Is it really true that the .40 S&W is dead?

[growr]

Doesn't seek to be the case here in Montana...but then we are usually a few years late to the party.
I am not aware of gunshops and pawnshops refusing to pawn or buy a .40 S&W. Again, that is life in Montana................

Randy

 

[LVSteve]

It was dead to me about 15 years ago after shooting a buddy's Glock 23C.

 

[mrchuck]

The 40SW caliber is still popular here.

 

[Culina]

You must be reading too many gun magazines. I guess some people follow whatever the FBI does like its some kind of law, others do their own thing. .40 S&W is great for reloaders because the once fired brass is the most abundant and cheapest you can find. I just wish the projectiles were a little more economical. At this point there are too many firearms chambered in .40 S&W for it to "die", I think 45 GAP will die a quite death.

 

[Nevada Ed]

There are a lot of LE's that use the 40, out here in the West.

Even the Highway Patrol uses that caliber, so it might take a while to phase out, if true.

Big is good but lots of ammo is important also. One reason you don't see many .45 on the hips of the LE officers out West.

It might be an uphill battle.

 

[Harrison]

Been dead for me for 20 years. If I want/need a big bore, I pick a 45acp.

 

[loknload]

The .40 is not dead in my book! Still carry a Glock 27 and a Beretta 8040.
Both of them real fine shooters. Would never give them up for 9mm.

 

[joeintexas]

You don't seem to see as many here now as before but they are still out there. I have a couple guns I shoot 40s in, a S&W Shield and a Sig P250 which also shoots 357 Sig. I load for the 40 and I know several folks that do also so I don't think it's dead, maybe not feeling too good but not dead either.

 

[Muss Muggins]

Dead to me, anyway. Sold all my .40 pistols and ammo a couple years ago . . .

 

[gman51]

Well I guess the government stockpiling millions of 40 cal rounds was a total screw up. I guess thousands of local police departments will be looking for a new caliber to carry.
When ammo was scarce I still saw 40 cal on the shelves for sale. Yes there are more 9mm handguns than 40 cal but the 40 isn't going away. Same as the 380 is still around so will the 40 cal be around for a long time to come.

I have a Sig P226 in 40 cal and a Ruger SR40c in 40 cal. Both guns handle the 40 cal with ease. I had a G27 Glock and a Springfield XDMc both in 40 but sold both of them.

 

[ColbyBruce]

In my area you can’t give a .40 S&W away; the only cartridge with less popularity is the .45 GAP. There are thousands of LE trade-ins in both calibers in local gunshops collecting dust. Most shops here will not take a .40 S&W on trade. I like the cartridge and own three Sigs chambered for it. I have given my son a BHP and Sig SP2022 in the caliber, and his Christmas present is a Walther PPS in .40 S&W. The PPS is meant to be a fishing pistol for him.

I have purchased a few other .40 pistols in the last few months and two GAP’s and passed them on to fishermen. I think a .40 pistol loaded with 200 grain hardcast Buffalo Bore, Double Tap, or Underwood ammo ought to stop most any threat one is likely to encounter in a Georgia trout stream.

 

[Cal44]

I hope 40 S&W isn't dead.

I just bought a Glock 27.

Took it to the range for the first time yesterday. Found the recoil not bad at all -- much less that I expected.

 

[2ffat]

It seems to me that we had this discussion a few years ago about the 10mm. Now the 10mm is enjoying a resurgence in popularity. I suspect that the pendulum will swing back the other way for the .40 at some point in the future.

 

[otis24]

It seems to me that we had this discussion a few years ago about the 10mm. Now the 10mm is enjo

The resurgence of the 10mm, particularly in revolvers (depending on how popular the 10mm revolver is) may help keep the .40 S&W alive. I liked the .40 when I had one (Beretta 96).

For me, and maybe many others, the selection of a firerarm is oftten dependent upon ammo price and availability. After reading some on the .40, I had a better respect for it as a self-defense caliber. But price and availability keep me from purchasing a .40.

If I were in a career that required me to carry on a daily basis, I would care less about cost and would opt for the .40. For now, I will stick with the 9mm in an auto caliber and .38/.357 in my revolvers.

 

[Old_Cop]

The forty is a good round, lots of PDs use it. I shoot mostly 9mm because I am older and it's easy to load, not because of the FBIs newest test results.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

It will never die. As others said some people think when LE changes caliber what they gave up is extinct. I don't follow the wind or trends. I still like the forty and still think its better than any 9 with the same bullet. Heck you can still by guns and ammo chambered in 32-20/38-55 etc and those cartridges are over 100 yrs. old..........25 years or so ago and after the Miami shootout the .40 was the hottest thing going. Its still a great cartridge. BUT....Manufacturers have to shake things up a bit now and then to sell new product.

 

[Sevens]

It has taken me years to warm up to the .40 S&W round. It is nowhere near my favorite but I have found a place for it in my life. As a handloader, .40 brass is extremely plentiful and very very easy to find for free scattered on gun ranges. I have a great supply of bullets in this caliber and more brass than I will ever use, so it's an easy choice for shooting somewhere that I can't get my brass or all of my brass back.

I shoot a lot more 9mm than .40 cal, but I can tell you for certain that there is a noticeable improvement in how a .40cal 165gr or 180gr slug drops a steel plate compared to a 9mm. Not that steel plates are the ultimate judge of anything, but at my club I shoot an awful lot of them, and .40cal dumps them very nicely and better than 9mm does.

The market for .40cal guns is soft these days... I'd love to take advantage of that.

 

[andy52]

I suppose it's never been alive to me, I've never owned a .40 and really didn't want to.

 

[Dump1567]

Well let's see.


.38-40 is basically .40 S&W

.41 Mag. downloaded due to too much recoil was basically .40 S&W

10mm downloaded due to too much recoil was basically .40 S&W

.40 S&W developed & is a great compromise between capacity and bullet diameter

9mm now does it all (although .40 will always be a bigger diameter than 9mm).

I'm sure the .40 will be forgotten for a few years & comeback as the answer to all "lack of stopping" problems.

Isn't that what we're doing with the 6.5 creedmore? It's the new wonder kid on the block & .308 is falling out of favor. Although the 6mm and 7mm have been around since the 1890's.

Man seems to be constantly searching for the "Magic bullet" and is never satisfied.

I'm fine with .40 S&W.

 

[scattershot]

With all the dirt cheap .40 police turnins, and sales on new pistols, too, I think you will see the .40 become popular again