Unless it contains "the word that shall not be mentioned".:D

I had a G......ahhhhhhhhh something in .40 and I shot it well. I did not feel an extreme amount of recoil difference than a 9mm and it was easy to get back on target. Only reason I don't own one now is, because I did not want to stock up on another caliber and 9mm is cheaper for range time.

No negatives from me for the .40.

Thats not the word! It starts with K

Thats not the word! It starts with K. Remember as some newby put it "there are 1911 snobs around here that don't like some 1911's"

and this person is....where"

ok... I'll weigh in here.... I'm thinking we all know the history behind the 40sw... so I'll leave it alone. I just don't like the snappy feel that I get from a 40. I handle a nine better than the 40, but the "push" that I get from the .45acp is the most comfortable for me.

That said, my feeling for the 45 round is not just from my experience with 1911s. I have a GLOCK 21SF (yes, I said the G word, and if I were from FLORIDA...... ooops... the F word! , I would probably have called it a FLock 21, and if it were made by KIMBER then perhaps it would have been called a Klock..... ohh.... but I digress! ROFL.....) My G21 also gives the feel of a "push" rather than a "snap" recoil.

All in all, I do believe that its personal preference. I'm fine with 7 or 8 rounds, heck here in Connecticut I'm not ALLOWED more than 10. That's what extra mags are for. Even when 15 round mags were legal here, I still only carried 10 in a polymer gun. "Handguns are only to get me to my rifle" as some would say.

I have had several 40 cal handguns. I am not certain, but I think the 40 was overpowered so it could stand up to the FBI penetration test.

I find the round to have an extremely harsh recoil, flash and muzzle flip as compared to a 9mm or 45. In my experience on the range, these characteristics showed up on paper as considerably larger groups.

As a side note. My wife hates the 40. After a few rounds she put the gun safely down and said "Holy Cow, What is that?" She felt the gun was uncontrollable for her. That was with a full size Glock 22.

Maybe with some tamed down hand loads it may be a fun round to shoot?

I like the .40, bought my son a H&K USP .40 C great gun, good caliber.

Haven't found it difficult to control....
 

Now .357sig, that is sharp! If you've shot 10mm just about anything else can be comfortable.

As I understood it, .40S&W was developed as a compromise over 10mm which in turn was designed to produce the effectiveness of .38 special used at the time by the FBI, but in an auto load handgun. However, 10mm proved to be too much for many of the agents, was abandoned and that gave birth to .40S&W.

It was intended to be the next generation of military, police and self-defense caliber, a succession to 9mm. Then some police went to .40S&W then went back to 9mm. Peoples considered it a "bastard" cartridge and so on. It was something that didn't live up to it's design intention and really wasn't adopted very widely.

I have a couple of .40S&W handguns and have not found them difficult to sharp to shoot but generally have stuck with .45ACP or 10mm apart from revolver calibers. I also have a few 9mm handguns which are certainly more gentle to shoot.