Is .40 cal a dying breed?

[colossians323]

Well..., surprise,surprise...no 9MM .
All ammo in the safe was .45..,hollow points, full metal, +P, etc.etc.

If you keep your ammo in your safe, you don't have enought

[BrunRox]

If you keep your ammo in your safe, you don't have enought

What I was trying to say is.. "I was pretty sure that in those 600-700 "handgun" rounds in the safe,there was sure to be some 9MM", but all where .45.

My estimate on total round count between my ammo safe in the garage and ammo cans is right around 10-12K.

I know.., still on the barely minimum.

[bruss01]

"Popular" is just what the majority of people happen to think at any given moment in time.

"Popularity" is a symptom of herd mentality at work.

As others have said, 9mm lost popularity in the 90's. Before that it was .38 Special and .357 magnum. Before that, it was .44 Special.

Guess what these rounds all have in common? There are still guns chambered in them today. There is still factory ammo loaded for them today. And it still hurts like the bejezus getting shot with any of them.

If you're worried about what's "trendy" then go read Vogue magazine, hipster edition. Or maybe you could just find something YOU like, and can shoot well, and get really good with it... regardless of whether it's trendy/popular at the moment... or not.

If you are a high-volume shooter and don't have a high tolerance for recoil then 9mm will be kinder to your pocketbook and your wrists. If you need a feasible way to make power factor for competition, maybe .40 appeals to you. Heck maybe you have guns in both, shoot both, and like both. That's my position. I will bet you anything, no matter how "unpopular" .40 becomes, in 30 years time there will still be production guns chambered in it and factory ammo made for it.

[digelectric]

[omega]

I prefer to stick with the standard calibers or the same caliber used by NATO

I always thought of the .40 as a LE round, not a military caliber

[BruceR]

My experience: When facing and repelling a home intruder, the .40 has no noticable recoil and emits only a muffled bang.

[nedro]

why does t his subject keep popping up?

CAUSE WE WANT TO BUY YOUR CHEAP 40's!

[nedro]

I notice the .40 caliber pistols dont seem to sell as fast and thats all they have left?

people even passed on the G22 RTF2 with Fish Gills

A glock takes a certain type of fancy boy. The kind that only wants what is popular on the intrawebz.
No wonder it doesn't sell in 40.

[TS77]

.40 short and weam will be about as dead as .38 spl

[rugershooter]

I prefer to stick with the standard calibers or the same caliber used by NATO

I always thought of the .40 as a LE round, not a military caliber

It's not a NATO standard, but it can be considered a "standard" caliber. It's one of the three most popular center fire semi auto handgun calibers, and as far as I know, it's still the most widely used police sidearm caliber in the US. Factory loaded ammo is readily available.
I do see a lot more .40 cal police trade in guns than I do 9 mm, though. That could be due to simple upgrades for a newer gun or changing to 9mm guns though.


Caliber popularity is cyclic. At one time it was 9mm, .40, .45, .357 Mag. or other calibers. I carry a either a G23 or G27. I can shoot both well, at least as well as I can shoot their 9 mm counterparts and I shoot them better than a .45. Price difference between 9 mm and .40 range ammo isn't significant enough to be an issue for me. I'm confident in the caliber, comfortable shooting it, and don't really see the need to change.

But I have been itching to get a DA/SA 9 mm to add as a carry gun. Maybe something like a CZ75 compact, Beretta 92 compact, or FNX 9.

[crufflers]

A glock takes a certain type of fancy boy. The kind that only wants what is popular on the intrawebz.
No wonder it doesn't sell in 40.

A Glock is fancy for fancy boys? It has to be the blockiest ugliest, grimey and dirtiest, most utilitarian gun that just plain works.

1911's can be utilitarian but typically NOT. Historical, sure. Not a $5000 1911 or a Sig "1911". Those are pretty fancy IMHO.

[SDPatriot]

.40 is here to stay but only because the U.S. keeps it going. If I were to guess what caliber is on it's deathbed it would be .357sig

[mif_slim]

Yup, finally at page 2 USPSA is brought up.... My 40sw shoots softer than a 9mm and still makes major factor.

[JagerDog]

Had my 239 in 40 for years. Do prefer my 220 though, what a great combat pistol.

Didn't own a 9mm till recently, but in the diminutive Shield it seemed the better choice.

[IVC]

Until the major power factor decreases, or someone comes out with cheap, small, 180gr 9mm bullets.

.40 cal will always be around for competition.
For limited and open divisions.

Way too hard/expensive to try and get a 9mm to major PF, when you can just run factory .40 and call it a day.

Just to clarify it, Limited and L10 require at least .40 caliber bullet, so 9mm major is not an option. Also, very, very few shoot .40 caliber in Open - it's either 9mm loaded to major (as you pointed out), or, more commonly, 38 Super or Super Comp.

.40 is by far the dominant caliber for Limited/L10 major. The only exception I've seen is a few guys who shoot their Single Stack guns in L10 (shooting .45 ACP) and a few guys who shoot 9mm minor.