Is .40 S&W as powerful as .357 Magnum?

[bushmaster1313]

I know it depends on bullet weight and muzzle velocity.

But in general, can a .40 S&W cartridge push the same weight bullet as fast as a .357 Magnum?

How does it do that

Thank you

 

[M29since14]

From equal barrel lengths, it can come pretty darned close. No barrel-cylinder gap. Bigger bullet for gasses to push against.

 

[rwsmith]

I believe that......

I believe that the parent cartridge for the .40 S&W, the 10mm Auto, is more comparable to a .357 Magnum.

A .40 S&W can move a 155 gr bullet at about 1150 fps for about 460 Ft-Lbs of energy.

A .357 Magnum can move a 158 gr bullet at about 1240 fps for 539 ft-lbs of energy.

A 10mm Auto can use a 155 gr. bullet at about 1400 fps for 675 ft-lbs of energy.


The energy of certain loads vary a lot, but average in the order show. ie The .40 tops out at about 556 ft-lbs. The .357 has loads in the 780 ft-lb range . While one loading of the 10 mm can produce 768 ft-lbs energy and.

A little story. The 10mm was proposed for LEO issue, but the recoil was too stout for some people. S&W cut the cartridge back and loaded it with less powder to make the .40 S&W. Proponents of 10mm call the .40 the .40 "Short and Weak.

The 10 mm was created for the Bren Ten auto pistol, but production never got off the ground. Still, there are other makes of 10mm pistols and the cartridge has a loyal following.

I think that comparing autos to revolvers is a little iffy because the revolver is limited by the strength of the frame, cylinder and barrel while an auto pistol is set up with the spring to a limit that would prevent the slide from battering the frame.

 

[Zebra War Wagon]

If I had it to do over I probably would have gotten my SIG P226 in 9mm instead of .40 S&W.

Nothing wrong with the 40 and you can easily drop in the 357 Sig barrel. Remember, with the 40, you can go down to 135 grain bullets that will "fly" in a 40 cal.
The 357 magnum shines with a 6" plus barrel, so it's really not comparable to the 4.4" barrel on the 226. Be happy with your 226 in 40 and if you want real performance, investigate some Buffalo Bore ammo or Cor-Bon ammo.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Recently picked up a Sig P229 in .40 S&W. Now I'm starting to think about a .357 Sig barrel, just for extra fun.

 

[mtime7]

I would stay away from 40 cal. I think it is a dying breed, in an auto 9mm

 

[mike campbell]

I think post #3 is a good answer:

"A .40 S&W can move a 155 gr bullet at about 1150 fps for about 460 Ft-Lbs of energy.
A .357 Magnum can move a 158 gr bullet at about 1240 fps for 539 ft-lbs of energy.
A 10mm Auto can use a 155 gr. bullet at about 1400 fps for 675 ft-lbs of energy.

But I think it short-changes the .357 a bit.
Real world, the common barrel lengths would be 4" 40, 6" 357 and 5" 10mm - more and more there are 10mm 6" long slides for hunting. But 8" .357's aren't rare either.



Alliant and Hodgdon aren't good for these comparisons because of the goofy barrel lengths they use, if at all. Accurate Arms data is good because they tell you they use a 4" 40S&W, 5" 10mm and 6" .357.
Using their data, you'll see


A 4" .40 S&W can move a 155 gr bullet at about 1125 fps for about 435 Ft-Lbs of energy.
A 6" .357 Magnum can move a 158 gr bullet at about 1360 fps for 648 ft-lbs of energy.
A 5" 10mm Auto can use a 155 gr. bullet at about 1400 fps for 675 ft-lbs of energy.

I think the only place it would matter would be big game hunting ( maybe hogs and whitetail?) and the ME and TKO edge always goes to the 10mm ... but maybe not by enough to convert a revolver hunter to an autoloader hunter.

 

[STCM(SW)]

I always preferred a S&W Magnum my self.....

 

[alwslate]

If I had it to do over I probably would have gotten my SIG P226 in 9mm instead of .40 S&W.

Now you're thinking!

 

[scooter123]

No, the 357 Magnum has the potential for a much more powerful load. As a reloader I am quite familiar with the potential for both calibers. My hottest 40 caliber load is a 165 grain Speer Gold Dot over x.xx grains of Accurate #5 and it will clock at 1150 fps from a 4 inch barrel with my chronograph. In comparison I have loaded 158 grain Hornady XTP's to 1300 fps from a 4 inch barrel on my model 620 revolver and per the loading manuals I was not at maximum. BTW, found the recoil was a bit more than what I like to shoot with so I only loaded one box, my more typical load clocks at 1150 fps. I also have several boxes of "light" Magnums loaded to 950 fps for use in my wonderful model 19, which features a 2 1/2 inch barrel.

 

[Breakaway500]

No. Oh..too short an answer. Hell no...

 

[rwsmith]

How much more...

...........

A .40 S&W can move a 155 gr bullet at about 1150 fps for about 460 Ft-Lbs of energy.

A .357 Magnum can move a 158 gr bullet at about 1240 fps for 539 ft-lbs of energy.

A 10mm Auto can use a 155 gr. bullet at about 1400 fps for 675 ft-lbs of energy.


The energy of certain loads vary a lot, but average in the order show. ie The .40 tops out at about 556 ft-lbs. The .357 has loads in the 780 ft-lb range . While one loading of the 10 mm can produce 768 ft-lbs energy and.

Wow, how much more can you get out of a .357?

 

[rwsmith]

How much more...

...........

A .40 S&W can move a 155 gr bullet at about 1150 fps for about 460 Ft-Lbs of energy.

A .357 Magnum can move a 158 gr bullet at about 1240 fps for 539 ft-lbs of energy.

A 10mm Auto can use a 155 gr. bullet at about 1400 fps for 675 ft-lbs of energy.


The energy of certain loads vary a lot, but average in the order show. ie The .40 tops out at about 556 ft-lbs. The .357 has loads in the 780 ft-lb range . While one loading of the 10 mm can produce 768 ft-lbs energy and.

Wow, how much more can you get out of a .357?

 

[BAM-BAM]

Wasn't the 125gr. .357Sig..... a bottlenecked .40 case ..... designed to replicate the 125gr .357magnum round fired from a 4" barrel.

 

[stansdds]

The 40 S&W is not the semi-auto counterpart of the 357 Magnum. The 357 Sig can match the ballistics of the 357 Magnum, but is limited to bullet weights of no more than 150 grains. The 10mm Auto easily matches and can slightly exceed the 357 Magnum with bullet weights of 135 to 200 grains.

 

[M29since14]

If I had it to do over I probably would have gotten my SIG P226 in 9mm instead of .40 S&W.

It’s a different topic, but I agree 100%. I can’t explain why, but I find P226 .40-caliber guns difficult to shoot well. I never took the time to test mine for accuracy from the bench and I probably should have. Maybe it had a bad barrel, or maybe it was ammunition sensitive and wasn’t being given what it liked, but I could easily outshoot it with my P229. I shot a few others and had similar impressions. On the other hand, I consider the 226 in 9mm a sweetheart. I really like the newer E2-style grip, but haven’t been able to justify buying one of those guns, just yet.

Back to the original topic, in guns with 4-inch barrels, I don’t see a lot of difference between the two rounds, at short range. Admittedly, the .357 will be quicker, but not a lot - probably about 10%, and longer ranges should favor the .357. To me, the .40 is closer to the .357 than the 10mm will ever be to the .41 Magnum. (There’s a really tired discussion, IMO. )

 

[chief38]

I suppose the .357 Magnum has a slight edge over the 40S&W but since you are comparing a Revolver cartridge to a Semi Auto cartridge and there are many variables such as barrel length, B/C Gap, bullet weight, powders used, etc. it's sort of a moot point.

If you are set on an Auto Loader, the 10mm would answer your "power situation" however that caliber seems to be on its way out of popularity and might soon be difficult to feed. From what I've been seeing lately, the new & improved 9mm offerings are also taking their toll on the 40 S&W - as many police and law enforcement agency's have switched back to the 9. I suspect the 40 S&W while still fairly popular will start loosing more ground to the 9mm as well.

I truly believe the 10mm and the 40 S&W are the reasons that the ammo and gun Company's got off their Butts and revved up the old 9mm into a new viable caliber for the future. It is also the reason I believe the 10mm and .40 S&W will fade away and sort of become what the .38 Super and the .357 Sig have.

 

[Walkingwolf]

I prefer revolvers, but on occasion like when I am on my motorcycle carry a Glock 22. One thing to keep in mind when balancing the power of any round is capacity. Is the energy of 6 357 going to be as effective as 15 40 into a grisly bear. Even the 9 mm probably beats the 357 in power in a similar sized handgun. IIRC a 12 gauge buck shot round is around 9 pellets at probably slightly faster than the 40, but lighter. Considering the round count I trust the 40 just as much the 357.

If I am comparing revolver to revolver 44 mag beats the 357 which is usually what I carry in the woods. Also compare the 40 to 357 in a snub, I believe the 40 will be very close with considerable less recoil, and muzzle flash.

 

[Dvus]

I would stay away from 40 cal. I think it is a dying breed, in an auto 9mm

Funny, thats exactly what everyone was saying about the 9mm 20 years ago, yet it's still here. And back with a vengeance. All this talk about how new bullet design and technology have made the 9mm equal to or superior to the .40 is probably true... until you apply the same tech to the .40. Now we're right back where we were with the 40 out in front of the 9 again.
This whole thing about law enforcement agencies switching back to 9mm because it's better is horse ****. The whole reason for the switch was, and is, all about economics. 9mm is cheaper to produce than .40, and when departments started adding up how much could be saved shooting 9mm in practice vs. 40 over 10 years, it was a real eye opener. The whole "well, new tech. and bullet design blah blah makes the 9 a better cartridge" was created to sell the idea. How else are you going to tell officers who are out there putting their lives on the line that " Hey, we're taking your .40s that have worked so well for the last 20 or so years and we're gonna give you this smaller cartridge to defend yourself with. But hey!.. You'll be saving us 15cents!" (Based on an average 5 rounds fired per shooting incident) I know alot of officers who were not pleased with the decision. I just pray to God that they are right when they say the new 9s are as good or better than the old .40.
As for me, I will continue to use my .40s (including a brand new Glock 22 that I picked up cheap from a local police dept.) For defense and competition (by the way, 9s are STILL classified as MINOR in USPSA) so the less 40 you all shoot up leaves more for me.

But no, it's no .357 (another dying breed replaced by the 9mm.)

(stepping down from soapbox...)

 

[BAM-BAM]

Funny, thats exactly what everyone was saying about the 9mm 20 years ago, yet it's still here. And back with a vengeance.


This whole thing about law enforcement agencies switching back to 9mm because it's better is horse ****. The whole reason for the switch was, and is, all about economics. 9mm is cheaper to produce than .40, and when departments started adding up how much could be saved shooting 9mm in practice vs. 40 over 10 years, it was a real eye opener. The whole "well, new tech. and bullet design blah blah makes the 9 a better cartridge" was created to sell the idea. How else are you going to tell officers who are out there putting their lives on the line that " Hey, we're taking your .40s that have worked so well for the last 20 or so years and we're gonna give you this smaller cartridge to defend yourself with. But hey!.. You'll be saving us 15cents!" (Based on an average 5 rounds fired per shooting incident) I know alot of officers who were not pleased with the decision. I just pray to God that they are right when they say the new 9s are as good or better than the old .40.


But no, it's no .357 (another dying breed replaced by the 9mm.)

(stepping down from soapbox...)

Same with the guns....... bean counter go for the low bid...... not knocking Glocks; they work. Are they the best? I don't know! But for years they were the cheapest gun offered in response to Dept RFPs that........... "worked"!


IMO in handguns shot placement is King .... stopping power is secondary from a "single" handgun round; hence the "double tap" or "2 to the chest 1 to the head"....... a 9,40 or 45 ain't no .308 or even 5.56!!!!!

Heck; with my new Mec-gar flush fit mags ..... my Beretta 92 Centurion is up to 18+1 vs 12+1 for a .40 caliber S&W 96.