.40 over 9mm

[Cerberus Group]

I have recoil anticipation and push low and left

Easily fixed...more grip...more grip

 

[The Heretic]

For a home defense handgun, still prefer my SIG 227 Tactical



Yes, larger, heavier, but more powerful and 14 rounds of .45 ACP. At home, size and weight are not really a factor - it isn't that much larger or heavier than a 226 in .40 and I don't have a problem with the recoil - although I am sure I am a bit slower with it.

 

[NU9MM]

Easily fixed...more grip...more grip

Thank you. Man I still have to get over to see you. Life has thrown me some serious curves since we last PM'ed

 

[oremike]

So I was thinking about this 9 vs 40 thing
Why would anyone want a caliber the means no in German(nein, nein, nein)
When you can have the fun loving caliber four-tay that rhymes with Par-tay?

 

[BillyJean]

So I was thinking about this 9 vs 40 thing
Why would anyone want a caliber the means no in German(nein, nein, nein)
When you can have the fun loving caliber four-tay that rhymes with Par-tay?

Because someone's a German boot licker?

Because when the alphabet agencies and 5-0 started letting in wusses they switched to 9?

Mall cops wanna be like their heroes?

Because "bullet technology has come a long way" and somehow that technology only benefits 9mm?

 

[HaveGun]

I used to carry .40 S&W exclusively for self-defense. No problem with recoil or 1 or 2 less rounds. Then Sig came out with the P365 and after I held one and marveled at it's size and capacity, I started looking at all of the data involving self-defense shootings and decided the extra capacity and ease of carry was worth the marginal difference in effectiveness.

If Sig came out with a .40 S&W version of the P365, I would be all over it like a fat kid on a Snickers bar.

So far, so good. I find myself carrying much more frequently due to just how easy it is to conceal 12 rounds.

I think the .40 S&W is a better caliber than 9mm, but not enough to sacrifice 100% capacity in the same size pistol (XDS 40 vs. P365/Hellcat).

 

[deadeye]

, I would be all over it like a fat kid on a Snickers bar.

HEY NOW! I might have been offended but I'm not a kid anymore.

 

[L84Cabo]

When I first started getting into pistols I made a conscious decision to keep my pistol calibers to just two...9mm and 45 acp. This was primarily based on financial concerns and it turned out to be a very good decision. I don't have all the 9mm's and 45's I want and I struggle to keep them all fed. I can't imagine how much worse it would be if I was also collecting .40's too.

For me the .40 just didn't represent enough of an improvement over 9mm to justify the extra recoil and cost of round. If I felt I needed a bigger caliber than 9mm, then I would go 45 acp.

And now with the popularity of .40 really declining, I suspect the cost of .40 cal ammo will only go up.

YMMV.

 

[The Heretic]

I stayed with 9mm and .45 too. Thought .40 was just enough off the mainstream that while it had advantages, I might have trouble finding ammo for it if SHTF.

Then I learned that it was relatively easy to shift back and forth between 9mm & .40, without having to buy another gun - just buy a .40 gun and a 9mm barrel for that gun, then stock up on .40 ammo. When the .40 runs out, switch to 9mm and I have yet more ammo.

Given that in most SHTF situations, I won't be expending thousands of rounds of pistol ammo anyway (as pistols are either for fighting to get to your rifle, or a last ditch defensive weapon when your rifle jams, the real firearm I need to stock up on ammo for is my rifle), not really too worried about those scenarios. I.E., if I have to use my pistol in a SHTF scenario, it will be 20 to 30 rounds expended to get to my rifle, then it will be rifle ammo expended until I run out of that - from that point, if I run out of pistol ammo, it won't be thousands of rounds, it will be a couple of mags, and then my knife, and then fists and feet and maybe rocks and sticks. You get the idea.

Plus, if 9mm becomes the end all/be all of SHTF pistols, that should mean all the more .40 ammo for me anyway.

Besides, I also have .357, .44 mag and .45 Colt too - for hunting/etc. *shrug*

 

[BlindedByScience]

I've got a Glock 23 but with a Lone Wolf conversion barrel and G19 mags it shoots 9mm flawlessly. Best of both worlds. My primary "what was that" tool is a G17 in 9mm stocked with Speer Gold Dots and a TLR2. No concerns. I shoot both, but I seem to be more accurate and quicker with 9mm. One guys opinion....

 

[sobo]

or me the .40 just didn't represent enough of an improvement over 9mm to justify the extra recoil and cost of round.

I find that I have less muzzle flip and get target re-acquisition faster with my .40 than with my 9 mm (P320 Compact and P365, respectively).
The 320 is a heavier gun, by about a pound when full, and it will absorb more recoil per ounce of gun weight than does the 365.
And the price per round where I buy is less than $0.01/round differential (both about 20 cents/rd), so ammo cost is not a factor.

 

[arakboss]

This guy says 40 is better than 9.

 

[arakboss]

357 sig feels left out.

 

[oremike]

For me both my 45 and 9mm hold 7 rounds where my Glock 22 is my only high capacity hand gun. I've all ways been a hit what you shoot at, one shot one kill kind of a guy. So most of my other hand guns are adjustable sighted 6 shot revolvers. Due to recent events I can see where a high volume of accurate firepower might be needed to protect my health and safety.

 

[Alexx1401]

I have always been a .45 guy. Had one .40 for a good while. Star Firestar. It was well nicknamed the firebrick. Very nice little pistol but damn it was heavy. I re homed it for a plastic 9mm. Now have a couple full size 9's. They were bought for Wife for house guns. Had one .40 PCC. It was brutal on recoil compared to the same gun in 9mm but it's because of how light they are. Finally sold it after I got PCC's in 10mm and .45. Now days I have been tempted again looking at .40 due to the damn drug zombies. Would love a 10mm or .40 in some kind of double stack. Every time I see video of one of these zombies that just can't be put down I start looking at something that holds more than the 11 rounds of .45

 

[The Heretic]

357 sig feels left out.

I have a 357 barrel and one box of ammo. Feels about the same as +P or +P+ 9mm, which is basically is.

In my experience with 9mm, 357 SIG, .40 and .45 ACP, .40 seems to be a little more recoil than 9mm, but significantly less than .45 ACP - but then I haven't compared .45 ACP 185 gr back to back with .40 180 grain.

These are all with SIGs of basically the same size, weight and configuration - i.e., a 226 in 9 and 40, and a .45 in a 227 Tactical. I am noticeably faster with .40 and 9mm than I am with .45 ACP, but I can't really tell the difference between .40 and 9mm, even though the 9mm is 115 gr and the .40 is 180 grain. Given the ballistics and other tests (gel, PH's "meat target", etc.), I therefore prefer the .40 with the 180 gr. projectile.

YMMV - plenty of good guns in each chambering. I do wish, as someone else noted, for a slim light high cap .40 - something like the P365, but I would prefer it with DA/SA over striker. I have a P224, but I can only get 2 fingers on the grips with my largish sized mitts.

 

[Vaultman]

I do believe I see this in my near future.View attachment 590872

I have the standard size, and it is the sami-auto pistol that I favor... by far. Have XD / XDm and have had GLOCK. Still favor this M&P 2.0, in 40SW. (I suspect I would like a SA/DA Sig also, but have not pulled the ownership trigger on one yet).

 

[Vaultman]

... Because "bullet technology has come a long way" and somehow that technology only benefits 9mm?

Right!? Amazing how that is the claim!

 

[Medic!]

OK. Here is the story.

The FBI spent Millions of dollars finding a better round than the 9mm that had so dramatically failed them. And the 10mm they quickly replaced it with.
Eventually they found the ''Goldilocks' ' round they were looking for in the 40 S&W.

Then they went back to 9mm.

Why?

It's a bit like the guy that specs out his perfect Tundra pickup.
Then buys the Corolla because it's cheeper and dose the job of getting him from point A to B.

 

[Dan Adams]

OK. Here is the story.

The FBI spent Millions of dollars finding a better round than the 9mm that had so dramatically failed them. And the 10mm they quickly replaced it with.
Eventually they found the ''Goldilocks' ' round they were looking for in the 40 S&W.

Then they went back to 9mm.

Why?

It's a bit like the guy that specs out his perfect Tundra pickup.
Then buys the Corolla because it's cheeper and dose the job of getting him from point A to B.

The 40 S&W was still too much for ALL of the agents to handle. It's essentially the rule of "lowest common denominator." If even only a few agents couldn't qualify with the 40, the FBI reverted to the 9mm. By then, the 9mm rounds had been improved, too, which made the move a bit more logical. If you have to provide everyone in a law enforcement unit, be it FBI or your local sheriff's department, with weapons and ammo, budget considerations come into play big time--why a lot of people (not me) go to Costco for the bulk savings. The decision didn't have much to do with the effectiveness of any particular caliber, though the ammo still had to pass certain minimum tests. [Which, not to get diverted here, is why Hornady offers Critical Duty ammo--which passes the auto glass barrier test--as well as Critical Defense, which is a better personal defense round as it performs well against soft targets but with less concern about penetrating apartment walls.]