INTERESTING ARTICLE

I came across this on the Internet and felt that it had some merit and that is why I posted it.  I am sorry that I was not able to include a few of the photos that accompanied it.  Hope you find it interesting. 


Teats, Bulls and the .40 S&W

Posted on June 22, 2013 by MAC

I’ve been asked countless times why you never see handguns chambered in .40 S&W featured on theMilitary Arms Channel. The answer is simple, I don’t care for it. It’s not that I hate the .40 S&W, it’s that I have no use for it as it brings nothing of substance to the table for my needs. When I say this, I hope you understand I’m talking about my own personal views and I accept others out there will disagree with me. I’m not saying you should go sell your .40′s if you like them, I’m simply trying to explain why I no longer own .40′s and have no plans of buying another in the future.

Before you bang out an angry response in comments below, go grab a cup of hot Joe and come back in a few minutes once you’ve had a chance to cool off (assuming you’re a staunch .40 S&W advocate). I know I just gored a sacred cow for some of you out there, but if you’ll give me a chance to explain I think perhaps you’ll see my side of it even if you don’t agree with me.

Let’s start with a little background information on how the .40 S&W came into being. It’s an interesting story that some of you may not be familiar with. I’ll try to keep it short.

In 1986 two gunmen with military experience by the names Platt and Matix were on a crime spree knocking off banks and armored cars at an alarming rate. This all came to a head when the FBI caught up to the murderous pair in Dade County, Florida. The gunfight that ensued sent shockwaves through the law enforcement community and would forever be known simply as the “Dade County Shootout“.

The FBI agents who caught up to them were armed with .357/.38 caliber revolvers, two S&W 459 9mm semi-automatic pistols and Ithaca 37 12ga shotguns. Platt, a former Army Ranger with combat experience in Vietnam, had a Ruger Mini-14. To make a long story short, Matix was taken out of the fight early on but Platt and his Mini-14 went on to slaughter FBI agents Dove and Gorgan before dying from his wounds received in the fight. Fairly early in the gunfight Platt was hit by a 9mm Silvertip bullet that stopped about 1″ from his heart. The 9mm round traveled through his bicep, entered his chest and severed a major artery in his lung — he was dying. However, despite this lethal wound, Platt went on to fight for several more minutes during which time he killed or wounded several agents.

At the end of the day the FBI blamed the caliber, not the bullet design, for the failure to stop Platt. The 9mm Silvertip of the era was a poor defensive load as it expanded rapidly and stopped too quickly which is why it stopped short of Platt’s heart. The Dade County shootout had a lot to do with the FBI penetration standards being developed that many cite as the ballistic performance gospel today.

Jumping on the “9mm sucks” bandwagon, the FBI made what I deem to be a knee-jerk decision to adopt the then new 10mm cartridge for their service autos. This was an unprecedented move that angered many within the FBI itself, but the adoption went forward anyway. The 10mm loads of the day were loaded very hot, reaching 41 Magnum power levels. The recoil generated by the powerful 10mm loads quickly turned off many FBI agents so the agency moved fairly quickly to develop the infamous “FBI Load” or “10mm Lite”. The FBI Load was a reduced power cartridge that caused reliability issues in the FBI issued 1076 S&W autos that chambered it.

S&W decided to take the 10mm case, shorten it by .142″, reduce the powder charge and make a whole new caliber which they dubbed the .40 S&W. It had the ballistics of the 10mm Lite/FBI Load with a shorter OAL that allowed it to fit nicely in 9mm sized handguns. The .40 S&W was born.

When the FBI does something many LEO agencies around the country think, “we should do that too”. The FBI is considered the foremost law enforcement agency in the country with some of the best fancy-pants MBA’s on the government payroll. If these guys do something, heck, you better jump on board too or risk being left behind. The .40 S&W swept the nations police departments by storm which then trickled down into the civilian world because many shooters like to emulate what the police do.

What was the allure of the .40 S&W though? What made people dump their 9mm’s and .45′s and race to the new .40 S&W besides all the cool kids were doing it? The .40 S&W promised to have the capacity of the 9mm with the power of the .45 in a handgun the same size as the 9mm. It was the ultimate compromise cartridge… for those that felt they needed such a thing.

The Glock 22 in .40 S&W  is the same size as the Glock 17 chambered in 9mm but holds two less rounds.

The only problem was it didn’t have the capacity of a 9mm (it usually falls a round or two short) and it doesn’t surpass the .45 ACP in effectiveness. Heck, it doesn’t really surpass the 9mm in effectiveness either. Many will sit and argue numbers about foot pounds of energy, bullet diameter and weights but that’s all mental gymnastics as most ballisticians will tell you. Depth of penetration and shot placement will trump all else every time, and all three calibers (9mm, .40, .45) will dig in deep enough to do the job and meet or exceed the FBI standards. With modern ammo the 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP all perform about the same in real world shootings and in scientific ballistic testing.

So what does the .40 S&W bring to the table that the 9mm and .45 ACP don’t? One thing it brings is noticeably more recoil than both the 9mm and .45 ACP. The .40 S&W is a snappy load that runs at the ragged edge pressure wise which is why you won’t find any +P .40 S&W loads. When you couple high pressure with heavier projectiles you’ll get muzzle jump, sharper recoil, and handguns that wear out more quickly than those chambered in either 9mm or .45 ACP.

Since popular pistols like the Glock 17 were originally designed to chamber the 9mm and not a larger caliber, when you retro-fit the handgun for the .40 S&W you can reduce the reliability of the weapon. Glock .40′s have long been known for being less reliable than their 9mm counterparts. Some will deny this, but it’s true in my experience. It’s one of the reasons Glock went to the new Gen 4 recoil system, they were attempting to solve problems with their .40 cal G22 handguns. Another thing you’ll notice is that a majority of “ka-booms” (exploded pistols) happen in .40 caliber handguns, especially in the Glock line. To be fair it’s also fairly common with the .45 ACP versions of the Glocks too, with .40 leading the pack. Ka-Booms have been known to happen in pistols other than Glocks as well, and again often times in those chambered in .40 S&W.

The final issue for me is cost. I like to practice with my guns, especially the one I carry for personal defense. 9mm is by far the most affordable commonly used defensive caliber on the market. I can shoot almost twice as much 9mm as I can .40 S&W or .45 ACP for the same price. Even reloading the 9mm is significantly less expensive than it is for the other calibers.

Ballistic tests show that 9mm is able to penetrate as well as .40 and .45. Penetration and shot placement are the key elements to how effective a cartridge is.  Temporary wound channels have proven to be far less valuable than once thought.

If .40 doesn’t have the capacity of the 9mm and it doesn’t have better terminal ballistic performance than either the 9mm or .45 ACP, what is the point of having it? Couple that with the increased recoil and the cost of shooting it compared to 9mm and honestly, I see no point to the cartridge at all. There was a time when the .40 cal first came onto the scene that I raced out and bought copies of handguns I already owned in 9mm or .45 ACP just to have the same pistol in .40 too… but I quit doing that decades ago. I realized the .40 really offered me nothing over the 9 and .45 so I chose to stick with the 9mm for personal defense and the .45 ACP for everything else.

Today we see more and more police departments dumping the .40 S&W and going back to 9mm. Even the FBI has several 9mm pistols on its list of approved weapons for agents to carry. If you take a class from most any big name instructor, you’ll find they’re probably carrying a 9mm.

When the ammo crunch of 2013 hit after Sandy Hook you couldn’t find 9mm, .45 ACP, or even .22 LR but you could find .40 S&W. I will admit I considered buying a .40 S&W handgun during the last ammo crunch only because ammo was available just about everywhere I looked. But I resisted the urge because I knew I would sell the handgun for a loss a few months later when the shelves were restocked.

If you carry a .40 for personal defense I don’t think you’re poorly armed nor do I question your logic in making a choice to carry the cartridge. To each their own. I’m not trying to talk you out of your .40 and into a 9mm or .45 ACP caliber handgun. I honestly don’t care what you choose to carry as it’s a personal decision. My point in writing this article was to explain why I don’t carry, or even own, .40 caliber handguns.

Now ya know.