The .40 S&W round has been around for a while now. How do you think it is doing on a wide spread scale in ters of selling well and overall popularity? Do you think it will survive for decades to come?

most police agencies use it, so yeah its doomed


87

Quoted: most police agencies use it, so yeah its doomed 87

I give it 87 more days at best!

Thought I'd get a few replys like that!

The reason I ask is my local gun shop insists that the 40 is loosing popularity across the board. hey say they see it in their sales!!! I laughed to myself, how can one little shop make that ditermination!!

It will never match 9mm in popularity (unless the military were to adopt it).  It has a chance to over take the 45 (but I doubt it will).  It will not go away.

For those of you who feel the 40's days are numbered and will not be in production much longer please state your reasons why you feel this way.

Quoted: Thought I'd get a few replys like that! The reason I ask is my local gun shop insists that the 40 is loosing popularity across the board. hey say they see it in their sales!!! I laughed to myself, how can one little shop make that ditermination!!

they could probably fix that with a wrench

With all the new .45ACPs that seem to be popping up it may start losing some of its popularity.

I don't know.    
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The most popular handgun rounds probably rank in the order of 9mm, 45, 40S&W, 357SIG. I'm not including saturday night special rounds like 380, 32, 25 and 22.

I highly doubt any of them are going anywhere anytime soon.

Quoted: The most popular handgun rounds probably rank in the order of 9mm, 45, 40S&W, 357SIG. I'm not including saturday night special rounds like 380, 32, 25 and 22. I highly doubt any of them are going anywhere anytime soon.

38/357 and 44 to

Quoted: For those of you who feel the 40's days are numbered and will not be in production much longer please state your reasons why you feel this way.

I voted slowly going away, just a gut feeling.


I will speak from personal opinion:

9mm - great round, nice recoil, accurate, lotta debate about stopping power (seems like a question about having the absolute perfect round).  Adopted by military (not just our own)

.40cal - great round, but peaky recoil impulse (relatively high chamber pressure in this example).  Don't like it.  Still a bit of debate about stopping power.

.45ACP - great round, nice recoil (big instead of peaky) with an average chamber pressure, accurate.  Love it.  Very little debate about stopping power, whether FMJ, JHP, what have you.

It's a great caliber and there's a wide variety of pistols that use this round.  I don't think it'll "die" off.

I see nothing wrong with it, and its another valuable tool to have in the arsenal.

Quoted: It's a great caliber and there's a wide variety of pistols that use this round.  I don't think it'll "die" off. I see nothing wrong with it, and its another valuable tool to have in the arsenal.

Yeah, I wanna shoot with the biggest thing that I can get off mulitple rounds quickly.  I can grip my Glock 22 or my godawful beretta 96 so tight that it never leaves the target no matter how fast I fire.  I can't do that with a .45  between that and damn near the capacity of a 9, I'll stick with the .40

Quoted: Quoted: It's a great caliber and there's a wide variety of pistols that use this round.  I don't think it'll "die" off. I see nothing wrong with it, and its another valuable tool to have in the arsenal. Yeah, I wanna shoot with the biggest thing that I can get off mulitple rounds quickly.  I can grip my Glock 22 or my godawful beretta 96 so tight that it never leaves the target no matter how fast I fire.  I can't do that with a .45  between that and damn near the capacity of a 9, I'll stick with the .40

Exactly!  You can fire multiple shots quicky and on target without sacrificing capacity.  

I just don't see a need for the .40 or the .357Sig.  It's 9mm and .45 for me, and it always will be.

Well, personally, I have ditched all my .40's.  The only calibers I will be buying, at least in my main guns, from now on is 5.56, 9mm, 12 gauge,  and .45acp (NOT gap).  .45 is my house gun, 9mm is SHTF gun (more ammo....more potential avaliable ammo because of surplus), 5.56 is what my ar is, and 12 gauge because..well...its 12 gauge.  If they want me to switch, they are going to have to impress me with one of two things.  Same effectiveness as 9mm, but cheaper.  Same stopping power as .45 (or more) without costing more.  5.56 and 12 gauge are here to stay.  

9mm is cheap to shoot
.45 is good for stopping power (in pistol)
12 gauge is king of close encounters
5.56=ar15=good stuff

Quoted: Quoted: For those of you who feel the 40's days are numbered and will not be in production much longer please state your reasons why you feel this way. I voted slowly going away, just a gut feeling. I will speak from personal opinion: 9mm - great round, nice recoil, accurate, lotta debate about stopping power (seems like a question about having the absolute perfect round).  Adopted by military (not just our own) .40cal - great round, but peaky recoil impulse (relatively high chamber pressure in this example).  Don't like it.  Still a bit of debate about stopping power. .45ACP - great round, nice recoil (big instead of peaky) with an average chamber pressure, accurate.  Love it.  Very little debate about stopping power, whether FMJ, JHP, what have you.

This is an interesting perspective

I wasn't aware the .40 had "issues" with stopping power, especially since its more powerful and heavier than the 9mm, and you rate it (the 9 x 19) high.

But it seems your knowledge of handguns is more extensive than my own

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: For those of you who feel the 40's days are numbered and will not be in production much longer please state your reasons why you feel this way. I voted slowly going away, just a gut feeling. I will speak from personal opinion: 9mm - great round, nice recoil, accurate, lotta debate about stopping power (seems like a question about having the absolute perfect round).  Adopted by military (not just our own) .40cal - great round, but peaky recoil impulse (relatively high chamber pressure in this example).  Don't like it.  Still a bit of debate about stopping power. .45ACP - great round, nice recoil (big instead of peaky) with an average chamber pressure, accurate.  Love it.  Very little debate about stopping power, whether FMJ, JHP, what have you. This is an interesting perspective I wasn't aware the .40 had "issues" with stopping power, especially since its more powerful and heavier than the 9mm, and you rate it (the 9 x 19) high. But it seems your knowledge of handguns is more extensive than my own

lets do the order of stopping power:

Good to better:
9 - 40 - 45
(as stated in my original post, again opinion)

at no point did I say I am an expert, you want to say I'm full of crap, then come out and say it

Quoted: Well, personally, I have ditched all my .40's.  The only calibers I will be buying, at least in my main guns, from now on is 5.56, 9mm, 12 gauge,  and .45acp (NOT gap).  .45 is my house gun, 9mm is SHTF gun (more ammo....more potential avaliable ammo because of surplus), 5.56 is what my ar is, and 12 gauge because..well...its 12 gauge.  If they want me to switch, they are going to have to impress me with one of two things.  Same effectiveness as 9mm, but cheaper.  Same stopping power as .45 (or more) without costing more.  5.56 and 12 gauge are here to stay.   9mm is cheap to shoot .45 is good for stopping power (in pistol) 12 gauge is king of close encounters 5.56=ar15=good stuff

what about a .308 for hunting/long range shooting?

Personally I think that .40 sucks, but it is here to stay.

Personally I think they should have just stuck with the 10mm
but the .40 is here to stay .

Quoted: Personally I think they should have just stuck with the 10mm but the .40 is here to stay .

To my knowledge the .40 is the only caliber ever developed just for women and petite men.

Quoted: Quoted: Personally I think they should have just stuck with the 10mm but the .40 is here to stay . To my knowledge the .40 is the only caliber ever developed just for women and petite men.

You mean the 9mm? 40 kicks harder then all of them so it might as well be the manliest cartridge to be had!

Nope, I mean .40. It was made because certain FBI agents and others like them coudnt handle the 10mm.

I LIKE 9mm. I LIKE .45. .40 has the worst attributes of both.

Quoted: Nope, I mean .40. It was made because certain FBI agents and others like them coudnt handle the 10mm. I LIKE 9mm. I LIKE .45. .40 has the worst attributes of both.

Or the best of both...speed and weight....all in who you ask!

Quoted: I just don't see a need for the .40 or the .357Sig.  It's 9mm and .45 for me, and it always will be.

yup +1

.40 is here to stay, IMO.

I like it and my only pistol is chambered in it.

Why? I don't really like 9mm.

WIZZO

.45 GAP is going to rule all!!!!  

Is stopping power measured in thrusts per squeeze?

I bought my first 40 yesterday. A G-23.  My reasoning was I have several 9's, and 2 45ACP's. In a SHTF scenrio, I should be able to find ammo for one of them.  So many police departments use the round now.

Also, all the rounds mentioned here should give good stopping power if the shooter does his/her part and hits a vital area.

And once a round makes it to 100 round value packs at Wally World, you know it's made it.  They are only $4 more than the 100 round 9's, and $5 cheaper than 45's.

I think it is here to stay.  My guess is still out on the 357 sig and 45 gap though.

I think (hope) so anyway.My two favorite pistols,glock 22 and XD40 tactical are .40 caliber.I have plenty of ammo and fixins to roll my own,so its here to stay with me anyway

here to stay

i dont really like it, but its going to be here long after i pass

I really liked the 40 when I first started shooting it even though the recoil is a bit snappen. Then I shot it side by side in a IDPA match with my 9mm. Well lets just say I shot a whole lot faster and more acurate with the 9mm. This got me interested so I started looking at a lot of the data on expanded 9mm JHPs opposed to 40cal JHPs. They were so similar with the 9mm sometimes expanding bigger and more reliable and sometimes the other way around. Penetration mostly depended on the bullet used not the 9mm vs 40. Ever since unless I have good carry ammo like ranger in my 40cal I carry the 9mm for the extra speed and accuracy. I would assume that as soon as shootings start with a lot of these departments that switched to 40s they will also discover that if you dont hit the thing being shot in the right place it does no good. If the departments spent the extra money give more training to their officers on how to place the bullets the expensive switch might not have been necassary and it woulda worked out better.

I think the .40 is here to stay. Its a very effective man-stopper and you don't have to sacrafice capacity and minimal weight and grip size to have .45 type performance.  Its an excellent mixture of velocity and bullet weight. I think its a much better choice than the antiquated .45 ACP because capacity is higher in lighter/smaller weapons. The .40 S&W is a very effective man-stopper and its here to stay. I think its very likely that the DoD will adopt a .40 caliber handgun to replace the M9 or at least to suplement it. The .40 will continue to be popular until something better comes along, just like the 9mm Beretta 92 was the most prevalent sidearm in law enforcement until the G22 in .40 came along. Im not sure what will replace the .40, but until that day comes it will continue to be popular. The .357 Sig was an answer to a question that nobody

asked. While its certainly capable of acceptible lethality, I don't feel that it offers enough of a performance increase over +P 9mm loads to justify reduced magazine capacity and increased ammunition cost, not to mention obscurity of ammo incase of emergency. I am an ardent 9mm suprorter as I feel its an extremely effective defensive caliber, depending on ammunition choice. It has a great balance of velocity, bullet size, high magazine capacity, low weight and recoil. While I love the 9mm and use a Beretta M9 as my carry gun loaded with BH 124grn +P Gold Dots, I am in the process of buyinga tutone G22 with night sights in .40, just for fun. While I love my Beretta, I dont feel its the best "carry gun" I think a DAO Glock, especially in .40 would be an excellent

choice. I get an increase in caliber without going up in weight or loosing capaciy. The only thing better than the .40 is the 10mm. Comparing the G22 to the G20 finds the 10mm to be a very large and heavy weapon. 10mm generates alot of recoil and ammo is expensive and scarce, though extremely effective. A slightly underloaded 10mm might be the best defensive cartridge availible....if only someone made a round like this. Oh wait, thats the .40!

Quoted: Nope, I mean .40. It was made because certain FBI agents and others like them coudnt handle the 10mm. I LIKE 9mm. I LIKE .45. .40 has the worst attributes of both.

+1 on this

As many PD's who use it, I think it's here to stay. Even if ythe PD's were to drop the .40, think how many guns would be around in .40

Quoted: It will never match 9mm in popularity (unless the military were to adopt it).  It has a chance to over take the 45 (but I doubt it will).  It will not go away.

Does USCG count?

Quoted: Quoted: It will never match 9mm in popularity (unless the military were to adopt it).  It has a chance to over take the 45 (but I doubt it will).  It will not go away. Does USCG count?

Since the coast guard has more battle streamers hanging from their flag than the other 4 branches I'd say so.