The .40 S&W: Too Strong or Too Weak?

While the price of Maseratis has not risen as fast as the cost of health insurance under the oddly named Affordable Care Act, I’m resigned to live without a quick Italian ride. So far, there’s no penalty for that. There’s no tandem-axle truck in the drive either, though sometimes I could use one. I make do with a sedan and a pickup. Compromises. But if not always tailored to my whim, these vehicles suffice. In truth, they’re pretty darned versatile.

Handguns and ammunition cost less than sports cars and Peterbilts, and are easier to store. So we shooters don’t feel constrained to pick just one. Or to compromise. Hence the lively debate over which of a host of worthy loads is most worthy.

Among pistol cartridges cursed with a wide range of applications, the .40 Smith & Wesson may be least appreciated. Unlike the .30-06, in versatility its counterpart among rifle rounds, the .40 arrived after millions of soldiers and constables had warmed to alternatives. The ’06 remains popular as racier numbers appear, in part because it is capable, but also because it is old, and a military veteran.

And it was first: The first successful rimless infantry round in US history. The first cartridge chambered in the front-locking, box-fed bolt action which over a century established itself as first pick of big game hunters. While it now shares the spotlight with many other rounds, the ‘06 has never been truly upstaged. No rifleman with any sense of propriety speaks ill of it.

Late Comer

The .40 S&W, alas, didn’t arrive until 1990, nearly 80 years after the .45 ACP appeared in John Browning’s self-loading pistol. It post-dated the 9mm Luger by 88 years. In fact, it followed the switch of the US military community from the .45 to the 9mm (1985, in the Beretta 92 S)!

There’s not much the .40 can claim that isn’t already owned by the .45 and the 9mm, except the unexciting mantle of compromise. Various law enforcement agencies have come to favor it; ammunition firms have given it frisky loads. Still, the .40 could fare better.

I’m not a policeman, though as a wildlife agent I carried a sidearm. I’ve no experience shooting people and hope I don’t have to, though I’ve seen people killed.

So I’m no expert on how any handgun load stops adversaries. That’s grist for other mills. I have fired quite a few rounds of rifle and handgun ammo — in the field, in competition and in penetration and expansion tests — and listened carefully to smart, experienced shooters who know more than I do.

Many of these people like the .40 S&W. Many don’t. Some tell me the .40 can’t punch like a .45 ACP but kicks as if it should. Others say it’s a shade more authoritative than the 9mm but at the expense of magazine capacity. There aren’t as many loads for the .40 as for the .45 or the 9, and you won’t find a box of .40 at every gun counter. The ammo and brass won’t be as cheap or as available on the gun show circuit, either. Fewer autoloading pistols are listed in .40 than in .45 or 9.

It’s easy to view the .40 in a glass-half-empty way, especially if your pet pistol is chambered for something else, or if you delight in excoriating others with different preferences. Still, the .40 is apolitical, thus unworthy of barbs you might hurl at legislators, ex-mayors, actors and presidents who dismiss every cartridge and firearm out of hand. If the .40 S&W were simply an amalgamation of what shooters didn’t like about the 9mm and the .45 ACP, it wouldn’t have survived. But it has.

The world is full of .40 fans with more time handloading this round, and more time behind pistols so chambered. But my .40’s have impressed me.

Better?

With mid-weight bullets clocking over 1,150 fps at the muzzle, the .40 S&W runs close behind the .357 Magnum and .45 ACP+P loads for like-weight bullets. It’s clearly superior to the 9mm and .38 Special. With light bullets, the .40 and .38 Super are very close, ballistically. The .40 has a decided edge with heavier bullets.

My favorite .40 pistol? The fetching SIG Sauer P226 stainless Elite. This auto holds 12 cartridges in its double-stack magazine. Its polished, stippled grips are perfectly shaped and proportioned for my big paws. At 42 ounces, it’s no lightweight, but those grips and superb balance put it on target fast. They also help keep it on target and make this .40 more comfortable in recoil than many if not most mid-size 9mms!

My SIG prefers heavy bullets and has done its best work with 180-grain Federal Hydra-Shoks at 1,000 fps. I’d like to have drilled a super-tight 25-yard group for this article. Certainly the pistol is able. A spring-like day in February gave me plenty of opportunity. Though I managed good starts (three bullets in an inch, for example), I scuttled every one. Last shots are my nemesis.

I’ll keep after that golfball group — a pleasant chore with this pistol — and more affordable fun than renting a Maserati.