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

lukem

Administrator
Staff member
I'm sure there will be quite a bit of opinions on thins including other calibers. But I wanted to start a thread about this since I just got an email from a user with the following question:

I would like to hear your idea on 9mm compared to 40 s&w. I am trying to decide between Glock 26 and 27 so I would like to hear all I can about the 2.
I'll give my own opinion about them. Mainly, I think you need to shoot both and figure out what you like best. My favorite caliber is .40 S&W. At first all of my carry guns were .40. I think its a bigger round so I would hope it would stop the threat quicker than a 9mm. But you also may have less rounds when going with a .40.

Recently I decided to go with the 9mm Glock 27 as my carry gun. I haven't been getting to the range as much and I can just control the 9mm better in the subcompact. I also kind of just wanted a different caliber other than a .40. Now if I was practicing more like I should be I would probably have stuck with a .40 Glock 26.

Another thing is that it should be cheaper too shoot but I don't think the difference was that much so it was not really a deciding factor for me.

But, the gun I keep in my car and on my nightstand are .40. I am not concerned about concealing those so the larger guns.
 

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Maybe the following will help:

.40 S&W - 180gr = 968 fps muzzle velocity with 375 ft. lbs. muzzle energy.

9mm - 124gr = 1,181 fps muzzle velocity with 382 ft. lbs. muzzle energy.

It comes down to whether you believe a faster bullet with slightly more muzzle energy is better than a heavier bullet with slightly less muzzle velocity and energy. Different manufacturers change somewhat but what I've shown is an average. By the way, I prefer a .45 for my carry weapon.
 
I shot the 27, the 26, and an M&P 9mm. I could hit better with both the 9mm's. The M&P was best, bust it's s slightly bigger gun even though it was the compact. Still not sure, there are pros and cons to each. I guess I'll just have to think about it a while.
 
.40 S&W any day. I've carried both and shoot both well, but the .40 S&W is more of a man stopper, and that's why I prefer it.
 
I would have to agree with Tattedupboy. I just feel the 40 is a better man stopper. How ever I carry a 45 most of the time.
 
I feel I am more accure with my 9mm. I also find it faster to get back to target. And in a crunch situation, I would rather be more accure than shooting a bigger bullet. The extra rounds and decreased cost at the range are also a pluses.
 
YEAH WELL I CARRY a S&W 410 So beat THAT!!! lol, no i have been trying to make up my mind as well. I keep going from 9mm,40 and now i have been thinking about 45. But i am not really a hand gun person i do not really shot them a lot. The last handgun i shot was years ago and it was a 380. Now that i can own/buy my own handguns i am going to get back into it more. I am worried the 45 will fly out of my hand and i will not be able to hit any thing with it. The PD here carry's 9mm glock's so i think i am going to go with the 9mm. But i would love to hear more about it. On a side note CMS23 have you joined the M&P user group yet? if not please do so we can use more members.
 
I have a compact M&P 9mm. It seems to be more accurate for me then the 40. I still prefer my 357magnum for man stopping.
 
Honestly I say you are best off with what you feel more comfortable with. Yes the .40 is more of a man stopper, but if they are more comfortable with the 9mm then I say go with the 9mm. If they are a quicker shot with the 9mm because they are more comfortable with it, those extra seconds may save their life. Some of you say that it is better to have more of a man stopper, however I would much rather be shooting with something I know I am comfortable with. Some one on this site (can't remember who), has in their signature, "It is better to have well placed shots with a .22 than misses with a .44 magnum". I think this statement fits this question well.

In my opinion, two well placed shots to the chest with a 9mm can do just as much damage and stop a threat as a .40

I heard a quote one time by someone in the military. They were asked what they thought about the military switching to the 9mm round instead of the .45. The person who asked said it was stupid because the .45 was much more of a man stopper. The military person's response was "If I put two in your heart and one in your head...are you gonna know the difference?"

If you are comfortable with the .40, go with the .40. All I am saying is go with what you are comfortable with.
 
I normally carry a .45, but if that is too bulky, I go with a 9.
 
If they have ONE PHONE BOOK ARMOR, I'd use a 22LR, since it has been certified as a crackhead killer. lol
 
Variables.

A 9mm ball with fewer grns/punch/load is not IMHO a good BG stopper. Make it a HP or FMJ 9 and up the load/grns, now you have a stopper.
Same principle for a .40, own both Cals, shot thousands thru both, but the .40 is for me too large in most models for E-Z complete concealed-carry, the 9mm with say CORBON HP's inside is a smaller SA XD-9 pistol making discreet stealthy CC a lethal breeze. Both cals proven out in pistols I own/was issued. The M-9 (9mm) Beretta, semi-good stopping power, wounds more than kills in use in Iraq and Afganistan now and also during GW-1/Balkans same results. 'Nam VC hit by .45's seldom got up 4 more! That was the idea and why M-9 is a defensive not offensive weapon Geneva Convention 'humane'/friendly, issued to non-combatants/medics. Jack-it up increase pistol size to the Beretta 96 FS .40 Cal and 1-2 well placed rounds is a knock down or kill. Same principle for most good semi-auto pistols. ronwill managed to say all that in <60 words. Just my 99-cents :help:

Canis-Lupus
 
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I heard a quote one time by someone in the military. They were asked what they thought about the military switching to the 9mm round instead of the .45. The person who asked said it was stupid because the .45 was much more of a man stopper. The military person's response was "If I put two in your heart and one in your head...are you gonna know the difference?"

That's a discovery channel Doc they did on the US Navy Seals. The seal was talking about the weapons they use. He picked up the Sig226 and said it's 9mm. Then he said "people are going to say being 9mm will not do much" then he went on to say when he puts two in your heart and one in your head you will never be able to tell.
 
bigger bullets make bigger holes. :moil:its all about leakage the faster one leaks out the sooner he stops.
 
A 9mm ball with fewer grns/punch/load is not IMHO a good BG stopper. Make it a HP or FMJ 9 and up the load/grns, now you have a stopper.
Same principle for a .40, own both Cals, shot thousands thru both, but the .40 is for me too large in most models for E-Z complete concealed-carry, the 9mm with say CORBON HP's inside is a smaller SA XD-9 pistol making discreet stealthy CC a lethal breeze. Both cals proven out in pistols I own/was issued. The M-9 (9mm) Beretta, semi-good stopping power, wounds more than kills in use in Iraq and Afganistan now and also during GW-1/Balkans same results. 'Nam VC hit by .45's seldom got up 4 more! That was the idea and why M-9 is a defensive not offensive weapon Geneva Convention 'humane'/friendly, issued to non-combatants/medics. Jack-it up increase pistol size to the Beretta 96 FS .40 Cal and 1-2 well placed rounds is a knock down or kill. Same principle for most good semi-auto pistols. ronwill managed to say all that in <60 words. Just my 99-cents :help:

Canis-Lupus

So your saying if you go with a 9mm. Go with Hollow point rounds and go with 147g over 127g?
A 9mm ball with fewer grns/punch/load is not IMHO a good BG stopper. Make it a HP or FMJ 9 and up the load/grns, now you have a stopper.
Is that what you mean by this? That's what i take away from it so please step in if i read that wrong.
 
For my needs S&WM&P40,
A smaller semi-auto pistol is (for me) easier to hide, faster to deploy from several carrying platforms (ankle holster to under arm-pit holsters), I like the CORBON 9mm+P JHP 115gr moving @ 1,350fps, it's fast. At point of impact it causes (some) tissue to be ejected, easilly passes thru a skull, bores a cone shaped canal 10-20mm in diameter thru a head shot fragmenting as it spirals and exits leaving a golf-ball sized hole, with much tissue ejection, that is where the most damage occurs, then it loses a lot of it's power and as a shooter that is good to minimize collateral. I've worked on maybe 15 patients with those types of 9mm HP head GSW's and none survived. Those shot in center of mass don't fare much better but some have lived if it misses heart/lungs. I practice for that shot at <20 meters tops, using [cheaper] Luger 9mm ball, but out & about I pack 9mm CORBON JHP's 10+1. I don't want to mess around with someone who is hell bent on ending my life. ER experience has taught me that using that legal type of ammo is a fast way to cool things down. I speak as someone who has never used that on a human, just treated the victims of that unique GSW, and hope to God I never have to, but taking a life is not something I want to be a messy shoot-out or one that gives an armed BG a chance/survivability to do the same to me or those I care for. Please pardon the medical take on the lethality of those rounds. Hope it came off with some level of medical/ballistic reporting. This link may dispel some myths, it is worth a recce. Going to pass on retorts, to each their own kit and ways of defending yourself. I bear witness that this round kills.
Best9mm.com - 9mm Ammunition testing 9mm ammo ballistics bullet expansion penetration

Canis-Lupus
 
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Oh no problem LUPUS. I was more so asking for me so i would know what one would be better. I have read that you should always go with the max load you gun can take. So 147g over 125/115g what one would be better? I here you are saying 115 does some major D with JHP's?
 

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