.40 S&W Hate?

[federali]

.40 S&W: Great but not for everyone.

I think the push for a more effective cartridge over the 9mm had its beginnings with the infamous FBI Miami shootout of 1986. This led the FBI to the 10mm Lite while the .40 S&W was secretively on the drawing boards. Eventually, they saw the light and went to the .40.

However, this is not an easy caliber for female LEOs and smaller statured individuals to master. Of late, I hear that the FBI is returning to the 9mm as the .40's advantage of the 9mm, if any, is too slight to warrant the increased training difficulties with the .40.

As for people hating the .40: debating this caliber over that is the sustenance of gun forums. My carry guns are 9mm and .45 ACP, not withstanding whether or not others love or hate them. Like it or not, what the FBI does or does not do has a great influence on what other law enforcement agencies do. We may be witnessing a gradual return to the 9mm or perhaps some new way of loading the .40 to overcome some of its faults.

 

[MCM]

"We may be witnessing a gradual return to the 9mm or perhaps some new way of loading the .40 to overcome some of its faults."

I guess that's the part I missed.

What exactly are its faults?

While I only have (2) in 40 out of 20, I have never had a failure to feed, fire etc. Have owned 'em for 20 yrs. But Do not shoot them daily.

Thanks! Learn something new every day! Very curious.

 

[Hamster65]

Wow, there's a loaded question.
I've never been a big fan of the .40 but, that's mainly due to the sharp recoil. I've owned and/or shot multiple sizes from little light weight compact guns such as the Kel Tec P40, up to a big ole heavy boat anchor Hi-Point and a few in between. In my opinion, they all sucked. Personally, if I feel the need for something bigger than a 9mm, it's gotta be a .45...........and most likely, I'd get a 1911.

 

[MCM]

I honestly think your right. Its the recoil some folks don't care for. I shoot more 44 mag than anything, so its never really been an issue for me.

 

[federali]

Fault or Faults

Actually, as mentioned in this thread several times, the "fault" of the .40 is its snappy recoil, resulting in a somewhat slower recovery than a 9mm or .45 ACP but the .40 cal handgun does indeed hold more ammo than the same size .45 ACP.

For younger people of reasonable strength, the .40 S&W should not be any problem. As an adopted agency cartridge where once size must fit all, problems arise.

To be sure, the .40 is an excellent cartridge over all and I certainly hope to never find myself at the wrong end of one.

Perhaps somebody will design a .40 tungsten bullet, of 230 grains, slow it down a bit, unsnap the recoil and now you have .45 ACP ballistics with the gun capacity of a .40, along with better penetration over the .45. Just thinking aloud.

 

[Muss Muggins]

Nothing wrong with the .40 S&W, it's just not .380 ACP, 9mm, or .45 ACP. I've got one, a Glock 23, and I've owned others that I've moved on, mainly due to the felt recoil. A Glock 23 is probably the lightest handgun that should fire the .40 S&W. The differences in ballistics discussed earlier in the thread are negligible at best, and the 9 mm and the .45 ACP are just better to fire, IMHO.

 

[pmosley]

If not for the 40, I would not have my 4013 or 411 or 4006 or 4054 or............................


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[venomballistics]

10mm doesn't fit in the same guns as the .40 does. That's the advantage the.40 gives you and it's a huge one, or none at all if you're pet gun is a 1911. Similar arguments are made against the .357 SIG. "Well the .357 mag is much more versatile, powerful, whatever." The one thing the mag doesn't do is fit in a compact Glock. Which is kinda a big deal.

Don't see why. Springfield built the sub compact XD-s around the 45 auto.
If the 10mm held its turf, I'm pretty sure we'd see it in this platform.

 

[hatt]

Don't see why. Springfield built the sub compact XD-s around the 45 auto.
If the 10mm held its turf, I'm pretty sure we'd see it in this platform.

It's the same size as a Glock 27?
Edit: I see it's a single stack. The point still stands. The .40 will always be able to fit in a smaller platform.

 

[The Sarge]

I like the 40 S&W caliber very much and carried it on duty for many years. With proper grip and actual proper training and putting rounds down range you adapt to the recoil and it becomes a non issue. Early on a gun writer wrote "the 40 S&W is an inherently inaccurate caliber" and that is another one of the great gun writer myths that shooters hold as gospel to this day. The 40 can be as accurate as any other caliber. What gave rise to claims of inaccuracy is shooters anticipating the 40's recoil. I have a SIG 229R in 40 that is the most accurate pistol I own. That pistol is one ragged hole accurate if you do your part and it handles the 40 very well.

The 40 is often called a compromise caliber. It is a good, unique caliber in its own right. Plenty of power, weight, and sectional density with various loadings to suit anyone's applications.

40 has become America's law enforcement caliber of choice. The ammo makers have made it by the ton. During each ammo crunch 40 can always be found. With the recent trend of LE going back to 9mm even more 40 will be available at good prices. I just bought another pistol in 40 this weekend because of that. Bill

 

[shouldazagged]

If not for the 40, I would not have my 4013 or 411 or 4006 or 4054 or............................

Really can't argue with that.

I haven't shot .40 S&W for fifteen years and my hands have deteriorated markedly in that time due to arthritis; but in a second generation G22 I didn't find it at all unpleasant then.

I took the Glock and a woman friend to the range when I had just bought the pistol. She had never fired a gun before. She out-shot me and enjoyed shooting the .40. Makes me wonder if anticipation of nasty recoil figures into this for some shooters.

 

[Mule88]

Ive done my own evaluations and ill take the .40 every time. The recoil isn't that big of a deal over the 9mm a frame that fits my hand better than the .45 usually your only talking a couple rounds different in capacity over the 9. Also if you check energy figures in a lot of cases the 40 will have as much if not more energy than the .45 I say if a person doesn't like the 40 then dont buy one. I see it as the best of both worlds.

 

[Double-O-Dave]

When I was younger, I was Mr. 1911 in .45ACP. Any other caliber in a semiauto was simply a waste of time and powder as far as I was concerned. I had always been taught to use the largest caliber handgun I could competently handle for self defense, and the .45ACP filled the bill admirably. Then a wrist injury to my dominant hand left me with a wrist that would unlock unpredictably to recoil. I would be lucky to get 3 rounds per magazine to fire out of my 1911 without a lot of FTF, FTE drills. I reluctantly swapped my 1911 for a S&W 4006 in .40 S&W, and later added a S&W Model 625 so I could continue shooting .45ACP.

I really like the .40 S&W round. It is the largest caliber round I can reliably shoot from a semiauto handgun without stoppages and other assorted issues. I found the polymer framed handguns, and the heavier grained bullets (especially the 180 gr. offerings) are very user friendly. I have a M&P 40C in .40 S&W along with a 9mm replacement barrel that I am very fond of. In fact, a full sized M&P 40 is presently on my wish list.

Recently, I got a killer deal on some .40 S&W brass and (unloaded) projectiles (155 gr.) from a guy that was getting out of the .40 S&W caliber. He stated his teenaged girls could comfortably fire the 9mm, but the recoil and blast from the .40 was too much for them. I asked him if he had considered either using the heavier grained bullets for the .40, and/or buying and using a 9mm replacement barrel for his .40 handgun and he got the "aw shucks" look on his face. I offered to let him back out of the sale if he had misgivings, but he wanted to go ahead and complete the sale, so I did. By the way, I got over 500 rounds of cleaned, once-fired .40 S&W brass, a box of WW 155gr. target ammo, and a sealed box (250 bullets) of Nosler 150 gr. projectiles for $50.00.

Regards,

Dave