M&P .40 or .45

[Bonecrusher]

Bought my 1st handgun several months ago to use in the car and on the night stand. It is an M&P 9mm and I am very satisfied except it does not have a thumb safety. I've decided to replace it with one that has a thumb safety and am thinking about stepping up to an M&P .40 or .45 semi-automatic. I am leaning toward the .45 for the added punch but I'd very much appreciate your thoughts about the pros and cons of the .40 vs the .45 before I "pull the trigger" on this purchase. Thanks!

 

[JPriest]

I recently made the switch from .40 to .45 (Glock to M&P as well) and I'm glad I did. I find the .45 easier to shoot well than the .40. The .40 seemed a lot snappier to me. I was pretty much shooting tighter groups with the .45 from day one than I was with the .40 after a year.

 

[JPriest]

I should note that .45 ammo is a little more expensive than .40, but since I am shooting better with it I compensate by shooting about 10% fewer rounds each time I'm out to the range.

 

[Zjnovak]

Either way, you wont be dissappointed. Just comparing the prices of steel cased ammo, usually 9mm is $10, 40 is $12, and 45 is $15. Those were (emphasis on the were) the going rates at walmart a few months ago. Now I'm seeing both as high as $25-$30 a box.

I reload though, so loading cast 40 s&w costs me around $.11/round. 45 acp with Winchester FMJ is around $.22/round. Thats a whole different subject though. Personslly, I would go with the 45, but if you go with 40 you can always convert it to 9 also.

 

[Lost Lake]

As far as power goes, there isn't a lot of difference in effectiveness between .40 and .45.

The .45 is a sweet shooter. Recoil is less harsh than the .40. But the .40 can take 9mm and .357 barrels if that interests you....

.

 

[Arik]

Rent them before you buy. 40 has some snap to it, its higher pressure then the 9 or 45. You might not like it and its tge caliber that lets you know if youre limp wristing.

Also dont get onto the mindset of "bigger" or "more punch". While the FMJ 45 is better then the 9, quality SD ammo bridges that gap big time. If you follow that logic then you'll need a 10mm, 50AE, 500S&W...etc...

9mm Speer Gold Dot 124-147gr +p is excellent SD ammo. And 17 rounds of that is a +.

However i do own the 45M&P and its a great gun if i had to trade it would be for the 45



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