.40 Cal get ya anything?

jaymanaa

RIP 1961-2018
I've always been a 9MM Luger guy, specifically in the Browning High Power. They have been offering it in .40 for sometime now, I'm just so used to 9mm. I'm looking at a new semi auto pistol for a new motorcycle. I was looking at the Bass Pro flyer and they had a S&W .40 that looked like it would work, but then I have another type of ammo to buy. I have tons of 9mm already, so is the .40 such a superior round as to justify the ammo expense, or just stick with the good old 9mm?
 
Other than the .356 Sig I think you're not going to get better ballistics and capacity than the .40 in a service pistol. They basically backed down from the 10mm to get the more practical.40. If I were in the market I'd be looking at a 2-tone Hi Power in .40. Since I live in CA the added cApacity isn't an option so I'll stick with my Sig P230 .45 ACP and hope I make them count if and when.
 
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I hear a lot of law enforcement are getting rid of theirs. Don't know how true it is.

The FBI apparently is or has. Personally, I won't be changing out my 9mms for 40s. I just don't think there is enough difference to retool, so to speak. My mind was made up before seeing this, but anyway the FBI seems to agree.

FBI 9MM Justification
FBI Training Division: FBI Academy, Quantico, VA

Executive Summary of Justification for Law Enforcement Partners

· Caliber debates have existed in law enforcement for decades

· Most of what is “common knowledge” with ammunition and its effects on the human target are rooted in myth and folklore

· Projectiles are what ultimately wound our adversaries and the projectile needs to be the basis for the discussion on what “caliber” is best

· In all the major law enforcement calibers there exist projectiles which have a high likelihood of failing LEO’s in a shooting incident and there are projectiles which have a high ting incident likelihood of succeeding for LEO’s in a shooting incident

· Handgun stopping power is simply a myth

· The single most important factor in effectively wounding a human target is to have penetration to a scientifically valid depth (FBI uses 12” – 18”)

· LEO’s miss between 70 – 80 percent of the shots fired during a shooting incident

· Contemporary projectiles (since 2007) have dramatically increased the terminal effectiveness of many premium line law enforcement projectiles (emphasis on the 9mm Luger offerings)

· 9mm Luger now offers select projectiles which are, under identical testing conditions, I outperforming most of the premium line .40 S&W and .45 Auto projectiles tested by the FBI

· 9mm Luger offers higher magazine capacities, less recoil, lower cost (both in ammunition and wear on the weapons) and higher functional reliability rates (in FBI weapons)

· The majority of FBI shooters are both FASTER in shot strings fired and more ACCURATE with shooting a 9mm Luger vs shooting a .40 S&W (similar sized weapons)

· There is little to no noticeable difference in the wound tracks between premium line law Auto enforcement projectiles from 9mm Luger through the .45 Auto

· Given contemporary bullet construction, LEO’s can field (with proper bullet selection) 9mm Lugers with all of the terminal performance potential of any other law enforcement pistol caliber with none of the disadvantages present with the “larger” calibers
 
.40 cal never blew my kilt up....I have a very early-issue Glock 19 that does pretty much everything I need it to....in the 27 years I`ve owned it, it`s sent probably in excess of 50K rounds downrange with almost negligible FTFs or other stoppages. There`s such an abundance of good 9mm ammo available everywhere in the world, it just makes sense to me to stick with a reliable platform. To me, it`s like a small-block Chevy engine....
 
The FBI apparently is or has. Personally, I won't be changing out my 9mms for 40s. I just don't think there is enough difference to retool, so to speak. My mind was made up before seeing this, but anyway the FBI seems to agree.

FBI 9MM Justification
FBI Training Division: FBI Academy, Quantico, VA

Executive Summary of Justification for Law Enforcement Partners

· Caliber debates have existed in law enforcement for decades

· Most of what is “common knowledge” with ammunition and its effects on the human target are rooted in myth and folklore

· Projectiles are what ultimately wound our adversaries and the projectile needs to be the basis for the discussion on what “caliber” is best

· In all the major law enforcement calibers there exist projectiles which have a high likelihood of failing LEO’s in a shooting incident and there are projectiles which have a high ting incident likelihood of succeeding for LEO’s in a shooting incident

· Handgun stopping power is simply a myth...

In other words, it's all about shot placement and bullet terminal ballistics (i.e., a well-placed 9mm will always outperform a poorly-placed .40).
 
Less recoil and less chance of the shot going thru the intended recipient and into another depending on the bullet used. I love my SIG .40 cal
 
In other words, it's all about shot placement and bullet terminal ballistics (i.e., a well-placed 9mm will always outperform a poorly-placed .40).

The FBIs stat about 20-30% hit ratio is a little concerning. Good, maybe if you're a bad guy, but holy moly... these folks that get shot 10, 12, 15 times. That's like 50-60 shots fired. "Died in a hail of bullets" apparently isn't just a sensationalist headline.
 
The FBIs stat about 20-30% hit ratio is a little concerning. Good, maybe if you're a bad guy, but holy moly... these folks that get shot 10, 12, 15 times. That's like 50-60 shots fired. "Died in a hail of bullets" apparently isn't just a sensationalist headline.

Numbers like that are what make me laugh/moan when some genius says, "Why not just shoot him in the leg, or shoot the gun out of his hand!" :rolleyes:
 
Years ago when my father was taking handgun training for work, the instructor said basically if the guy is 20' or more feet away you might as well throw the gun at him. Before you scoff. The guy was a competition shooter (ex military). His point was, your on the range, two arms, sight picture, aiming , breathing calm, you're a lot more accurate. Fast forward, adrenaline pumping, spur of the moment, the target is shooting back (likely for the first time) its easy to lose your discipline, your hand shakes, ) i wouldn't be so quick to judge the hail of bullets or the inaccuracies. Just my 2c
 
The FBIs stat about 20-30% hit ratio is a little concerning. Good, maybe if you're a bad guy, but holy moly... these folks that get shot 10, 12, 15 times. That's like 50-60 shots fired. "Died in a hail of bullets" apparently isn't just a sensationalist headline.

There is an amazing statistic out of Iraq and Afghanistan: the United States has fired an estimated 250,000 for every insurgent killed.
https://jonathanturley.org/2011/01/10/gao-u-s-has-fired-250000-rounds-for-every-insurgent-killed/
 
The stats are interesting and if Law Enforcement and Military people shoot like we see in movies, I guess they are correct. You never see anyone take time to aim, they just all open fire and shoot from the hip, so to speak, just like in the movies. If they had to pay for the wasted rounds from their salary, I bet they would aim and hit the target more often that 1 in 250,000 tries.
 
That sounds high. Sounds like someone could make some money on a statistic like that. Think about :idea: it. I'm going to make up a number let's say its 1 kill for 10,000 rounds fired (which I'd still tend to doubt) that'd let somebody pocket 15,000 rounds per kill. Nice piece of change:crazy:

Now i understand the people we're supposedly aiding aren't as well trained and don't have the fire discipline .(their numbers would be higher)
The other factor is a heavy machine gun or a chain gun can exhaust huge amounts of ordinance in a short period of time. If they're factored in , it'd make that more believable. If the number is just assault weapons, less so.
Sorry for the sidetrack
 
What that statistic doesn't tell you is how many of those 250,000 rounds were actually used in a combat situation or to kill someone. All they have done is taken the number of rounds the government has bought and divided it by kills. It doesn't take into consideration practice/target shooting, ammo given to others, or ammo demilled due to expires shelf life code.
 
I love my 1911 .45. But for home defence ill stick to my .357 loaded with hydroshocks.
 
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