Why does everyone hate the .40s&w?

[skydiver]

Get some glasses

Just wait till you get to be my age!

I'm waiting for you to dump a .45 powder charge into a 9mm.

How else am I going to get ++++P++++ loads?

 

[uberguy]

Each their own, I suppose.

I love my 40 S&W firearms; Been a .45 shooter for nearly 30 yrs and own several, which I enjoy tons, in Colt, Kimber, Springfield. Owned a Beretta 92 when they first came out and never did like that gun or 9mm round myself so it was traded off.

A few years ago I decided to try the 40 S&W starting with a Browning Hi-Power - took top placement in 2 defensive training courses at FAS and haven't looked back. Now I have the Browning, an M&P, plus a Para and Kimber - they all shoot spot on with a variety of ammo, though I'll probably sell off the Para & Kimber match guns.

Main main carry gun is still a Kimber Compact 4" .45 w/Kramer IWB but I wouldn't hesitate to use any of these where needed and have been known to pack the M&P now and then. Besides shooting straight - the fact it holds 2x rounds than my Kimber is sort of comforting if ever faced with a multi-opponent situation.

 

[Gunner3456]

That's why God gave us the powder checker die!

Now, I've been reloading for 20 years and I've never heard of a "powder checker die." I will admit there are lots of good things I've never heard of.

What is this "powder checker die?" Do you dump in some powder, fire the gun, and if you don't "die" you're good to go?

 

[civilian75]

Now, I've been reloading for 20 years and I've never heard of a "powder checker die." I will admit there are lots of good things I've never heard of.

What is this "powder checker die?" Do you dump in some powder, fire the gun, and if you don't "die" you're good to go?

LOL
I have not been reloading as long as you have but have not herad about them until the other day, when I checked the Ultimate Reloader website, who recently joined NWFA Forum website.

 

[Gunner3456]

LOL
I have not been reloading as long as you have but have not herad about them until the other day, when I checked the Ultimate Reloader website, who recently joined NWFA Forum website.

Now I've seen it all. I never thought I'd be able to say that, LOL, but now I can die a happy man.

RCBS Powder Checker Die - YouTube

 

[BroncoFan]

Now I've seen it all. I never thought I'd be able to say that, LOL, but now I can die a happy man.

RCBS Powder Checker Die - YouTube

Actually pretty handy little unit. I'm 44 and started reloading at 13. Had my first squib when I was in high school with my dad's 357. Big time lesson learned. The bullet was barely out of the barrel and when I shot again I thought a mule had kicked me. Made a grape sized bulge at the end of the barrel. Dad's 357 went from 4" to a custom 3" after the gunsmith got through with it. Dad never got mad when he found out - I think it scared him more than me!

 

[billt]

What the 10 MM brought to the table, the .40 S&W took away. A solution in search of a problem.

 

[1911er]

I have A S&W 4006 ss in .40 cal love it the main reason I picked it up was that the CHP chose to issue that weapon to most officers. Its durable and heavy enough that you don't get much recoil.

 

[teflon6string]

To me, it's not the round itself, it's the commonly available platorm(s).

Shooting the SA XDm 40, I realized I'm just far more comfortable with a 1911 in my hands, something ingrained over decades. The 40's double stack grip, the high mounted barrel, and the X trigger felt awkward to me, not the round itself. So I was comfy switching back to the 45, despite only half the mag capacity. Very personal choice borne of longstanding habits.

With no regard to liking the Hi-Point carbine or not (I've never shot one), it's a fairly common platform that can be purchased in 9mm, 45acp or 40SW. All the external factors relevant to the weapon (weight, length, balance, ergonomics) are close enough that it simply boils down the round itself, not the gun.

In that scenario, I wonder how the rounds would compare to each other. Suddenly, weight, velocity, penetration, recoil, cost and availability would spring back to the forefront with extraneous likes/dislikes about different weapons removed from the equation.

Anyone here shot all three calibers (or at least 2) in otherwise identical weapons? I have not, and I think it would be an interesting way to compare ammo.

 

[Ironbar]

.40 caliber is my primary self defense round. I don't have a problem with it at all!

 

[WolfTrap]

Thinking you may have it wrong. It was the 10mm that the 1911 45 ACP Pocket Shooters ranted about! Just using the metric's drove them nuts! At the time...U.S. Military was changing over to another round. 9mm was cheaper than the 10mm....and the 1911 became history?
Now...doesn't 40 Smith and Wesson sound better?

 

[BANE]

I like it.
I have a glock 27 and a Hk 2000sk and a p99 i think they all handle the cartridge very well.
The Hk handles the recoil better.

 

[accessbob]

I just fired my sister-in-law's .40 caliber PX4 Storm Compact and I was impressed. I have not done .40 as I had heard the tales about the recoil being worse than a .45 which is my EDC. However, I was taken by that Storm and may acquire one some day. So I may venture into .40 cal territory in the near future.

 

[thewhitebuffalo83]

I have not read all the posts but I wanted to add some of my own experience. I wanted to personally test the three most common calibers by my understanding for semi auto hand guns in my hands. This is what I did about a year ago, I bought a 250 round box of UMC in each 9mm, 40, and 45. At the time I had in my collections a gen 3 17 and 22 and I borrowed the full size glock 45(I forget the designation now) from a friend. All three glocks were factory with no modifications at all and the standard factory glock sights. I went out three weekends in a row and tested each caliber the same way. When I was shooting paper for accuracy all three calibers were about the same, however follow up shots for me were slower with both 40 and 45 over 9mm. I really noticed a difference when I was practicing double taps to the body. I had no issues with quick and repeatable double taps(controlled pairs) with the 9mm, but the 40 and 45 was another story. I tried my hand at some longer distances, I set up clays at various ranges I don't remember exactly what the distances were but it was something like 10, 20 and 30 yards. Honestly at 30 yards if I remember correctly I didn't his a single clay with any caliber, how ever a buddy of mine could hit them 50% of the time with his gen 3 26, which I found very impressive. I was fairly consistent with each caliber on this test, I didn't notice any really difference in my hands from one caliber over the other. I also goofed around shooting some pop cans, car parts and other stuff I found at the range. At the end of each weekend test I has shot all 250 rounds and I really came to the conclusion that for concealed carry and self defence purposes 9mm was my choice and I had enough faith in my ability, the cartridge itself and the equipment I would be using to get the job down. As far as the 40 cal is concerned my only real dislike was the recoil I am unsure why exactly but after 250 rounds my knuckle at the thumb joint was bruised, raw and hurt like hell, because of this it took significantly longer to preform the whole test. The 45acp, oh man I loved that caliber for pure second type of cool reasons. After 250 rounds I wanted to shoot more so bad, I just didn't want to pay the price difference over 9mm. I really, really loved the big boom and recoil over the 9mm and 40 cal. I was just so much fun and if money wasn't and issue and for the purposes of pure fun and enjoyment I would shoot 45acp all day long. My only real complaint was with accurate follow up shots, I was sure at the time I could train through it if money wasn't an issue.

As I read some of the commits above maybe the issue in my experience is the fact that I was shooting a 40 cal bullet through a 9mm platform, I never thought of it that way before. If I wasn't sticking with Glocks I would probably give the 40 cal another try, however I have shot 3 different Glock 22's since I did my test and I just don't like how it recoils in my hands, just my opinion though. I think 40 is probably a superior cartridge over 9mm but its just not enough for me to make the switch, I enjoy shooting 9mm and 45 much more and I will stick with them in my Semiautos for now. Other than my observations I don't really like or dislike the 40 cal, I just prefer 9mm and 45 over it.

On a side note. I shot a Glock 36 last week for the first time. It was a friends that he just picked up super cheap and I think it must of had some sort of trigger job or after marked trigger because I have never shot a glock more accurate than I have ever shot a glock and my follow up shots were almost at fast as with my g17 is. I was extremely surprised by its performance and how it fit in my hands and I want one really bad.

 

[andreys21]

I've never shot the round but I did a lot of research here and there. I don't hate it but it is more expensive than 9mm and I already have a 1911. Not saying that I'll never have one. I do have a G23 on my list.

 

[wildwest]

the .40 produces weird (and high) pressure curves= ware and tare. its not a NATO round nor is it used by our own military, its a weird in between caliber. i shoot 9mm and .45 they work great and you can find them anywhere. if i had to have a high speed velociraptor slayer id get a 10mm i guess

 

[boxer13]

Only 40 I like.

 

[stratbastard]

True 'nuff.
I customized my Glock 27 as follows; extended ported Wolf barrel, and use a Glock 22 mag with a custom mag spacer to fit tight. Throw a nice hogue rubber grip over where the spacer meets the bottom of the magwell. Now its a small-frame G 27 with the capacity, accuracy, and grip of a 22... sorta like the Combat Commander of Glocks. I carry it every day. People see it and say "what the hell model is THAT LOL?!?

The only pistol that I hated the .40 S&W in was the Glock 27. It hurt to fire it and I didn't even want to fire a hundred rounds that I had before I sold the thing... Didn't have a problem with the Glock 22 or 23 or even a Browning Hi Power in .40 but that 27 was pure evil. In medium sized pistols I think they are fine but I think that most people who carry medium sized pistols can handle the .45 ACP and still prefer it over the .40 S&W.

 

[etrain16]

It's an easy answer. Cost and availability. When ammo is scarce, 9mm will be cheaper and easier to find. The cops had a shortage of 40's last year and thats their standard round. Whoever says 40's are cheap to shoot, have money to burn, and shoot very little.

I was just reading through some old threads and came across this one. I thought I'd re-open it again to make an observation concerning the .40S&W round. In the 15 months since Sandy Hook, I found one thing to be true - what everyone had told me about 9mm, that it would always be available in a crisis, was definitely wrong.

I own handguns in the 3 'major' calibers: 9mm, 40S&W and .45acp. I try to keep ammo on hand for each. During the ammo 'crisis' of the last year or so, I found that 9mm, (as well as .22lr) were some of the hardest rounds to find - everyone was buying them, probably because of that belief that it was the round to have when the SHTF.

But watching ammo come slowly back into stock, I noticed that the .40S&W and .45acp were the rounds that were available on a more regular basis. Even today, I can go to some local stores and almost guarantee I'll be able to find .40S&W even if they're sold out of 9 and 45. Just this last Saturday I went into a local store - they had a few boxes of American Eagle 9mm, some Blazer (aluminum case) .45acp and 6 different choices of ammo in .40S&W.

So, with that in mind, I have to wonder if 40 isn't perhaps a better choice to have on hand in the event of another 'ammo' crisis? If for nothing more than just being able to keep shooting. Seems to me, it would be good to keep your options open and not place too much faith on one particular caliber, just in case.

Just thought I'd throw that out there and see if anyone else is seeing the same thing I am and maybe it's time, post Sandy Hook, to re-think the viability of the .40S&W as a good pistol/round to keep on hand.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I remember not so long ago many people stating that they didn't nor would they ever handload the 9x19 saying it was just too cheap and common to justify doing so.
I'll bet those people don't shoot very often these days.