I guess the 40 is not dead

well the 40 short and weak, 40 sort and wimpy duplicates the standard self defense loads for 44 special, 180 grain at a nomial 1000 fps

And does so in a package that gives you a dozen shots. Thanks for supporting a very serviceable cartridge. 44 Special should be the standard all others attain for.
 
Bunch of wana-be gunfighters and ballistics experts here in this thread.

I feel so honored :rolleyes:
 
This is the shooting world, rounds very rarely actually die. Ammo and new guns get scarce for it, but they don't disappear. .41 magnum is a good example, .32 H&R (it's back too), .22 short are all examples.

It was my understanding that a lot of manufacturers where prioritizing 9mm production due to demand. SIG has been offering .40 conversion kit for the P320 off and on for a while.
 
IF the plastic frames were the end all of end alls in weapon design, why did the companies MAKING them, start about 2005 the trend of reinforcing the plastic frame with a stamped metal inner frame skeleton?

Oh yeah, DAMAGE to the plastic frame needed to be mitigated. Ooopsies, i smell a well filled diaper..

16 years ago, i ran across an article that listed the standard mil spec frame as having the ability to endure 75,000 standard pressure 45 acp rounds, of standard mil spec 230 fmj.

NO one has ever listed a failure number for an aluminum framed 191 or a plastic frame either.. but i can figure out that the aluminum will be between the plastic and the steel version.

They added steel to the polymer frames because of cops overtorquing flashlights on Gen 3 Glocks and damaging light rails and/or causing functioning issues due to frame flex (more on that later).

I would lean towards steel frames for ultimate durability, but design is important too. Colt had to redesign the Delta Elite frames for 10mm after breakage issues. That shouldn't be too much of a surprise given the use of a 37,500 psi cartridge in frame designed for a 21,000 psi cartridge.

Polymer vs aluminum, the failure modes are different. I've seen more polymer frames with physical impact damage, but I've heard more reports of aluminum frames cracking from high round counts.

When it comes to user induced malfunctions, I've seen more people have limp wrist malfunctions with Gen 3/4 Glocks than metal framed pistols or M&P and P320 pistols. My theory on that is the lighter, thinner, less reinforced Glock frames allow more frame flex under recoil.

I've also seen more Glocks with light strike problems due to improper cleaning (lube/bore cleaner in striker channel) than other pistols, but that's more of a striker vs hammer thing.
 
I like the 40. I bought a Springfield Officers Model size 1911 in 40 when they were on sale a year or two ago. I like it. I've had a 40 since early Glock Gen 2, Both a 27 and a 23. I just didn't like the feel of the 27 in my hand. The 23 I liked and carried it off duty a lot for quite a few years. The wife took the 27 as it fit her smaller hands better although she has good size hands for a woman.

Neither one of us ever noticed the "snappy 40" thing or found recoil unpleasant in any way. Never could figure that complaint out. I usually carry my Hellcat now days. It's just too easy to carry in my lazy retirement, plus it has a safety which I like. Then there's that ammo cost thing. 9mm is just much more affordable to shoot.

If they came out with a metal 40 I don't think I'd be interested. I'm not a collector, and it wouldn't be a collector item in my lifetime and I already have plenty of carry guns. I need to give some to my son already. Not that I wouldn't like a new gun just because.

I haven't even thought about my XDs in .45. And I always liked that gun. Other than church security duty it carries enough ammo (spare mag) for personal protection and it's thin and flat. Plus that extra safety. I found recoil quite tollerable and it has that nice 45 thump. /ramble
 
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.40 S&W is a fantastic round that has simply fallen out of favor. Some — namely those who irrationally hate the cartridge — insis that this means that it's dead and soon to fade away entirely, as if getting dropped by the LEOs and the market getting flooded with inexpensive police trade-ins serves as proof of this. Meanwhile, the same thing happened with .38 Special/.357 Magnum before it, yet after all the sales of police trade-ins dried up, the cartridges remained popular.

Another good example, perhaps even better yet would be .45 Colt. The cartridge that was really only in military/LE service for about 10 years, yet remains in production along with firearms chambered for it. So yeah, .40 S&W isn't going anywhere, no matter how badly haters wish it would.
 
I wanna LIKE this post again.

You could also say the 40 was developed for the recoil sensitive wimps who couldn't handle the 10mm.

The FBI showed us that.

Anyway 40 is not going anywhere for a long time, maybe never.

Especially with the resurgence of the 10mm that uses the same projectiles.

I would love to see 40 come back around like it used to be though.

Would also love to see some 2011's in the caliber.
 
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Would also love to see some 2011's in the caliber.

I think the issue here is that the .40 S&W mostly makes sense for race gun classes like USPSA Limited Major and Open Major. This pushes the market upwards towards pistols like the Atlas Nemesis and other high-end, build-to-order, semi-custom 2011s.

Staccato and the entry level 2011 makers like Springfield Armory and the Turkish companies are focused more on volume these days, and 9mm is where the volume is.
 
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...
I’ll stick with the G27
 
I would love to see 40 come back around like it used to be though.

I don't see the 40 overtaking the 9mm again, but...

I do see the cartridge making a bit of a comeback due to the influx police trade-in pistols in the used market. I think the abundance of very affordable 40 pistols will convince quite a number of people to give them a try - which will bring about an uptick in the demand for 40 ammo. This just might cause manufacturers to rethink their production schedules.

I picked up a complete VP40 slide assembly for my VP9L. I enjoyed shooting it so much that I picked up an S&W M&P40 police trade-in. I'm now outfitting it with a few upgrades and looking for deals on ammo. I sold my first 40 and never thought I would own another, yet now I have two. I doubt I'm the only one to do this.

Will this be a long-term trend? I doubt it, but I think the 40S&W will be around for a long time.
 
Some years back I was in a Pat Rogers class with an FBI firearms instructor. His G22 (or 23) was unreliable to an extent that I would have turned it in with alacrity, consistent with the experiences of many. He did tell me that Glocks in .45 were a lot more pleasant to shoot and he did switch recoil sensitive agents to those. Had a G21 as an issue before I retired. Easy to shoot and reliable - ran 700 or so rounds of duty ammo through it without cleaning (might have lubed it; don't recall) and had no malfunctions.

The long version (G34 or 35, I don't recall) seemed to work a lot better; at least one local agency had them back then.
 
Some years back I was in a Pat Rogers class with an FBI firearms instructor. His G22 (or 23) was unreliable to an extent that I would have turned it in with alacrity, consistent with the experiences of many. He did tell me that Glocks in .45 were a lot more pleasant to shoot and he did switch recoil sensitive agents to those. Had a G21 as an issue before I retired. Easy to shoot and reliable - ran 700 or so rounds of duty ammo through it without cleaning (might have lubed it; don't recall) and had no malfunctions.

The long version (G34 or 35, I don't recall) seemed to work a lot better; at least one local agency had them back then.
That's the second time in as many days as I've seen Pat's name. I'm going to go pull my Ruger out of the safe.

IIRC it was the .40 Glocks that showed the issues that caused some design changes.
 
Well look the .40 ammo is not much more expensive than 9mm. Sometimes you can get a really good deal on a .40 pistol. I have an older-model Glock that handles it well and I do not feel bad to shoot a lot. Also I like shooting it a bit more than 9; it has a bit of extra "oomph" that I enjoy.
 
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Back when I carried the Glock 22 on duty.. still carry a .40 S&W today with either the Shield or my Springfield XD mod.2 40 for personal carry. I don't care if there are naysayers about the .40 S&W.
 

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