Is it enough: .40 S&W for self-defense?

[Farmer17]

The .380, 9m/m, .38 SP, .40, .357, .45 are all adequate for self defense but the more powerful rounds might have better results some of the time. I feel well armed with a 9m/m but then I hear a story, like the one where NYPD fired five 124 grain HST rounds at a perp and four of the rounds were stopped by his Carhart jacket, the fifth round made it through and killed him. Failures can happen with any round including 12 gauge OO buck with a centered chest hit but those are pretty rare but just hearing about failures with any of the smaller calibers makes me want to carry something a little bigger, as long as I can shoot it fast and accurately.

 

[fredj338]

Yes the 40 will do it , I think a 180 or 165 HST would take the fight out of a big 250 pd gang banger .,

Yet the 40, like all other service calibers, has failed to stop even smaller attackers. It isn't a magic bullet. All the service calibers, 9, 40, 45, have pretty much the same ME. So we are back to proper bullet design & shot placement to win the fight.

 

[Echo40]

Two questions for those that voted "No":

1: what makes the .40 excessive for defense?

2: what are the drawbacks as an SD gun?

Not even I know the answer to those questions, I just included a poll opinion that I had seen folks express in regards to the .40 S&W cartridge.

Some folks are seemingly under the impression that .40 S&W will overpenetrate regardless of what JHPs are used and also maintain enough energy afterwards to cause significant collateral damage. *shrugs*

As for drawbacks, some folks feel that the recoil is enough to cause a significant lag in recovery time and believe that the cartridge has an inherent flaw which results in case blowouts and case head separation, when in reality that's just an unfortunate consequence of firing hot loads out of a firearm with an unsupported barrel chamber.

 

[Kurusu]

Considering the number of polls about what's enough.

I'll just leave my answer to the previous and forthcoming polls.

Any, and I do mean any, firearm caliber is enough in some circumstances. No, and I mean no, firearm caliber is enough in some circumstances.

That's my story. And I'm sticking to it.

Edit. And... If you want to defend your life from most threatening insects species. No, and I do mean no, pistol, rifle, shotgun, submachinegun, assault rifle, artillery piece etc, of any possibke caliber imaginable will ever be enough. You may possibly get a 2 weeks relief if you use a nuke.

 

[growr]

The .40 S&W is WAY too powerful for personal protection.....the recoil alone will break your wrist on the first shot!!!

At least with a .22lr you can get a second shot off if you needed to....

Randy

PS. Slight sarcasm here...I could not resist...

 

[Wise_A]

And here's Dirty Harry's next poll topic.

No, because that would almost be interesting.

 

[ContinentalOp]

I feel well armed with a 9m/m but then I hear a story, like the one where NYPD fired five 124 grain HST rounds at a perp and four of the rounds were stopped by his Carhart jacket, the fifth round made it through and killed him.

Why do people keep sharing this story that's been proven false MULTIPLE times? Seriously...

The round was stopped by the Carhartt jacket AFTER it had exited the perp's body, having mushroomed in textbook fashion.

Also, it was 124gr GDHP +P.

 

[Echo40]

Why do people keep sharing this story that's been proven false MULTIPLE times? Seriously...

The round was stopped by the Carhartt jacket AFTER it had exited the perp's body, having mushroomed in textbook fashion.

Also, it was 124gr GDHP +P.

I remember watching a video by ShootingtheBull410 on the subject, in which he bought the exact same jacket the perp was wearing and shot it with a variety of different cartridges, all of which went straight through the jacket, even when he bunched it up in the tightest ball he could then shot it with a .22 pistol.

In the end, he reached the conclusion that in reality the police likely missed several of the shots and were too embarrassed to admit it and feared the repercussions of it coming to light that they essentially sprayed and prayed in his direction.

 

[s&wchad]

We’re done here...

Caliber debates have been covered countless times and there isn’t much more to be said.