So why does S&W not make a 40cal 1911?

Not a large enough market!!

I'd buy one in stainless. In a heart beat. Bet I'm not the only one either. However, there still might not be enough market to justify it. Several years ago I remember a flood of Springfield Loaded 1911's in 40 S&W going for cheap. SA must have over estimated the market size and then decided to dump them. SA or maybe a distributor. Still, I'd like to have one and wish I'd bought the SA when the price was crazy low.

Out West

I would rather have it in 10mm.

Are you willing to wait for maybe a year (maybe two)?

As far as the 10mm? Well, I understand there are some folks working at the company which would welcome a 10mm model themselves, but nobody I've spoken to has let anything slip about any potential for a 10mm version.

Of course, some of them are really good at keeping secrets, too.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

Given the external extractor, would it not be possible to simply install a aftermarket .40 S&W barrel and use 10mm magazines to load and fire? Would the same method allow the installation of a .357 Sig. barrel in a S&W 1911? I would think that the external extractor would eliminate any problems with extraction. (Just "thinking" out loud). Sincerely. brucev.

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Yeah,
10mm, 40, and 357sig, all use the same slide, and just a barrel swap. I've also heard that 9mm and .38 super, can be used with some extractor tweaking.

Considering it is the .40Smith&Wesson, their baby, and the recent interest in Single Stack in which many want to shot the same .40 as they load for their Limited Pistols I think there is a market. Not a large one, but like others pointed out the same slides could be used for .357Sig and 10MM.

I'd buy one simply to make it a 10mm. S&W can't seem to admit there is still a market for 10mm autos after they killed off their own versions.
My 610 wants a brother.

I'd be inclined to think that it doesn't seem to be that they won't admit there's a market for the 10mm, but it's apparently the way they look at how the market is determined to exist.

I've been told that they keep current on the amount of factory 10mm ammunition being sold by the major ammunition companies, and that the amount of ammunition being sold has to indicate enough of a market base to justify the expense of the additional R&D and manufacturing changes that would have to be done to produce a new model chambered in 10mm.

This probably irks and annoys the number of 10mm enthusiasts who don't buy commercially produced ammunition, but assemble their own using commercially produced components (which aren't seemingly tracked the same way as factory assembled ammunition).

Even the handgun hunting market doesn't seem to be as large, or as consistent, when it comes to someone constantly buying new revolvers chambered in the 10mm, considering the production availability of the M610.

Granted, S&W did learn a lot when they were revising and refining the 1006 model line and its subsequent model variations, and they did bring the shelved wildcat cartridge which became the .40 S&W into the light of public attention (even though Glock rushed the first .40 S&W pistol into the public eye ... which required some refining of its own ).

I'd hope that if the SW1911 .40 model (when it arrives) does well in the way of sales, that maybe the enthusiasts at S&W will be able to influence someone to produce a 10mm model variant in either the SW1911 line, or the M&P pistol line ... or both.

In the meantime they're working hard just to keep up with the demand for their hottest selling model lines in the existing chamberings ...

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

Well put. Much as I'd like S&W to be my personal custom shop, that wouldn't be a very profitable move for them.
I'm sure at some point there will be some kind of .40 cal 1911 from them, and it would be pretty simple to get my 10 from that.

Even the few folks within the company with whom I've occasionally spoken who would like to see a 10mm pistol, of one sort or another, acknowledge that the marketability and profitability has to be sustainable.

The SW1911 .40 is probably going to arrive within the next year (or just a little longer, apparently to make sure it's 'right').

Just speaking from my own 'what if?' wish-list ... I'd think an all-stainless SW1911DK 10mm might be a great model. How about a carbon steel Melonite model, taking advantage of the ability to use the QPQ version of the Melonite process on carbon steel instead of just the QP version used on stainless? How about a long slide version?

How about a Pro Series and/or Hunter M&P 10?

That would require me adding yet another caliber to my ammunition supply, though.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

Fastbolt - say it brother! Amen to all your formulations.

Out West

That's what I want to see, the 6" 10mm 1911. I would buy two of them. Did I mention stainless with factory Hogue grips and Novak night sights. Maybe this is the wrong place for this opinion? Just my .02 worth

Ahmen brotha,
Won't happen though....

A 6" is way expensive, does'nt matter who makes it, or what caliber it is.

Thats half the beauty of a 1911, take a 45 frame, throw a 40- 6" slide and barrel on it, and run a 10mm reamer in it..... DONE!!!!!!!!!

The only successful chamberings for the 1911 have been the 45 ACP and 38 Super (barely). The other chamberings come and go. The major manufacturers really are not nterested in niche markets.

9mm is pretty strong, as is .38 special....

40 is gainin an edge, just not much of one. If your gonna carry 40, you might as well carry .45+P and punch a bigger hole

From what limited exposure I have, the fast guns like STI and alike use the 40 cal in the 1911's. As far as carry, I am no expert on the ballistic differences however I would not want to stand in front of either!

The number of 1911's chambered in 9mm is really insignificant in the grand scheme. Had Colt not been trying for a gov't contract with the 9 mm Commander years ago and done the work required to produce them, I doubt they would ever have chambered the 1911 in 9 mm. The overwhelming percentage of the almost negligible number chambered in 38 (wadcutter) were actually conversions of other chamberings. STI does chamber some in 40 S&W, but this is definitely a relatively small company catering to a niche market, and some of their designs are significant departures from the 1911.

If I wanted a 1911 chambered in 40 S&W, I would simply buy one chambered in 10 mm since most commercial loadings for 10 mm are loaded to only slightly greater ballistics than the 40 S&W. Of course ammo costs/availability favor the 40 S&W. This would be a versatile pistol allowing either near 40 S&W ballistics and full blown 10 mm ballistics based on ammo choice.

Les Baer HC 40

CZ-USA -> DAN WESSON SS Custom

Briley Custom Advantage

Fusion also makes a few in .40, I'm sure I could look for more then the 2min it took me and find some more.

The fact that ALL 1911s where chambered in .45 and .38super for the majority of the 1911s lifetime in no way makes them the only "successful" chamberings......

It ONLY makes them the most common.

The fact that Colt was trying for a government contract might have sped up the 9mm chamberings, but it eventually would have happened regardless.

What contracts brought about the other numerous calibers in 1911??

Honestly, I'm kind of lukewarm on 1911's, but I'd camp outside the gunshop door for a 10mm M+P.

How old is this thread? I have a Brand new S&W 1911 40 cal sitting here in front of me now!

I'm sorry, I stand corrected! It's a S7W M&P40 1911.

Why need a .40 cal when there is already the .45acp? When you have the best, there is no need in making the rest;

This isn't a question that needs to be asked. The date of the post is right there in the heading of each of them.

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Steve
NJ State Trooper (rtd)

Switching from 40 to 10mm in a 1911 platform may not be as straight forward as you might think.

In the early '90s, I was offered a Colt Custom Combat 40, with a spare Delta Elite barrel and a big ziploc bag of Colt magazines for $400. The seller was a friend that I shot with about twice a week, and I knew that the gun didn't run worth a darn in either caliber. But it was a beautiful two tone gun and I figured I could get going in one caliber or another. I discovered a couple of things.

One is that the 10mm and the 40 are different cartridges. There is more involved than just the case length, though that is a big deal in and of its self.

Slide velocities are different and they require different weight recoil springs. That gun at least required different extractor tensions, so that ment two extractors.

When you look a the path a cartridge takes from the magazine of a 1911 to the chamber, you see its a heck of a rough ride. There are what, three big bounces? It's not a straight shot by any means. 40 magazines are blocked, like 9mm 1911 mags, so the cartridge is picked up later in the cycle, making the ride that much rougher.

By changing recoil spring weight and extractor tension, I got the thing to run with the 10mm bbl. It was never reliable enough with the 40 bbl, which of course was the original caliber.

That's just my experience with one gun. But it's made me cautious about thinking that you can change calibers in a 1911 just by dropping in a different barrel.

Charles

I think S&W is well aware that the moment they release a .40 1911, every gun plumber and his brother will be trying to convert it to 10mm. If the backroom conversions don't run smoothly, there will just be a lot of bad vibes and smack talking towards S&W.

They probably aren't interested in all that hassle, being that the market for a .40 1911 is pretty limited.

"It's a S7W M&P40 1911."

Must be new! Never seen a M&P 1911!