How dead is 40?

[KTM530XCW]

I posted 8 handguns on NWFA in the past 2 months.

Calibers that sold: 9mm, 10mm, 9x25 Dillon, 22TCM9R and 357 sig.

Caliber that hasn't sold: 40SW

You literally can't give away a 40sw anymore.

It's dead.

 

[The Heretic]

I posted 8 handguns on NWFA in the past 2 months.

Calibers that sold: 9mm, 10mm, 9x25 Dillon, 22TCM9R and 357 sig.

Caliber that hasn't sold: 40SW

You literally can't give away a 40sw anymore.

It's dead.

I would have bought it, but stuff happens. The timing sucked.

But if you want to give it to me for free...

 

[RVTECH]

You literally can't give away a 40sw anymore.

Hardly any ammo moving for it as well in Sportsman's

 

[sobo]

You literally can't give away a 40sw anymore.

I'm your huckleberry...

 

[The Heretic]

Hardly any ammo moving for it as well in Sportsman's

If you rely on what is on the shelf in a gun store, then you are not stocking your ammo correctly.

Also, for many guns, like SIGs and Glocks, you can get a conversion barrel to shoot 9mm in a .40 handgun.

It isn't that the .40 is a bad cartridge, it is a good one, it is that it fell out of favor by the LE community and never really got picked up by the military. So getting a .40 handgun is not a bad idea as long as you have the ammo and a 9mm handgun to shoot the more available 9mm, or a conversion barrel.

If SHTF, I will shoot/carry .40 until I run out of .40, then switch over to 9mm - or maybe before. It isn't like I am going to get into a firefight at my BOL and run out of handgun .40 ammo in the middle of it. A handgun is for fighting until you can get to your long gun. If I get to the point where my .40 ammo is running low, then I will switch over to 9mm. I won't be running down to the LGS to restock any ammo during SHTF - I am not even buying ammo right now due to the panic buying and my employment status.

 

[CLT65]

You literally can't give away a 40sw anymore.

Dang, if you're "literally" giving it away, put me on the list too. I'll take it!

 

[coltemp]

Don't forget the even easier conversion to 357 sig for the 40!

 

[sobo]

Dang, if you're "literally" giving it away, put me on the list too. I'll take it!

The line forms behind me...

 

[CLT65]

I've looked at the .357 SIG a few times, been tempted. It looks like you can get a barrel for about $70 and that's all you need. But then I hear that it's even more snappy than the .40, and I lose interest. Maybe someday, when I have an extra $70 to burn, but then I'd need dies, and brass...

The reason I'm fine with the .40 S&W, and it's decline in popularity doesn't bother me, is simply because I have dies, molds, lots of brass, and popularity doesn't matter to me at all. Like .38 Special, it will never go away. As long as ammunition and components are available at all in the future, .40 S&W will be there. It's just to common to be otherwise, regardless of how far it falls in popularity. I couldn't care less what all the cool kids are shooting.

And as I said already, I actually do prefer the 9mm. I have one .40 pistol, and more than one 9mm.

 

[The Heretic]

Don't forget the even easier conversion to 357 sig for the 40!

I have one (a .357 SIG barrel). Sorry, but I prefer the .40; I can get and shoot 135 gr loads that are just as effective as .357 SIG. The .40 does better than the .357 SIG with heavier projectiles - I mostly buy 180 gr loads, but you can get 200 grain loads too if you need them.

I can get 9mm +P+ loads that are about as effective as .357 SIG.

IMO the .40 is a more versatile cartridge. The only downsides when compared to 9mm are ammo availability in a situation where you have not stocked up on ammo (I have, a little) and people are panic buying or you can't get any at all, and the 9mm guns usually give you a couple more rounds.

 

[The Heretic]

The line forms behind me...

I had first dibs - long before he made the post.

 

[RVTECH]

If you rely on what is on the shelf in a gun store,

I don't.

Just mentioning out of all the ammo on the shelves it's the most plentiful - but the 9mm was making a comeback last week - along with reloading supplies.

 

[coltemp]

I have one (a .357 SIG barrel). Sorry, but I prefer the .40; I can get and shoot 135 gr loads that are just as effective as .357 SIG. The .40 does better than the .357 SIG with heavier projectiles - I mostly buy 180 gr loads, but you can get 200 grain loads too if you need them.

I can get 9mm +P+ loads that are about as effective as .357 SIG.

IMO the .40 is a more versatile cartridge. The only downsides when compared to 9mm are ammo availability in a situation where you have not stocked up on ammo (I have, a little) and people are panic buying or you can't get any at all, and the 9mm guns usually give you a couple more rounds.

Hey no agruments from me. The 40 does indeed handle the heavier loads. And yes with the options you have these days with 9mm and the powders available the need for the 357 sig is substantially less. The one nice thing about the 357 sig is you only need the barrel. Many of the past 9mm conversions (Though its very nice to see this is changing too.) was you needed a slide and mag conversion as well.

The benefits of better powder, better bullet tech, better engineering makes the need for special calibers far less than in the past!

 

[The Heretic]

Hey no agruments from me. The 40 does indeed handle the heavier loads. And yes with the options you have these days with 9mm and the powders available the need for the 357 sig is substantially less. The one nice thing about the 357 sig is you only need the barrel. Many of the past 9mm conversions (Though its very nice to see this is changing too.) was you needed a slide and mag conversion as well.

The benefits of better powder, better bullet tech, better engineering makes the need for special calibers far less than in the past!

Plus you want to talk ammo availability? The .40 may not be as popular as the 9x19, but just try to find any .357 SIG ammo - talk about dead. There is a cartridge that will someday be extinct when major manufacturers stop making it altogether.

For most of the classic SIGs and some Glocks at least, maybe others (I don't know), for some models all you need is a 'conversion barrel' and recoil spring. For SIGs the mags are said to feed either 9mm or .40 - I haven't tried that extensively yet. IIRC when I tried .40 in a 9mm mag I had some feeding problems, but I don't remember if I had switched the recoil spring or not.

For the SIG 229/228 (the 229 slide on the older 9mm 228 frame), you need to switch out the locking insert (about $20 from CDNN) if you have a 9mm locking insert (you probably will on the older 229 frame) and you want to convert to .40. If you have a .40 229 (the later frame with the wider magwell - sometimes called the 229-1), then a 9mm conversion barrel works with the .40 locking insert. The 229 .40 mags will not fit into the older 229/228 frame, but the 226 .40 mags will.

I have a SIG 2022 that I bought a 2340 barrel/slide for and it works fine.

For the P226 no problems with the locking insert or mags. For any of these, it is easier to go from .40 to 9mm than the other way around, because the .40/.357 barrels will not fit into the 9mm slides - the OD is wider, whereas, in a pinch, the standard 9mm barrel may fit into the .40 slide (it depends on the model, etc., some people have done it, it is not optimum and may cause problems as the breech face may be different depending on the model?).

This is why I now (or did) buy my SIGs in .40; because all I need it the conversion barrel and recoil spring to go to 9mm. But I do have enough conversion slides too in order to go from 9mm to .40 - I need to order some 9mm conversion barrels (e.g., for my 224).

 

[Tony617]

I have one (a .357 SIG barrel). Sorry, but I prefer the .40; I can get and shoot 135 gr loads that are just as effective as .357 SIG. The .40 does better than the .357 SIG with heavier projectiles - I mostly buy 180 gr loads, but you can get 200 grain loads too if you need them.

I can get 9mm +P+ loads that are about as effective as .357 SIG.

IMO the .40 is a more versatile cartridge. The only downsides when compared to 9mm are ammo availability in a situation where you have not stocked up on ammo (I have, a little) and people are panic buying or you can't get any at all, and the 9mm guns usually give you a couple more rounds.

I shoot 40 S&W 180gr Golden Saber rounds for SD. I still have a large quantity of 50 round boxes Speer Lawman 180gr FMJ and I still take my USP 40 or XD40SC to the range every so often. I also shoot a couple of 13 round magazines of JHP as well. For my XD40SC with a 3" barrel I still use the 180gr FMJ for the gun range, but for SD, I use Barnes140gr lead free hollow points. I believe I still have a few 20 round boxes of the 180gr Speer Gold Dot for short barrels as well but tend to favor the Barnes TAC-XPD rounds. They do sell Speer 40S&W for short barrels so I may buy some more if I cannot find any Barnes for sale.

 

[The Heretic]

I shoot 40 S&W 180gr Golden Saber rounds for SD. I still have a large quantity of 50 round boxes Speer Lawman 180gr FMJ and I still take my USP 40 or XD40SC to the range every so often. I also shoot a couple of 13 round magazines of JHP as well. For my XD40SC with a 3" barrel I still use the 180gr FMJ for the gun range, but for SD, I use Barnes140gr lead free hollow points. I believe I still have a few 20 round boxes of the 180gr Speer Gold Dot for short barrels as well but tend to favor the Barnes TAC-XPD rounds. They do sell Speer 40S&W for short barrels so I may buy some more if I cannot find any Barnes for sale.

Yeah, I am thinking I might get different ammo for my 224 - maybe a lighter projectile.

 

[DangerDog]

I posted 8 handguns on NWFA in the past 2 months.

Calibers that sold: 9mm, 10mm, 9x25 Dillon, 22TCM9R and 357 sig.

Caliber that hasn't sold: 40SW

You literally can't give away a 40sw anymore.

It's dead.

40 isn't dead. It's just not as popular because apparently folks can't handle it. I've got .40 and 10 and 9 and 357sig. Multiple Glocks that can fire multiple calibers from the same pistol. Be versatile. Then again my pistols are not my main weapon. My AR is >:0

 

[FullMetalJerk]

I sold a .40 about a half a year ago. Apparently it's not that dead! Depends on the gun, some are well designed some aren't..

 

[Jonnyuma]

I have been buying SIGs for a while now. I got smart and started to buy them in .40 because it was easier and cheaper to convert them to 9mm (a $150 barrel) than to buy the slide/barrel/spring to convert a 9mm to .40

That is great... I didn't know you could do that with the classic P-series SiGs (a favorite platform of mine).
It's almost impossible with HK USPs, impossibly easy with Springfield XDms.

I have several .40s (just bought another one a couple of mos ago) but have hedged on getting any more cuz... internet drivel.

A trade-in P229 in .40 just made it back on the list... I like versatility.

 

[CHLChris]

I've got a load for my home defense Sub2000 in 40S&W that pumps a 155gr XTP bullet at 1500fps. Over 800 ft-lbs! 40 may be dead or at least unpopular, but it still has some awesome uses!