People who carry 40S&W

View · by **PHATSPEED7x** on Sun Feb 01, 2015 11:03 am

I just joined the crowd again. I've had several handguns chambered in this round that you don't seem to be hearing alot of lately. Sure plenty of police agencies still use it. I've always just been either a 9mm or 45ACP kinda guy.

Well I've been wanting to hook into a Gen4 Glock again and found a barely used model 23. Has all the typical Gen4 upgrades, came with the case and 3 magazines. Haven't shot it yet (currently -30* outside with windchill) but looking forward to it once the weather warms up.

So let's hear it. What's your opinion on 40S&W. After shooting 10mm I'm sure the old saying "short & weak" may come to mind. Lol

View · by **karlobag** on Sun Feb 01, 2015 1:04 pm

You will feel more "snap", than when shooting your 9mm. When the SHTF (the last go round), I carried my G23C, because I could not find 9mm or .45 ACP ammo anywhere. So, it was great for that time period. However, now I tend to carry my XDS in.45 ACP more regularly.

View · by **PHATSPEED7x** on Sun Feb 01, 2015 1:07 pm

I ran a magazine though it. A little snappy but nothing bad. Boring reliability. But that's Glock for ya.

View · by **patrick** on Sun Feb 01, 2015 6:31 pm

The .40 is a great round.I carry my G23 pretty much every day.

View · by **bensdad** on Sun Feb 01, 2015 9:55 pm

40 is a fine round... as long as your mom or dad (or husband) is close by, should you need a real caliber to take care of business.

View · by **patrick** on Sun Feb 01, 2015 10:08 pm

What's a real caliber?9 minimeter?

View · by **PHATSPEED7x** on Mon Feb 02, 2015 11:47 am

Ah and the haters of 40S&W come out. Lol.

View · by **ZardozCZ** on Mon Feb 02, 2015 11:58 am

My G27 is my camping fishing hiking motorcycling pick. It gets the rough service duties because it's no fun to shoot, but will likely fire no matter what, and I really don't mind if it gets dunked dropped dragged or so on. Having a 9mm conversion barrel makes it easier for plinking, but I have pistols and revolvers I *enjoy* shooting now so that barrel doesn't get much use. It fills some needs and that's good enough for me.

View · by **smurfman** on Mon Feb 02, 2015 7:18 pm

bensdad wrote:40 is a fine round... as long as your mom or dad (or husband) is close by, should you need a real caliber to take care of business.

I think a "real" caliber if needed would be a .308" for mom and .729" for dad!! Granddad is someone you don't want to mess with- he would be the back up with a .510"!

View · by **Lumpy** on Mon Feb 02, 2015 10:03 pm

My Beretta 90-TWO in .40 is comfortable and accurate for me to shoot. I can't comment on the adequacy or inadequacy of .40 S&W since I've never actually shot anyone; I would presume that a torso hit would at a minimum discomfit most people.

View · by **bensdad** on Tue Feb 03, 2015 7:37 am

Lumpy wrote:My Beretta 90-TWO in .40 is comfortable and accurate for me to shoot. I can't comment on the adequacy or inadequacy of .40 S&W since I've never actually shot anyone; I would presume that a torso hit would at a minimum discomfit most people.

Isn't that a 96? Please forgive - and indulge - my ignorance on the issue.

View · by **Lumpy** on Tue Feb 03, 2015 8:13 am

bensdad wrote:
Lumpy wrote:My Beretta 90-TWO in .40 is comfortable and accurate for me to shoot. I can't comment on the adequacy or inadequacy of .40 S&W since I've never actually shot anyone; I would presume that a torso hit would at a minimum discomfit most people.

Isn't that a 96? Please forgive - and indulge - my ignorance on the issue.

I'm unsure of this myself. 96 is the .40 version of the 92, while what I have is the slightly upgraded 90-TWO, available in 9mm and .40. FWIW, the mags I use are sold as 96 mags.

View · by **UnaStamus** on Tue Feb 03, 2015 10:07 am

The .40S&W is a decent round. It's benefit has always lied in the hard barrier penetration like auto glass, as it gave better performance than 9mm with better magazine capacity than .45. The .40 S&W definitely has its place. The only problem I've ever had has been with the Gen3 G22s with WML cycling malfunctions, which affects probably 50-75% of those models. That was a Glock specific problem relating primarily to the .40S&W, so really not the round's fault so much.

Speaking from an LE Glock armorer standpoint, the main thing you have to know about the .40S&W from a functionality standpoint is that it beats up guns a lot faster than other cartridges, so be congnizant of your round count and do regular inspections on things like the extractor and springs and so forth. Most Glocks can go a long time without spring replacement, but with the duty G22s we were running, I found myself replacing at least one component per gun, per year. Some was preventive maintenance, some was repair. It was usually mag springs, but occasionally a recoil spring assembly (RSA), slide stop lever, slide lock and a couple cracked or broken locking blocks. The locking blocks were ~6 years in service before they were damaged. This stuff is all covered by Glock, but the components are inexpensive and not worth the hassle of going through Glock for replacement (unless you have access to a Glock armorer/rep near you), so spending $8 on a part is a pretty simple and convenient solution.

The two things I recommend for the .40S&W are upgraded mag springs and an upgraded/heavier RSA (primarily for Gen3 Glocks for the RSA). If your gun runs fine, it's fine.

View · by **bensdad** on Tue Feb 03, 2015 4:05 pm

What does "WML cycling malfunction" mean?

View · by **UnaStamus** on Tue Feb 03, 2015 5:47 pm

bensdad wrote:What does "WML cycling malfunction" mean?

WML = weapon mounted light. IE a SureFire X300 or Streamlight TLR-1

Glock frames flex and warp under recoil, and the flexing puts friction on the slide, which helps reduce the speed at which the slide cycles. When you attach a light to a Glock frame, it stiffens the frame and interrupts the harmonics of the frame. As a result, less friction is applied to the slide, and the slide speed increases. With the G22, it uses the same weight recoil spring as the G17. The .40S&W has higher energy than a 9mm, so when you reduce frame flex, you can increase the slide speed to the point where it "outruns" the magazine. That means that it cycles so fast that it starts to go back into battery before the magazine can push the next cartridge up to the feed lips at the top of the magazine to be stripped off. All the slide needs to do is miss the rim of the case, and you will have a failure to feed malfunction that generally lodges a cartridge in the ejection port/breech face area. The problem with this is that if you do immediate malfunction clearance (tip/tap/rack or tip/tap/tip/rack for you wrong-handed shooters

), you need to rotate the gun outboard substantially to ensure the lodged round ejects, or you may get a double-feed.