Have a G29 that makes me feel more comfortable hiking In black bear country and such. Within the next few years I'm hoping to go to Alaska for some solo hiking. I'm trying to decide if I want to get a G40 or do a 40 super conversion but I really can't find many barrel options for 40 super. So school me up on what options are out there please.

unless you like hand loading your won ammo, making your own brass, and never finding any loaded ammo on the shelves, stick with 10mm, or better yet another widespread offering.....  

have you considered a large DA revolver?  a 44 mag will do the trick and can be reloaded with versatility for lighter tasks back home.....  454 casull, or 460 S&W Can also use 45 colt ammo.....    

I would look to what you can buy with regularity in AK.....   10mm is sometimes sketchy to find here in the lower 48, I would think in AK it would be harder....   you will never find 40 Super on shelves......it is a product of the good idea fairy.......  

10MM is VERY popular in AK.

You can get it in just about any store. our cabellas sells more 10mm glocks than any other cabellas in the US, neat tidbit(work with a guy who part times at their gun counter, they got a minor atta boy from corporate about it_)\

Starline makes 40 super brass so it's easy to find. As for making my own, yeah I'm ok with that. And finding ammo on the shelf? Don't care about that. 10 mm is supposed to be very easy to find in AK. I don't like revolvers as much as semis. I have thought about 50AE but I don't really want a desert eagle (at least not for $1100).

So back to the question of best guns for a 40 super and which barrel conversion

Help me understand, what does a .40 Super do that a 10mm doesn't? With .40 +P offerings from GA Arms and Buffalo Bore that make the .40 scream, I guess I don't understand where the .40 super fits.

Underwood 40 super
1350 fps
891 ft lbs


Underwood 10mm

1200 fps
703 ftpbs

So you can argue that buffalo bore gets higher velocities but if you look they measure them with a longer barrel. The underwood uses the same bullet and powder to give you a decent comparison of the difference. Granted they aren't that different. But the super edges out the 10mm. Now I like 10mm but I'm still debating 40 super for the higher pressures from the bottleneck. It's gonna be like a 9mm 357 sig thread I'm afraid though. All I wanted was to find out what guns and barrel conversions people were using

Nah, I was just trying to understand the differences. I wasn't that familiar with the round. From what little I read about it though it seems as if a Glock 21 is the preferred starting point for a .40 super build.

Sorry, I have no input on the 40 Super, but I was browsing Underwood and hot damn .44 Magnum is stout.

44 Magnum

Muzzle Velocity: 1425 fps
Muzzle Energy: 1533 ft. lbs.

No worries. I'm just fishing for info on a gun with not a lot of info. G21 does look like a good starting point. If I could get a longslide I'd be happy but longslide barrels didn't seem to exist.

Yes it is. It's also not lost on me as I've shot some 44s but I'm still curious to the super. If I end up with a 44 then so be it, but it will be after reading a lot about Super and maybe buying both

I load 45 super for my Glock 21 and really like it.  There is some guys shooting the 40 super on GlockTalk. That was a great source of info when I was looking at the 45 super. I also have a G40 and really like it, it's quite mellow when loaded hot and a great shooter. The 40 super sounds like a pretty cool round but difficult to source parts and components for.

I've been shooting 40 Super since 1998 and developed a lot of the load data that Triton used at the time.  It puts about 200fps on the 10mm.  Whether or not that's significant enough to go through the hassle of building one up.......well, that's up to you to decide.  

Here's some numbers from a 6" Witness Hunter chambered in 40 Super.

135gr 1820 fps     993 fpe
150gr 1735 fps   1003 fpe
165gr 1675 fps   1028 fpe
180gr 1565 fps     978 fpe
200gr 1450 fps     934 fpe

Here's the numbers with the same gun, with a 6" 10mm barrel in it.

135gr 1625 fps    792 fpe
165gr 1454 fps    775 fpe
180gr 1384 fps    766 fpe
200gr 1217 fps    658 fpe

I also have a 6" Safari Arms 1911 in 40 Super.  I back the loads down about 75fps since it has an unsupported chamber.

Tony Rumore
Tromix

It's like a 45 casing necked down to 40. So you'll need a Glock 21 for a 40 Super. For me personally the 10mm is already plenty powerful. I mean 180 grains going 1300fps is more than enough. But yeah if you want more power, then go for it. Hell why not just grab a 460 Rowland and call it a day, haha. There's lots of interesting wildcat calibers out there. But I think 10mm is the most practical magnum type power semi auto cartridge. 

I could see if the 40 Super was cranking out 1800+ but that difference is not going to be enough in my book to justify going the 40 Super route.  If I were you wanting to go this route I would get a G40 and find a good load of 10mm and go.  The G20/40/29 are proven designs with the 10mm cartridge why mess with what work for 150fps.

I can understand what you're saying. I just want to know both options. I can see enough improvement that I want to look at both options.

I'm curious about this topic as well. Sometimes guys just want to have (or learn about) exotic calibers.

.40-Super is my all time favorite handgun caliber.  

I converted an FNX-Tactical to .40-Super with an EFK barrel.  It's about 25% more powerful than 10MM, and the cartridge length is shorter, so it makes for a more comfortable hand grip when loaded with 15 rounds, when compared to a 10mm Glock.  

Underwood makes several loads for .40-Super.  Here is a photo of their 135 grain in action.

Attached File

Awesome. This is what I was hoping for is handgun and barrel options that users had found.

Thank you

Cool.  Had never heard of this cartridge.  Looks like a real performer, right between 10mm and .41 mag.

Why can't we get a nice, locked breech, under five lb., carbine for these really cool, powerful, pistol cartridges?

I know the AR platform can adapt to almost anything but the mag well length and bolt stroke for .223 is just way longer than a pistol cartridge needs.  That makes the whole firearm too long and heavy.

Someone needs to scale down the AR platform for pistol cartridges.  

The 40 Super is, and always has been, a wannabe "10mm" cartridge for the .45 guys, if you can even find the ammo.

Velocity-wise, the loads for 40 Super initially look good with the light 10mm/.40 bullet-weights from 135gns to about 165gns.

After that, however, the 40 Super fades quickly as bullet-weights increase (180gns & up), as compared to the velocities produced by the 10mm AUTO with heavier projectiles. You don't want to risk your life to the light-weight .40 bullets in bear country just because the 40Super's velocity looks good on paper.

For Alaska, and anywhere else you might encounter bears, the 10mm Glock 40 is the IDEAL backwoods/boonies gun to take along.  Load it 15+1 with hot & heavy hard-cast slugs in the 200gn, 220gn, or 230gn range. Underwood, Double Tap, Buffalo Bore ... take your pick of their offerings. But definitely spend a bit of extra cash to test a box or two at the range to vet feeding and chambering reliability in your gun.

A Gen4 G20 would be the second choice for Alaska or Bear Country,  if you couldn't find a G40.

.40 Super is faster and more powerful than 10mm at all bullet weights.  For example, Underwood 200 grain .40 Super ammo is 150 FPS faster than Underwood 200 grain 10mm ammo, and the .40 Super load in this bullet weight has 25% more energy.

I have never heard of the 40 Super until now. Looks like its basically a 45 based case necked down to .40.

The only Glock that ever give me reliability issues are the bottle-necked .357 Sig ones. So make sure it's reliable.

Understand, I'm not saying the 40 Super is a "junk" cartridge.  

It has a practical use for the gun-gamers and .45 guys who wanna play "Sonny Crockett" on long lazy Sunday afternoons at the range.

If you're going to Alaska, there are way better choices in 10mm ammo.

The .40 Super is very cool round OP. But you are going to have to be willing to spend the time tuning the platform of your choosing for reliability however. It's a bit more than slapping a Storm Lake barrel or the likes into a Glock and calling it good. Updating/swapping heavier recoil springs (that will allow the pistol to function), magazine springs (to keep up with extra slide velocity), extractor springs (for reliable extraction), etc etc... I had the same deal turning my Springfield 1911 into a .45Super before it became reliable enough for serious woods carry. I got it there/reliable in about 3 range trips. It included a Wolff 24lb recoil spring & matching firing pin spring, increased tension Main Spring, Wolff 10% magazine springs, Flat Bottom firing pin stop, and about $150 worth of my intended .45Super ammo for testing from Buffalo Bore. The pistol was sewing machine smooth and reliable after fine tuning. But In the end I went with a S&W 625 for the dedicated .45Super woods pistol. It's a reliable Woods Thumper for sure... and with moon clips the reloads are about on par speed wise with my beloved 1911. Buffalo Bore's 255 grain Hard Cast @ 1100 fps is my favorite woods load and I have a lot of time shooting these. They are the most accurate big bore pistol loads I've ever shot. I converted the 1911 back to .45acp and still enjoy the pistol as it's now dedicated to HD duty. The 625 is capable of shooting and I do shoot .45acp, .45Auto-Rim, and .45 Supers... all are accurate and recoil is easily soaked up with the Altamon "Combat Rosewood" round but stocks I put on it.

That's good to know. I thought it was a barrel swap plug and play situation. This definitely makes 10mm more appealing. G40 is what I'm thinking is next.

Never heard of 40 Super before, followed the link to the underwood site.

So...  40 Super is a high pressure version of 400 Cor-Bon?


Seems to have the obvious disadvantage of being horribly obscure.   If I wanted a plastic pistol for bear country I would just go with a Glock 20, or more likely a USP 45 and load it with .45 Super with hard cast.

The 40 Super case is longer than the 400 Corbon and is based on the 45 Win Mag case, not the 45 ACP case.
It's basically a 45 Win Mag, shortened to 10mm length and necked to 40 caliber.  It has more power than the 10mm but does not have the reliability (that I have seen) when magazines are loaded with more than about 5-8 rounds depending on the platform.

I have killed a lot of hogs with handguns since the early 80's and have never fired more than a few shots at one time....so for that, I would pick the 40 Super over the 10mm any day of the week.

As for Brown bear in Alaska, I wouldn't use either caliber.

Tony