What happened to the 40 S&W?

[woody]

I guess I haven’t paid a lot of attention lately on the latest and greatest carry guns. But I’ve noticed the .40 isn’t very popular anymore and some are writing it off as dead? I knew The 9mm is super popular in compacts etc. I Carry a Glock 43x myself but I see 1911 9mm are super popular now. I have a few 5” myself and love them. Very shootable. I’m considering a 4” for a carry gun.

I grew up with the 40 S&W. Being 18 years old or so when it came out. I been a huge fan ever since and thought it was a great duty round. Like the modern day .357 magnum duty gun.

With the development of carry ammo over the last decade it has made the 9mm a good performer. I never thought I would carry a 9mm myself but i do all summer. Shouldn’t this same carry ammo technology make the .40 even better? I know it’s snappy and some don’t like the recoil but it’s totally manageable.

On a recent episode on YouTube with Bill Wilson he said sales for Wilson Combat are 50/50 for 9 mm vs .45. Or somewhere close to that figure.

[Encore64]

It seems to be murder for hire...

For decades it was touted as the best thing since pockets were first put on shirts.

Writers praised it's performance and ability to fit in a 9mm Sized Gun.

But, following a couple high profile shoot outs, law enforcement decided more capacity was needed. Personally, I suspect more range time was needed.

Plus, everybody and their two brothers had bought 40 S&Ws. So, to keep sales going, it was back to the 9mm.

Then came the 30 Super Carry. Now, even more rounds will fit in the gun. Perfect for the Spray & Pray Crowd.

A similar pattern for the 10mm Auto.
1) Great Cartridge
2) Too Much Recoil
3) On Life Support
4) Wait!!! Great Cartridge
5) Everybody Buy One...

I miss the days when the News was the News instead of Propaganda and Gun Writers reviewed guns instead of being in sales...

[bigbrowndog]

I recall upsetting a LE’s feelings when they made a comment about how they always carried a Glock with 21 rounds in the mag, and my reply was “I understand completely why you would need 21 rounds to accomplish what I can with 10”. His Glock 17 and my 1911 38 super, of course he never wanted to go to a range and defend himself against my retort.

Trapr

[flyingzebra]

There's a 40s&w here somewhere
I don't hate it, I also don't use it hardly ever - or anything like it fwiw, even the 9mm or the 45acp

Really, more often I'll have the little 38 special or a 22 in my pocket, or something *more fun* like the 5-shot 10mm or my open top 1872 that's running slow 45 Colt

But if I felt I'd need something useful for 40s&w problems and the 40s&w thing was handy I wouldn't feel like I was missing out on anything

I surely don't want to stand in front of it

[potatojudge]

I think it was the last big data analysis on shootings that showed not much difference between different pistol rounds in stopping threats. I haven't heard as much about 9 vs 40 vs 45 since then.

[handloadingnotes]

Off topic, but. Due to its OAL, the 40 S&W always has flat or hollow point bullets in all the factory ammunition I’ve seen. This makes it uniquely suited for tube magazines. Sort of a higher capacity 38-40.

I can’t see anyone ever wanting to build a tube magazine carbine (slick though it might be) in a world where it’s so much easier to just buy proven and higher capacity 40S&W magazines from a few different patterns of pistols.

But it’s something special about the round.

[cmillard]

My thoughts are that since the FBI went to 9mm, many law enforcement agencies followed suit.....at the State agency I work for, we just got the marching orders last Friday to switch to 9mm.

[magnumwheelman]

I have an old custom unconverted 3 screw that Clemments built for another customer, long enough ago, that there is some plum coloring... it's in 40 S&W... it seems to make a decent single action revolver cartridge... but I never bought a semi, in that caliber... but I do remember going through a couple ammo shortages around here, when you could only buy 17HMR, & 40 S&W

[Encore64]

I've got a Single Six chambered in 40 S&W. It's an excellent revolver cartridge.

Had a couple Autos chambered in it and just added two more Glocks. A G22 and G23, both Gen 4s.

Police turn ins due to going back to 9mm. Both appeared unfired and at $350 each, I grabbed both. They wouldn't sell one customer more than one of each.

The G35 is my favorite Glock. It wears an Extended LW Barrel and is close enough to 10mm that no critter would know the difference.

[magnumwheelman]

I haven't loaded many yet, been mostly shooting factory powder coated lead trunk cone in my revolver, bought 5-6 boxes of these originally

www.midwayusa.com/product/1017651434?pid=965432

[Encore64]

Nov 21, 2022 8:14:41 GMT -5 magnumwheelman said:

I haven't loaded many yet, been mostly shooting factory powder coated lead trunk cone in my revolver

Use Longshot Powder...

[magnumwheelman]

Thanks for the tip... I don't currently have any longshot, might have to look for a can locally... was planning on likely using AA#5 for 165 grain bullets, & maybe AA#7, for anything heavier...of which I have plenty of both in stock, when I get back into loading mode, as it gets too cold to do outside projects again

[AxeHandle]

G35 with conversion 9mm and 357 SIG barrels makes a nice multi cartridge platform

[reflex264]

It is still one of the most heavily produced pistol cartridges. Cabelas in Huntsville sells thousands of rounds a week of .40 ammo.
Of course manufacturers are trying to get everyone to believe they need a nine with the new ammo. It's all hog wash. I have tested the new FBI 9mm load next to the .40 load they were using. The .40 beats it by 200 fps, out penetrates it and leaves a larger wound channel. Using handloads with the top end data it actually makes a good deer cartridge for hunting out to .40 yards. I have only recovered one bullet. The rest were pass throughs.

[Encore64]

As I've come to expect from Reflex264, he's right on the money.

I tested the same calibers on some 1" Explosion Proof Plexiglas. The 40 S&W smoked the 9mm.

But, I've dealt with a multitude of gun shops. All have confirmed that "how many bullets does it hold" is the most frequently asked question.

Sellers capitalize on this. It's common place in ads. Like all things, we don't focus on ability anymore. More shots are clearly the answer if you can't shoot???

Clearly, I'm an oddball. I think we need to replace The American Dream with some American Effort...