Is 40 caliber being faded out?

[wired]

I completely agree with you. The .44 Magnum is a favorite and I have several of them, no rational need for anything bigger. Still though, occasionally I feel this irrational need for one. Barring a sudden windfall or a helluva deal on one, I'll never own one, but I still like them.

Maybe it has something to do with helping a friend load a bunch of ammo for his several years ago, and the fact that I still have a half a box of that ammo sitting on my shelf staring at me every day, and nothing to shoot them in...

I load almost all of my own ammo and the easiest / best calibers to load are the 44 mag and 45 Colt.

 

[eustace_stelio]

I've always kind of wanted a .500 Magnum. I see it as a novelty gun with nearly no practical use, but I'd still like to have one, just because. Maybe it's a primal macho thing, I don't know. I know full well that I have absolutely no need for one, and I'll never actually buy one, but still...

I read an article in early 2000s that Natives liked the .500 magnums for hunting Walrus since 1 bullet was able to drop a full grown animal.

I believe same article said they were also good as a side arm in grizzly country. Which I'm sure is true,

 

[CLT65]

I know conventional wisdom is that all handguns are ballistically inferior, and only good for fighting your way to a long gun, but nobody ever accused the big .500 of not being enough gun. I've always thought it was interesting that the heavy 440gr load is ballistically equivalent to a 12 gauge 1oz slug. I'm sure someone could find a practical use for it.

 

[Mike86]

I got nothing to add, other than I love 40 and 10 mm and have zero 9mm firearms.

 

[dmack]

Too bad I wasn't told the 40 was on its way out. Maybe I wouldn't have picked that AR40 upper last week. NOT!

 

[DangerDog]

9mm is weak. I carry 40 and 10mm. Neither are going anywhere.

 

[orygun]

I had a Shield 40 and sold it to a very good friend. I really liked that gun.

The .40 S&W was very popular for quite a while. A lot of guns were made in 40 S&W. No matter the current trend, the 40 is a very capable self defense cartridge. It may not be the most common law enforcement cartridge anymore, but I don't expect it to disappear.