Why no .40?

OP, the FBI is dumping .40sw and going back to 9mm. That's causing at least some of the silliness.

My Sigs are in 40 and my Glocks are in 9mm, because that's just how it worked out. I enjoy shooting both and really don't perceive that much of a difference, probably because the Sigs are heavier.

9mm is cheaper, but not by a hell of a lot. All ammo is pricey now.
 
OP, the FBI is dumping .40sw and going back to 9mm. That's causing at least some of the silliness.

My Sigs are in 40 and my Glocks are in 9mm, because that's just how it worked out. I enjoy shooting both and really don't perceive that much of a difference, probably because the Sigs are heavier.

9mm is cheaper, but not by a hell of a lot. All ammo is pricey now.

P229 40 is more of a lumpy recoil G22/23 is more of a snap.. Depending on hand strength, size, and technique both can possibly be a wash. I've seen really experienced guys run a G23 no diff than a G19, but I'm not one of them, my hands shifr around on the Glock 40s even when i start with a decent grip.
 
P229 40 is more of a lumpy recoil G22/23 is more of a snap.. Depending on hand strength, size, and technique both can possibly be a wash. I've seen really experienced guys run a G23 no diff than a G19, but I'm not one of them, my hands shifr around on the Glock 40s even when i start with a decent grip.

You know, I don't think I've ever shot a G22/23. I was warned about "glocked brass" on the 40 and decided I didn't want to deal with that for reloading. So I never bought one, even though the pre-ban mags seem to be plentiful. The Glock grips are all big though. I wish I could trade my Gen 3s for Gen 4s.
 
I was warned about "glocked brass" on the 40 and decided I didn't want to deal with that for reloading.
The 40 is a straight walled case, so you can get an inexpensive die (Redding G-Rx) that you push the 40 brass through to remove PGS (Pregnant guppy syndrome). I use a Case Pro for roll sizing, but that is a somewhat pricey solution.
 
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OP, the FBI is dumping .40sw and going back to 9mm. That's causing at least some of the silliness.

Yes, I think police agencies are always looking for an excuse to buy new stuff and the FBI report (which is incredibly poorly written IMO) is an excuse to get new handguns.
 
Even the EGW U die tents to push brass towards the rim. Push through sizing or roll sizing (Case Pro, Scarch, etc.) does a nicer job.
I case gauge every round, and of all the .40 I've loaded this far with the EGW U die, the rate at which I encounter those types of cases is less than 0.01%. Case pro is cool, but expensive..

I did recently get into open division, shooting 38SC and I've used the Lee bulge buster setup for that, with a normal Lee sizing die on the press. I may look into getting the .40 FCD to use the bulge buster on .40 but I'm not sure I even need to.
 
I case gauge every round, and of all the .40 I've loaded this far with the EGW U die, the rate at which I encounter those types of cases is less than 0.01%. Case pro is cool, but expensive..

I did recently get into open division, shooting 38SC and I've used the Lee bulge buster setup for that, with a normal Lee sizing die on the press. I may look into getting the .40 FCD to use the bulge buster on .40 but I'm not sure I even need to.
I though the Case Pro was pricey when I bought mine for $500 - they are up to $825 now.

If you need a Lee U die for 38 super (probably will work for supercomp as well), I just found one when cleaning out my old reloading bench I can karma you.
 
I though the Case Pro was pricey when I bought mine for $500 - they are up to $825 now.

If you need a Lee U die for 38 super (probably will work for supercomp as well), I just found one when cleaning out my old reloading bench I can karma you.

Thanks, but I already have an EGW U die for 38 super. I bought it for a different reason that doesn't really need to be explained in a 40 bashing thread, I decided to use the regular sizing die instead.
 
I case gauge every round, and of all the .40 I've loaded this far with the EGW U die, the rate at which I encounter those types of cases is less than 0.01%. Case pro is cool, but expensive..

I did recently get into open division, shooting 38SC and I've used the Lee bulge buster setup for that, with a normal Lee sizing die on the press. I may look into getting the .40 FCD to use the bulge buster on .40 but I'm not sure I even need to.

I am using standard Dillon dies for my 40 reloading. No special sizing. I also case gauge every round. I see about 1% that fit tight in the gauge, I set those aside for practice but they feed fire and eject in my STI without problem. In the approximately 4-5 thousand 40 cal rounds I have fired I have seen exactly 5 cases that made it through my press with a bulge that absolutely will not chamber.

I avoided purchasing a gun in 40 for a long time because I wanted to avoid the bulge case headache everyone talks about.
Seeing as how all my 40 brass has come from brass I picked up while working at USPSA major matches, maybe it has all been through a fancy roll sizing machine
 
I think gen 3 + glocks don't really bulge brass that bad. A lot of hype over not much in my opinion.
I think .40 is awesome in USPSA.

One year of Limited with a G35, and 2 with a CK Arms 2011 clone, I started my brass stash with a purchase of once-fired online and picked up at maches and pick stuff out of brass bins at my local range.. really not many problems even in the KKM chamber of my CK.

40 is also the most versatile competition round - you can load it to a soft shooting minor or a nice major, lots of bullet weights available..
 
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Seeing as how all my 40 brass has come from brass I picked up while working at USPSA major matches, maybe it has all been through a fancy roll sizing machine

All the brass out of my gun has been roll sized and through a U-die. Besides fixing the bulge roll sizing also cleans up the rim. I used to have a lot of case gauge failures in 9mm due to nicks on the rim. They likely would have been fine depending on the gun and how it ended up clocking in the barrel.

40 is also the most versatile competition round - you can load it to a soft shooting minor or a nice major, lots of bullet weights available..

Agreed
 
I think gen 3 + glocks don't really bulge brass that bad. A lot of hype over not much in my opinion.

Not sure if serious, Shoot some commercial .40 out of a glock and closely examine the brass, you'll find a bulge, every time. Of course it's going to vary on the brand of ammo, the load, and bullet weight,
though. With the G22Gen4 I had, it was subtle, but it was there. Not a huge problem to overcome regardless, though.

-Mike
 
Not sure if serious, Shoot some commercial .40 out of a glock and closely examine the brass, you'll find a bulge, every time. Of course it's going to vary on the brand of ammo, the load, and bullet weight,
though. With the G22Gen4 I had, it was subtle, but it was there. Not a huge problem to overcome regardless, though.

-Mike
I was serious, maybe the EGW U die takes care of it all.. there may be a bulge in some of that fired brass, but by the time it is reloaded on my 650, its all good.
 
I was serious, maybe the EGW U die takes care of it all.. there may be a bulge in some of that fired brass, but by the time it is reloaded on my 650, its all good.

Yeah, if you're not looking at the pre-resized brass, you'll never notice it.. and a U-die pretty much gets rid of all the bulge.

-Mike
 
The 40 is a straight walled case, so you can get an inexpensive die (Redding G-Rx) that you push the 40 brass through to remove PGS (Pregnant guppy syndrome). I use a Case Pro for roll sizing, but that is a somewhat pricey solution.

I'm confused about all this. Why all the special treatment? I reload my .40 like everything else (9mm, and 45) and never had a problem. The only 40's I shoot are glocks. All my brass is glocked unless i pick it up on the range from someone else.
 
I'm confused about all this. Why all the special treatment? I reload my .40 like everything else (9mm, and 45) and never had a problem. The only 40's I shoot are glocks. All my brass is glocked unless i pick it up on the range from someone else.

If you're running it in Glocks that's probably not liable to cause a problem, because the fat chambers won't care much. Try running glocked brass in a .40 match chamber, though, and you can have lots of problems... EG, USPSA shooter goes to local range and finds a bunch of cop .40 brass left over from the local glock-bearing police department. If he makes a batch of ammo from it without ridding the bulge, he might end up with some serious jams and other issues when he tries to run it in his SVI, STI, super xiectalux competition gun because the brass will be too fat for the match chamber in those kinds of
guns.

-Mike
 
I'm confused about all this. Why all the special treatment? I reload my .40 like everything else (9mm, and 45) and never had a problem. The only 40's I shoot are glocks. All my brass is glocked unless i pick it up on the range from someone else.
Exactly what Drgrant said - I shoot an SVI 40, and use mongrel brass including a lot from Glocks of the Pregnant Guppy.
 
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If you're running it in Glocks that's probably not liable to cause a problem, because the fat chambers won't care much. Try running glocked brass in a .40 match chamber, though, and you can have lots of problems... EG, USPSA shooter goes to local range and finds a bunch of cop .40 brass left over from the local glock-bearing police department. If he makes a batch of ammo from it without ridding the bulge, he might end up with some serious jams and other issues when he tries to run it in his SVI, STI, super xiectalux competition gun because the brass will be too fat for the match chamber in those kinds of
guns.

-Mike

Ah....yeah...not running any super tight match type chambers. Thanks for the info.
 
Seeing as how all my 40 brass has come from brass I picked up while working at USPSA major matches, maybe it has all been through a fancy roll sizing machine
That explains your lack of a problem:
  • PGS (Pregnant guppy syndrome) 40S&W cases mainly come from Glock fotays. These can be recognized by the rectangular marking around the firing pin dent on the case and primer.
  • Glocks at USPSA matches are generally 9mm, as 40 S&W does not provide any scoring advantage in Production division, but does offer increased recoil.
  • 40 S&W is the most common caliber for Limited division shooters at USPSA matches. Competitors in Limited division generally use STI/SVI guns and clones thereof, which offer excellent chamber support.
Try using 40 brass scavenged from a range after a police training activity and your luck may not be quite as good.
 
So I've been lurking in the classifieds in hopes of a unicorn (aka xds 9 4.0) to show up so I can buy my first gun. But it seems like half of what I've seen go up for sale is .40 handhuns of one sort or another. Why does it seem like so many are dumping .40? My guess would be the cost of ammo but Im I'm not to up on all that. Anyone else have a theory?

Besides the cost many people find out the hard and expensive way that they shoot 9mm or .380 more accurately than 40 caliber. IMHO, the caliber is only secondary to how well you shoot it. One 9mm hit is worth more than a dozen 40 caliber misses. In my case I just couldn't shoot 40 caliber nearly as well as 38 special or 9mm.
 
The .40 is usually chambered in the same size gun as a 9mm. For this reason it kicks harder and beats up the gun much more than the 9mm.
 
The .40 is usually chambered in the same size gun as a 9mm. For this reason it kicks harder and beats up the gun much more than the 9mm.
The 3rd generation S&W single stack .40's was an exception - they were built on a 4516 frame. It's not a target pistol, but I really like my 4053 as a shooter. They are usually inexpensive used. There was a guy on the S&W Forum who even converted a few to 10mm (barrel throating, heavier recoil springs, buffer, remove spacer from magazine and replace follower); not sure how well the alloy frame would hold up long term though.
 
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