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The following is my article about 40S&W.
People tend to think of it in terms of relationship between 9mm Parabellum and 45ACP, thinking that it is intended to be a caliber that is a compromise between the two.
While the "compromise" design aspect may be true in some regards, it does not apply to all aspects, especially ones that are important. For a shooter, what 40S&W WAS INTENDED TO BE does not matter. Only thing that does matter is WHAT IT IS. Most complaints about 40S&W comes from misunderstanding of what 40S&W is.
So, is 40S&W a compromise caliber intended to blend betwenn 9mm Parabellum and 45ACP?
The ansewer: ONLY in dimensional aspects, such as bullet size/weight, and capacity.
That is where the "balance between 9mm and 45ACP" ends.
Among people who complain about 40S&W, the largest portion of them complains about excessive recoil or "snappiness." In my view, that is a very natural consequence of people generally viewing 40S&W as "in between 9mm and 45ACP" caliber. As far as controllability goes, 40S&W is nothing of the kind. If you look at ballistics chart of combat ammo manufacturers, such as Speer, this will become quickly evident. The power level of 40S&W is not in between 9mm and 45ACP. It is actually just as, and often more, powerful than 45ACP.
We cannot blame the ammo manufacturers for this. The power level between 9mm and 45ACP is not that great, so if the goal is to make an ammo more powerful than 9mm, then it would naturally end up being same or close to 45ACP, and the design goal was not to go higher, as was the case with 10mm.
That means, with a 40S&W, you will generally end up shooting a ammo that is just as, and often more, powerful as 45ACP out of a gun that are generally dimensionally smaller and lighter. Considering most people who shoot 45ACP use 230gr standard pressure, most 40S&W combat loads are actually more powerful than that of 45ACP.
That can be good news to people such as myself, who wants to fire the most powerful ammo I can still manage out of a gun that is not bigger than average 9mm pistol dimensions. 45ACP/10mm pistols generally do not fit me well or have too low ammo capacity.
However, if you are looking for something a little more powerful than 9mm, but more controllable than 45ACP, do not choose a 40S&W for that reason. It is nothing of the kind.
40S&W Speer GDHP in 180gr and Winchester Ranger 180gr produce about 420 ft.lbs for muzzle energy. That goes up to 484 ft.lbs in Speer 165gr, and 476 ft.lbs in case of Winchester RA40TA.
45ACP Speer GDHP in 230gr produces around 404 ft.lbs. Federal HST in 45ACP is also 404 ft.lbs. 45ACP 230gr Winchester RA45T is about 418 ft.lbs.
As you can see from above the heaviest of 40S&W either matches or exceed 230 gr 45ACP power level.
Now, lets also compare lighter bullet loads.
Of course, lighter weight 45ACP ammo do gain more power. 185gr Speer GDHP gets 453 ft.lbs. But, 40S&W easily overpowers that if it also goes with lighter weight. 165gr and 155gr in 40S&W overpowers it.
So, the above indicates that heaviest 40S&W overpowers heaviest 45ACP.
Even if 45ACP get more power with lighter bullets, 40S&W will still overpower it with lighter bullets also.
Only case a 45ACP will overpower 40S&W is if it goes +P.
People tend to think of it in terms of relationship between 9mm Parabellum and 45ACP, thinking that it is intended to be a caliber that is a compromise between the two.
While the "compromise" design aspect may be true in some regards, it does not apply to all aspects, especially ones that are important. For a shooter, what 40S&W WAS INTENDED TO BE does not matter. Only thing that does matter is WHAT IT IS. Most complaints about 40S&W comes from misunderstanding of what 40S&W is.
So, is 40S&W a compromise caliber intended to blend betwenn 9mm Parabellum and 45ACP?
The ansewer: ONLY in dimensional aspects, such as bullet size/weight, and capacity.
That is where the "balance between 9mm and 45ACP" ends.
Among people who complain about 40S&W, the largest portion of them complains about excessive recoil or "snappiness." In my view, that is a very natural consequence of people generally viewing 40S&W as "in between 9mm and 45ACP" caliber. As far as controllability goes, 40S&W is nothing of the kind. If you look at ballistics chart of combat ammo manufacturers, such as Speer, this will become quickly evident. The power level of 40S&W is not in between 9mm and 45ACP. It is actually just as, and often more, powerful than 45ACP.
We cannot blame the ammo manufacturers for this. The power level between 9mm and 45ACP is not that great, so if the goal is to make an ammo more powerful than 9mm, then it would naturally end up being same or close to 45ACP, and the design goal was not to go higher, as was the case with 10mm.
That means, with a 40S&W, you will generally end up shooting a ammo that is just as, and often more, powerful as 45ACP out of a gun that are generally dimensionally smaller and lighter. Considering most people who shoot 45ACP use 230gr standard pressure, most 40S&W combat loads are actually more powerful than that of 45ACP.
That can be good news to people such as myself, who wants to fire the most powerful ammo I can still manage out of a gun that is not bigger than average 9mm pistol dimensions. 45ACP/10mm pistols generally do not fit me well or have too low ammo capacity.
However, if you are looking for something a little more powerful than 9mm, but more controllable than 45ACP, do not choose a 40S&W for that reason. It is nothing of the kind.
40S&W Speer GDHP in 180gr and Winchester Ranger 180gr produce about 420 ft.lbs for muzzle energy. That goes up to 484 ft.lbs in Speer 165gr, and 476 ft.lbs in case of Winchester RA40TA.
45ACP Speer GDHP in 230gr produces around 404 ft.lbs. Federal HST in 45ACP is also 404 ft.lbs. 45ACP 230gr Winchester RA45T is about 418 ft.lbs.
As you can see from above the heaviest of 40S&W either matches or exceed 230 gr 45ACP power level.
Now, lets also compare lighter bullet loads.
Of course, lighter weight 45ACP ammo do gain more power. 185gr Speer GDHP gets 453 ft.lbs. But, 40S&W easily overpowers that if it also goes with lighter weight. 165gr and 155gr in 40S&W overpowers it.
So, the above indicates that heaviest 40S&W overpowers heaviest 45ACP.
Even if 45ACP get more power with lighter bullets, 40S&W will still overpower it with lighter bullets also.
Only case a 45ACP will overpower 40S&W is if it goes +P.
Suck on that , James Yeager!
Have a Merry Christmas to all.
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