What .40 S&W pistol should a dealer stock? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 7/17/2026 10:26:53 PM EDT
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If your LGS was going to stock just one .40 S&W pistol, what would you suggest he stock? Gunshow friend of mine recently pointed out that I should have at least one .40 S&W pistol in stock. Right now, I've got .22 LR, .22 WMR, 5.7x28mm, .380 ACP, 9x19mm, .38 Super, & .45 ACP pistols in stock, along with a few revolvers. Everything on the table is $500 or less. Suggestions? |
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S&W M&P? I see specials from wholesalers from time to time that should get you in your price point and still make some money on the sale. Bigger_Hammer 
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| What pistols do you sell a lot of? Does anyone ask for 40? It's been so long since I've sold guns 40 was still popular. Whatever line we stocked we tried to do a wide range. I think just about any quality compact or full size polymer gun would fill the bill. Glock 23 22, M&P, XD. |
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Originally Posted By tgmr05: Whatever 40 is traded in. No need to order one that may sit and gather dust. If someone really wants a new one, order the one they want for them. ^^^^ That ^^^^ Don't tie up money in inventory that doesn't move. If anything I would stock a Glock 20 and push 10mm instead. |
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Originally Posted By Ewald: ^^^^ That ^^^^ Don't tie up money in inventory that doesn't move. If anything I would stock a Glock 20 and push 10mm instead. Originally Posted By Ewald: Originally Posted By tgmr05: Whatever 40 is traded in. No need to order one that may sit and gather dust. If someone really wants a new one, order the one they want for them. ^^^^ That ^^^^ Don't tie up money in inventory that doesn't move. If anything I would stock a Glock 20 and push 10mm instead. This sounds logical with the 10mm options available. I have a couple 40 cal, a Ruger and an M&P, just not a fan of the caliber. I swapped the M&P barrel and magazine to 9MM. It’s a better gun now in my opinion. |
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Why, is anyone asking for .40? I'd probably just deal in the trade-ins as mentioned. or maybe a few LEO trade-ins. My local shop has a few G27's for $349. They don't seem to be selling at that price. And they're just a $40 conversion barrel & a few mags away from being 9mm. |
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Originally Posted By backbencher: If your LGS was going to stock just one .40 S&W pistol, what would you suggest he stock? Gunshow friend of mine recently pointed out that I should have at least one .40 S&W pistol in stock. Right now, I've got .22 LR, .22 WMR, 5.7x28mm, .380 ACP, 9x19mm, .38 Super, & .45 ACP pistols in stock, along with a few revolvers. Everything on the table is $500 or less. Suggestions? Hmm. 4 ideas: A) For a handgun in .40 Smith & Wesson, a Smith & Wesson M&P in .40 They have incentive to get that gun right and not quit on the caliber. Perhaps the metal framed one, pretty shootable, IMHO more shootable = less likely to have them try to return it. B) Glock 22, it's kind of a "punt" to go with the generic glock, but by virtue of it being a glock, for the guy who has a bunch and loves them it might have a spot as the ~10th handgun in his collection C) A wildcard, an old S&W 4006, or another nice 3rd Gen Smith. I can't say for sure but my gut says that people in interested in .40 might trend towards shooters who were around for its heyday. Less likely to dismiss it and more likely to be interested. That kind of buyer might appreciate seeing a 3rd Gen Smith. "Man I regret selling mine." or "I regret not buying them when they were new." Or for the buyer looking for something different, it checks that box D) A ruger GP100 in 10mm  It will take 10mm and .40S&W. A way to get into both calibers without having to buy tons of mags in either. |
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Probably a CZ. Liberals and hipsters love CZ’s just as much as they love doing things the hard/wrong way, so they’d probably be easy to sucker into buying inconvenient obscure shit. The gang bangers also love saying “Glock foe-dee”. |
| The only .40s I see at my LGS are used Glocks, Sigs, and M&Ps. I can’t recalling seeing any new guns in .40s on the shelves in the last few years, and I visit these stores quite often. Yes used for guns are cheap, but ammo is still expensive. I use to have quit a few 40s, but found them to be snappy. |
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Originally Posted By Bellows1: I would look for police trade-ins. You dont have a lot of money tied up, your customers can save a lot if money over a new 9mm. I love shooting 40 and have several police trades. S&W, HK, Sig, SA, Beretta. Yeah, I'm thinking M&P trade-ins. Maybe Glock 22/23 trade ins. |
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Originally Posted By Ewald: ^^^^ That ^^^^ Don't tie up money in inventory that doesn't move. If anything I would stock a Glock 20 and push 10mm instead. Originally Posted By Ewald: Originally Posted By tgmr05: Whatever 40 is traded in. No need to order one that may sit and gather dust. If someone really wants a new one, order the one they want for them. ^^^^ That ^^^^ Don't tie up money in inventory that doesn't move. If anything I would stock a Glock 20 and push 10mm instead. Since the cheap Rock Islands dried up, I can't get a 10mm on the table for less than $500, except that weird Taurus. When I was getting RIAs in 10mm, they sold very quickly. |
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Originally Posted By mak0: Why would someone looking for a budget gun get a .40 that's more expensive to shoot than 9mm? You never have any customers looking for something higher end than a Glock or M&P? Originally Posted By mak0: Originally Posted By backbencher: Where can I find USPs for under $500? Why would someone looking for a budget gun get a .40 that's more expensive to shoot than 9mm? You never have any customers looking for something higher end than a Glock or M&P? I've invested $800 in a Colt .38 Super exactly once. .38 Supers I can sell. I'm not going to invest that kinda capital in a .40. |
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Originally Posted By -OdieGreen-: Probably a CZ. Liberals and hipsters love CZ’s just as much as they love doing things the hard/wrong way, so they’d probably be easy to sucker into buying inconvenient obscure shit. The gang bangers also love saying “Glock foe-dee”. That’s just stupid. |
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Originally Posted By -OdieGreen-: Are you a liberal, a hipster, or a gang banger that can speak to why it’s stupid? Originally Posted By -OdieGreen-: Originally Posted By 3-gun: That’s just stupid. Are you a liberal, a hipster, or a gang banger that can speak to why it’s stupid? They're $1300 at wholesale. It would be unimaginably stupid for me to stock a .40 S&W CZ pistol. None of my 5 distributors have any police surplus .40 S&W pistols in stock. My choices are S&W Shields, S&W SD 2.0s, & the Taurus G3Cs, along w/ a few others. The Taurus would sticker around $330. Glocks would sticker too high for the table. |
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Originally Posted By backbencher: They're $1300 at wholesale. It would be unimaginably stupid for me to stock a .40 S&W CZ pistol. None of my 5 distributors have any police surplus .40 S&W pistols in stock. My choices are S&W Shields, S&W SD 2.0s, & the Taurus G3Cs, along w/ a few others. The Taurus would sticker around $330. Glocks would sticker too high for the table. I don’t hate 40, but stocking any 40SW pistols is stupid. You answered your own question. |
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Originally Posted By -OdieGreen-: I don’t hate 40, but stocking any 40SW pistols is stupid. You answered your own question. Originally Posted By -OdieGreen-: Originally Posted By backbencher: They're $1300 at wholesale. It would be unimaginably stupid for me to stock a .40 S&W CZ pistol. None of my 5 distributors have any police surplus .40 S&W pistols in stock. My choices are S&W Shields, S&W SD 2.0s, & the Taurus G3Cs, along w/ a few others. The Taurus would sticker around $330. Glocks would sticker too high for the table. I don’t hate 40, but stocking any 40SW pistols is stupid. You answered your own question. It was suggested to me by a pretty smart older gun dealer who sells all the used .40s he gets. I had thought my distributors would still have some used .40 police guns. One of my distributors has no .40 S&W pistols whatsoever - I haven't been looking for .40. If things improve, I could see throwing a .40 G3C on the table as an experiment. But with the war on, folks are spending their disposable income on gas instead of guns. |
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Originally Posted By dump1567: Why, is anyone asking for .40? I'd probably just deal in the trade-ins as mentioned. or maybe a few LEO trade-ins. My local shop has a few G27's for $349. They don't seem to be selling at that price. And they're just a $40 conversion barrel & a few mags away from being 9mm. Probably because you can buy them online for $275ish shipped fairly often when they pop up in stock. |
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Glock 23…. I hate them, but they have the greatest celebrity value. Think of all the benefits no safety, lots of trigger kits available, looks like a Glock 19, has readily available Glock switches on every street corner in the inner city, probably someone makes a drum mag, and is a real icon of gang violence. This is what really sells! Smith & Wesson M&P40….. if the shop wants to sell to normal people like me, this, especially with the thumb safety, would be the most desirable option. |
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Trade in Glock 22’s. Get em cheap. |
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Originally Posted By backbencher: It was suggested to me by a pretty smart older gun dealer who sells all the used .40s he gets. I had thought my distributors would still have some used .40 police guns. One of my distributors has no .40 S&W pistols whatsoever - I haven't been looking for .40. If things improve, I could see throwing a .40 G3C on the table as an experiment. But with the war on, folks are spending their disposable income on gas instead of guns. This is going to depend on the mark-up your planning. Aim surplus, CDNN and others often have trade-ins, you'll probably not find them cheaper. You can flip them for $50 profit. You're kinda late to the game on trade-ins, since most switched a few years ago. |
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Originally Posted By BrandonP: I would ignore your friend's advice. It's hard to give .40 pistols away these days. No one has offered to give me one. |
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Originally Posted By SDGlock23: S&W makes a few cheaper .40 options and the G23V is the only one Glock even offers right now. Does Hi Point even offer a .40 anymore? I ask only because they're cheap as hell. I love .40, I always keep my eyes out for any that I can find. User name... is appropriate. I carried a Gen 2 Glock 23 for a long time. One of my distributors has a single HiPoint .40 pistol in stock. One of my distributors doesn't stock any .40s whatsoever. Some of my distributors have more unique SKUs in .44 Special than .40 S&W. |
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Originally Posted By Geralt55: Hmm. 4 ideas: A) For a handgun in .40 Smith & Wesson, a Smith & Wesson M&P in .40 They have incentive to get that gun right and not quit on the caliber. Perhaps the metal framed one, pretty shootable, IMHO more shootable = less likely to have them try to return it. B) Glock 22, it's kind of a "punt" to go with the generic glock, but by virtue of it being a glock, for the guy who has a bunch and loves them it might have a spot as the ~10th handgun in his collection C) A wildcard, an old S&W 4006, or another nice 3rd Gen Smith. I can't say for sure but my gut says that people in interested in .40 might trend towards shooters who were around for its heyday. Less likely to dismiss it and more likely to be interested. That kind of buyer might appreciate seeing a 3rd Gen Smith. "Man I regret selling mine." or "I regret not buying them when they were new." Or for the buyer looking for something different, it checks that box D) A ruger GP100 in 10mm It will take 10mm and .40S&W. A way to get into both calibers without having to buy tons of mags in either. This seems reasonable, does your supplier have any trade in programs that you can get access to, Glock, M&P, etc? |
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