.40 may be hard on pistols that weren't properly engineered for it, but you don't here much about .45 ACP excessively beating up guns other than alumium framed SIG P220s (an older design originally in 9mm) and people who insist on running a steady diet of +Ps through older steel 1911s or ones with an alumium frame.
1911 vs Glock and 9mm vs 45
- Thread starter grinder08
- Start date
I was originally kidding but 40sw is hardly dead and will likely be a popular caliber for the foreseeable future. 40sw has great ballistics and generally when people say 9mm can match it with modern loadings, they are ignoring that 40sw loads have progressed as well. There are still no 9mm loads that can match 40sw.
Don't care, the calibre doesn't perform any better than 9mm, costs more, weighs more, reduced capacity, increased recoil, and usually an increase in the size of the gun. Poor choice..
Don't really care about the ballistics, all pistol calibres suck and they suck pretty much on par with one another. More rounds and less recoil means more shots at/on target which means a higher chance of hitting something vital(MIL and LE usage). More rounds means pressing the fight longer which is a good thing. More rounds means fewer reloads which is also a good thing. Capacity is a real issue, even the 1911 guys I compete against get it which is why they use 10 round magazines. If we lived in a free country they wouldn't have a snowballs chance in hell of keeping up to the wonder 9 crowd.
On a side note, 9mm ball ammo killed a lot of soldiers on both sides of the two great wars. I guess they were just faking it...
No...I’m no ballistics expert...just trying to dissuade the naysayers from dissing it...as I have long stated..it by far my fave caliber..I run the big three pistol caliber..and what to try 10mm too...lol...but like a snappy round...love .45 too..but cost does come into it...
Adding the 40, that got things going for a while, well done. Some people talk S--T about the 40. My most accurate handgun is in 40. A CZ TS. A lot of reasons for this not the least of which being I have a pretty much perfect reload for it. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the 40. Is there any real need for the 40 probably not. It doesn't offer much you can't get from the 9 and the 45 but if you apply that logic most of the calibres out there are not necessary, think 222, 220, 223, 22-250.
Yeah but the same gun in 9mm with that same load development would have the same level of accuracy. I don't think the fact it's in .40 has any bearing on the accuracy the fact that you can shoot major is the advantage that I see.
easyrider604
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Greater Vancouver, BC
In 2011, the first .40SW load I ever tried was 4.7 grains Titegroup under Lee 180 grains Truncated Cone, sized .401, single groove cast from wheel weight (but tumble lubed in Lee Alox). That's the maximum load in the Hodgdon chart. I was convinced my Ruger P-91 was a tank so wasnt worried about testing maximum loads initially. First shot was bullseye and the first 5 shot group was 1 inch at 15 meters, first shot in DA. Have not deviated from that load in 7 years.
Fast forward 6 years. Bought 2 lightly used (100 and 300 rds each) FNS40Ls from the EE and they happened to arrive at the PO a day apart. Went straight to the range with the same full power reloads as my P91. Shot each pistol 30-40 rounds, to test function and accuracy. Both FNS40Ls delivered 2 inch 10 shot groups at 15 meters, standing offhand. No function issues.
Have loaded some Berrys Plated Hybrid HPs and and target HPs in .40SW, can't wait to test them.
RE: 9mm accuracy. Have not yet found a good accurate lead load for my 9mm's yet. Work in progress. New Lee 124 grain single groove Round Nose bullets, sized to .357 inch over Titegroup have not produced encouraging groups yet, mostly 4 inches or more at 15 meters. Have loaded some 124 grain Berry's Hollow Point and Hybrid Hollow Point over Longshot powder. Will test soon.
Previous Lee bullets out of the 124 grain truncated cone Tumble lube style mold sized to .357 literally tumbled out of most of my semi auto pistols. FWIW, these bullets performed very well in my 686 revolver when loaded in .38 spl.
Fast forward 6 years. Bought 2 lightly used (100 and 300 rds each) FNS40Ls from the EE and they happened to arrive at the PO a day apart. Went straight to the range with the same full power reloads as my P91. Shot each pistol 30-40 rounds, to test function and accuracy. Both FNS40Ls delivered 2 inch 10 shot groups at 15 meters, standing offhand. No function issues.
Have loaded some Berrys Plated Hybrid HPs and and target HPs in .40SW, can't wait to test them.
RE: 9mm accuracy. Have not yet found a good accurate lead load for my 9mm's yet. Work in progress. New Lee 124 grain single groove Round Nose bullets, sized to .357 inch over Titegroup have not produced encouraging groups yet, mostly 4 inches or more at 15 meters. Have loaded some 124 grain Berry's Hollow Point and Hybrid Hollow Point over Longshot powder. Will test soon.
Previous Lee bullets out of the 124 grain truncated cone Tumble lube style mold sized to .357 literally tumbled out of most of my semi auto pistols. FWIW, these bullets performed very well in my 686 revolver when loaded in .38 spl.
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