9MM VS 40 SW Caliber

[barrygray0]

i also own both . Getting back to question . The better of the two options is.........................THE ONE YOU PRACTICE WITH ! ! ! ! ! !
IT DOES NOT MATTER IF ITS A 25 CALIBER OR 44 MAGNUM THE ONE YOU SHOOT MOST IS THE BEST ONE FOR DEFENCE....................................

 

[jcreek]

i also own both . Getting back to question . The better of the two options is.........................the one you practice with ! ! ! ! ! !
It does not matter if its a 25 caliber or 44 magnum the one you shoot most is the best one for defence....................................

no it's not. I shoot a lot more .22 than .40 and i still carry a .40..................

 

[Warbirds]

All these new fangled metallic cartridges are just a fad, when y'all grow up y'all will realize iffn ya cant reload a black powder pistol while bitten off a new piece a chewin tabaccy y'all ain't a man.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Timothy Bryant]

Since I'm not going into combat, I really don't see a need for a lot of cartridges.
To me, you have the time-proven .45 Auto and the time-disproven 9x19. With the .40, you have a balance of most of what is good about the the .45 in a package that gives most of the good about the 9x19.
That being said, I have never warmed up to the .40 and carry a .45. If 7-14 rounds isn't enough, 100 more rounds probably isn't going to help.

When was the 9x19 disproven? I must not have gotten the memo. Truth of the matter is that the 9mm Luger was developed in 1902 and the 45 ACP didn't come around until 1904 so actually the 9mm is a bit more "time proven". Both of these rounds are adequate and the differences in effectiveness are greatly exaggerated. It's all about shot placement no matter which you are using. Shoot the one you can shoot the best and forget about the rest.

 

[Kennydale]

I had the opportunity to tryout both a Ruger SR9C and a Ruger SR40C as my first shooting experience ever. Not only did i shoot the .40S&W better, I found it exhilarating. So that's why I chose the .40S&W

 

[r1derbike]

I don't like high recoil cartridges. I'll stick with 9mm and .45 acp. YMMV.

 

[mojoman]

I have two .45 that I can shoot well but I do have a G19 coming soon that I think that I will enjoy to carry, their have been test that you can find that between the three that their isn't not much different. I have seen the 9mm with today technology can do a lot of damage.

 

[dad45acp]

The .40 was created to fulfill an unnecessary "void" in calibers and to address penetration, lethality blah blah blah. I would go w 9mm...but in real life its .45 for me. All of which however do the job within 10-20 feet as most SD situations are. Otherwise I'm racking in some 5.56.

Sent from my hand-held mind distractor

 

[s0nspark]

I am partial to 10MM. My second choice is 10MM shorts (.40 S&W) . I also like and train with .357 Sig.

Nice to see another 10mm fan here Nothing else compares IMO. I love the fact that I can shoot all three of these calibers in my Glock simply by dropping in the appropriate KKM barrel ... I think .40cal shoots pretty soft in the larger framed gun too.

I have 20 & 33 round mags for my Glock 10MM

Out of curiosity where did you get these? Are they reliable? I would like to pick some up myself...

Cheers!
Tim

 

[Adam42]

Never have cared for the 40 S&W don't see any advantage over the 9 mm +p in todays modern ammo. That said, I think the 45 acp is the best round for a pistol and the .357 / 38 is the best for revolvers.

 

[jcreek]

Since I'm not going into combat, I really don't see a need for a lot of cartridges.
To me, you have the time-proven .45 Auto and the time-disproven 9x19. With the .40, you have a balance of most of what is good about the the .45 in a package that gives most of the good about the 9x19.
That being said, I have never warmed up to the .40 and carry a .45. If 7-14 rounds isn't enough, 100 more rounds probably isn't going to help.

When was the 9x19 disproven? I must not have gotten the memo. Truth of the matter is that the 9mm Luger was developed in 1902 and the 45 ACP didn't come around until 1904 so actually the 9mm is a bit more "time proven". Both of these rounds are adequate and the differences in effectiveness are greatly exaggerated. It's all about shot placement no matter which you are using. Shoot the one you can shoot the best and forget about the rest.

Those extra years have shown that while shot placement still reigns kings the 9mm far too often over penetrates without delivering all of its energy into the target.

 

[XD40scinNC]

The .45 was a manstopper from day one.
The 9mm was a wounder, at best.
If I had to choose, I would take the .40.
I enjoy the 9mm because bullets are less expensive.
I enjoy the .40 because it has always done what I asked of it.
These questions are rather meaningless, since none of us have much experience with bullet performance when the SHTF.

They are all killers, this is just BS. It's not the size of the hole, it's where you put the hole. Locally a family feud was in the news, 3 our of 4 died from 22LR pistol wounds, the other was courtesy of a shotgun.

A good SD round from 9/40/45 are all effective. I carry both 9 and 40, and have 40 for home defense.

 

[Regge]

We don't carry pistols because they are powerful, rather we carry them because they are portable. 9mm - 40 - 45, all of them are ballistically inefficient with barely an imperceptible difference between them. Any of them will work for their intended purpose and none of them are superior...

It doesn't matter as long as have one of them and are prepared to use it if necessary.

 

[wolf_fire]

The .40 was created to fulfill an unnecessary "void" in calibers and to address penetration, lethality blah blah blah. I would go w 9mm...but in real life its .45 for me. All of which however do the job within 10-20 feet as most SD situations are. Otherwise I'm racking in some 5.56.

Sent from my hand-held mind distractor

Not sure where you got your information. The .40 was actually developed by the FBI to create a round that had similar energy to the 10mm that they were carrying but be chambered similar in size to a 9mm. There was no "void" that anyone was trying to fill.

.40 S&W cartridge | The Loadout Room

 

[Timothy Bryant]

Those extra years have shown that while shot planet still reigns kings the 9mm far too often over penetrates without delivering all of its energy into the target.

Where is the evidence of the 9mm "far too often" over penetrating? I know that FMJ has a reputation for doing so but that remains true for the 9mm, 40, and 45. Not necessarily saying that it won't but I would like to see the proof that states the 9mm cuts through people far more often than any other round when appropriate bullet type is used.

 

[JimTh]

I read an article written by a forensic pathologist that answered this very question. His conclusion, based on numerous autopsies concluded that the 40 caused far more fatal injuries than the 9mm or smaller simply because the ballistics of the 40 were so much superior thn the 9. His autopsies were performed on gangstas in metro areas where 9's and 40's were evenly distributed. Now I do agree that shot placement is key as well but a 223 round can cause more damage than larger rounds because of the ballistics. A 22lr to the head is not nearly as damaging as a 40 to the head. A 22lr to the back base of the head is almost universally fatal so if you don't have an option of being able to take a careful aim either squeeze off a lot of small rounds or a few large rounds.

 

[r1derbike]

My indoor round of choice is 5.56 M193. Outdoor long distance, MK232 Mod0 (or civilian equivalent). Throw-in some M855s for gate crashers.

Oh, my carry is .45 acp. Looking for a decent 9mm for backup and practice, while my XD-S is waiting on safety modifications.

Alternate carrying my wife's Taurus 85, and a Springfield Champion, but miss the XD-S badly.

 

[thru]

actually,. the .45 is NOT "time proven". what it really is, is (millions of lies told about it".) After you've shot a few stray cats thru the chest with .45 ball, a few chucks, possums,etc and watched them run off, you'll understand the facts of the matter.

 

[thru]

SOME 9mm ammo, like the corbon 100 gr PowRBall, is MUCH more effective than some (180 gr) .40 short and weak ammo. You can prove that to yourself, on animals. The 900 fps .40 jhp's dont expand, the 100gr 9mm's do, and they penetrate plenty deep enough, too.

 

[wolf_fire]

SOME 9mm ammo, like the corbon 100 gr PowRBall, is MUCH more effective than some (180 gr) .40 short and weak ammo. You can prove that to yourself, on animals. The 900 fps .40 jhp's dont expand, the 100gr 9mm's do, and they penetrate plenty deep enough, too.

Please tell me which particular round of .40 has a velocity as low as 900 fps? 40 Caliber Smith & Wesson Ballistics Chart | Ballistics 101

Here's a chart to point to. Not one round (180 gr or not) is as low as 900. There is one (yes, one) that is 915 fps, but it is a dog at 200 gr, but even this round with much more inertia is still over your stated 900 fps.

Also, the energy of a lot of the .40's is equal to if not greater than the 100 gr Pow'r Ball. Yes, some are less, but some are greater.

http://www.ballistics101.com/9mm.php

Fact of the matter... when picking ammo, do your research to select the best round for your particular purposes.

For example, I use Speer Gold Dot in my .40: 180gr 420 ftlbs of energy 1025fps muzzle velocity
Your 9mm 100 gr Pow'r Ball: 100 gr, 483 ftlb energy, 1475 muzzle velocity

The energy is calculated using this relationship: Kinetic Energy is equal to 0.5*mass*velocity^2

This means just a small increase in velocity is a big increase in energy since in the equation velocity is squared whereas mass is only to the first power. However, with faster speed and energy, comes more penetration not expansion. A slightly slower heavier round will expand much more than a lighter and faster round when looking at similar energies. I'll keep my 180 gr round versus your 100 gr round (almost 2x the mass) and go with slower velocity in order for my round to expand more than penetrate. When looking at similar energy levels, the heavier slower round will expand more whereas the lighter faster round will penetrate more. Just the opposite of what you purported.