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The unofficial ultimate why is 40 S&W so hated MEGATHREAD!!!!

Rockrivr1

Rockrivr1

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So here it is. The one stop shopping as to why everyone hates 40 S&W. Some hate it, some loath it, some think is verbotem, some think it's gay and some just despise everything about it. Then again, there are a few on NES that like the caliber. Where do you stand and why?

Saw a newbie asking and now we have a thread for all newbies to know why NES hates 40 S&W!

Have at it! [laugh]
 
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Rockrivr1 said:
So here it is. The one stop shopping as to why everyone hates 40 S&W. Some hate it, some loath it, some think is verbotem, some think it's gay and some just despise everything about it. Then again, there are a few on NES that like the caliber. Where do you stand and why?

Saw a newbie asking and now we have a thread for all newbies to know why NES hates 40 S&W!

Have at it! [laugh]
Click to expand...
Because it is

I carry a 4013 , only reason is the price was right , I love the larger grip , it draws and points well and for defensive type shooting it points well for me.
I bought it before I knew anything about fourgay
In hind sight I should have bought the 9mm version

So much ammo came with this pistol it was hard to say no
 
I don't like the way it shoots. Too much recoil and hard to make follow up shots.

You can't shoot thousands of rounds in a class with it because it would be awful.

9mm has the same stopping power and less recoil so much faster follow up shots.

9mm is much less expensive.

Glock 40's blow up all the time. They don't have a supported chamber so you are really holding a dangerous grenade.

Glock 40's hold less ammo than 9's.
 
Full size m&p .40 was my first handgun when I got my license because it was the first one that was offered to me in a private sale and I couldn't say no.

I don't love it or hate it but it's fun to ring the plates with it at steel challenge when everyone else is shooting 9mm
 
22LR recoil is way lower and thus much better for quick follow up shots, plus magazines can hold way more rounds than 9mm. 22LR is so much cheaper and there are infinitely more ammo options on the market vs. 9mm. In a self defense scenario I'd rather have the round count than the bigger but harder to manage cartridge.

Oh wait- this is a .40 thread?
 
Bigfudge16 said:
Full size m&p .40 was my first handgun when I got my license because it was the first one that was offered to me in a private sale and I couldn't say no.

I don't love it or hate it but it's fun to ring the plates with it at steel challenge when everyone else is shooting 9mm
Click to expand...

My first too. Wouldn’t buy it again today or advise anyone else to but otherwise it is what it is. Don’t understand the hate for the recoil but then stuff like that doesn’t really bother me, it’s not overly noticeable to me between shooting that & 9 on the same platform. I have drop in 9mm barrels for both my full sized (Glock & M&P).40s and run them pretty much exclusively as 9 just because the ammo is cheaper and I keep a lot more 9 than .40.

.40 has pretty much turned into an inconvenient/unpopular caliber but other than that I wouldn’t want to get shot in the chest with it any more or less than 9 or .45
 
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One of my first carry guns was a .40; a "Star".

I pretty much wrecked my thumb on my right hand in a motorcycle accident. Problem was that it was out of socket, and they ignored it in favor of treating my other injuries - which to be truthful were indeed more serious. It was a good three weeks after the accident before I could get someone to look at it - and realize that it was a problem.

Anyhow - it's a touch tender to this day, some 23 years later, and that .40 just hammered the shit out of it. The "snappy" recoil was painful. I got rid of the gun.

I have a Glock 31, which is a .357Sig, basically a .40 necked down to a 9. It's a neat round, a fun gun to shoot, but it does have a fair amount of recoil.
 
xjma99 said:
It’s adoption failed, so likely in 30 years 40 will be hard to come by. 9mm won’t.
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nah, there are way too many guns for that. the generalized stench of 40 will be around forever. Remember they sold well for over a decade because everyone was busy being tactical timmy…. “efff eye cann onwee cawwy 10 roundz den i mite as well hab da bigga bullat!”.
 

View: https://www.reddit.com/r/guns/comments/kccpj4/analysis_of_9mm_vs_40_sw_with_numbers/


The above has some good analysis of why 40 isn't a bad choice for personal or home defense, it just may not be your preference. It's a more powerful round than 9mm that is still quite manageable. You give up about 1 round per magazine compared to 9mm but the difference in tissue damage and penetration is significant.

There is indisputable evidence that 40 does more damage per shot (+/- 30% more tissue disruption and about 20% more penetration) than 9mm and goes through layers of clothing easier than 9mm.

The FBI switched from 40 to 9mm in large part because of the volume of ammo used by field agents and the entirety of the FBI during training etc. For an organization with approximately 35,000 employees, the vast majority of whom need firearms training the cost savings using 9mm is huge.

For an individual spending slightly more on 40 ammo vs 9mm is negligible in the long term. So it really comes down to recoil management.

Lots of people compare 40 vs 9mm in the same polymer guns where 9mm has the advantage regarding recoil If you run a steel or metal frame gun, the difference in recoil is negligible.

If you see a nice pistols at closeout prices because it's in 40 it may be worth checking out, just don't expect to turn a profit on it if you go to resell or trade it in.

I shoot limited major so I reload 40 so it just made sense for my home defense/carry gun to be in 40. Just adjust my OAL setting and powder and crank out training ammo for my HD gun or my competition gun depending on the day.
 
9mm will flat out never beat in terms of cost, capacity, shot management, and comparative performance.

I don’t particularly care for .40 S&W, I just know I’d rather add .05 more and go from there, if I wanted to move away from 9mm.

My dainty wrists can’t handle the gigachad 10mm :-(
 

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