Question regarding .40S&W
 

I would not even bring this up on other forums because there would be a resulting firestorm with a great deal of heat and very little light. However, here I feel it's safe and I'll get a reasonable and measure response.

At some point in the ten years I've been shooting and trawling gun forums, I picked up a less than positive view of .40S&W. It seemed like it got a lot of bad press. It was sort of a bastard cartridge, a solution looking for a problem and so on.

However, recently I was reading how it came about and I thought all the bad press was rather misplaced. So, let me hear, what you do think of .40S&W? I know it's not 10mm, but......

The only thing I can say about 40 S&W is that I've gotten really good at separating it from the 9mm brass :D I then save it to sell for scrap or give it to my neighbor, he reloads for it.

Sorry, I got nothing useful for you sir.

I had a 40 S&W liked it a lot, had to sale when I got divorced,


Clyde

I know Marines up near my place in SC love the Glock 22's in .40, but I got nothing, never fired a round.

I will chime in. I had a .40, was not a huge fan but it shot well and I felt it was a good range gun. I just prefer the mentioned 10MM and the .45. NOW...its not a bad round, heck our agency carries Sigs in .40 and are pretty good guns for sigs purchased on a bid. I would not hesitate to own one but probably would never carry it for protection but fun to shoot.

I am not saying this to be a smart butt, my wife liked it a lot because it was easy to shoot and handle for her...was kind of a women's caliber in her mind.

Plus: Makes a bigger hole than a 9mm

Minus: Makes a smaller hole than a 45 :D

I never really wanted to make a medium sized hole, so I guess I just never had any use for them. I don't particularly have anything against them. I've looked at them from time to time, but I never really heard one calling my name. :)

Never worry about posting a question here. You may get teased for owning tupperware or some such, but we don't flame the brethren. Ever

My Px4 that I carry as my EDC is 40 S&W. I find that I can get back on target better than my 9mm because the recoil pushes rather than snaps.

I love my M&P 40C it is my EDC. I like having the weight of 180gr and the velosity of 1010 fps. Higher capacity than .45 and harder hitting than 9mm.

It is a lot snappier than my .45 so I am not sure where the talk about it being weak came from. Yes it is weaker than the 10mm but that is a hot round. A quick comparison betweent he three is below

.40 S&W 180gr 1010fps
10mm. 180gr 1030fps
.45 Auto 230gr. 900fps.

Above taken from The Federal Ammo page.

So for me I felt like the lighter but much faster bullet was better, then throw in the extra capacity and it looked much better. Add to that 2 more rounds in the Compact M&P line and it was an easy choice.

The only other caliber I would like to get to know better is the .357Sig. 125gr at 1350fps.

There is nothing wrong with a 40. A major step up from a 9mm. You will find that most of the negative comments come from people that are either stuck in their beliefs that they have the only legitimate choice or they have no experience with the caliber and are trying to sound intelligent. A similar thing happens when people promote the 9mm as being able to put more shots on target faster than other calibers and have never ben timed with any of the calibers.

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.