.40 over 9mm

[No_Regerts]

Boy been watching a lot of videos on Glocks and M&P. It seems as though in some or most the shooter has to shake the glocks to get the mag to start to slide out of the mag well. And the M&P fly out. I know the Glock mags have a polymer coating. Do they have a more positive release once they have some wear. I would think in a defensive situation every second counts or fraction of a second. Not knocking Glock by a means just inquiring.

The M&P mags start to stick if they get wet, so they aren't perfect. Oddly enough, I never had issues with Glock magazines sticking.

 

[NU9MM]

The M&P mags start to stick if they get wet, so they aren't perfect. Oddly enough, I never had issues with Glock magazines sticking.

Nice. The few I've watched tonight it seemed the Glock mags were sticky.

 

[Pandaz3]

In regular shooting, no malfunctions, I have not had a magazine problem with my Glocks at all, 17, 20, 29, 33 or 42.

Oddly the 19 a followed by the 23 seem favorites among Glocks, but it does not suit me or the wife I am a taller (6' 2") fat guy can't abide Glock compact frames, and my wife is much shorter (5' 3") and she passed on the 19 too. So it does not suit all people, but those that like the fit, love the gun.

My favorite Glock fit is the G-26/27/33, my wife loves her 17 and 42.

 

[No_Regerts]

In regular shooting, no malfunctions, I have not had a magazine problem with my Glocks at all, 17, 20, 29, 33 or 42.

Oddly the 19 a followed by the 23 seem favorites among Glocks, but it does not suit me or the wife I am a taller (6' 2") fat guy can't abide Glock compact frames, and my wife is much shorter (5' 3") and she passed on the 19 too. So it does not suit all people, but those that like the fit, love the gun.

My favorite Glock fit is the G-26/27/33, my wife loves her 17 and 42.

What is strange, is I have never kept a Glock 19 ot 23, but I run em better than just about any other Glock.

 

[NU9MM]

I'm definitely going to run the 19 and 23 plus the M2.0 9c and 40c if they have a 40 to rent. As much as the salesman and the ranger employees looked at me funny when I said I may want to go back to 40. Because a lot of people seem to be leaning back towards the 9.

 

[No_Regerts]

I'm definitely going to run the 19 and 23 plus the M2.0 9c and 40c if they have a 40 to rent. As much as the salesman and the ranger employees looked at me funny when I said I may want to go back to 40. Because a lot of people seem to be leaning back towards the 9.

Shoot whatever you want to shoot. No one can say 9mm performs better than .40 given the same bullet construction and BC.

Ever notice that the people who don't gripe about .40 are the people who shoot it a lot? I'm tired of the YouTube experts who were in the military for one enlistment, waxing eloquent about 9mm and damning a cartridge they have no practical experience with. Its awesome when they say the "old 45 ACP" is now obsolete. 9mm IS OLDER THAN ALL OF THEM! Cartridges like 45 ACP, 10mm, .40 S&W, and 357 Sig were all created in response to good people dying when 9mm and similar performers didn't stop bad people for one reason or another. Then, nothing bad happens for a while and then we go back to beancounter status and start shooting 9mm again.

Go to a gun store and ask the bearded 5.11 monkey about .40. He will talk dead cartridge and 9mm blah blah. Then ask if he was/is civilian LE or was in the Coast Guard or something that would give him SOME experience shooting a volume of .40. Guess what the answer to that will be?

I shoot lots of .40. I shoot great with .40. I compete with .40. I often carry .40. I've never shot anyone with it, but have seen several and they died. I've fired 2 total rounds at charging dogs resulting in two instantly dead dogs...using .40. It works!

 

[The Heretic]

SOme aftermarket GLock mags may not have the steel insert, and may swell when loaded, and therefore may be sticky when the shooter goes to drop them.

 

[DHart]

.40S&W is a very fine defense cartridge, well proven, highly effective, and my first choice of calibers among defensive pistol calibers. Yeah, .45 is nice, and 9mm has some advantages. But .40S&W wraps all the goodness up in one excellent caliber.

Those idiots at gun shops are to be ignored.

Most of those rushing to 9mm are nothing more than mindless lemmings. And a large part of people buying 9mm is because the gun shops are pushing 9mm and pooh-poohing .40S&W and .45auto. A lot of gun buyers are newbies who know little to nothing about guns. They listen to the gun-shop commandos and buy what is pushed on them. It is a rare sales guy at a gun shop that I would trust the opinion of. Most of the ones I've encountered are bordering on being bubblegum-hats.

9mm is not a bad caliber and has it's good applications (pocket guns). It's just not that great of a caliber. But every caliber that has ever been created, has been created for a reason - and offers unique benefits that no other caliber offers. I like 9mm - for sub-compact pocket guns. For compact and standard size guns, it's .40S&W all the way for me. (And, yes, I have plenty of .45auto, .357 magnum, .44 magnum, and 9mm handguns at my disposal, if I wish to use them.)

 

[best defense]

I know the 9mm is probably thy most popular caliber out there and the advancements in the ammo is fabulous. But just curious how many still prefer the S&W .40 over the 9mm and why. Thank you in advance.

*****************************************************************

I understand that many people like the 40S&W cartridge better than the 9mm or 45ACP and I am equally sure they have their reasons, and I would not argue with anyone who says 40 is a better choice.
When the 40S&W was all the rage I thought I should find out for myself what all the excitement was about so I went out and bought a second hand 40S&W handgun. I bought 3 boxes of ammo, not all the same brand and not all the same type of bullet. I took those boxes of ammo to the range and shot them at paper targets, then took the brass home and reloaded it with different bullets and shot those at the range as well.

I thought I had given the handgun a decent trial and made the decision to sell the gun and the reloading dies to an acquaintance because the recoil impulse on the 40, even with light target loads made my fore arm ache. I did not find the 40 to be more accurate than either the 9mm or 45, and I did not want to start looking for holsters that would work for me. Having one or two more cartridges in the magazine was not going to make a diference in my choice. I was trained decades ago to shoot a revolver and make 6 rounds and two speed loaders count. Fire power is great to have, but it is no substitute for accuracy.
That was about 6 years ago and I have never regretted my decision.

 

[DHart]

*****************************************************************

I understand that many people like the 40S&W cartridge better than the 9mm or 45ACP and I am equally sure they have their reasons, and I would not argue with anyone who says 40 is a better choice.
When the 40S&W was all the rage I thought I should find out for myself what all the excitement was about so I went out and bought a second hand 40S&W handgun. I bought 3 boxes of ammo, not all the same brand and not all the same type of bullet. I took those boxes of ammo to the range and shot them at paper targets, then took the brass home and reloaded it with different bullets and shot those at the range as well.

I thought I had given the handgun a decent trial and made the decision to sell the gun and the reloading dies to an acquaintance because the recoil impulse on the 40, even with light target loads made my fore arm ache. I did not find the 40 to be more accurate than either the 9mm or 45, and I did not want to start looking for holsters that would work for me. Having one or two more cartridges in the magazine was not going to make a diference in my choice. I was trained decades ago to shoot a revolver and make 6 rounds and two speed loaders count. Fire power is great to have, but it is no substitute for accuracy.
That was about 6 years ago and I have never regretted my decision.

What was the pistol you did your testing with?

 

[Pandaz3]

9mm for paper .40 for protection. Yes you may get more power, and you do get a little bit bigger diameter from the 40, is it needed?I would rather have it than not have it and need it. I would rather use something I know I could hit my target with than a larger caliber. Use the search function, alot of threads on this from the past.

Thanks for the tip, it never occurred to me that this might have been a subject from before, imagine that!

 

[NU9MM]

Heard this on a movie. Never shoot a large caliber man with a small caliber bullet.

 

[tkdguy]

What 40 caliber bullet weight are you shooting out of a 3" barrel? I have a Springfield 40 3.3" barrel that will not handle point of aim at 21 feet with 180 grains [bullet drop is bad, maybe 4-7 inches] , but works fine with a 135 grain bullet. I have a 4006 that handles 180 grain just great and on point of aim at 25 yards.

 

[NU9MM]

Also from watching videos some can control the muzzle flip on the .40 quite well. I would Imagine that's comes with trigger time. Practice practice practice.

 

[Pandaz3]

What 40 caliber bullet weight are you shooting out of a 3" barrel? I have a Springfield 40 3.3" barrel that will not handle point of aim at 21 feet with 180 grains [bullet drop is bad, maybe 4-7 inches] , but works fine with a 135 grain bullet. I have a 4006 that handles 180 grain just great and on point of aim at 25 yards.

I have 3.0, 3.3 and up to 5" barrels and I have settled on Underwood 155 grain XTP's, in 40 and 10 MM, because they function well in all my guns. I do have some minor POA/POI differences with some guns, but not enough for me to be concerned about. I carry my 3" the most and it is the one I want to be dead on the most. I am not and never will be a good enough shot. Underwood is expensive, and I don't reload. As such I don't do a lot of testing. I do have 135, 150, 155, 175, and 180 grain Underwood and many other brands. I have some Lehigh in different weights, shapes too. (Okay I guess, sticking with XTP.)
I got stuck on XTP's with 380 where the bullet is more conical shaped and the smaller hollow point mouth made feeding much more reliable in all different makes (The only round for my Kahr)
The 155 and 165, 180 XTPs in 40, are more rounded up front, still with a relatively small mouth. I have the 150 Nosler's with a bigger mouth and I have some other big mouth rounds, and have yet to experience a jam. I just feel better using a round I expect to function every time. I don't personally, have a warm fuzzy, with big mouth rounds.

 

[Zanester]

The wife & I shot both the 9 mm and .40 handguns at the local range, 2 were low end S&W 's (SW 40 V) and the other a Glock we rented at the gun range. I preferred the .40 cal, she liked the 9mm but we swapped out often. The groups told the tale and the .40 was good. Variables are involved so not the final word. Do like that Smitty in .40 cal... and I'm pretty sure it appeals to my gal. I know it targets fine with a little bit o kick but gets there on time with extra sting over a 9.

 

[NU9MM]

The wife & I shot both the 9 mm and .40 handguns at the local range, 2 were low end S&W 's (SW 40 V) and the other a Glock we rented at the gun range. I preferred the .40 cal, she liked the 9mm but we swapped out often. The groups told the tale and the .40 was good. Variables are involved so not the final word. Do like the that Smitty in .40 cal... and I'm pretty sure it appeals to my gal. I know it targets fine with a little bit o kick but gets there on time with extra sting over a 9.

What range were you at. I'm going to SafeFire in Camas. I'm definitely going to tryout a couple .40's the Glock 23 and M&P 2.0 9 and .40

 

[Zanester]

Bellevue Wa. Forget the name but it's a big place.

 

[No_Regerts]

Also from watching videos some can control the muzzle flip on the .40 quite well. I would Imagine that's comes with trigger time. Practice practice practice.

I think that as life goes on, a certain level of introspect is necessary. My dad was a 1911/45 guy for a long time. As he got older, he started to not like the weight of the gun on his bad hip. He started to notbe able to control it as well. So, rather than carry a gun out of being stubborn and prideful, he started carrying lighter guns with lighter recoil. He has the same pride of ownership from his Browning Hi Power as he did with the 1911. It recoils less and is lighter overall.

Someday, I'll be the same way. Until then, I'm happy shooting stuff like 40 and 45.

 

[NU9MM]

Ok oh your up north nice.