I'll preface this with saying that every handgun I've owned except two (229/40 and a G42) have been 9mm. The 9mm craze as of late and especially after the FBI has chosen it is really something to behold. Curious though.....will this be the new normal and future of firearms? Will the 40/45/357 make an upswing in popularity in the future?

I'm conflicted. After about 15 years of owning guns, I was just about going to get a few .40 Glocks and now this happens. In a way, what they say makes sense about the 9mm and I've always felt comfortable with it. In another way....I can totally see a swing back to something "more powerful" at some point. I'm not the brightest guy in the world but it seems that the 40cal is still a helluva round. Seems to do slightly better than 9mm in every category except capacity and ease to shoot. I'd way rather have a 180gr 40 round to use if shooting into vehicle doors/glas/other barriers. Also would rather have it for use against large/strong threats with heavy clothing. One of the FBI points was that the 9mm is easier to shoot....easier to shoot for who? To what difference? If the FBI had all male agents that were 6'2, 230lbs....would they still be making that point?

Question:
Will 9mm be as popular in 5-10 years as it is now?

Choices:
9mm will grow in ccw/leo use and thats that
Something will happen, ideas change, 40/45/357 will resurge some day

 

I wouldn't worry about it. Get the .40s, shoot them, and rejoice in being into .40s before the kids decided it was cool to be into .40s.

quote:

So....how long until this 9mm fad blows over?

After about 15 years of owning guns...

Haven't been around long enough. Fad? What fad? Fads are for morons.
The 9mm has been around forever, and has always been popular, even when the .40 S&W fad was in full swing.

I'm too old and set in my ways to worry about future trends. I'll shoot what I shoot until I physically can't. Right now that involves a bunch of calibers, including 9mm and 40S&W.

quote:

how long until this 9mm fad blows over

I don't think 9mm is a fad. It's been around forever. The military has used it....well I don't know when they started but it's been awhile. It's a standard NATO round used around the world.

It's not going anywhere.

Good question.
I was 9mm when 9mm wasn't cool....

Plan to stay 9mm too....

.45 GAP is going to come back big-time, and rule the market

quote:

Originally posted by EmpireState:
The 9mm craze as of late....

Exactly. The 9x19 / 9mm Luger / 9mm NATO is just a flash in the pan. Only been around since 1902. Just a whipper snapper, still wet behind the ears. Now if you want to talk about a weapon system with staying power, then look no further than the pointed stick.

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:

quote:

Originally posted by EmpireState:
The 9mm craze as of late....

Exactly. The 9x19 / 9mm Luger / 9mm NATO is just a flash in the pan. Only been around since 1902. Just a whipper snapper, still wet behind the ears. Now if you want to talk about a weapon system with staying power, then look no further than the pointed stick.

Ahhh, I can appreciate the joking around. In all honesty, after that FBI report a year or two ago, you have to admit that the 9mm is all of the sudden front and center again, no? .40 was dominating in police sales for about 20 years up until that and now story after story about departments switching back to 9mm. This is what I'm talking about.

Thing is: 9mm terminal ballistics improved to the point where many agencies decided the increased burden of other calibers (training, expense, etc.) no longer made sense.

Personally, I still like the .40 S&W, but concede it's a hard argument to make.

Life goes in cycles, and so too it seems does caliber popularity. At some point,the 9 may fall from favor. Perhaps a Government funded study will demonstrate that something like a newly developed .377 Enviro cartridge, with 152 grain bullet at 314 FPS is far superior to both 9MM and .40 Cal. An added advantage of the .377 will be it's patented lead-free "Save the Environment" construction, and "Suspect friendly" bore diameter Nerf tip.

I'll just keep the boring old 9MM. Unless the Swiss or Germans start building P210s in .377

quote:

Originally posted by EmpireState:

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:

quote:

Originally posted by EmpireState:
The 9mm craze as of late....

Exactly. The 9x19 / 9mm Luger / 9mm NATO is just a flash in the pan. Only been around since 1902. Just a whipper snapper, still wet behind the ears. Now if you want to talk about a weapon system with staying power, then look no further than the pointed stick.

Ahhh, I can appreciate the joking around. In all honesty, after that FBI report a year or two ago, you have to admit that the 9mm is all of the sudden front and center again, no? .40 was dominating in police sales for about 20 years up until that and now story after story about departments switching back to 9mm. This is what I'm talking about.

I've been pushing my agency toward 9mm for the last five years. My requests always fell on deaf ears. Until the state police made the switch. The new G2 duty ammo is as soft shooting as the training ammo.

I guess what I am trying to say is that if it were up to me, we'd have never left the 9mm. Too many pluses and not enough minus.

Only the dumb and fickle fall for fads. I swear some guns companies "invent" a problem with a caliber only to find a "solution" to the non- existing problem. I suppose it's to make sales. Stick with the 9mm and it will serve you well.

There is just one thing I do not like about the .40S&W, the price of a box of 50. There is ample viraety of weight, load and bullet type at nice prices in 9mm. .45 ACP, another favorite is experiencing higher prices. Someone is moving these growingly expensive ammo choices into extinction.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
The 9mm has been around forever, and has always been popular, even when the .40 S&W fad was in full swing.

Yep, I remember especially starting back in the mid-late 80s, 9mm was king and really hasn't let up in popularity. At that time, the P226, Glock 17, and Beretta 92F were the hot guns. Hell, my first handgun in the late 80s was a 9mm model. Not a fad...

I do not see the 9mm fading away anytime soon.

Honestly I don't see the 9mm fad lasting any more then another 100 or so years.

That being said always one to buck the trend I rediscovered .40 right about when it fell out of favor. .

Honestly if I were a betting man, looking at the world I would argue the handgun as a whole will be more margenalized and give way to more long arm use buy Law enforcement etc. I just don't see another Platt and Matix moment without a ton of ARs on scene.

quote:

Originally posted by fquico:
Someone is moving these growingly expensive ammo choices into extinction.

Wrap that tin foil a bit tighter

It's what I call "reverse supply and demand." Demand is dropping. Manufacturers back production off. Manufacturing economies of scale decline. Price goes up. That's all. No secret conspiracy to move the whole world to The One True Caliber To Rule Them All

You know I guarantee to there is at least a few dudes running .455 Webley in there nightstand.

Add to the modern ballistic, I think the resurgence of 9mm coincides with Mag capacity ban sunset. Wonder nine died off when 10 round mag restriction made 1911 cool again... carry less but bigger rounds, now the reverse is happening.