I thought the .40 caliber was dead?

[AlHunt]

Recent posts have caused me to wonder if shooting with 2 hands vs 1 hand has anything to do with people finding the 40 unpleasant.

I learned to shoot offhand and really never use my left hand when shooting. Like many of you, I've shot the gamut of sizes and calibers - 9mm mouse guns, .357Sig in smallish guns and so on. My preference is full size handguns.

The .40 is the only one I dislike shooting. Maybe I wouldn't mind it in a larger firearm.

 

[mtgianni]

I have a Smith and a Kahr CM in 40. As a bullet caster it costs a few cents more per hundred than 9mm. I do shoot some factory rounds in it but still wonder what the deal is about recoil.

 

[Michaelp57]

Recent posts have caused me to wonder if shooting with 2 hands vs 1 hand has anything to do with people finding the 40 unpleasant.

I learned to shoot offhand and really never use my left hand when shooting. Like many of you, I've shot the gamut of sizes and calibers - 9mm mouse guns, .357Sig in smallish guns and so on. My preference is full size handguns.

The .40 is the only one I dislike shooting. Maybe I wouldn't mind it in a larger firearm.

If you're ever in my area, you can shoot any of my 40s to see if that changes your mind at all. The 4006 is a tank and easy to handle, the glock 35 is more pleasant to shoot than any other glock I've ever shot, my 4.25" m&p is plenty tameable, and I have an ar in 40 as well that is fantastic to shoot. I know everyone likes different things, but i figured i would throw the offer out there in hopes that you can also enjoy the 40 like i do. Certainly worth a shot.

 

[erikpolcrack]

Have a Beretta, a Glock, and a Sig226 in 40 S&W. The Glock and the Sig have 357 Sig barrels as well. Like shooting them all. Bought a 40 barrel for my 10mm M1911 as well, but haven't gotten around to getting it fitted yet.

 

[rosewood]

700FPS 158 SWCs in my Taurus 85 ultralite is far more snappy than any 40 I have shot. Same ammo in a steel frame is pleasant.

Rosewood

 

[rosewood]

The problem may be the manufactures put a more powerful cartridge in the same weight gun as a 9mm. Physics makes it recoil more. No free lunches. I love the 40 in full size guns, not so much in a sub-compact. If I was going to a gunfight, a fullsize 40 would be the gun I would grab. For EDC, I go with a 9mm for light and ease of carry.

Rosewood

 

[IAM Rand]

I have always said that gun manufacturers are like car manufacturers, some people like Ford, some Chevy, some Toyota,......... I would further expand on that to calibers. Some like 45, some like 40, some like 9,.........

I have always stressed location, location, location. You can stop someone just as easy with a 22mag as you can with a 44 mag as long as you hit what you need to hit. I guess I am one of those odd ones that likes a little recoil. I thoroughly enjoy my 460mag revolver. I have carried just about every "Mainstream" caliber on duty. 45, 40, 9, and 357. I don't trust in the bullet caliber, I trust in the weapon I carry and my ability to protect myself and others around me.

If you don't like recoil, great, carry a 9 or 380. If you can handle recoil and it doesn't bother you, fantastic, carry a 40, 10, 45, or a 44. Is the 40 dead, hardly. If it is one thing I have learned, there is a buyer for every caliber out there, pistol, revolver or rifle. I just recently saw a round that I had never heard of (not that this is something new, plenty of rounds that I have never heard of). What the heck is a 338 Spectre. A 10mm necked down to 338 for a carbine.

No caliber dies, they just go quiet for a while until someone comes up with a new way to fire them.

 

[AJ]

I had a broken wrist a long time ago. After that is hurt to shoot .44 Magnum. At some point I picked up a East German Makarov in 9X18. It was snappy to shoot and hurt my wrist. Ended up giving it and 1500 rounds to friend. have a S&W Model 39 & a Beretta 92 and neither are snapy no matter what I feed them.

 

[DWalt]

My only .40 is a .400 Cor-Bon. No plans to add any other.

 

[AJ]

I have always said that gun manufacturers are like car manufacturers, some people like Ford, some Chevy, some Toyota,......... I would further expand on that to calibers. Some like 45, some like 40, some like 9,.........

I have always stressed location, location, location. You can stop someone just as easy with a 22mag as you can with a 44 mag as long as you hit what you need to hit. I guess I am one of those odd ones that likes a little recoil. I thoroughly enjoy my 460mag revolver. I have carried just about every "Mainstream" caliber on duty. 45, 40, 9, and 357. I don't trust in the bullet caliber, I trust in the weapon I carry and my ability to protect myself and others around me.

If you don't like recoil, great, carry a 9 or 380. If you can handle recoil and it doesn't bother you, fantastic, carry a 40, 10, 45, or a 44. Is the 40 dead, hardly. If it is one thing I have learned, there is a buyer for every caliber out there, pistol, revolver or rifle. I just recently saw a round that I had never heard of (not that this is something new, plenty of rounds that I have never heard of). What the heck is a 338 Spectre. A 10mm necked down to 338 for a carbine.

No caliber dies, they just go quiet for a while until someone comes up with a new way to fire them.

Try this one: Magnum Research .429 Desert Eagle (DE) - Guns and Ammo My little Sister has one and thinks it is a hoot to shoot. Ammo pricey at about $60 a box of 20. This is a 50AE necked down to 44.

 

[AJ]

I forgot (Hell to get old), I do have a .40 cal in an auto form. It is the barrel on the right side of the picture.

 

[biku324]

My only .40 is a .400 Cor-Bon. No plans to add any other.

Many folks get what they have been prepped to believe they will get (except not in dating).

In '91 the NMSP transitioned to the 5906 from the M19 (using the Federal 125 grain JHP). A 16-year sergeant was worried about the 9mm because it "...sounded 'hot'." He had carried M19s with the Fed ammo since the 1970s and even 'won' an I-40 gunfight with one (a one-shot nonfatal stop on a perp who had wounded him in the thigh). On the range he was unable to qualify with the 9mm for two solid days because it was so 'hot.' He kept up his qualification with the M19 and the Federals with no trouble.

I first started hearing 'snappy' associated with the 40 some 20 years after it was introduced...maybe we just had inadequate adjective vocabularies in the '90s and early 2000s.

If you expect 'snappy,' you'll perceive 'snappy.'

 

[luvsmiths]

I never had a 40.

Never saw the need to trade down from the superior performance of the 45ACP.

 

[RSBH44]

One of my first S&W gen 3 pistols was the 4053 TSW , long before I purchased a 3913 TSW. I still shoot them both regularly. I like how the 4013 carries and I shoot it exceptionally well. The recoil didn't really bother my at all.
If I were to have to start getting rid of some of my guns the 4013 would be among the last to go.

 

[biku324]

I never had a 40.

Never saw the need to trade down from the superior performance of the 45ACP.

I went from 45 ACP to 40 S&W in '93 through retirement. The issue 4506 was DA, and I gained 2 rounds capacity and far better qualification scores with a Browning High Power in 40. Still have it, but it has too much sentimental value for EDC.

Sure wish Henry would chamber the Homesteader in 40.

 

[Claymore33]

No caliber is DEAD , they just become unpopular for a while.
.40 S&W will survive for same reason as .41 MAG/Spl survives , It is the happy medium between .38/357 , 9mm and .45ACP /44 MAG/SPL
Great round to shoot with superior knock down power.

 

[Yendor357]

Would someone please tell me why how the "New 9mm" ammo is so much better? All of us old dudes remember Super Vel, and Lee Jurras. There is just so much velocity out of that little cartridge. And hollow points aren't new by any stretch of the imagination.
If 9mm ammo is now so much better, why hasn't that technology carried over to the 40 and 45? Or has it, and you just never hear about that because the recoil sensitive who probably can't shoot the 9 very well would do even worse with a bigger projectile.

I'll never get into a gunfight. But I do have the propensity to shoot deer in the Fall. If I had to put meat on the table, and all I had was a wonder 9 or a 40, the 40 would be in the tree stand with me.

 

[URIT]

I like the .40S&W. Many people have a problem with the .40 pistols, because most were originally designed for 9mm and/or it does not fit their hand properly.

My favorite S&W .40 is the 4053. The compact frame is the same as the .45s. I carry the 4053 while walking my dog from Xmas to April 1st during the fox mating season. Those critters can become troublesome and unpredictable during that time of the year.

Most other months of the year, I like my 9mm 3953 for EDC.

I have a PPS40 that I'll admit is not a range gun, but it's a fine shooter and tack driver. It does punish my hand after a few mags, but it conceals well and is a nice self-defense option.

I remember when folks were poo-pooing the 1911s and the .45 ACP round. Well, it's still with us stronger now more than ever.

 

[RobertJ.]

When I was eleven, my dad bought a Ruger Blackhawk, 4 5/8" barrel, in .41 Magnum. That was one of the handguns I learned to shoot with. So now, when I hear "snappy recoil" in conjunction with the .40 S&W, I just laugh and shake my head. I think some guys try to manufacture reasons to dislike it.

I bashed it for years. Then I found a 4006 at a price I could live with. Since I already loaded 10mm (and my dies were for both), I thought, why not? Accurate, reliable, and reasonably powerful, what's not to like? It's a bit too heavy for EDC, but still, a great gun/cartridge combo.

 

[Echo40]

Would someone please tell me why how the "New 9mm" ammo is so much better?

Because JHP ammo couldn't consistently meet FBI Specifications — 12"-18" in Organic Ballistics Gel after passing through 4 layers of heavy denim with uniform expansion — which has long since been addressed.

The FBI's Testing Protocol is a simple pass or fail, and back in the late eighties to mid nineties 9mm consistently failed, so ammo companies kept experimenting until they could get 9mm JHP to pass.

These days, any modern 9mm JHP on the market will meet FBI Specs, but back in the day most couldn't.