My view is ironic humor; ask a dozen ER physicians if they can tell which firearm made a gunshot wound, and they'll tell you that they can't tell.

Does 1 mm difference in bullet diameter make any difference? I doubt it. Expansion? That's a bit like case size...size does't really matter. Penetration matters a lot. The biggest benefit from bullet expansion isn't tissue damage or incapacitation (looks cool, though): it's less possibility of overpenetration.

I'm like every other holster jocky who spent too much time pouring over gelatin reports and slathering over gun rag bullshit that talked about stopping power and one shot stops and barrier penetration and expansion (or lack thereof) after passing through mystic formulas of denim and ballistic dog snot and whatnot. In the end, as it turns out, handguns are weak, anemic excuses for a firearm that only work because as human beings, we have fragile, pathetic soft bodies that are easily damaged, and we cry a lot. It doesn't take a lot to penetrate a person. It can be done with a ball point pen, a chunk of rebar, or any one of many simple, hand held implements.

Stretch cavities and temporary expansion and secondary wound channels and all the other drivel that gun writers like to throw out there, as though it's intelligent conversation, isn't. It's bullshit. Wow, look how much that gelatin bar expanded, and how even though it's got a little hole through the middle, it's all ripped up...that must be really harmful. Looks cool, but unfortunately, we can't show a bad guy a picture of ballistic gelatin and tell him to fall over cause he just got shot with a magic bullet.

Most of the handgun offerings today fall in the 350 ft-lbs of muzzle energy range. Does that mean much? Not really: just that they've all got about the same smack coming out the front of the muzzle, though some are a bit faster and lighter, some a bit heavier and slower...but they all are remarkably similar at the recipient-end of the trajectory. The difference is that fast bullets tickle Einstein's fancy, and slow bullets allow enough time to go get coffee between trigger press and impact. Otherwise, it's all about shot placement and penetration.

The visceral, emotional warm and fuzzy feeling of shooting a bigger bullet is a confidence issue, though it's really false confidence. But, like having a purdy girl on the arm even though I'm the smallest and uglienst in the room, I'll take it.

The FBI can't make up it's mind. The military drifts with the fickle winds of politics, budgeting, and time, and police...shoot themselves. Gun rag writers are sellers of magazines, not tellers of truth, and they're promoters. Like used car salesmen with a typewriter. Whatever the influence, whether it's the size of the case or the weight of the expanded, expended bullet, in the end, it's far better to have a firearm in your hand when the shooting starts, even better to not be there when the shooting starts, and best of all to be standing when the shooting is over, where ever it is that you happen to stand. Bonus, if you've still got ammunition left over.

Well back to point…the 40 SW is a good round and like any other will work or fail on the shooter. 5000 words won’t make it better or worse. I keep 40 guns as an alternative to my others. Guppy has a point there when ammo gets short.
One thing I would say after seeing hundreds of whitetail deer shot for over 45 years is bigger bullets absolutely hit harder and kill faster. Whitetail deer are roughly the same weight as humans over the board. Just my real life observations.

I've found .40 relatively cheaply, but honestly the only gun I have that even uses .40 S&W is my longtime Glock 32 (when using a Glock 23 barrel)


The prevailing thought nowadays is basically that the most advanced 9mm hollowpoints offer the right penetration and enough expansion as you get in other rounds with less recoil, more capacity.

I've definitely seen .357SIG become more expensive that I'm willing to pay.

But .40 as long as you stay online is pretty close (within a few cents) of 9mm online.

There's literally one store I know of in texas that actually sells ammo at reasonable costs, so honestly just go online and buy at the cheapest using ammoseek.com or wikiarms.com to look up the best deals people have found.

In other ammo news I saw Federal-made 30 Super Carry in Academy for sale, are guns out in that caliber already?

I have to say that this has become a fun and informative thread. Initially, I was feeling guilty about my own thread drift, but not anymore. Actually, the thread drift has made it a more enjoyable and interesting thread.

The SF has a remarkable number of knowledgeable posters willing to share their expertise and/or opinions in a polite, civilized manner. Plus a moderator that doesn't allow any crap from uncivil participants.

As the French say, "Vive le Sig Forum", "Vive le Forty" and "Vive le thread drift".

I like .40; it's been good to me. With the right guns I found it more fun (and a challenge) to shoot than 9mm, which is what got me hooked on the caliber. Became proficient enough with it that I finally decided to use it as my carry caliber.

I know the arguments about how there's not much of a difference in results when it comes to defensive use of 9 and .40. I knew I was sacrificing a couple of rounds by going to a G23 and parking my G19. And I was quite aware that it's more spendy to shoot than 9mm. But I was ok with all of that. I liked shooting the stuff, got pretty good with it and 'poof'...eleven years later I'm still slinging fo-tay around, with no regrets.

Right now a 50rd box of our lowest priced factory fresh .40 (180gr S&B or Magtech) is the same price as several of the 50rd boxes of 9mm that we've carried (American Eagle, Winchester, Remington). So while the elevated price still sucks given what it used to cost pre-pandemic, at least I don't feel quite as gouged as the 9mm afflicted do.

I really like the 40 and a 357SIG barrel just makes it that much better. If 357SIG was good enough for the Texas Rangers, it's good enough for me. I like to shoot a lot of different calibers and I enjoy Reloading, I'm not so much into the whole self-defense thing. Oh, I could and would defend myself and my family but when I go to the range I'm not going there to train. I go to just have some fun shooting. Each to their own, mine is pretty low key!

Just got back from one local shop; very low stock of SD ammo for handguns. One choice; 40. And that was Winchester PDX Defender Elite (low flash); grabbed two boxes while it was available.
Shotgun ammo; they only had 16 gauge.

I Like the 40 S&W Round myself + The local Police here carry Glock 22/23/27s Gen 4

I have three Heckler & Kochs that are 40 S&W
USP Compact x 2 & a P2000sk
Sold my Glock 24 about a year & a half ago & that left me 40less & had a bunch of 40 I cleaned out when Wal-Mart was selling out their handgun ammo Super CHEAP
I found the two USP Compacts at a local Pawn Shop "AS NEW" at a Crazy Low Price, I bought the stainless one first as it is worth twice what I paid & went back a month later & put the 2nd one on layaway so it wouldn't get away being the magazines on these cost as much as SIG Wants for theirs
Bought the Glock 24 for $400 "AS NEW" at another Pawn Shop, It seemed at the time no one wanted a 40 S&W, Only 9mm = New Buyers with their Stimulus Checks wanting protection during the 1st part of the pandemic
All of those handguns are now for sale locally at the Pawn Shops, They just keep coming in...
Before these four My Only 40 S&W & 357 SIG was a P229 SIG
I just last week ordered a 357 SIG Barrel for the two USP 40 Compacts, but as of yet haven't found any ammo for it
Here's a Photo of the H&Ks & the Glock 24


The Price of the Stainless HKs has gone crazy lately & might just sell that one, but it's so Pretty & Doesn't eat much, it's locked in the basement safe with the other two HKs

Man, I need to visit the LGS more. I like .40 and love deals!

I have a P2000SK in .40, with the LEM trigger. It was on my ankle the last time I got married.

I want a cmmg 40 with the 16inch barrel. The ballistics should be fantastic. And a GLOCK 24!

I like it. It worked when I NEEDED it to work. Only took one.

My 1k rounds arrived yesterday. 324$ if I remember correctly.

Picked up 4 P229’s recently and though I won’t shoot them much, I won’t have a firearm around without at least some ammo for it.

quote:

Originally posted by 10x Sniper:
I want a cmmg 40 with the 16inch barrel. The ballistics should be fantastic.

Its improved over a 4", but not by orders of magnitude.

http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/megraphs/40sw.html

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:

quote:

Originally posted by 10x Sniper:
I want a cmmg 40 with the 16inch barrel. The ballistics should be fantastic.

Its improved over a 4", but not by orders of magnitude.

http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/megraphs/40sw.html

About 300 fps more

http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/40sw.html

I was late coming to the party, no .40S&W pistols until 2004. My first was a Kahr P40, 16 oz. empty, 6+1 mag capacity, and the recoil was a definite factor during practice sessions.

My most recent is a Sig P229 .40S&W "red box" pistol (LE trade-in, factory refurbished, delivered with 3 mags, manual, and 1-year Sig warranty). Couldn't pass it up at $388 delivered to my local FFL (MSRP at the time, 2018, was $1087). About double the weight of the little Kahr, 12+1 mag capacity. Recoil is not at all harsh.

I have thought about adding the .357SIG barrel (about $150 or so), but that would be one more handgun caliber I'd need to gear up for reloading, casting bullets, etc. Already reloading 10 handgun and 13 rifle calibers, and that covers just about all the bases for me.

quote:

Originally posted by LoboGunLeather:
My most recent is a Sig P229 .40S&W "red box" pistol (LE trade-in, factory refurbished, delivered with 3 mags, manual, and 1-year Sig warranty). Couldn't pass it up at $388 delivered to my local FFL (MSRP at the time, 2018, was $1087).

DA-YUM!!! Now that's a DEAL!

I haven’t had any problems finding 40.
I’m quite fond of it. It shoots so soft in Sigs. I’ve never really cared what law enforcement chooses. I still like my 40 and 357 sig, even if le is going to mostly 9mm.

I have a couple 40 S&W semi-autos. Nice thing is I can also shoot 9mm or 357 sig using conversion barrels. As to ammo, my last 2 deals for 40 S&W were both with LE that converted to 9mm. My win as the prices were really sweet.

Funny timing. I was in my LGS this morning and the topic came up that a local agency was about to start issuing .40 caliber Glocks. The agency head stated that is solely because he believed that .40 ammo would be more plentiful with all the agencies going 9mm.

The shop owner made the observation that he “could not fit all the 9mm in the shop in two or three box trailers” but could fit almost all the .40 in his pockets.

I think that unless you are ordering off of state contract around here, that seems to be the norm.