Why are so many people switching away from the .40cal pistols?

[M67]

I had a couple .40 HiPowers, but eventually traded those off for 9mm HiPowers. Because I'm a purist, and HiPowers are meant to be 9mm.

I never picked up any other .40s.

A Hi Power in .40 is about the only 40 I'd consider

 

[churchmouse]

A Hi Power in .40 is about the only 40 I'd consider

I just tonight brought home a CZ 40-P
Full Cajun package and a sweet shooter.

 

[warthog]

to answer the OP, because the 40 cal has fallen out of favor with the FBI and other Feds as well as many LEOs going back to the 9mm.

I never was much of a 40 cal fan but I have a couple and carry one of them now and then anyway.

See, male gun owners are like chicks looking at shoes or dresses. "Is it in style? Well, I not only want one but I want the most expensive one they make." They will even pay more to have a specific name brand over another one they might have to tweak a bit but still come out paying less. Oh, they will tweak the expensive one too and wind up spending a lot more for it but it will be, in their minds, the best. This is America and only the best will do.

So now all the cool cats will be wanting a new 9mm. Also, to be cool means it can't have a safety, "I want the Pro" because I am a pro. Mind you many of these pro's will carry a gun they have never fired but they will still feel like an operator. I would post this as purple but I am not being sarcastic, this is the ay it feels here on INGO to me. A GENERAL feeling mind you,not like everyone here is this way.

I suppose I will never really fit in, I tend to like what I like and I could care less which way the winds happens to be blowing.

 

[clayshooter99]

I felt long ago the 40 was too much power and recoil for most shooters. After several police shootings that I witnessed I got rid of my 40cal handguns all prior to year 2000 and never looked back. 9mm all the way for me and the right choice for my wife and I. As I write this I remember that I have about 1500 factory rounds of that hotter Remington 40cal stuff in 155 grain that I no longer need to have sitting around.

 

[Birds Away]

I still have a .40 and carry it in the winter. The same advancements in technology that improve the 9 and .45 also improve the fotay. I won't be parting with mine.

 

[wtburnette]

I just tonight brought home a CZ 40-P
Full Cajun package and a sweet shooter.

That gun is so much fun to shoot!

I like the .40, but it's not my primary caliber. I still have a Sig P229 in .40 that I enjoy shooting on occasion. The nice thing is that shooting .357 Sig out of that gun took only a barrel swap. I personally like having multiple caliber handguns in case we have another ammo shortage. That way I should be able to find ammo for at least one of my guns.

 

[BJones]

I have all 3. 9mm/40/45

Just because I can.

Me Too!!!

 

[spencer rifle]

This can't happen soon enough. I am REALLY tired of having stray .40 cases screw up cleaning my 9 mm - they get stuck together and trap medium and don't get clean. Never got into .40 (though I have plenty of cases now) due to caliber simplification. Since I limited myself to 5 calibers, I would have to get rid of one to adopt another, and there would have to be a VERY good reason to do that.

 

[lovemachine]

Because Yeager:

[video=youtube_share;Gsxdk1V8i-M]http://youtu.be/Gsxdk1V8i-M[/video]

 

[bobjones223]

I never got into .40. No real reason I guess. I stuck with 9 and .45.

+1....never drank the Cool aid of 40's....all 45 and 9mm....with the bulk of them being 9mm. As stated by others with new bullet design they are very close to 40cal. Less recoil, higher mag capacity, and cheaper to shoot.

 

[bobjones223]

This can't happen soon enough. I am REALLY tired of having stray .40 cases screw up cleaning my 9 mm - they get stuck together and trap medium and don't get clean. Never got into .40 (though I have plenty of cases now) due to caliber simplification. Since I limited myself to 5 calibers, I would have to get rid of one to adopt another, and there would have to be a VERY good reason to do that.

+1 on the 40 & 9mm orgies in me tumbler....and under that same argument can we do some kind of permanent color coding on .380...PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD I HATE TRYING TO SORT THOSE OUT OF MY BRASS....OH AND LETS NOT FORGET 9mm Mac....

 

[Excalibur]

For me, I've always looked at the .40 with some curiosity. I read the history and realized right away that it was a compromise round for those who couldn't handle the 10mm, didn't want to switch to .45 and it was created during a time when the 9mm wasn't as powerful as today. It was also the mindset of the American shooter. This country has always loved bigger caliber hand weapons. There was even stigma on how weak the .38 was, which gave birth to the .38 Special and then the .357 onward because at the time, they think bigger is better. To the mindset isn't about firepower but the punch.

 

[Dean C.]

The only reason the .40 is around is because the FBI after they had that shootout could not switch to 45ACP as that would lead to questions like "why was the agency not just using the 45 in the first place?" so they had to go to a new caliber, here enters the legendary 10mm brainchild of Jeff Cooper an all around excellent round.

The agency switched to the 10mm but their agents could not handle shooting it very well so the downloaded the cartridge to the point where the case could even be shortened, here enters the 40 Smith and Wesson (also known as Short and Weak). Glock wanted to beat Smith and Wesson to the market and basically just put a different barrel in their 9mm guns instead of beefing them up (which has lead to the shorter service life of such pistols). Glock putting their gun out first lead to the Glocks adoption while other companies were actually beefing up their pistols to handle the .40S&W (Sig comes to mind as they totally redid the 229 to handle .40).

Then this leads to what I like to call the "FBI Effect" just about every major PD and agency wants to be like the FBI so everyone switches over, now that the agency has seen the light and is going to 9mm the "FBI effect" is happening again and the .40S&W is no longer the "cool kid caliber"

IMHO more agencies and PD's need to focus on the marksmanship and high stress shooting skills of their officers, if proper shot placement happens it does not matter if the bad guy is dropped by a 9mm or a 50AE

Thus endith the 40 caliber rant / history lesson

 

[phylodog]

Might be that once in a while the FBI gets something right.

The reduced recoil of the 9mm typically results in improved proficiency for most shooters. Advancements in bullet technology allow the 9mm to reach acceptable performance standards which it used to struggle to attain.

Might just be that simple.

 

[SEIndSAM]

What does ISP and Indy Police use???

 

[Dean C.]

What does ISP and Indy Police use???

Did IMPD not just switch to the "Gen 5" Glocks the FBI is getting (because Glock screwed over Sig like they did Smith and Wesson over the 40 again)

And I believe ISP uses Sig P227's in 45

 

[edporch]

I've had .40SW pistols for many years.
After starting out carrying a S&W .357 magnum revolver, I don't consider a .40SW a recoil problem.

I've since moved up to .357 Sig by swapping out barrels in my .40SW pistols.

I now like .357 Sig as my carry round, and like 10mm then .45ACP in that order.

 

[gregkl]

Interesting discussion here. Some have mentioned that bullet technology in the .40 has advanced along with the 9. This may be true, but the point is that the 9 has advanced well enough to be a formidable enough round to get the job done.

I have not seen the need or have I had the desire to own a .40. I am into caliber consolidation and a couple years ago, sold my .45's and went all 9mm as far as semi-auto pistols are concerned.

I have shot some, but to me it's like owning both a .41 and a .44 magnum. I don't need to own both.

Disclaimer: I am a minimalist. One gun would be enough for me.

 

[Leo]

I have all 3. 9mm/40/45

Just because I can.

America!!!

 

[STEEL CORE]

I carry the Glock-22/27 combo religiously.
I own 9/45 too, but trust mine and my families life on the .40.