The irony of the .40 Cal ?

[Guest Nunya]

I though I'd never say this, but I think I may buy a .40 !

Here's what I see happening... .40 ammo is expensive, so a lot of folks are selling their .40 cal autos (they're going cheap on the gun boards, sometimes sitting there for weeks, with 9's and .45's being snapped up.

New ammo off the shelf is expensive, but surplus ammo (bought for the guns they're selling) is being sold below sticker price.

Am I imagining this or are those business degrees finallly paying off?

Here's my plan.

- Buy a .40 and some ammo from the folks who are sitting on it.

- Shoot it up!

- Hope this whole thing subsides by the time I need ammo again or get ready to sell the .40.

Thoughts?

[JReedEsq]

I love the Federal Government contact overrun .40 ammo that can be bought cheap. The Federal HST is good stuff really cheap. This alone is a good reason to own a .40, although I also think the round has a reputation for harsh recoil which sends some folks back to 9mm.

[Guest Nunya]

Where would one purchase that...

I love the Federal Government contact overrun .40 ammo that can be bought cheap. The Federal HST is good stuff really cheap. This alone is a good reason to own a .40, although I also think the round has a reputation for harsh recoil which sends some folks back to 9mm.

?

Love your signature, by the way!

[Volzfan]

I've never noticed that much difference in shooting my 40's and my 9mm. The 40 cal round is my favorite to shoot. The price can't be an issue compared to the 45's at least that I've seen around here. Go ahead and get you a 40. There are fun!

[JReedEsq]

Where would one purchase that...

?

Love your signature, by the way!

Check out sgammo.com. 50 rounds for a little more than 20 bucks cannot be beat. I also stocked up on 135 grain HST which was previously available at Wal-Mart in plain white boxes. I think it was $21.95... also 50 round boxes. People talk about having what the military and police have for some crazy SHTF scenarios. I'm not much of a tin-foil hat guy but I do appreciate a bargain.

[Guest Nunya]

Just read inside Delta Force. Makes me proud to have my .45 ! Let's face it, when the stuff goes down, we'll take what we can get.

[tnhawk]

I got my first .40 in 1996 and didn't shoot it much back then as I preferred a 1911 in .45 acp. During the last two years I've purchased three more .40 pistols and started to carry one of them more often than a .45. I've been saving brass from factory loads during this time, so guess I need to start reloading it as well as .45.

Edited March 6, 2012 by tnhawk

[Guest Lester Weevils]

The next ammo famine may be different than the last (which only recently ended). In the last ammo famine, at my local walmart, I don't recall any visit where they didn't have .40 and 12 guage shotgun shells on the shelf. About everything else was sold out at least half the time, even after they began to limit sales to a few boxes per customer.

That said, haven't got any .40 pistols. Nothin against em, but I try to limit the number of calibers in order to simplify the "hoarding inventory". Ain't making claim to better or worse, but mainly .22LR, 9mm, .357 Mag, and .223. With a little bit of .45 in stock. And a little bit of .380 in stock. Can't see trying to find shelf room for .40 in addition to the others. One "method to my madness" is that all except the .45 and .223 uses small pistol primers, and I don't shoot enough of those to reload so far. My .45 1911 usually holds a .22 conversion slide, and the other 1911 is in 9mm.

.40 is probably about as cheap to reload as anything else.

Dunno enough to get into caliber wars, but below the power level of .44 Mag, folks seem to credit .357 Mag about as effective as .45 or .40 auto. Retail .357 Mag prices are as high or higher than .45 or .40, but it doesn't cost much more than 9mm to reload.

$20 for a box of 50 .40, for practice ammo, doesn't sound economical, though being able to buy ammo would be better than the alternative. 9mm retail practice ammo is about 60 percent of that price and even "pretty good quality" .22LR minimags are about 1/4 the price per bullet of practice 9mm. For plinking, .22 is about as much fun as the others, though I go thru a fair amount of 9mm as well. I go thru spurts of interest shooting the .357 mag. Lately haven't been shooting it much.

[Caster]

Oh shut up Benton! I have thought the SAME thing. Every Glock I see for sale is a .40 I even have a few coffee cans of brass that's managed to accumulate over time. I've told myself no many times. I don't need another mouth to feed. ANOTHER cartridge to load for. Now here you go talking like what I've been thinking makes sense. I'm broke enough as it is!

Seriously though, you can get a steal on a .40 S&W right now. Crazy. Why are people giving them up? I don't buy that 'pricey ammo' bit. .357 Sig is still going and it's far more expensive than .40

[Garufa]

The mighty 40 reigns supreme.

[nightrunner]

That is one thing that stuck in my mind from the last ammo shortage, .40sw and .357sig was everywhere 9 and .45 wasn't

[Guest Nunya]

The mighty 40 reigns supreme.

No argument on the ballistics, man. They pack a punch. I just think it's crazy that the stigma of "too expensive to shoot" has driven downt he price of the gun and (aftermarket, at least) the ammo.

I saw a guy at a show in Nashville pay a dealer to take his SW40VE for a SW9VE, then pay to do the paperwork.

[SonnyCrockett]

i reload 40 all the time,its always been good for me at the range

its only a tad higher than 9MM to reload .......

[R1100R]

Im paying $13.00 a box online for .40. .45ACP is around three dollars higher. Get a .40 if you want one.

During the last ammo ahortage it was .38 Spec, .380, 9mm and 45ACP that was short and expensive.

I found .40 for around $15 and 10MM around $20 a box at that time.

[k9wh91984]

I like .40 because it's cheap power and most LE agencies carry it which means availability and price reductions. Secondly, my USP was designed for .40 lol

[dlm37015]

i shoot lots of 10mm i always thought 40 s&w means 40 short and weak

[Garufa]

10mm is just a 40 Magnum.

[hipower]

Hadn't really thought about it much. I personally like the 9/45 rounds and 38/357 in my revolvers. And had actually gotten rid of most of my 40 cal guns. But I do still have a G23/24, so i won't be selling of several 1000 rounds of 40 at a steal.

[broylz]

i recently bought a glock 35 and dont much care for 40 but it can be loaded down to 9mm levels and up a bit higher. i do also like that 40 is starting to come down and i may look to add a glock 23 to my collection. i paid $25/50 rounds of Federal Hi-Shocks when i got my pistol over at Guns and Leather. not sure if they still have any but it was a good deal imo.

[deafdogdief]

I like the .40 as well. There is one word of caution. If you are picking up range brass to reload you have to be careful especially with this caliber. Some of the cases can be bulged if they are fired out of early generation Glocks. To my understanding the feed ramp intrudes into the chamber and when the round is fired the case can bulge into the ramp. This can be resized and not be a problem according to Lee Precision. The only thing is that if YOU have an early generation Glock you will not want to constanly reload those bulged,resized,bulged,resized loads. The brass will eventually split and that won't be fun. This information is coming from Tech Support from Lee Precision. I'm not making it up!

[Smith]

I like the .40 as well. There is one word of caution. If you are picking up range brass to reload you have to be careful especially with this caliber. Some of the cases can be bulged if they are fired out of early generation Glocks. To my understanding the feed ramp intrudes into the chamber and when the round is fired the case can bulge into the ramp. This can be resized and not be a problem according to Lee Precision. The only thing is that if YOU have an early generation Glock you will not want to constanly reload those bulged,resized,bulged,resized loads. The brass will eventually split and that won't be fun. This information is coming from Tech Support from Lee Precision. I'm not making it up!

The bulge is becasue Glocks don't use a fully supported chamber. It is also why when you see a Glock KB picture it is almost always a .40 S&W and reloads. .40's are maxed out pressure wise and the combo of the chamber and overpresurisition of the reloads that casue blowouts in the frame just below the chamber area.

Personally I never understood the .40. It does some of what the 9mm does and some of what the .45 does but not the best parts of either. Not knocking it as it works just fine, but it doesn't give me anything special, difffernt, or better than the other standard calibers.

Edited March 7, 2012 by Smith

[Guest Kamikaze]

I reloaded some 10mm tonight, I can't see waisting my bullets in .40 cases....

[deafdogdief]

The bulge is becasue Glocks don't use a fully supported chamber. It is also why when you see a Glock KB picture it is almost always a .40 S&W and reloads. .40's are maxed out pressure wise and the combo of the chamber and overpresurisition of the reloads that casue blowouts in the frame just below the chamber area.

Personally I never understood the .40. It does some of what the 9mm does and some of what the .45 does but not the best parts of either. Not knocking it as it works just fine, but it doesn't give me anything special, difffernt, or better than the other standard calibers.

What you said about the su[pported chamber is correct on the early generations. The later generations have changed this. Don't know which gen was the change. Is the kb you are referring to the "kaboom"? If so it probably is b/c of reloading/double loads, or inattention. Unfortunately, most of the tie we'll never know b/c people just randomly post thing on youtube and one can't ask them questons about it. I agree with you, but I don't think I want to venture across this slippery slope!

[frankmako]

i carry a g23 on duty. i like the 40 over any of the other duty guns that i have had.

[deafdogdief]

i carry a g23 on duty. i like the 40 over any of the other duty guns that i have had.

.40 is the number one law enforcement caliber nationwide. The G22 is the number one firearm for law enforcement nationwide according to a friend's statistics from his department.