What's wrong with the 40 S&W??????

[milkmanjoe]

To me there is no need for it. It can be hard to find even in good times, in volume. It ain't cheap. It is "snappy" as hell, as already stated. And in all honesty, a 9mm Winchester Ranger T will perform very close to even a .45. Modern ballistics have come a long way. I stick with 9mm or .45, even though I want a 10mm 1911. Wanting one doesn't have to be sensible. We all get that. It's an "odd" caliber with no real calling that what already exists doesn't do.

[Dave Waits]

Well, I think it doesn't get much respect partly because it's pretty much an orphan round. Other than police work everything is pretty covered by the 9mm, 45ACP and the 10mm.

Another problem is it's reputation in a lot of circles. It started out with a 155 at 950fps Which was respectable. Glock chambered their guns for it based on that round. Then they, police and the ammo manufacturers, tried to make it something it wasn't, a 45ACP. Before long that 155 was doing 1250 or so. This caused problems in the Glock chambers, Chrystalization and longitudinal stres-cracks which led to Ka-Booms. The chambers couldn't take the pressure. Plus the casehead is unsupported 360 degrees for about 1/8th inch. Too much pressure.

All in all, an answer to a question that wasn't asked.

[Grouse]

I would say 10mm has a much smaller following. It think it would be fair to say 9mm, 45, and .38/.357 fill load out of defensive handgun calibers. rounds like 44mag, 22lr, finish out the defensive/practice rounds.

What is left is the more niche rounds like .380 .40/10mm, 41 mag, 327 mag, 50 AE, 454 casull, 45LC, .460 and 500 are superfluous and really not in the mainstream. Yes they produce guns, and ammo to small degrees. Never will you see it on the scale of even .38/357.

During the ammo crisis after the school shooting. I scored 40sw for 12 bucks per 50 and 10mm for 17.95 per 50. All when 9mm was going for 30 per fifty and 45acp for 35 per 50 all for 115grn rn, and 230grn lrn. another one was 9x18 mak, i picked up 1000 rounds for 179 shipped

In that alone i see some validity to have an odd ball caliber or three. It allows me to shoot, and practice when price spikes would lower my range visits.

I would like to see a break down of ammo manufacture by caliber across the US, the cross reference that with production numbers of guns by caliber. It would be an interesting way to see the metrics on what is and is not mainstream in the US.

[Sheepdog]

Hi I'm and I am a 10mm aholic! I am also an odd ball. My personal opinion is that the 40 S&W with hot rounds is a very useable SD round. I don't carry one, I do shoot them for competition along with 38 Supers. IMHO it is a much better performer than the 9mm. I find the 9mm to "snappy" for what you get. That said i like bigger guns and most of the 9's I shoot or have shot are smaller. Thanks for the feedback. It just seemed that whenever the 40 S&W comes up lot's of people really bash them and I thought maybe I was missing something.

I think Grouse was right on track. Whatever you are going to carry is what you should train with I don't get, the different gun every week thing.

[aloreman]

Personally the 40 is my favorite round. I carry a shield in a 40 and a g23 in a 40. I also compete with an m&p in a 40. The m&p does have less felt recoil than the g23 and is actually pleasant to fire. Waiting to pick up my trojan in a 40 and cant wait to get my hands on a new ria in 40. Having recently started to dabble with 38 super and 10mm id have to say the 40 isnt that hard to manage

[semiller1911]

I have owned 3 of Glock's .40sw, the 22,23 and 27. I have never shot .40 from anything but a Glock. I like the caliber but Glocks sit in my safe. I just cannot get into Glock, so it is not really the .40 as much as the platform.

I think the 9, .40 and .45 are all going to get the job done, if the shooter does their part. For me the .40 and .45 are easer to load into magazines and my aging eyes can see the hole left in the target more easily. Honestly, my opinion of a dream carry 1911 would be an alloy frame 9mm (Commander or Officer) with a double stack 15 round magazine. You'ed get the 1911 platform with the fire power of a wonder-nine. Hi-Powers are cool but I don't care for the safety and DA/SA trigger.

Nothing wrong with 9, .40 or .45. I don't want to be on the receiving end of any of them. Just my $0.02.

[BlackKnight]

When I first started with my agency they did not issue you a weapon and could carry anything you purchased. That was ok at first until I started getting involved in the qualifications for our office. People were buying and trying to qualify with guns they had no business owning let alone qualifying with.
Then, at one point our agency started issuing weapons, but they weren't consistent. Some got G23's, 27's, 19's or 26's.
So finally it was decided that they were going to purchase and issue one weapon.
I was on the deciding panel. I argued for G19 and we got it. The caliber for me was one of the deciding factors, on top of cost, support, so forth and so on.
Since we're not a uniformed patrol agency where we work 24 hours a day I felt that the caliber and handgun would suffice.
Of course I got the grumblings from a few as you can never satisfy everyone, but tough cojones.
Once they were purchased and issued I immediately saw and improvement in qualifying scores.

[sdmc530]

Originally Posted by Sheepdog

Hi I'm and I am a 10mm aholic! I am also an odd ball.

Hi , welcome to the group......I have been a member for about a year now.

[Grouse]

Originally Posted by BlackKnight

When I first started with my agency they did not issue you a weapon and could carry anything you purchased. That was ok at first until I started getting involved in the qualifications for our office. People were buying and trying to qualify with guns they had no business owning let alone qualifying with.
Then, at one point our agency started issuing weapons, but they weren't consistent. Some got G23's, 27's, 19's or 26's.
So finally it was decided that they were going to purchase and issue one weapon.
I was on the deciding panel. I argued for G19 and we got it. The caliber for me was one of the deciding factors, on top of cost, support, so forth and so on.
Since we're not a uniformed patrol agency where we work 24 hours a day I felt that the caliber and handgun would suffice.
Of course I got the grumblings from a few as you can never satisfy everyone, but tough cojones.
Once they were purchased and issued I immediately saw and improvement in qualifying scores.

Smart decision. We had were allowed to carry any gun we purchased also. This was my first pistol, After long search I ended up with the HK USP. Most picked the 17 or 19 . I chose the hk because i could pick it up and shoot it more accurately than the Glock. I picked 40 because i could shot it more accurately than the 9 and 45 with it. Looking back, there was a lot of extra training i had to do to be as competent with my gun as the other officers were with their s. Ultimately i was better.

I watched as several agencies allow officers to pick over various sizes, Beretta sizes, Sig sizes, then offering different caliber choices. I saw many officers become overwhelmed. At least in my experience not many were shooters, or really interested in the firearms aspect. Allowing for all those choices did nothing to aid training, standardize training or help officers. I would say it made it worse for officers.

I am a big fan of duty guns all being the same and having interchangeable grips. Allows for common training, and caliber, yet allows for individual fit.

[Caleb]

I like the .40, can shiot it well. But, the 9 I can shoot better and quicker with better accuracy. Shot bith this past weekend in a Glock and an HK. It would not bother me to pick up either and be confident with my choice. Which do I prefer? The 9, only because there are more rounds in the mag than the .40.