Dilema (9 vs 40) - stick with 40, add 9, or move to 9
- Thread starter BP7
- Start date
well, it's not the cost of a 40 pistol but the availability (ok, yeah, a bit of a cost, but that's secondary to actual availability). since i reload, my cost to reload a 40 is the same as reloading a 9, give or take a penny per round (less powder cost, but not much) - not a big deal from a cost perspective, but like i originally said, it means i have to add the dies for it and split my qty between 40 and 9 so that i can feed both types at the range. and i already have a 45.
as to how hot my loads are? most recent batch of 40 that i loaded were (this is MY load, if anyone copies it's at their own risk): 155gn bullet + 8.5gn Hodg Longshot = 1300fps approx = 580 ft-lbs f muzzle energy = STOUT! so yeah, i get muzzle flash too
so yeah, since that's how i "work", the 9 seems to be like it would be a 22LR. would likely be very mild, and i could just tame down my 40 loads to match the 9 anyways....
... ponder ...
i seem to be leaning to sticking with 40. i think i need to find a 1911 chambered in 40 to settle this dilema. ok, dilemma. evidently i can't spell that!
IMR website shows max load of longshot as 9.3 grains at 1283 fps, are you using a chrono? if so, which one?
As for cost, there is a difference that can add up depending on how many rounds you use per year.
-Hornady 155's go for 28.95/100, 124 9's are 24.23/100. 9 freight is minutely cheaper as well.
-Longshot max load in 40=9.3 grains or 752.6 rounds per pound, max load for 9 with longshot is 5.7 grains or 1228 rounds per pound
-In my area 40 brass is fairly cheap, @ $40.00 plus freight /1000, 9 is free- fill you boots...
If you want a snappy pistol try a light 9 with a close to max load (like a G17), the 40 will feel softer.
Sounds like your sold on 40 though and I can't argue with that, it was my choice for awhile.
yeah, i used a friend's chrony since he was checking his loads for his PPC revolver. it was a CMD i think. i've yet to try the same loads through my own ShootingChrony. but yeah, 8.5gn (so NOT the max of 9.3gn) pushing a 155gn LEAD bulelt gave us between 1250fps and 1350fps. and i'm glad i didn't load the full 9.3gn since i was already getting a 3" fireball out the muzzle.
and i think my reloading costs are based on different components from yours - for example, i only shoot lead since it's cheaper, easier to get, and 1/3 of my shooting is at an indoor range so i HAVE TO use lead anyways. and 1000 lead 40s is only $5 or so more than 1000 lead 9s. primers cost me the same no matter what, and powder accounts for only around 20% of my reloading costs so i can go up/down a few grains without too large of an impact. and since i don't go to the range every day / every week, i don't see fresh clean undamaged brass that i can pick up, so i have to buy the initial brass - again, costs are nearly the same, $30-$35 per thousand.
so for me at least, from a reloading perspective, the 9 has no effective advantage. specifically, based on my reloading "formulas", the 9 would cost me $137 per thousand, and the 40 costs me $150 per thousand. that's only a 10% advantage, and that's using the 9's cheaper lead and less powder. these figures include taxes and shipping (when buying bulk qty), so those are my actual final on-the-bench costs.
i may just have to go with a split of some-guns-in-40 and some-guns-in-9 based on what i can actually find (and buy spare mags for).
DAMN IT!
What generation Glock mags do you have? I can fit 10 rounds of 9mm in a Glock 22 Gen 4 mag before the mag starts to reject rounds and get WAY too stiff to crush in more rounds. The max I've got in was 12, but I basically broke the cheapo Glock round loading assisting device that came with the pistol. That said, the Glock 22 mags cycle 9mm just fine in my Glock 17. I have to wonder if putting some anti-fritcion coating inside the magwell and on the follower would help get those extra rounds in. The question is what to put in that won't affect the pistol. Don't want any crud accumulating on the casings and transferring into the barrel.
Greenhorse six
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Gen4, only had it for about month now, like you said, the mag springs are very stiff to get more then 10rds of 9 in easy. Maybe an after market spring or follower?
Greenhorse six
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
haha! no worries - my comment was partly in jest
but ya, i think i'm beginning to lean towards..... selling off the 40 stuff and going 9. i currently only have one 40 so i'm not heavily invested in it, and if i knew that a certain local range didn't allow 40 i wouldn't have gotten into the 40 quite so easily in the first place. so, if i ever want to shoot at that range - even as a guest - i'd need to have 9s. so, f it, i'm going to part with my 40 and go for 9s.
the only hard thing will be replacing my 40 with a near-identical one in 9. it's a G22 OD, and i REALLY like the OD frame, so if i were to replace it with a 17, it would HAVE to be an OD as well. or, i have to buy the LW 40/9 barrel and a few 9mm mags. that might be Plan A (convert), with Plan B being sell-n-buy-G17OD.
admittedly, i'm quite attached to that G22 OD since it was my first firearm of any kind... who knows, i may keep it specifically because of that, and buy a G17 (or M&P 9 Pro) anyways for actual shooting. so, maybe that's Plan A.
end result - i'm retiring my 40 shooting and taking on 9s.
My current & main range DOES allow 40 (and anything else up to 50BMG) but a local DnD range (NCRRA) hosts some good competitions and they explicitly ban 40S&W due to some past cop incident. They allow other stuff like 9, 38/357, 45, etc.
