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.40 S&W dead dying caliber?

JR4X

JR4X

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I waited to long to buy more pistols in .40 cal. I can understand the caliber being less popular as 9mm ballistics got better. But how the hell are you just going to erase what was at one time a top 3 popular semi auto round? It’s not like there was anything to develop. Everything is fully established, just keep making the stuff.

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Is .40 S&W Dead? | The Mag Shack

Oh .40 S&W. If you really want to start a fight in the Second Amendment Internet Universe, just post ".40 Smith & Wesson", step back, and watch the threads burn. With even more fervor than the classic 9mm vs .45 ACP battle, .40 S&W alone will start a war of…
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I’ve been looking for new pistols and no one has .40’s on the shelf here. Is it just this little town? Make your jokes, but I like my .40 stuff. .45 ACP ammo is too expensive and I like having a bunch more rounds in the same space in my hand.
 
72blazer said:
I have enough ammo to cover my pistol and keltech. No need for anything else in that caliber.
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Further clarification please? You have plenty of ammo stock and a 40 you like and have no desire to add any to your collection?
 
Glock still has the newer gen stuff in .40, I was eyeing the 23 with optics mount.

Some decent ammo prices now too with more people going back to 9.
 
posford said:
fawdee slow and weak :flipoff2:

Get a 10mm like the FBI intended :smokin:
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I have never walked into a store and found a mountain of 10mm ammo for .25 cents a round. Not one time. 10 gets a little space on the shelf next to all the other odd ball niche stuff people carry but don’t shoot every weekend
 
A friend purchased a 9mm 1911 just because it was getting difficult to spend a day at the range with his Rugerwhatever in .40 S&W. When Walmart stopped stocking "handgun" ammo he had to start buying it at the range... when they had it. You could start reloading, maybe save a little... maybe.

The bright side is that guns chambered in .40 S&W, themselves, should be getting cheaper.
 
FrankenToy said:
A friend purchased a 9mm 1911 just because it was getting difficult to spend a day at the range with his Rugerwhatever in .40 S&W. When Walmart stopped stocking "handgun" ammo he had to start buying it at the range... when they had it. You could start reloading, maybe save a little... maybe.
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That’s part of why I liked the .40 platform. I used to do most of my grocery shopping at Walmart. Every payday I’d buy at least $100 bucks of some ammo. Winchester FMJ target ammo in .40 was 400 rounds for my hundo. 9 was almost as expensive and .45 was double the price.
FrankenToy said:
The bright side is that guns chambered in .40 S&W, themselves, should be getting cheaper.
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I’m not finding them. We just had our last gun show before the New Mexico 7 day waiting period law went into effect. There was 4 over priced shot out dirty pos 40’s for way too much money for what they were.
 
I am a .40 fanboy haha. I think it brings a great compromise between 9 and 45. My first pistol was a 45. It wasnt until I went to the range and could easily see the round going down range that made me realize how slow it was. When I stepped out some distance, the round drop was pretty intense.

Never had issues with my .40 pistols.
 
FBI wanted more power so the 40 became popular.
FBI wants more bullets so 9mm is becoming more popular.


9mm is the younger brother. 45 is the older brother. 40 is the middle child. Too much recoil for some, and not enough power for others.
 
I have a G27 I want to trade for a G26, but I have ammo to shoot out first unless I can find someone (not a gun shop) to trade. I’ve also got lots of magazines. The gun shops I’ve talked to won’t take the ammo and want $200 for the trade for a used G26.
 
D_JEEPER said:
I am a .40 fanboy haha. I think it brings a great compromise between 9 and 45. My first pistol was a 45. It wasnt until I went to the range and could easily see the round going down range that made me realize how slow it was. When I stepped out some distance, the round drop was pretty intense.

Never had issues with my .40 pistols.
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Same. The ballistics on 45 acp is hilarious.

People complain that .40 is too snappy. Sorry about your little girl hands and arms bro. Just hold onto the dam thing. It’s not a 500 nitro FFS.
 
RunningProblem said:
FBI wanted more power so the 40 became popular.
FBI wants more bullets so 9mm is becoming more popular.


9mm is the younger brother. 45 is the older brother. 40 is the middle child. Too much recoil for some, and not enough power for others.
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I like analogies. I always looked at it like 9 is a 1/2 ton .40 is a 3/4 ton and .45 is a 1 ton. I love my F250’s and .40’s. My EDC .40 mags hold 15 rounds. My edc 9 mags hold 8.
 
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JR4X said:
I like analogies. I always looked at like 9 is a 1/2 ton .40 is a 3/4 ton and .45 is a 1 ton. I love my F250’s and .40’s. My EDC .40 mags hold 15 rounds. My edc 9 mags hold 8.
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Yeah, and reading says the government went back to 9mm. Combine that with ‘cheaper’ ammo availability and you have 9mm as the winner every time.


If you don’t want to drive your 1 ton why step down to a 3/4 ton? Just go to the mini truck you fit in that gets you around for less than your 1 ton, and drive the big truck when you need it.
 
I used to have a Glock 23. It was one of my favorite carry guns until advancements in ammo made 9mm just as effective. I ended up selling it to have one less caliber of ammo to store.
 
RunningProblem said:
Yeah, and reading says the government went back to 9mm. Combine that with ‘cheaper’ ammo availability and you have 9mm as the winner every time.


If you don’t want to drive your 1 ton why step down to a 3/4 ton? Just go to the mini truck you fit in that gets you around for less than your 1 ton, and drive the big truck when you need it.
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I do every thing with either a 3/4 ton or a 1 ton. Typing this reply from the drivers seat of a moving F250 right now. I don’t mini truck, never been my style.

I do have 9mm. But there’s no reason to bail on my 40 s&w stuff.
 
JR4X said:
People complain that .40 is too snappy.
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I do not understand that. It might have a little more than 9mm... but it isn't too insane for accurate follow up shots.
 
RunningProblem said:
FBI wanted more power so the 40 became popular.
FBI wants more bullets so 9mm is becoming more popular.


9mm is the younger brother. 45 is the older brother. 40 is the middle child. Too much recoil for some, and not enough power for others.
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actually-nerd.gif



The 10mm came about because the FBI wanted more power for use against those with body armor.

The .40 came about because the agents were whining that the 10mm was too big for their small, weak hands.

So the .40 became the golden child and the 10mm became the red headed step-child.

As far as popularity, the 10mm seems to be gaining steam, especially up in AK where it is becoming very popular as a bear gun. Even here in WA, I see more 10mm on the shelf than I used to.
 
Path of least resistance, easier to get leo to pass shooting quals and cheaper to run with 9. An extra bullet in the mag is probably slightly more advantageous than a slightly better performing round with how cops shoot (what they figured out in 'nam, 556 vs 308)
 
CZ did most of their pistols in 40 for a good while, wouldn't mind picking up one or two of them.
 
Ebs said:
Path of least resistance, easier to get leo to pass shooting quals and cheaper to run with 9. An extra bullet in the mag is probably slightly more advantageous than a slightly better performing round with how cops shoot (what they figured out in 'nam, 556 vs 308)
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Every article I read says exactly that. 9mm is better than it used to be. .40 is too spicy (for women and men who are no stronger than women) . 9’s hold more.

So my cynical take is that LEO wants more opportunities in the mag to dump into innocent bystanders and dogs.
 
I offloaded all my .40 ammo and converted my Sig P226 to 9mm about a year ago. I looked into selling it as is but it was essentially worth nothing that way. My local FFL has about 30 used pistols in a case and about 1/3 of them are .40s he can't get rid of.
 
JR4X said:
I do every thing with either a 3/4 ton or a 1 ton. Typing this reply from the drivers seat of a moving F250 right now. I don’t mini truck, never been my style.

I do have 9mm. But there’s no reason to bail on my 40 s&w stuff.
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This explains why you like 40. :flipoff2:

I’d take a mini truck and a 1 ton. I don’t have much need for my 3/4 ton daily and a mini truck would get used more if I had one.

Tech Tim 10 years ago they switched back to 9mm. Federal contracts going away would do a lot to reduce demand for a caliber, don’t you think?
 
RunningProblem said:
Federal contracts going away would do a lot to reduce demand for a caliber, don’t you think?
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Definitely.

And the 10mm becoming a popular bear gun is what is driving the resurgence in the 10mm.

I know a few guys who hunt in Griz country and they're all carrying 10mm now, they're who got me looking into the 10mm. I haven't needed it yet, but I sure like having the extra punch of the 10mm on hand.
 
RunningProblem said:
FBI wanted more power so the 40 became popular.
FBI wants more bullets so 9mm is becoming more popular.


9mm is the younger brother. 45 is the older brother. 40 is the middle child. Too much recoil for some, and not enough power for others.
Click to expand...

Thought 10mm came first but too many small handed fed boys couldn’t handle it so it was shortened and now we have GLAWK FORTY’S!

.40 pisses me off, no one but the scrapyard buys that brass. Always getting nice and deep like in .44 mag cases, it’s a cozy home for 9mm
 
RunningProblem said:
This explains why you like 40. :flipoff2:

I’d take a mini truck and a 1 ton. I don’t have much need for my 3/4 ton daily and a mini truck would get used more if I had one.
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If a ranger can get the job done, a .40 cal will just do it with power to spare :flipoff2:

RunningProblem said:
Tech Tim 10 years ago they switched back to 9mm. Federal contracts going away would do a lot to reduce demand for a caliber, don’t you think?
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This is the part I’m confused about. That is what happened. But why bail on an established platform? There has to be millions of .40’s out there. Ammo is still cheaper than 10 mm or 45 acp (or almost every other comparable caliber). Do people really think it’s that bad to shoot .40? That they won’t shoot it again? Sell all the pistols in that cal and stop buying the ammo?

I bought my first .40 because of Barrack Obama in 09 and there being a solid year or more where you couldn’t find a single round of 9mm on the shelf. But there wasn’t a single time I walked into Walmart or Cabellas that I couldn’t by .40 s&w. Also couldn’t get .22 lr in that time. I’m not married too .40 cal I’m just disappointed to see everyone abandon it.

I’m sure some of you remembers things a little differently and 9 was never hard to get where you lived. In GJ Colorado in 09~10 9 was scarce
 
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