9 is alloy framed. They are mint, boxes, paperwork, mags, and holster as sold by SA. They belonged to my late wife and were her favorites. I've been considering selling them as a pair, wrestling with the idea but I think I'm getting close..all things considered.

1911 .40 S&W

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