That is to say, the .40 auto pistol. What think ye all ?

I was slow to get on board that movement but then everybody got mad at it, claiming it no better than the 9x19 so for a while they were a glut on the market and I bought several at clearance prices. Then there was the so called "trump (a)effect", the over stocking of tactitardish arms preparatory to the expected hildabitch win. .40s were quite discounted in '21 and '22 so I bought a couple or three more.

What is not to like about it ? .38 w.c.f. equivalent ballistics in a compact platform.

Your thoughts and experiences ?

I find loaded rounds laying on the ground at the range and I always pick up whatever loaded ammo I find.... just because.

I just started a similar post last week over on Lee’s Single Actions page. I love the 40. I grew up shooting 40’s. I remember when it came out and how it was a huge success instantly. Has a very good track record in police shooting. When the make good hits. Now it has fallen from the top round for LE and a lot of personal defense. I don’t buy into the 9mm being just as effective as a 40 or .45. Nothing beats a bigger hole!!!! I do carry a 9 mm Glock 43X from time to time when I need a Super concealable gun. I feel comfortable with the gun and the ammo I use in the 43X. So I’m not anti 9 mm.

So why has it fallen from grace? Has to do with peoples mindset now. They want as many rounds they can carry. Makes up for learning to be proficient with a sidearm. That applies to LE also. Most cops can’t shoot. Now days most are not guy people so to them it just a work tool. So they make up for it with capacity over accuracy.

It's common to see Police fire a lot of ammo at a threat. I saw one where a guy pointed a rifle at the cops and they fired more than 60 rounds at him before he decided to go back into his house. SWAT was called and they talked him out and he gave up. I couldn't help but wonder where all those bullets ended up.

just because during the big O presidency 40 seemed to be more available. The Glock 24 was probably not the best choice for concealability though. I carried a Sig P239 in .40 for a few years but then went back to a G19. Similar size but double the capacity.

During recent perambulations up north I've noted the availability of the Short and Weak round on many different shop shelves, both major players and local type purveyors. So if it's "obsolete" and "no longer desired" the ammo folk are wasting their time providing it in such numbers. Something I tend to doubt. Missed the chance to pick up a heavily discounted one out of a choice of many back in '18 when a local outfit was offering a 25% discount on any in stock item in that particular caliber, and that was taken off of the already discounted prices they reflected in comparison to identical models in "more desirable" calibers. We have a reasonable stock of brass on hand, but no dies or molds or projectiles. Just never have gotten around to getting into the caliber, but have nothing against it. On the other hand, the good ol' 45 Short Colt Automatic round has plenty of brass and projectiles on hand, dies as well and even a launching platform. So there's no rush to get into the the other larger than 9 platform.

Oh, finally got around to shooting a 10mm this summer. Don't have one of those either.

BoBo is an 8 or 9 year old rescue dog. I brought him home about 9 months ago. I have been his human for about 6 months now. BoBo takes me on a daily walk to get the mail, do his business and check out the neighborhood. BoBo says he doesn't care what the police carry, when he walks the neighborhood his human carries a full size SIG P320 40 S&W with a spare magazine. There is a guy who likes to say "Spray them with the white stuff, then hit them with the empty can". He also says "If I have to pull a gun, I want it to be a Big Gun". BoBo and I think he is a smart fellow. I picked up the SIG new when 40's went out of favor at an embarrassingly low price. I like the grip ergonomics WAY better than my Glock 21, and It shoots very well, 30 yard 4" groups are easy peasy. I definitely agree with you Woody on bigger holes. I don't buy into the 9mm "Magic Bullet" thing, and I am my own first responder. If I figure a way to CC my 480 Ruger Super Redhawk, I'll carry that with speed loaders.

Into innocent taxpayers houses, cars, dogs, kids, etc…

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First it was over sold as the new wonder cartridge and it wasn't that wonderful. Second was the issue with recoil as new recruits could not accurately shoot it. Third was grip size for high capacity mags type guns, small hands equal bad target performance. Fourth is bullet development as 9mm jacketed bullets are much better today then 30 years ago.

Ultimately it comes down to what blows your skirt up and excites you, if that is the 40 cal you are luck as guns and ammo are available everywhere due to police/fed/military agencies dropping it.

Gunner

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https://www.instagram.com/41gunner/
41 Mags rule, Baers rock!

Yep. The .45 is a 9mm already expanded!!! The dept I worked for carried M&P .45’s. Before that 3rd generation S&W 45’s. What a piece of junk!!! The M&P’s were a very shootable gun for everyone. Except the deputies that would be a horrible shot with anything. Lol. Most of them were horrible shots. Missing the target shooting in the dirt at the 7 yard line etc. I worked in corrections and we always outshot the deputies!!!!! It pissed them off. That included their “ERT” team. They sure dressed the part like they played it on TV. Lol

But back on the subject the 40 will do a ythig the 9 mm will with a heavier bullet and same when stepping up to the .45. I never found the .40 hard to control or have a lot of recoil. Snappier than the 9 for sure but very controllable .

One of the local dept’s carried M&P 40’s. They didn’t hold up to alot of shooting. Not like a Glock 22. Had issues after 4-5 years.

A few forties.....

The gargantuan excrescence top left cost $99 and has had somewheres in the vicinity of 3,500 rounds through it.

I’ve owned several and currently own 2. The one that’s been here the longest of all of them is a Kel Tec SUB2000. It uses Glock magazines so to go with it I purchased an old county sheriff Glock Model 22. They were my truck guns for years. The S2K folded up nicely and fit perfectly between the drivers seat and the console. Hidden from view, but easily reached amd unfolded from a driving position. The Glock was eventually modified by reshaping the grip to fit my hand and I cut it down to use the shorter G23 mags. I made an iwb holster for it and would grab it and tuck it in if I felt I needed it on errands on the way home from work where I couldn’t carry.

As far as shooting the two, I originally felt it was a good compromise between the 9 & 45. Compromise for sure. You lose some of the power of the 45 amd some of the capacity of a 9mm. It does seem more ‘blasty’ than both calibers but is still an easy to shoot round.

I see no issue with carrying and using one. Never had to shoot anything living with one but performance always seemed good to me. I did work up some loads using Lil Gun and 2400 for the S2K that outperformed warm 10mm loads. I’ll never be in a position to worry about bear defense but I thought that if a feller were out hiking or fishing, a folded upS2K slung out of the way, but easily accessible with a 22 round mag full of 10mm clones with either a solid or something like an XTP would be a dandy thing to have. I think I’d rather have 22 rounds of a semi auto carbine than six of a hot loaded 44 or 45. I know from shooting the little S2K in some local competition I can dump accurate fire pretty danged quick!

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I just recently migrated back to the 40 (10mm short/kurtz/corto). Seems I had around a couple thousand rounds of brass and plenty of small rifle primers. I'm down to 2 hundred large pistol primers so the .40 was revived here. Went searching for a police trade-in. Found one at a local store. A S&W M&P with 3 mags for $375. Box was labeled (SRJ) which I suspect was "Southern Regional Jail". Probably only shot for qualification.
The Trijicon night sights still glow, and the pistol seems very accurate with my slightly under max load of Longshot under a 155 gr. XTP. A dead-on hold on the reactive fall down plates at 50 yards at the range equals a good easy solid hit. I occasionally get bored with the 9mm and the .45 recoil in a light pistol gets aggravating at times so I guess I'll shoot this until Large Pistol Primers become available again.

Bob

One of my sons got on a 40 kick and ended up with a bunch of "modern, plastic pistols" They all seem to work just fine. The ballistics are nothing to sneeze at really so I honestly don't have any complaints. But still I plug along with my .45's and my .38's.

What do I carry mostly? A Ruger LC9S in 9mm. It's flat. It's light. It's easy.

I don't want to be shot with so much as a pellet gun (and I have) so I'm hoping the other guy feels the pretty much same and then caliber won't matter too much. Maybe 'whistling past the graveyard' but that's the plan.

an Auto Ordnance 1911 in 40 S$W. At least I THINK that's the company (late in the 20th Century) that had such a critter in their catalog. It SEEMED like a good idea, but ended up going with a Norinco "Model Of The 1911A1" in 45 ACP instead. Have shoot oodles of 45 ACP since then, but nary a round of 40 Short and Weak. Someday may pick up one of those plastic pistols and find some ammo for it "for science". But boy do I hate chasing brass, so even my current SR1911 doesn't get shot too much unless I've got a youngster to chase the brass for me.

I like it.

https://www.thesixgunjournal.net/the-40-sw-your-tax-dollars-at-work/

It's been a while since I've read any of your work. I need to fix that.

Thanks Hoot I appreciate it.