40 caliber semi automatic pistols

[Sevens]

Before I spill my guts, gotta say— the Ruger SR series of polymer guns, since the day they hit the market, I always thought they were just noticeably more good looking then, well, EVERY other Tupperware gun on the market. I've never shot one. I carry a polymer gun and it works great and is uglier than the ugly side of ugly on an ugly day with bad lighting.

But the SR-9 and SR-40 are pretty handsome for a plastic gun!

 

[Sevens]

As for ".40 cal hatin'", I had lots of reasons to hate the round when it hit the market. I was a dyed in the wool 10mm fan and the .40cal was a problem for REAL reasons and I was bitter over it.

The 10mm guns were adapted .45's with large frames and MORE meat around the smaller-than-.45 chamber. The .40 was the opposite. Upscaled 9's, bigger hole and less metal where it mattered most, shoehorned in to a 9mm frame. And if you were an avid handloader through the decade of the 90's and later, then you were well aware that the closest thing handloading ever had to a "pandemic" was reloaders KABOOMING .40cal guns. (I have theories on that also but that's a subject all in it's own)

I doubly hated the .40cal because S&W's full court press to make the .40 S&W the greatest thing since sliced bread absolutely, with no argument was the reason they killed the 1006-series of guns and back in 1994, if I had a name and face in S&W management responsible for the decision, I would have dropped a steaming pile in his front yard.

Time heals wounds. These days I find fantastic use of the .40cal. Brass grows on trees and bushes and I enjoy a couple of phenomenal .40cal pistols that definitely are not upscaled 9mm guns. As fun tool on range days, the .40cal with a 900+ fps 180gr slug drops steel plates like it OWNS them. That makes me smile.

 

[Faulkner]

I am a .40 S&W fan and have gladly carried one daily for 20 years.

My favorite .40 S&W to shoot is my 1st generation Ruger PC4 carbine.

 

[Echo40]

Before I spill my guts, gotta say— the Ruger SR series of polymer guns, since the day they hit the market, I always thought they were just noticeably more good looking then, well, EVERY other Tupperware gun on the market. I've never shot one. I carry a polymer gun and it works great and is uglier than the ugly side of ugly on an ugly day with bad lighting.

But the SR-9 and SR-40 are pretty handsome for a plastic gun!

I wholeheartedly agree. Ruger was actually the company who helped me to overcome my aversion to polymer framed pistols. For years I carried a Walther PPK/S and turned my nose up at polymer framed pistols, but after a particularly hot Summer in which I simply could not carry the PPK/S at all, no matter how hard I tried to "dress around" it, and was forced to adopt something lighter.
I looked at a lot of firearms, starting with aluminum framed pistols like the SIG P232 and P238, but I couldn't afford them, so eventually I had to compromise by look at the cheaper polymer pistols. However, I wouldn't compromise when it came to reliability, quality, and to a lesser extent aesthetics. The Ruger LCP was ultimately selected because it met my needs perfectly, it had been on the market for over a decade, those who owned them generally had nothing but praise past the Gen 1 configuration, (circa 2008 - 2013) and it was the most aesthetically pleasing polymer pistol I had ever laid eyes upon.

Since then I've come to really appreciate polymer pistols due to just how effortlessly the LCP carries, how reliable it has been for me, and the price to quality ratio is just crazy. I paid just over $200 for my Ruger LCP 10th Anniversary Edition, and it honestly feels like a total steal at that price.

I had actually planned on getting a Ruger SR40c, but when I ran into my SW40VE at my LGS for $199 I just couldn't pass it up. It's not nearly as attractive as the SR40c, but I still think it looks good for a low-cost utilitarian pistol, and it carries nice too.
Eventually I'd still like to get an SR40c because it's smaller, likely easier to carry in warmer weather, and just plain looks nicer, but for the time being I'm satisfied with the SW40VE.

As for the whole 10mm thing... It's irrational to hate a cartridge for having greater appeal to Law Enforcement and civilians. 10mm Auto is a great cartridge, but in full-power loads it's excessive for Self-Defense against humans, that's why the FBI downloaded it and subsequently why it was shortened to form the .40 S&W cartridge.
.40 S&W didn't take anything from 10mm Auto, not really. If .40 S&W hadn't come along and replaced 10mm in the FBI, then something else would have because it was more than they needed and the guns were too big/heavy to justify carrying them loaded with downloaded cartridges which could otherwise be duplicated in performance in a smaller package.

The 10mm Auto cartridge is niche by design, offering more power than the average person needs in a handgun. It would have never been any more popular than it is, regardless of whether or not .40 S&W had come along, which ought to be obvious by now considering how hard it was being pushed after the FBI dropped .40 S&W, yet it's still a far cry from mainstream, ergo the popularity of .40 S&W (or lack thereof) has no meaningful impact on the popularity of 10mm.

.40 S&W was just a convenient scapegoat for 10mm Fanboys to justify how the bestest cartridge ever made somehow failed to achieve mass market appeal.

 

[joedegs]

.40 S&W

Here's my five.

Glock 22 Gen3

Comp 40

.40 Tactical

4006 Limited

Sig P229 Scorpion

Joe

 

[Erocksmash]

Here's my five.

Glock 22 Gen3

Comp 40

.40 Tactical

4006 Limited

Sig P229 Scorpion

Joe

The comp .40 is still a beautiful gun to me, to bad you cant remove the comp... I love my tac.40, probably one of my best shooters...

 

[joedegs]

Work of Art

Truly a Work of Art. Not to take anything away from the tact or limited but it is a great looking pistol.

Joe

 

[Frank46]

Have a Sig P239 in 40 S&W. Mostly shoot Winchester white box in the 165 grain loading although have shot the 180's as well. Bought it when Louisiana allowed concealed carry licenses. Probably 18 years or so ago. Once cleaned two plates at the local sheriff's range but cocky and missed two plates. Only thing I didn't like was the small mag capacity. Only came with two mags so got another two. And after that Sig and the PTB decided not to make it any more. Same thing happened with FN. They had a good semi auto in the high power. Then suddenly no more high powers will be made. I have an Israeli FN high power and love it. Only thing I dislike about it is the safety. Could have been done better. OK Rant over. Frank

 

[Echo40]

Have a Sig P239 in 40 S&W. Mostly shoot Winchester white box in the 165 grain loading although have shot the 180's as well. Bought it when Louisiana allowed concealed carry licenses. Probably 18 years or so ago. Once cleaned two plates at the local sheriff's range but cocky and missed two plates. Only thing I didn't like was the small mag capacity. Only came with two mags so got another two. And after that Sig and the PTB decided not to make it any more. Same thing happened with FN. They had a good semi auto in the high power. Then suddenly no more high powers will be made. I have an Israeli FN high power and love it. Only thing I dislike about it is the safety. Could have been done better. OK Rant over. Frank

Sadly, this is just the sort of nonsensical thing that firearms manufacturers do... They have a successful firearm that still sells very well, but they get it into their heads that they need to stay competitive by introducing a new gun, often fueled by greed because some other manufacturer just put out a new pistol that's making big bucks and they want a piece of the action.
They spend a lot of time and money on designing/producing a new firearm which has some issues at launch because although they already have a successful firearm which remains profitable on the market, they had to rush their new gun out the door as quickly as humanly possible so they can begin making more money as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately, the issues result in certain folks losing interest, and everybody else is already satisfied by the older firearm with a proven track record. So what does the company do? They discontinue the older model because that will totally get folks to buy their new pistol which lacks the reliability, style, and features of the older model.

You'd think that firearms such as the Colt Single Action Army, Winchester 1894 Lever Action Rifle, and 1911 would have illustrated by now that older designs still sell, may never decrease in popularity, and thus that a company can remain profitable pretty much indefinitely by simply offering a high quality firearm, regardless of how old the design may be. But certain manufacturers would rather gamble on new designs catching on that stick with an older design that just plain works and nobody is asking for a replacement of.

 

[Practical]

performance and nearly 20 years ruling the US police market.

it is sensibal to respond to the gun buying public by making guns they actually want user current manufacturing technology and materials that make it affordable and highly reliable.

The colt SAA, 1911 and Browning Hi power are old tired designs. Only the 1911 is likely to survive because it is an open design and lends itself well to modern manufacturing and gun controls laws and safety requiements.

The polymer 40 calibers met law enforcement and 10 round state needs exactly with good results. Frankly 40 s&w was extremely successful and achieved fast adoption. My opinion is 9mm resurgence is mostly about cost and will have the impact of better shot placement for seasoned officers weaned on 40 s&w.

 

[JohnnieBoy]

I own 3 .40's, love em all. Here's my Cerakoted HK USPc, slide in tungsten battleworn and barrel in bronze.

P.S. I don't own a 9...

 

[okiegtrider]

Wow bc1023 fascinating collection you have there. Some real rare birds there. Two Bren Tens! Almost never see one, let alone two.

Like some, unlike some others, I like the .40 and carry it daily. Here's mine.

 

[BillyMagg]

You're a very BAD MAN!

Since we have threads for most other automatics, I figured to start this one. I'll freely admit that I'm not a big fan of 40S&W, but I do own a few. I used to shoot 10mm often in my younger days, but got rid of most of them.

Here are my 40 caliber pistols (40S&W and 10mm). All range from fairly rare to nearly impossible to find.



Sphinx AT2000S - The finest pistol in this post








Beretta 96 Steel I - In my opinion, the finest pistols Beretta ever built








Bernardelli Practical VB - Rare Italian race gun








Sig P229 Sport - All steel and comped








CZ 75 Champion - Incredible trigger and accuracy








Smith & Wesson Comp 40 - Only 150 made. A Lew Horton Performance Center pistol











Here are the only two 10mms I still own. Kept them for cool factor, but I don't shoot them.


Bren Ten Standard Model - Miami Vice








Bren Ten Special Forces Light - One of only 75 made









At any rate, those are mine. Let's see yours!

Thanks

That's terrible, you should send me that .40 Sphinx, just for the emotional trauma, I have just endured, because I'll probably NEVER have ONE!

I loved the old AT-84, even more beautiful after they became a Sphinx, Sphinxes???, anyway, I'll pm you my address!

I've quit clicking on these types of very bad posts just for this reason, when you stated you didn't like .40, (that's NOT true!), I thought, oh what da heck???

billy

 

[7tenz]

Thanks

Yeah not sure. I certainly didn't intend this thread to be a caliber war.

Good luck with that.

I'm more forgiving of the .40 than I used to be. After getting into the 10mm craze early I hated the 40 when it first came out, but still had to get one. Then a second. One is a S&W 411 and then a Glock 22. I converted the G22 to 357 sig and it became a favorite up with the 10mm. Got a Sig 239 in 357 and 2 years ago a 239 in .40 which I converted to 357.

The 40 ammo has improved a lot, just like other calibers in the last 15 years or so. I don't shoot my 411 at all any more but I keep factory Hornady Critical Defense in it. I don't reload so ka-booms aren't a concern of mine.

 

[Hair Trigger]

I like .40's, but only have one. I tend not to collect many examples of one caliber; I prefer one example in many calibers. My .40 is a Ruger SR40C, it's a regular EDC if I need more concealability than my preferred carry, a 1911. Of course, the 1911 I carry is a 10mm, and it's also a Ruger.

 

[CCantu357]

The best thing about the .40 S&W round is that, no matter what one's view on the it, it is a good round. Pretty much any good JHP seems to show good performance, even older loads. 9mm and even some .45 loads have been improved over time to get to that consistent performance. The .40 might not be perfect, but one cannot also go wrong with one.

The .38-40, the .41 Magnum police load, the 10mm FBI load, 185 grain .45s and even the 9mm 147 grain seem to be after the same goal: a heaver bullet moving at around 1000 to 1100 fps. There seems to pattern there.

 

[Mortimer94]

Sig 229r 40S&W

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