9mm VS .40 S&W


What Do You Prefer? 9mm or .40 S&W?

  • I prefer a 9mm handgun

    Votes: 92 24.5%

  • I prefer a .40 S&W handgun

    Votes: 175 46.7%

  • I prefer a different caliber

    Votes: 64 17.1%

  • Well, it depends.

    Votes: 44 11.7%
  • Total voters
    375
9mm vs. .40

.40 cal will penitrate a windshield. 9 mm. wont.
 

provided you get to it. but it wont stop momentum in car and you might miss under duress. and others get killed. best to stay out of the road.
 
+1 for 40 smith and wesson, yes its a slower round, but in the end has more knock down power.
 
I have to go with what round I shoot most accurately, and that would be the 9mm or .380 auto. I would rather put two where I want them to go that put one there and the other somewhere else. I think it all comes down to what the individual shoots most accurately, at least for me personally.:biggrin:
 
I would suggest if you are going to carry a 9mm, you load it with 147 grain ammo. This will give you very close to the stopping power of a .40 SW. The bigger the bullet, the more stopping power. A .45 with a 230 is more than likely the top choice but these guns are generally to large or they don't hold enough ammo.

DISCLAIMER: WARNING: This post may contain conservative ideas and language that are consistent with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America, including but not limited to a belief in liberty, rule of law, and natural rights. Short term side effects of reading this post may include high blood pressure, loose stool, severe genital itching, and diarrhea of the mouth. Long term side effects may include cleansing your mind from the brainwashing induced by the mainstream media and government schools. Should you experience any short term side effects, please seek medical attention immediately.
 
Nomad1959 said:
I would suggest if you are going to carry a 9mm, you load it with 147 grain ammo. This will give you very close to the stopping power of a .40 SW. The bigger the bullet, the more stopping power. A .45 with a 230 is more than likely the top choice but these guns are generally to large or they don't hold enough ammo.

DISCLAIMER: WARNING: This post may contain conservative ideas and language that are consistent with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America, including but not limited to a belief in liberty, rule of law, and natural rights. Short term side effects of reading this post may include high blood pressure, loose stool, severe genital itching, and diarrhea of the mouth. Long term side effects may include cleansing your mind from the brainwashing induced by the mainstream media and government schools. Should you experience any short term side effects, please seek medical attention immediately.
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My gun does not like the 147's. It will stove pipe with them - cartridge is too long. I pretty much stick to the 124's in a JHP.
 
This discussion reminds me of a Conan Movie...Conan's sword is so big he can barely swing it while everyone else has a normal sword... and he wins. Why? hooray for hollywood of course! In reality he gets chopped up into little pieces.

The facts are about a 9MM round vs a .40 round are pretty simple in terms of stopping someone...the person will be dropped unless you can't hit the side of a barn at the usual distance a gunfight usually occurs at. A hollowpoint 9MM (as long as you get a high velocity Self-defense round) will do plenty enough dammage. A .40 with a hollowpoint will do slightly more dammage. Placement of the bullet is what matters most. Caliber matters second.

My gripe with the "bigger is better" argument is the amount of control you have over your semi-auto handgun in a gunfight. The recoil on that gun means longer to re-aim and pull the trigger as well as less accuracy due to the energy you have to fight while firing the weapon to keep it still. Let's say you are in a gunfight and the first round or two is missed because of the intial panic you are in because, well, you are in a gunfight. The further your oponent is from you (and they will be backing up as they are shooting at you to try to get away from you and I bet you will be too), the worse your aim gets with the bigger caliber as you cannot control it as well as you can a 9 MM. The recoil of a 9MM is minimal and you can bring your aim back on the target much quicker than you can a .40, especially if you are shooting a sub-compact or a compact but even with a full size gun. This problem compounds with each bigger calliber and the more distance that is put between you and the perp.

For me, I would rather have 17 rounds to take out my perp and be able to squeeze out a couple more rounds at them in the few critical seconds you have to hit your target than think like Dirty Harry.
 
"A hollowpoint 9MM (as long as you get a high velocity Self-defense round) will do plenty enough dammage. A .40 with a hollowpoint will do slightly more dammage. Placement of the bullet is what matters most."


"For me, I would rather have 17 rounds to take out my perp and be able to squeeze out a couple more rounds at them in the few critical seconds you have to hit your target...."


this is probably why a 9mm would have ab edge. very little diameter difference and the chance to squeeze off a few more rounds....if data that i have read is true the percentage of hits in defensive situations is what??? fifty percent???
 
"I would suggest if you are going to carry a 9mm, you load it with 147 grain ammo."

is there such a thing??? how much longer is it??? and why have 147g if the 124g usually have more energy??
 
".40 cal will penitrate a windshield. 9 mm. wont."

is this actually true?? will a 3" barrel .40 or does it have to be a 4" barrel .40???

do most defensive shootings involve winshileds?? i doubt it.
 
Well, it depends... I practice with the SR9c and carry the SR40c. If I could only have one, it would be the 9mm. This is due to cost and availability of ammo. I do practice with the .40 as well, just not near as many rounds.
 
I have always been a 45acp fan and I have concealed carried the Glock 36 since 2009 after getting my permit. In the last two years Hornady & Corbon have come a long way with the 9mm loads. Plus, at Dicks I can still buy 50 rounds of American Eagle 9mm ammo for $11.95, great for practice and to collect the brass. I have recently purchased a Glock 26 and the Wilderness Tactical 26/27 Holster - left handed. So I am transitioning from the Glock 36 45acp to the Glock 26 9mm.
Just my 2 cents worth,
Marcus
 
Most 40 S&W shooters shoot a 155 to 165 grain bullet. A 165 grain Hornady Critical Defense round has a muzzle velocity of 1175 fps and 506 ft. lbs. of muzzle energy. A 155 grain Hornady XTP has a muzzle velocity of 1180 fps and 479 ft. lbs. of energy. If you check the Remington web site you can compare a 9mm +P Golden Saber to a 40 S&W Golden Saber. The 9mm puts out 385 ft lbs of muzzle energy the 40 S&W puts out 485 ft lbs of muzzle energy.
Your 45 ACP with a Remington Golden Saber will produce 423 ft. lbs of muzzle energy or 534 ft. lbs with +P ammo.
If you want to compare heavy bullet to heavy bullet, compare the 180 grain S&W Golden Saber with the 240 grain 45 ACP Golden Saber. Your 45 has 875 fps muzzle velocity, the 40 S&W has 1015 fps. Your 45 has 391 ft lbs of muzzle energy, the 40 S&W has 412 ft lbs of muzzle energy.
 
Compare any 40 S&W 165gr or even a 155gr, to a 9mm or a 45 ACP, and the ballistics out shoot both rounds. In velocity and muzzle energy.
And you also have a little more variety in different grains with the forty. To me it's the happy medium between the 9mm and the 45ACP.
 
CapGun said:
I talked to a Sig rep the other day. He told me all I would have to do was change the barrel and a Sig .40 would now be able to shoot a .357. I think he was referring to the .357 sig. that would have more then 2000fps. I will look into this further. Anyone els out there know about this?
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For sure man. Both the 40sw and the 357sig use the same casing except that the 357sig are a necked down 40sw casing using a 36 caliber bullet. Because of that you can use the same mag and recoil spring. Just swap the barrels.

I have a Sig P250c 40sw and I can get a 357sig barrel for it. That's it, nothing else needs changing. I've thought about getting it but why I asked myself, the 40sw does well.

I have a Sigma 9mm as well and I like 'em both. They're both high pressure rounds and with today's cartridges, very potent. I load both of my guns with Win PDX1s for SD. I know there's better out there but I get all my ammo at Walmart. In my 9mm is the 124+P BJHPs and in my 40sw 165 BJHPs. I also have a box of Fed 40sw 135 JHPs (HSTs) I was lucky to find at Walmart. Those are nasty bullets, They won't penetrate deep but cause serious wound cavities.

I've read that most say that 9mm and 40sw are close in ballistics but I say not quite. It will depend on the cartridges, yes that's true but the 40sw will do better than the 9mm. Since my guns are loaded with PDX1s the ballistic 101 site shows this:

9mm 124+P - 1180 fps - 396 foot pounds
40sw 165 - 1140 - 476 foot pounds

Their velocities are very close but 80 pounds difference.

EDIT: by the way, I don't know of any handgun cartridge that will put out a bullet at 2000 fps.
 
This is what sold me on what I think is best for me.

The wound cavity explains it all to me...10 mm beats all the rest. 40 cal bullet just a bigger shell and more powder. Works for me...

Link Removed
 
Tea Man said:
For sure man. Both the 40sw and the 357sig use the same casing except that the 357sig are a necked down 40sw casing using a 36 caliber bullet. Because of that you can use the same mag and recoil spring. Just swap the barrels.

I have a Sig P250c 40sw and I can get a 357sig barrel for it. That's it, nothing else needs changing. I've thought about getting it but why I asked myself, the 40sw does well.

I have a Sigma 9mm as well and I like 'em both. They're both high pressure rounds and with today's cartridges, very potent. I load both of my guns with Win PDX1s for SD. I know there's better out there but I get all my ammo at Walmart. In my 9mm is the 124+P BJHPs and in my 40sw 165 BJHPs. I also have a box of Fed 40sw 135 JHPs (HSTs) I was lucky to find at Walmart. Those are nasty bullets, They won't penetrate deep but cause serious wound cavities.

I've read that most say that 9mm and 40sw are close in ballistics but I say not quite. It will depend on the cartridges, yes that's true but the 40sw will do better than the 9mm. Since my guns are loaded with PDX1s the ballistic 101 site shows this:

9mm 124+P - 1180 fps - 396 foot pounds
40sw 165 - 1140 - 476 foot pounds

Their velocities are very close but 80 pounds difference.

EDIT: by the way, I don't know of any handgun cartridge that will put out a bullet at 2000 fps.
Click to expand...
Tea Man, please accept my apoligys I try not to correct people cause I hate it, but a 460 with some loads will put 275grs way over 2000fps, some will get to 2500+, I admit its a handgun because its revolver, but pretty useless unless a very large wild animal is coming at you
 
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