Would you buy a .40 S&W firearm today?

Would you buy a .40 S&W firearm today?

  • Yes

    Votes: 164 65.3%

  • No

    Votes: 80 31.9%

  • I don't know

    Votes: 7 2.8%
  • Total voters
    251
Forte Smitten Wesson said:
Another thing I don't understand, saying that a cartridge is good, then essentially saying that it has no practical benefit whatsoever and therefore there's no reason why anyone should carry it over the competition. It's a contradiction.

Don't get me wrong, the effort not to be a downer or bash the cartridge is appreciated, but it just doesn't work if you call something good only to say that there's no reason to choose it over other cartridges.
You're honestly better off just openly saying that you think it's pointless than trying to be nice without anything nice to say about it, at least then you're being honest.

It's not an insult to admit, "I have no use for it" because although some might use it in a derogatory sense if they push themselves ss an expert, for the average person, it's no more of an insult than it is to say; "I have no use for an electron microscope" it doesn't imply that an electron microscope is universally useless, merely that you as an individual have no use for it.
Here, for an apples to apples example, I can honestly say that I have no use for .700 Nitro Express. I'm not saying that .700 Nitro Express is a bad cartridge, far from it, merely that I'm not planning on going on an African Hunting Safari, ergo such a powerful cartridge has no practical use for me, nor do I believe that I would enjoy shooting it even if I could afford to own both a Double Rifle and the ammunition to shoot it recreationally.
Click to expand...

I agree with the first part of what you are saying but I don't really consider the .700 Nitro Express analogy an apples to apples comparison. .40 isn't a powerful handgun round (there are many handgun calibers that are obviously much, much more powerful). I think .40, like .357 SIG and 10mm, are one of those rounds that may push the abilities of new and smaller statured shooters especially in lighter guns so that it is a great round though it isn't for everyone, but I agree that saying it's a good round with no practical use is untrue. Evidence that it has a 10% or better one-stop-shot rate makes it a practical choice for anyone who can shoot it as well as a 9mm in the gun they are going to carry. On AVERAGE most shooters can as indicated in the study I cited. So it is a good round, and it is practical, but not for everyone or in all situations like you're saying.
 
I used an extreme example like .700 Nitro Express in order to stress my point that saying that you have no use for something doesn't make it bad, not as an analogy of the recoil or power of the .40 S&W cartridge.
 
As a surprising (to me) number of others have mentioned, yes I would buy another .40 if the price is right and there is a 357 Sig barrel available for it. I have a P229 CPO, an M&P 40 and an M&P40C that all have 357 Sig barrels. Easily the most accurate cartridge I have ever seen in an autoloader. The M&P's were priced right because they were on closeout and S&W had a healthy rebate on them at the time. Shortly after buying them I ran across a bunch of like new 15 round M&P mags for $12.50 each at a gun show. What's not to like?
 
I bought a CZ Rami in .40 several years ago at a gun show. I really wanted a 9mm, but had searched high and low both locally and online. The 9s were unobtanium at the time. The Rami is a smallish pistol, and the .40 is pretty much a handful in that size gun. I do like it, though. A couple years later I was able to get the Rami I really wanted in 9mm. I kept the .40 although it rarely gets fired. I'm sitting on a few hundred rounds of practice ammo and 250 or so rounds of HST in .40.

I've considered selling it or trading it toward something I really want - like a Shadow 2, but so far I have resisted. Who knows; one day that may happen.

Hmmm . . . if I sold the Rami and the extra mags and the ammo and my LC9S that I really can't shoot well I might get a bit over half the cash for a Shadow 2 . . .
 
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I absolutely would. But then I have owned .40 caliber pistols from a number of manufacturers for many years, six total firearms in all. I like the caliber and before things got too crazy on availability and prices I was still able to get ammunition and extra magazines for the pistols here in the caliber.
 
I have been able to save myself from such an act since it was invented...Never even bought one to re-sell...It does start with a 4 but doesn't end with any other reasonable number. I do however have a few thousand once fired brass in the caliber...guess I ought to sell it
 
I think it's a fine question.

I've never owned one, the guns it came in were also chambered in 9mm and I already owned stuff in that cartridge. I have "a few", so I've always paid attention to ammo concerns when looking at pistols. My centerfire pistols are as follows:
  • 45acp. These are exclusively 1911's. My own personal bias, I believe every American should own a 1911 in 45 acp.
  • 9x19 Parabellum. These are my fullsize duty-type guns. It's a hobby I have, getting (what I find to be) interesting variants that all sort of fill the same purpose.
  • 9x18 Makarov. I got into this early, because they were cheap and solid, and because of the Warsaw Pact angle.
  • 32acp. I began finding interest in picking up older handguns, from a more romantic era.

I've generally avoided other calibers, unless there's an easy way to convert to one of these.
The 40 cal pistols fell into the same category as the Parabellums. I didn't want the overlap.

The 380acp guns fell into the same design category as the 32's, and the same ballistic category as the Makarovs. Again, I avoided the overlap.

I've always shot my guns, bringing several to the range in rotation. It's fun for me. Thus, it's easier to stick to a few broad categories, and refill the ammo as needed.

But the way things have trended the past year or so, coupled with the fact that I have SOME 40 put aside... sure, like I said above. If I came across the right deal, I would add it to the mix.
 
Sheepdogged said:
Would you buy a .40 S&W firearm today?

In other words, let's assume you have either never owned a .40 S&W, or, if you have, and you didn't have one at the moment (at least hypothetically), would you buy one?
Click to expand...




Or you rented one or had a friend let you try one out.


Yes, I had rented a few and was impressed by the round.
But by the time Covid hit, many 40s went off the self including ammo.
I would not mind getting rid of some my 9mm for a 40cal.
 
I have 3, a 4040PD, Shorty 40 and a 4054 DAO, only because they came exclusively in this caliber.

Can’t think of any others I might pick up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Why not buy but I have three. I am a 40 caliber guy. I have for years a Sig 1911 T in 40 and a Springfield EMP in 40. and just bought a H&K USP 40 this year a 10 year old gun that was never fired, it shoots great.
 
BTW, the FN FNX in 40 S&W may be even easier to convert to both 357 SIG and 9mm: according to FireDragon (who makes conversion barrels) the stock magazines work reliably with 9mm ammo as well...

It also gives one a hammer, fully ambedextrous controls, a safety/decocker & a true DA/SA trigger, much like a CZ75.

Cheers!
 
STORMINORMAN said:
BTW, the FN FNX in 40 S&W may be even easier to convert to both 357 SIG and 9mm: according to FireDragon (who makes conversion barrels) the stock magazines work reliably with 9mm ammo as well...

It also gives one a hammer, fully ambedextrous controls, a safety/decocker & a true DA/SA trigger, much like a CZ75.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. No FNX here but we do have a FNS40 and the site shows a .357 SIG conversion barrel. .357 SIG is another caliber I really like, have a SA XD in the caliber and a conversion barrel in .357 SIG for the S&W M&P .40 here.
 
No I wouldn’t. 40 S&W will become the 16ga of handgun cartridges. There is absolutely no reason for it when you have 9mm+P and 45ACP.
There is no reason for 16ga when you have 3” 20ga Magnum and 12ga.
 
.40 is not my first choice, but, if I saw something that struck my fancy, and, the price was right, I would buy...

.40, while not very popular, isn't going away any time soon...
 
I would get another .40 but never an SD .40 VE. I like the piece, but hate the trigger pull. I got a Galoway Budica trigger, but it didn't do much. I wish Dunhams would have taken the trigger guard off so I could have tried the trigger, but they wouldn't.
 
.40 S&W is one caliber that I never saw a use (personally) for. I have always had 9mm and .45 ACP semi-auto pistols, and never felt the need for something in between.
 
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