Opinions on .40S&W

[dennie]

Recently while doing the yard sale thing I ran into a bunch of reloading items. Among these items was about 1500 .40S&W brass and several hundred .40/10mm bullets. Also got the reloading dies and five pounds each of Power Pistol and Blue Dot. I have never loaded .40 cal before and have no gun to shoot it in. The only .40 cal gun I have ever fired was a S&W M&P compact. I did like shooting it but only put one mag full thru it. Since the components I have are not worth all that much if I sell them, I am thinking of buying a gun in that caliber. I have .45acp guns and 9mm guns as well, but something different sounds interesting. Plus, I can usually find factory ammo locally. Not so much for 9mm and .45acp.
So, am I silly for buying another gun? What .40 cal guns would you recommend? If I do buy a gun I would want one that I could carry concealed, so small would be nice.
Thanks,
dennie

[7.62 Precision]

Rock soup!

Buy another gun!

I like XDs, SIGs, CZs, Jerichos, Tanfoglios, M&P . . . wait, how many charachters can my post be?

[MrMurphy]

The M&P is the only .40 I've actually enjoyed shooting.

If you have 9 and .45 there's not really a need for it, it's a cop caliber to split the difference and make both groups happy. My duty gun is a .40 M&P and while I'd prefer a 9mm and will likely move to it soon, the .40 did the job needed for my current purposes.

Remember .40 S&W is a high pressure round. NEVER rechamber a .40 as bullet setback is a serious issue in .40 and can kaboom the gun. 9mm, .45 you can rechamber rounds several times....I would never do so with a .40.

[madman4570]

Recently while doing the yard sale thing I ran into a bunch of reloading items. Among these items was about 1500 .40S&W brass and several hundred .40/10mm bullets. Also got the reloading dies and five pounds each of Power Pistol and Blue Dot. I have never loaded .40 cal before and have no gun to shoot it in. The only .40 cal gun I have ever fired was a S&W M&P compact. I did like shooting it but only put one mag full thru it. Since the components I have are not worth all that much if I sell them, I am thinking of buying a gun in that caliber. I have .45acp guns and 9mm guns as well, but something different sounds interesting. Plus, I can usually find factory ammo locally. Not so much for 9mm and .45acp.
So, am I silly for buying another gun? What .40 cal guns would you recommend? If I do buy a gun I would want one that I could carry concealed, so small would be nice.
Thanks,
dennie

Glock 27
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdyq1p7UVAw

And while you are at it------------------pick up a Kel-Tec Sub2000 (in .40S&W that takes Glock mags)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExvCX4BBrAU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ4pCc_cP9A

[Streetstar]

What .40 cal guns would you recommend? If I do buy a gun I would want one that I could carry concealed, so small would be nice.
Thanks,
dennie

Compact Glock -- don't know if its the 26 or 27

The compact Springfield XD series seem to be crowd favorites, and I believe Springfield makes a couple of compact 1911 format guns in .40 as well

If I was going full size with a .40, i'd go Glock or a Sig 229

for concealment, my plumber showed me his Kahr .40 which is a very small design, but the .40 is a snappy little round and his gun did not look like it would be any fun at all to hit the range with

[dennie]

Thanks for the replies! That Hickok45 sure does like the Glock 27. Do Glocks still bulge the brass? That SU2000 looks like fun also. Gotta decide what to do.
dennie

[airedaleman]

Glock 22 or 23...

[Betterluckytg]

Assuming that you will reload for your next purchase, best make it a Springfield XDsc or XDm 3.8 considering that you want to carry concealed. Unless you're into self flagellation, avoid the Glock like the plague. Sure, they're popular in some circles, but then, so is mast... but this is a family site...

[Shasta]

I like your approach to dealing with the reloading components you got!

I just sprung for a Ruger SR40c. Seems like a good little pistol, but I'll be able to give a better opinion after I actually get it in my hands (going through the California 10 waiting period)
The Smith & Wesson M&P seemed like a good one too, but I only had enough money for the Ruger. I shot my BIL's Glock 27 and found it a little hard to shoot as it does not have much grip for the amount of recoil it has.

SHASTA

[Griff]

My son just ordered an STI "Edge" in 40S&W. I've never shot one, but... if you think of selling your new components, remember me!

[Rusty]

Jr. has a G23 that is amazing. I'm thinking about one myself.

I wish Glock would come out with a line of single stacks, full size and compact in both .40 and .45 ACP.

A standard size 1911 in .40 S&W would be sweet too.

Think of it as a semi auto .38-40.

[7.62 Precision]

Do Glocks still bulge the brass?

Yeah, so some people like to use an aftermarket barrel. It seems the majority of Glock kabooms are .40 S&W Glocks. I suspect the majority also involve reloads. (I was talking to the guy who heads Springfield Armory's repair and warranty department. He told me that they receive 1911 and XD pistols every week with bulged barrels, either with bullets still in the bore, or often with tool marks from the owner driving the bullets out. He said in almost every case, the owner claims he was shooting only factory loads. This is why when someone says, "my gun just blew up and I was shooting factoty loads, I always suspect reloads.)

.40 S&W doesn't have any room to play with - it has to be reloaded carefully. I like XDs because I trust their strength. I bought a used one, and some .40 S&W Federal HP ammo and went to the range. At around 30 meters I was stringing shots vertically and recoil varied greatly. I unloaded the second to last cartridge and the bullet was set back so badly that the tip was almost flush with the case mouth. I cycled another mag manually and 2 out of three set back like that. I'm sure that if it had been one of a number of other pistols I would have had injuries. I din't shoot any more from that box.

I won't shoot anyone's reloads unless I really trust them, and then maybe not. I shot someone's reloads in a 10mm Glock and they were not fully chambering. The striker hit one out of battery and dented the primer pretty deeply. I still get the shivers thinking about that one (Glocks can fire slightly out of battery.

We had a guy in a course once who's .45 ACP Glock was malfunctioning. He had a round almost fully chamber and could not get the slide back. I took that pistol apart, and it required things that you don't usually want to do to a pistol. "I said, where did you get the ammo?"
He said, "It must be one of the ones I found on the ground at the range. Turns out that he found about 150 reloaded rounds in a pile at in the dirt at a range. Cases were bulged, cases were split - it was ugly.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

Since the components I have are not worth all that much if I sell them, I am thinking of buying a gun in that caliber.

That is some impressive rationalization. I'm writing that down for future use.

[tman]

Another vote for the GLOCK 27. you will never regret buying it and you will NEVER sell it for something better, cause there ain't

[dennie]

High pressures and set-back kinda makin' me a little nervous. Gonna think on this a little more. Don't need no stinkin' persnickity .40 cal to load anyways. This is certainly not my first bad idea. Thanks for the suggestions. I do appreciate them. I will try to get an exact inventory of the brass and bullets and go from there.
dennie

[pwl44m]

I too like the way U think. I have a little over 1000 rounds of 40 s&w. It's not worth much to swap or sell so next best thing is buy a Gun to shoot it in. So last Tuesday I put a Glock 22 in administrative detention. I got the 2 tone (green on bottom and black on top) I have been looking at it for a while and have not seen one anywhere else. They say they are hard to get. So with the recent turn of events in DC I figured it was as good of a time as any.
Hey Shasta, sounds like Ours will be out on the same day.
Perry

[Shasta]

My mistake, Perry. The one I'm picking up next Monday is a Glock 30 in .45 ACP. The Ruger SR40c is paid for but I can't do paperwork until October, since we here in Kalifornia can't be trusted to have more than one new handgun per month. Maybe I can swing a Smith M&P for Christmas!

SHASTA

[1894c]

the .40S&W is what we carry at the LE Agency that i serve...my personal "duty/BUG" is a Glock 27, also own a Glock 23 (which has become my woods gun)...i really like the .40 and in my opinion it's not a high-pressure round, in the sense that it has the same PSI as a regular 9mm...if you want to make the 9mm effective you'll move to +P or +P+, which is a high-pressure round. from my experience the .40S&W is very effective when we have had to deploy them...i also like the 9mm, .45acp, and the .38spl., have owned and shot them all, but today my main caliber is the .40S&W... :)

[COSteve]

Deleted

[gak]

Steve, good write up.
I actually quite like the .40, having shot a Daewoo DH40 for almost twenty years now. It's exactly what was intended, a tweener round between the 9 and .45 - in "pow" and capacity...but unlike what many say--especially for those that haven't actually owned or spent quality time with one it seems very popular to pound chests about no excellence being found in something that's neither this or that extreme--it's by far not always bad to be in between. (It seems to work for well for cars, trucks, houses, and so it does for guns and cartridges...and a bunch of other things) FWIW, and it was a lot to me, the .40 was also the only ammo to be found on shelves in the "first" ammo crises, likely due to the LEOs. Except for this latest debacle where most everything disappeared from shelves, .40's almost always been on the shelves for the past twenty years. Also, the supposedly infamous "snap" has never bothered me.

Shasta mentioned the Ruger or M&P - and from what I've observed I'd echo that; they're both excellent mid-range choices--let your budget do the deciding on which. Both ergonomics feel good to me to my smallish hands, and why I may finally move on from the Daewoo. Both the newer guns have slimmer grips with higher capacity. Both compacts offer extended hi-cap mag convertibility inherited from their bigger parents in addition to the standard 10 rd mags. Ultimately, while I like the Ruger quite a bit, unless I had to buy "right now" and felt constrained strictly to the Ruger price, I'd wait til I had the extra $100 for the M&P. Remarkable gun. You'd be very well armed with a compact or "regular" M&P (or Ruger or...). Advances in 9mm ammo may have narrowed the gap but they have hardly closed it. The .40 is here to stay.

[3leggedturtle]

I've only put 30 rounds thru my P94 in 40SW but it shoots nice with less kick than my 9mm. The S&B 180 FP fmj's are shown on the box as going 980fps. Most of the time we pick the caliber, but other times the components pick us.

[Old Ironsights]

I've carried the G27. I liked it best with 180gr bullets.

I also bought aftermarket barrels for it to alleviate the bulging AND get a threaded tube.

I handled an XD 3.8 in .40 today and, though I didn't fire it it gripped nicely.

[COSteve]

Done

[Washita]

I prefer the Springfield XD in whatever size suits you to any Glock. The XD has a better trigger, just over half the pull wt. of a Glock, and the grip safety/trigger safety combo is a major improvement over a trigger safety alone. Not to ruffle any feathers, but IMO carrying a Glock with a chambered round is like packing a 1911 in condition 1 with the thumb safety off. If you carry a Glock, be sure you have a really good holster that covers the trigger guard.

[madman4570]

High pressures and set-back kinda makin' me a little nervous. Gonna think on this a little more. Don't need no stinkin' persnickity .40 cal to load anyways. This is certainly not my first bad idea. Thanks for the suggestions. I do appreciate them. I will try to get an exact inventory of the brass and bullets and go from there.
dennie

dennie--------Not trying to be a wise guy here----But I have to tell you, loading up anything you want to be cautious. My take is any reasonable person capable of reloading any handgun cartridge using his brains, should be able to load the .40S&W

That would be the day-----that would stop me!

I load .40S&W even for my Sub2000 (Berry's plated 165gr FN)and it is extremely simple.
Very cheap to load------and dead accurate. At 50yds standing w/rest from 6" dia sapling(griped onto)it will shoot all day long as well as either of my Match Colt HBAR's.In fact using cheap grey box Magtech 180gr FMJ it will make just about one ragged hole.
My brother the week after I bought my first one-----(which he also has a Match Colt---we used to shoot a lot of the Matches around these parts)laughed and said----I will be up tomorrow with my Colt. He came up, we went out back to range, both shot a 10shot offhand group(standing and just supported gripping the sapling)I shot mine(rather quick)and he opened up his faded orange colored MTM ammo case and carefully removed 10rds of his shiny high precision handloads for his Colt Match)He shot(rather slowly on his target ) went down to targets
and mine was just one solid hole about the size of a quarter.His was larger(and not one solid hole)He said-----that shouldn't be???
Let me try it--------put in 10rds---standing and shot it fast(I mean like 10rds in 5 seconds)pretty fast for doing any accuracy testing.Walked down and looked at the target(group about like a tennis ball size ,right on center of target)


Said-----------------How fast can I have one????
Got it and got his case for it-----A 15" Dell Laptop case!

[tman]

40 cal glocks are the modern equivalent to the 1873 peacemaker and the 1911 .45 auto. The gun and the caliber are by far the best handgun for personal defense/ combat/ police use. I'd like to see a G27 built around a single/stack 8 shot magazine for conceal carry. Every gun maker imitates the Glock, but they can't improve upon it. I guess imation is the most sincere form of flattery.

[Old Ironsights]

40 cal glocks are the modern equivalent to the 1873 peacemaker and the 1911 .45 auto. The gun and the caliber are by far the best handgun for personal defense/ combat/ police use. I'd like to see a G27 built around a single/stack 8 shot magazine for conceal carry. Every gun maker imitates the Glock, but they can't improve upon it. I guess imation is the most sincere form of flattery.

You just described the XD...

If I was going to buy another .40, even after carrying a Glock for a number of years... it would be an XD.

[dennie]

madman, I agree with you on using my brain when I reload. I do try to make the best reloads that I can make. I probably put too much focus on the posts that are very critical of the .40 as far as high pressure and set-back are concerned. Most of the posters seem to do just fine. I did load up a few dummy rounds with no primer or powder this weekend to get a feel for it. Things went just fine. Over all length was fine and the neck tension was no problem. I tried to shove the bullets into the brass but they would not move. I did find that the used set of Lee dies I have did not have a shell holder with it but a .38/.357 shell holder worked fine. I haven't looked to see what the proper shell holder is yet, but will pick one up when I do find out.
dennie

[Griff]

40 cal glocks are the modern equivalent to the 1873 peacemaker and the 1911 .45 auto. The gun and the caliber are by far the best handgun for personal defense/ combat/ police use. I'd like to see a G27 built around a single/stack 8 shot magazine for conceal carry. Every gun maker imitates the Glock, but they can't improve upon it. I guess imation is the most sincere form of flattery.

You say that as tho' you think they're outdated?

Name an imitator of the Glock? I can think of one... how many 1911 copiers are there? I cannot count 'em. That's flattery!

[MrMurphy]

Walther had the replaceable backstraps and full ambi controls 15 years ago. Every other maker except Glock followed suit.

Glock (FINALLY) after years of badgering by the US Glock branch over lost sales, introduced the Glock Gen 4, with replaceable backstraps.

Imitation........

[tman]

Yea, Glock Stole ideas from all of them.

[rgates]

What bulging? I bought a 40 caliber Glock 22, 3rd Gen a year ago and have used 165 and 180 grain factory loads in it as well as 185 grain lead and plated bullets at about 975 FPS. Cases are not bulged any more than any of my other semi-autos. References I have read indicated bulging quite a few years ago, but guns made in the last few years have a different feed ramp and as I said -- what bulging?

As this thread has degenerated into a Glock vs. everybody else theme, I would like to add some personal experience. I have owned several 1911 type pistols and one with a prominent maker's name was a piece of junk. it had gross excess headspace, a trigger that would allow the pistol to fire if you thumped the frame and when you did shoot it the hammer followed just about every shot. Sent it back to the factory for repair and the thumb safety didn't work when I got it back. Another pistol I owned actually started falling apart as I shot it the first time. 10 weeks back to the maker and they still didn't fix it. Bought a Beretta 92 style pistol once that had one of the lands in the barrel broken off at the muzzle. Wouldn't shoot into 3 feet at 10 yards. At present I have 3 Glocks and none have ever had any problem. I am not trying to sell you on the Glock, just be aware that there are lemons out there in just about all brands. In other words, there are lots of good guns and a few that sneak through quality control giving this or that brand a bad reputation.

Everybody has a preference in handguns and the decision as to what to get should be decided by what you like, what fits your hand and what you shoot the best. Go to a range and rent different models and give them a try. All the companies make decent pistols, pick one you like. As far as the 40 S&W is concerned, it is just another cartridge that can be as easily reloaded as 9MM, 45ACP or 38Spl.

[tman]

Except for deep carry, that's where I prefer the Keltecs PF-9 and 32, You can't beat the Glock. Face it, too many wanna be imitators out there ,no big improvements over it. Have 2 1911's, a Cz75, along with the Keltecs. NOBODY makes a better Military/police/ CCW handgun. You can pay $4 Grand for a super customized/slicked up Kimber or whatever, and it's inferior to a stock out of the box $500 Glock

[piller]

I have a S&W 99Compact and a Glock 22, both in 40 caliber. I like both, and would carry the Glock in a holster if legal. The S&W 99 compact is small enough for IWB carry and it is as accurate as anything I have. I have never had a split case or any other problem. 9mm is all I have ever had a problem with and that was Houston Cartridge Company loads. They actually ruptured the cases in a Kahr and a Ruger P85. The Kahr had to go back for service, but it came back in perfect condition. The Ruger didn't even flinch. I must say that the .40 cal has been good for me. I like my 99 Compact and it came with interchangeable grip back straps about 10 years ago. I like the extremely short trigger reset, but I had to learn to be careful or I would have an accidental "double tap" just from recoil.