I guess the 40 is not dead

Unlike Glock .40s that were originally a 9mm design, the semi automatic M&P pistols were actually designed for .40S&W and released in that caliber before the 9mms were released.

.40 S&W is an excellent duty caliber.
 
Unlike Glock .40s that were originally a 9mm design, the semi automatic M&P pistols were actually designed for .40S&W and released in that caliber before the 9mms were released.

.40 S&W is an excellent duty caliber.

100% concur--Glock's race to get a model in 40 S&W out (before the 4006 even went on sale) was a great marketing move, but it damaged the reputation of the caliber as snappy and even dangerous (thanks to all those "kaboom" incidents in Glock 22s & 23s). Funny how it took Glock until Gen 5 for them to build a pistol actually engineered for 40 S&W, and it's a much better shooter despite the slight weight gain. (Don't take my word for it, go watch Hickok45's review of the G23 Gen5). Nobody who shot a 4006 ever called a 40 "snappy" or "too much."

So, is it a great caliber? Heck yeah! So is 9mm... so is 357 Mag... so is 45 ACP... so is 38 Spl... so is...
 
The distributor for my local shop I go to has several S&W polly 40s in stock and has had them for quite a while.

Glad to see they are coming out with a metal one now.

I'm done with M&P's for now until they get their QC together (not holding my breath), but that metal 40 is definitely cool and tempting.

Agree that it's cool, but honestly I'm not sure it's any better than the poly guns. I'm a huge 40 S&W fan and lifelong Smith auto shooter, with several M&P's in 40. After shooting both the metal and poly M&Ps back-to-back, I think there's no advantage to the aluminum framed models over the polymer. The recoil impulse is sharper in the aluminum frame M&P Metal models, with no real gain in performance, all at the same general weight-class.

Now, if Smith were to ever make a steel framed M&P, it would be an absolute beast for speed and competition, and it would soak up higher-recoil ammo easier than either the poly or aluminum frames out now. Maybe someday...
 
Everyone I have ever met in this life who has said that caliber matters, has never been in a gun fight.

Think about that for a minute.
I knew a cop who switched from a 9mm (P228, IIRC) to a .45 ACP after the lack of immediate effect when he shot an armed robber holding up a liquor store.

He switched to a SIG P245, which was probably a worse choice given the 6 round magazine and 3.9" barrel that would probably give unreliable expansion with the Winchester Ranger Bonded 230 gr that he was issued.
 
There's no way that 40 S&W will die. There's way too many guns in circulation that are chambered in 40 S&W and there's no shortage of ammo companies who are happy to meet the demand for ammo. With the abundance of ammo as well as the widespread popularity of 40 S&W, gun makers will continue to offer guns chambered in 40 S&W.
 
Many years ago I purchased a Sig 229 in .40 in what they call the DAK version. The gun has enough weight that I have never noticed it to be "snappy" or hard to handle at all. It stays loaded with 165 grain Winchester SXT's. I load Berry 165 grain TC plated bullets for it for practice. With a little bit of practice you can shoot double and triple taps fairly quickly and with very tight groups with the 6 1/2" trigger it has. The .40 fits this platform very well and can be shot well with a little bit of practice.
Jim
 
Everyone I have ever met in this life who has said that caliber matters, has never been in a gun fight.

Think about that for a minute.

An ex US marine ( not that that has anytihng to do with it) was hit 15 times with a 45 from his girlfriends ex, and was still able to return fire, and lived to tell about it.

Does that mean we all need to go to a bigger caliber?

https://youtu.be/vViw80If73k

Yea he survived but what was the ammo used . Surely not 230gr of hst or ranger t series !

If folks here are not capable of handling a 40sw they maybe better off with standard pressure 9mm or 380 or a rime fire cartridge . If they don't like a s&w or m&p model move on to what they do like .

MY wife never fired a handgun until our first date when we were 24 or 25 years old and that was a 4x4 club weekend trip in the big cypress and after spending some time with my Colt Huntsman she tried my DW 15-2 revolver in 357mag with some wad cutter loads to start with up to an average 158gr loads and she liked it . My future wife went out and bought her own DW 15-2 6" 357mag a couple weeks later .

She also has lots of trigger time with my 40sw's and 45acp 1911's over the years but she stands 5-2 and is a small built lady but her heads right . It did take a few years after I started to CC before she did but that was more about her size and what she was comfortable with CC'n. Now at 68 my wife no longer wants to shoot her my 40 or 45 and prefers her kimber ultra 9mm or p365xl and she has a 380 for garter belt carry when a dress is needed .

When my grandson was 9 years old he had shooting my wifes m&p 4.25 core 9mm for some time and wanted to shoot the kahr tp40 I was CC'n at the time . It was filled with underwood 155gr 1300fps ammo . So I gave him one round in the mag and side if you can rack it give it a try and keep it held down range he could have more rounds to fire . He did and when he fired it caused him to take a step back but he had a big grin on his face so a full mag was handed to him and he changed his stance to deal with the snappier load and rang a 10" steel plate at 15 yards with every shot with a big ole grin .

I find what a person can shoot well has more to do with over coming any fears they may have starting with a 22lr and work up over time to larger calibers but you still need to know whats going on in there head . A persons physical size can have more to do with the size of there CC handgun and how well they handle a cartridge for CC . My wife hated a freinds CW40 kahr but my full grip kahr 4" TP40 well. Same goes for the standard sig P365 , my wife did not like it but the XL model she wanted. I don't like smaller handguns no matter if in 22lr up to 45 as I carry a full size 40sw or 45 . But there may be the day I want a 9mm for carry and have a 4" compact with dot optic on it but only time and age will tell .
 
Yea he survived but what was the ammo used . Surely not 230gr of hst or ranger t series !

If folks here are not capable of handling a 40sw they maybe better off with standard pressure 9mm or 380 or a rime fire cartridge . If they don't like a s&w or m&p model move on to what they do like .

MY wife never fired a handgun until our first date when we were 24 or 25 years old and that was a 4x4 club weekend trip in the big cypress and after spending some time with my Colt Huntsman she tried my DW 15-2 revolver in 357mag with some wad cutter loads to start with up to an average 158gr loads and she liked it . My future wife went out and bought her own DW 15-2 6" 357mag a couple weeks later .

She also has lots of trigger time with my 40sw's and 45acp 1911's over the years but she stands 5-2 and is a small built lady but her heads right . It did take a few years after I started to CC before she did but that was more about her size and what she was comfortable with CC'n. Now at 68 my wife no longer wants to shoot her my 40 or 45 and prefers her kimber ultra 9mm or p365xl and she has a 380 for garter belt carry when a dress is needed .

When my grandson was 9 years old he had shooting my wifes m&p 4.25 core 9mm for some time and wanted to shoot the kahr tp40 I was CC'n at the time . It was filled with underwood 155gr 1300fps ammo . So I gave him one round in the mag and side if you can rack it give it a try and keep it held down range he could have more rounds to fire . He did and when he fired it caused him to take a step back but he had a big grin on his face so a full mag was handed to him and he changed his stance to deal with the snappier load and rang a 10" steel plate at 15 yards with every shot with a big ole grin .

I find what a person can shoot well has more to do with over coming any fears they may have starting with a 22lr and work up over time to larger calibers but you still need to know whats going on in there head . A persons physical size can have more to do with the size of there CC handgun and how well they handle a cartridge for CC . My wife hated a freinds CW40 kahr but my full grip kahr 4" TP40 well. Same goes for the standard sig P365 , my wife did not like it but the XL model she wanted. I don't like smaller handguns no matter if in 22lr up to 45 as I carry a full size 40sw or 45 . But there may be the day I want a 9mm for carry and have a 4" compact with dot optic on it but only time and age will tell .

Surely not 230gr of hst or ranger t series !

Yeah that must be the reason:rolleyes:

If the shooter only had those magical hst's or ranger T series bullets the outcome would have definitely been different, oh yeah definitely !:rolleyes:

One shot would have just exploded the whole entire body!
 
Many years ago I purchased a Sig 229 in .40 in what they call the DAK version. The gun has enough weight that I have never noticed it to be "snappy" or hard to handle at all. It stays loaded with 165 grain Winchester SXT's. I load Berry 165 grain TC plated bullets for it for practice. With a little bit of practice you can shoot double and triple taps fairly quickly and with very tight groups with the 6 1/2" trigger it has. The .40 fits this platform very well and can be shot well with a little bit of practice.
Jim


Yes, the P229 .40 DAK is a fine pistol.
I got an excellent condition police trade-in off of Gunbroker a couple of years ago.
Though I soon switched the barrel to an OEM .357 Sig because I like that round.
I carry Underwood .357 Sig XTP JHP for defense and have confidence in them.
 
I've liked the .40 since it was very first created and think its the perfect balance of power, capacity, and recoil for self defense. The funny thing is I have owned several .40s but don't currently have one. I was never a 9mm fan but when ammo got expensive the 9mm was still pretty cheap and I acquired four of them. I do own a M&P 4" 10mm which is currently my favorite gun to shoot out of my 17 handguns.
 
Amen

Many years ago I purchased a Sig 229 in .40 in what they call the DAK version. The gun has enough weight that I have never noticed it to be "snappy" or hard to handle at all. It stays loaded with 165 grain Winchester SXT's. I load Berry 165 grain TC plated bullets for it for practice. With a little bit of practice you can shoot double and triple taps fairly quickly and with very tight groups with the 6 1/2" trigger it has. The .40 fits this platform very well and can be shot well with a little bit of practice.
Jim

I too have a Sig P229, it's awesome. I also love my Sig P224!
 
Okay, everyone either loves the 40 or hates it. Who is excited that S&W is making it in the new metal. If it is anything like the Metal 9, it will be a great gun. I am just waiting with baited breath that they will make it and the FPC in 45. I think they would be short sighted to not make the FPC and Response in 40 and 45. Based upon the success of the 9, I would have to imagine that they are already in the works.

The only problem I see is trying to convince my PLUS1 that I absolutely positively gotta have one.
 
Yep...and the 10mm-recoil-fearing dainty wrist crowd that the feds hired is why .40 was created. Not complaining...I'm a big fan of .40 (but like 10mm much better)

Agreed, but my problem with 10mm is that the vast majority of 10mm ammo is not loaded to 10mm spec, and instead appears to be loaded to 40 S&W spec. It's the same projectile after all, however you end up paying a premium because it's labeled as 10mm.

Then, with the few lines of ammo that actually are loaded to full 10mm spec, the majority of 10mm guns on the market have questionable reliability with those cartridges.
 
Agreed, but my problem with 10mm is that the vast majority of 10mm ammo is not loaded to 10mm spec, and instead appears to be loaded to 40 S&W spec. It's the same projectile after all, however you end up paying a premium because it's labeled as 10mm.

Then, with the few lines of ammo that actually are loaded to full 10mm spec, the majority of 10mm guns on the market have questionable reliability with those cartridges.

Exactly why i load my own for the 610-2. In reality, the modern boxed 10mm is neutered when compared to the good old stuff
 
Agreed, but my problem with 10mm is that the vast majority of 10mm ammo is not loaded to 10mm spec, and instead appears to be loaded to 40 S&W spec. It's the same projectile after all, however you end up paying a premium because it's labeled as 10mm.

Then, with the few lines of ammo that actually are loaded to full 10mm spec, the majority of 10mm guns on the market have questionable reliability with those cartridges.


Underwood has some good 10mm loads.
 
For a handgun your going to carry the 40sw is a great choice with todays ammo choices . The 10mm may be able to pack more punch but it its still not a gar O teed one shot man stopper .

I harvested deer for camp meat with a couple 4" and 4.25" 40sw handguns most all the hunters are in camp and shoot thru 16 to 17" of deer top thru bottom with a underwood 155gr gold dot load with very
good tissue damage . I also an old revolver hunter that liked one of several 170gr sp bullets at 1400fps for deer 180swc hc at a slower 1200 fps for hogs . But I have made some ammo changes in the last few years for carry needs . I'm 68 now and I know longer carry those hotter 40sw loads for defensive needs as there are a few standard pressure 180gr hp bullets that cover or exceed needs for expansion and penetration . Plus I know I have faster spit times with a standard pressure 40sw that will expand to .70 + than I do with the hot 40sw ammo or most of todays 10mm ammo ,

One of my carry handgins is a lw commander in 45 and I like the grip and reach of a 1911 with thin grips but some 10mm poly pistols pistols are not as comfortable in my hand as a shorter reach for the 40sw versions .

hey to 10mm is today hot got a have cartridges for many . Good for those folks but for many others its going to be a 40sw or even a 9mm so deal with it like a adult .

For a newer handgun hunter the 10mm can do real well with some 200 gr loads but still its not as good as 41 mag and many larger cartridges in handguns ether .
 
The .40 is dead to me. I much prefer the 10mm, heck of a round…
 
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