Me and 40 S&W

[AlphaFreeze]

.40S&W is useless due to the ability of modern day 9mm ammunition. At the time it was made it did effectivley bridge that gab between 9mm and 45 and performed very well when needing to penetrate things such as auto glass (1986 FBI Miami shootout). However, like I said, modern day 9mm ammo (such as Hornady critical duty) can perform on par with .40S&W without the added recoil and loss in magazine capacity. We use .40 at my department and I absolutely hate it.

At the end of the day though, you should carry whatever you can shoot best. If you do better with .40 then carry it. I just personally don't like it for the reasons stated above.

 

[DHart]

.40S&W is useless due to the ability of modern day 9mm ammunition. At the time it was made it did effectivley bridge that gab between 9mm and 45 and performed very well when needing to penetrate things such as auto glass (1986 FBI Miami shootout). However, like I said, modern day 9mm ammo (such as Hornady critical duty) can perform on par with .40S&W without the added recoil and loss in magazine capacity. We use .40 at my department and I absolutely hate it.

At the end of the day though, you should carry whatever you can shoot best. If you do better with .40 then carry it. I just personally don't like it for the reasons stated above.

You must be shooting Glock forties. My sympathies.

Don't blame the caliber. .40S&W is a pussy cat to shoot with, feels about like 9mm +P, given suitable firearms such as M&P40, P320 40, HK VP40, PPQ 40, HiPower 40, Beretta 40.

The best 9mm defense ammo is "ok". But it is not "on par" with the best .40S&W, 180 gr. HST in my personal view.

 

[No_Regerts]

You must be shooting Glock forties. My sympathies.

Don't blame the caliber. .40S&W is a pussy cat to shoot with, feels about like 9mm +P, given suitable firearms such as M&P40, P320 40, HK VP40, PPQ 40, HiPower 40, Beretta 40.

The best 9mm defense ammo is "ok". But it is not "on par" with the best .40S&W, 180 gr. HST in my personal view.

I don't even get why people dog Glocks chambered in .40. I shoot my G22 and G23 just as well as anything....except my Sigs. I dont find Glock recoil to be any worse than anything else.

Interesting enough, my last 12 IDPA matches have been shot with a G22 and G17. 6 matches a piece. I scored better with the G22 4 times out of 6 compared to the G17.

I get the same looks and comments at every match. "Look! He shoots a 40! Eeww!"

 

[Diamondback]

Just tell 'em "results talk, BS walks" and challenge 'em to post a better score.

 

[teflon6string]

Recoil doesn't bother me, but I didn't like the sharp, snappy .40SW round in my first and only plastic/striker fired gun, a Springfield XDm. It was an efficient, accurate and effective weapon to be sure, but it never sang to me. So I sold it and got something I liked better, dropping that caliber from my personal inventory.

Ruger just launched a new pistol caliber takedown carbine in 9mm. That's gonna be big with 9mm pistol shooters. If/when Ruger starts adding more calibers to the line next year, I bet .40SW will play out nicely for the same reason (especially if they make it compatible with Glock mags like the 9mm).

 

[DHart]

I don't even get why people dog Glocks chambered in .40. I shoot my G22 and G23 just as well as anything....except my Sigs. I dont find Glock recoil to be any worse than anything else.

Interesting enough, my last 12 IDPA matches have been shot with a G22 and G17. 6 matches a piece. I scored better with the G22 4 times out of 6 compared to the G17.

I get the same looks and comments at every match. "Look! He shoots a 40! Eeww!"

It isn't that Glock forties are difficult to shoot or to control. But they are "comparatively" snappy feeling to shoot. Many people complain that they don't like that snappiness. Others aren't bothered by it.

For me it just came down to this: I am a big fan of forty caliber (it is my favorite!) and have about a dozen models of pistols in forty caliber. My G23 Gen 3, G23 Gen 4, and G22 Gen 4, when compared to my other forty caliber pistols, had a much less enjoyable recoil impulse!

The other models (M&P40, M&P40C, P320 40, STI Edge 40, Browning HiPower 40, HK VP40) were all much more enjoyable to shoot, did not feel 'snappy', and I could shoot them for extended range sessions without any discomfort in my hand.

For me, Glock forties can get the job done, of course, I just don't enjoy shooting them as much as the other models. And I think that a lot of people who try Glock forties come away from the experience thinking that they don't like forty caliber. In my view, it's the pistol they were shooting forty caliber with which made their experience not so enjoyable, not the caliber itself.

 

[RMc]

Recoil doesn't bother me, but I didn't like the sharp, snappy .40SW round in my first and only plastic/striker fired gun, a Springfield XDm. It was an efficient, accurate and effective weapon to be sure, but it never sang to me. So I sold it and got something I liked better, dropping that caliber from my personal inventory.

Ruger just launched a new pistol caliber takedown carbine in 9mm. That's gonna be big with 9mm pistol shooters. If/when Ruger starts adding more calibers to the line next year, I bet .40SW will play out nicely for the same reason (especially if they make it compatible with Glock mags like the 9mm).

Gee, I want to see a Ruger carbine that can use 1911 magazines as a companion piece to the Ruger Lightweight Commander!

 

[Diamondback]

Gee, I want to see a Ruger carbine that can use 1911 magazines as a companion piece to the Ruger Lightweight Commander!

Why not a modular platform where all you have to do is change the magwell to go between different-platform magazines of the same caliber?

 

[RMc]

Why not a modular platform where all you have to do is change the magwell to go between different-platform magazines of the same caliber?

That is exactly the set up of the new PC 9 - which even comes with an interchangable Glock magazine module

 

[Pandaz3]

For a long time I did not have a 40 then I got two Walther PPX, one in 9 and one 40. Still have them. Me and the wife both agree that the 40 is noticeably better than the 9. I have been to a training course using the 40 and did well with it, but the PPX is a inexpensive gun and you notice that the most in the trigger.
But for yet another long time that and my Charter Arms Pitbull revolver were the only 40's I owned.
I now own a XD40 SC Mod 2 that shoots great, and a XDS 40 that shoots okay. The XDS is thinner and lighter and not nearly as much fun to shoot as the Mod 2 is. The Mod 2 is my EDC.
That all is as I mentioned before, but I'm on the lookout for a Browning Hi Power in 40 for a full size, and possibly a Compensated Shield Mod 2 40 for a small gun, but a SA service XD40 Mod 2 seems more likely. I have a lot of Extended sleeves for XD40 and the XD40 magazines already for the Sub-compact, so just remove the sleeves and they would fit the XD40 Service. Not a Arm and a Leg like the Hi Power.

 

[mike633]

.40S&W is useless due to the ability of modern day 9mm ammunition. At the time it was made it did effectivley bridge that gab between 9mm and 45 and performed very well when needing to penetrate things such as auto glass (1986 FBI Miami shootout). However, like I said, modern day 9mm ammo (such as Hornady critical duty) can perform on par with .40S&W without the added recoil and loss in magazine capacity. We use .40 at my department and I absolutely hate it.

At the end of the day though, you should carry whatever you can shoot best. If you do better with .40 then carry it. I just personally don't like it for the reasons stated above.

I Love my .40! I have had it for years. It is accurate, dependable and I can bounce rocks and cans down the road all day long, What happens to the .40 when you use Hornady critical duty in it also, compared to your 9mm? I have a Glock 22 and M&P Shield in .40, but also have a couple of 9mm, ,22's, 357 mag. Colt 1911, 45. My Glock is always with me when I travel. The others are chosen depending on weather and where I am going.

 

[JRuby]

So the 40 shoots a heavier bullet and is snappier than a 9mm seems like common sense that the 40 produces more energy. How can a 9mm be considered to be better than. a 40 except for capacity. Maybe more time needs to be spent putting the rounds where they need to go versus spraying and praying that you hit what you are shooting at.

 

[Pandaz3]

So the 40 shoots a heavier bullet and is snappier than a 9mm seems like common sense that the 40 produces more energy. How can a 9mm be considered to be better than. a 40 except for capacity. Maybe more time needs to be spent putting the rounds where they need to go versus spraying and praying that you hit what you are shooting at.

Some would argue that they can place a series of aimed shots faster with a weaker round, "just get a full sized 380 then" is what I say. Anyway I was shooting my PPX 40 at a course where they had targets that would turn face you for 0.2 seconds and then turn back. You were supposed to draw, present, and double tap the target. I proved that I could do it with that 40 better than most of the folks were doing a Nine. (I'm a bit Luke Cool on the PPX trigger, but it was usable, just not great.)
I am worried the most about shot number one, hit with it first follow up when you can.

 

[RMc]

For a long time I did not have a 40 then I got two Walther PPX, one in 9 and one 40. Still have them. Me and the wife both agree that the 40 is noticeably better than the 9. I have been to a training course using the 40 and did well with it, but the PPX is a inexpensive gun and you notice that the most in the trigger.
But for yet another long time that and my Charter Arms Pitbull revolver were the only 40's I owned.
I now own a XD40 SC Mod 2 that shoots great, and a XDS 40 that shoots okay. The XDS is thinner and lighter and not nearly as much fun to shoot as the Mod 2 is. The Mod 2 is my EDC.
That all is as I mentioned before, but I'm on the lookout for a Browning Hi Power in 40 for a full size, and possibly a Compensated Shield Mod 2 40 for a small gun, but a SA service XD40 Mod 2 seems more likely. I have a lot of Extended sleeves for XD40 and the XD40 magazines already for the Sub-compact, so just remove the sleeves and they would fit the XD40 Service. Not a Arm and a Leg like the Hi Power.

Production of the Browning Hi-Power ended in 2017.

Discontinued Models

 

[Lazyfaire]

I have a Baby Desert Eagle in .40 that shoots better than some of my 9mm. Smoother and faster on the reset. Its not a $400 pistol but its also not $800 either. A .40 in steel shoots better than polymer IMO, and does more damage.

 

[taroman]

Works for me. I like the .40 as its accuracy potential is closer to .45 than to 9mm.
Glock 22 10 rounds offhand at 15 yards:

 

[Pandaz3]

I found Palmetto selling 40's on clearance Bi-tone XD40 Mod 2' for $330 and so I got the 3" and 4", received the 4" today. I also ordered a XD357 Mod 0 4" today for $330. They have the Sub Compact XD40 Mod 2 in FDE made me a little regretful on the Bi-Tone till I look at the Mod 2 SC I'm carrying and realize it's FDE! I also have $10 mags up the yingyang, with and without sleeves, here and inbound.