.40, why/why not?

[summer44]

all the loads i listed were max loads not standard. again to get the 1350fps u listed u had to drop he bullet weight to 155. check out the reloading manuals for yourself. i am not knocking the .40 for u if that is what u like and works for u. it just isn't the most powerful round out there as many claim.

also i said the 44 special not the 44 magnum. the 44 special is in the same league as the 40 45 and 9mm

 

[Rougarou]

all the loads i listed were max loads not standard. again to get the 1350fps u listed u had to drop he bullet weight to 155. check out the reloading manuals for yourself. i am not knocking the .40 for u if that is what u like and works for u. it just isn't the most powerful round out there as many claim.

I am not knocking any round and no it is not the most powerful round and I do own a 40sw but I also own several other calibers, I guess I got a little off target, I like most handgun loads and was just defending the 40sw from the haters thst just don't have a clue about the round so I will sum it up like this with a little history the 10mm was a round designed for the FBI for performance but used a larg grip size like found on 45acp handguns it was not comfortable for all shooters and they wanted it to fit a standard frame service pistol so people would be more comfortable using it so S&W designed the 40sw by taking 3mm off the 10mm cases and the 40sw was born.

 

[summer44]

i hope you enjoy your 40 as well. hopefully neither of us will ever find out how our round performs personally. good luck and stay on target!

 

[Rougarou]

i hope you enjoy your 40 as well. hopefully neither of us will ever find out how our round performs personally. good luck and stay on target!

I hope to never have to use it as well, and btw 40sw is not my favorite round bu it will do until Glock comes out with a G series pistol in 50BMG LOL. God bless.

 

[Flashover16]

The 40 is not more powerful than the 45. refer to any reloading manual. the max velocity of a 180 grain bullet in the speer manual # 14 for a 40 cal round is 1027fps. the 45 on the other hand in the same manual list a 185 grain bullet at 1047fps. which gives the 45 a slight edge((a little more velocity with a little more weight with a larger bullet diameter) however the 45 allows you to go up in bullet weight. the 225 grain 45 jhp at 935fps. what you loose here in speed you more than make up with in weight.( a 10% reduction in velocity in exchange for a 20% increase in weight). People often over look bullet diameter which must also be taken in to account other wise bullet expansion would be irrelevant.
on a side note take a look at the 44 special you can push a 200 grain bullet at 976fps. even it is more powerful than the 40. all that being said there isn't anything wrong with the 40 for a man stopper if that's what you like. It just not the most powerful round out there.

wake up my man!
you are comparing the middle road or light load 45 acp to the heavy load 40 S & W.
run the 40 S & W with a 135-150 grain projectile against the 45 acp, or use the most common weight projectile in the 45 , the 230 grain.
thats talking points that you put up.
you cherry picked the projectiles.

 

[Flashover16]

all the loads i listed were max loads not standard. again to get the 1350fps u listed u had to drop he bullet weight to 155. check out the reloading manuals for yourself. i am not knocking the .40 for u if that is what u like and works for u. it just isn't the most powerful round out there as many claim.

yep! and you dropped the 45 acp to 185 grains!
so its an apples to watermelon comparison that you are making then?
if we say a particular round has more power than another particular round would it not be by making a comparison that is the most powerful combo that remains within safe limits?
A standard load is a SAAMI (CIP) listed pressure load that is not listed as NATO, Plus P or plus P plus.

 

[Flashover16]

I will sum it up like this with a little history the 10mm was a round designed for the FBI for performance but used a larg grip size like found on 45acp handguns it was not comfortable for all shooters and they wanted it to fit a standard frame service pistol so people would be more comfortable using it so S&W designed the 40sw by taking 3mm off the 10mm cases and the 40sw was born.

Well ACTUALLY the 10 MM was developed in 1983 for the Bren Ten pistol developed by D & D enterprises as the ultimate military round in a handgun.
the idea was to develope a cartridge that could be fired from a semi automatic weapon that would closely duplicate the 41/44 magnum fired from a revolver and remain in a practical size weapon (not a desert eagle).
but anyway , the 40 was down sized and down loaded as mentioned past that point.
I don't own a 40 simply because I own several 38 supers, 10 MM and 45 acps, no need for another tool in the tool box to do the same job, its a fine self defense caliber.

 

[summer44]

yep! and you dropped the 45 acp to 185 grains!
so its an apples to watermelon comparison that you are making then?
if we say a particular round has more power than another particular round would it not be by making a comparison that is the most powerful combo that remains within safe limits?
A standard load is a SAAMI (CIP) listed pressure load that is not listed as NATO, Plus P or plus P plus.

No.it isn't go back and read my post. I also list the 225 grain bullet for the 45. The 180 to 185 is apples to apples
Regardless the 45 has more power and engery which ever load you choose . Saami pressure had nothing to do with the power of the round. A 10mm has a higher pressure than a 44 mag yet it isn't as powerful. My info is based on facts and not my opinion. Carry and shoot what u like. Nothing is wrong with the .40 it just isn't up to par with the 45

 

[ckarr]

SO.. OP.. After all this information and opining what is your assessment / conclusion and what is your decision??

I think it's all about personal preference. I love my. 40, it's not too snappy for me, and I'm accurate/can follow up well with it. If you don't practice with what you have though, as far as defense, it doesn't matter. Gotta be comfortable with what you have. However, I just picked up a sig 1911 stx .45 that I have to say is amazing, and I now choose over my .40. I don't really care for 9mm personally. I'll stick to my .40/.45 for pistol calibers.

 

[cmshoot]

I don't find the .40 to be too snappy, and that's not what folks are saying. My duty round for the past 13+ years has been the .357SIG. For 7 years before that my duty round was the .40S&W.

My current agency has us turn in our issued SIG P229 at 40,000 rounds and be issued a new one. I'm on my 4th P229, and that isn't counting the rounds I've fired out of other guys' guns and spare guns. I'm very comfortable with hard recoiling handguns.

I used the P229 .357SIG to earn my Triple Nickel......I'm coin holder #58. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Nickel_Course_of_Fire Y'all try that course of fire and let me know how many of y'all can pass it. Shot with a covering garment and you have to pass it 3x in the same day to get your Nickel.

So, what we're saying is the the .40 is snappier than the 9mm. Yes, I can easily handle the recoil of the .40 and .357SIG, but I can shoot the same groups faster with a 9mm. I earned my Triple Nickel with a SIG P229 in .357SIG, but when I run it with a SIG P229 9mm I post consistently faster times. Same basic gun, same trigger, same sights, same reloads, only real difference is the caliber.