.40 S&W Caliber

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ratski

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Just figured I'd throw this in there.

The shelves at Academy are almost bare

And they post this sign.

Notice that about the only thing on the shelves is 22mag, 40 and 357sig.
And the limit doesn't apply to 40 or .357 sig
 
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View attachment 168674 View attachment 168675 Just figured I'd throw this in there.

The shelves at Academy are almost bare

And they post this sign.

Notice that about the only thing on the shelves is 22mag, 40 and 357sig.
And the limit doesn't apply to 40 or .357 sig

What about 45 ACP? It’s not mentioned on the sign. Was there any on the shelf?
 

SoonerP226

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10mm was an answer to a legit question: how can we get .357Mag ballistics in a rimless case that will feed reliably in a semi-auto?

.40 Short & Wimpy was also an answer to a question: how can we get 10mm to not hurt so much to shoot?

In short, .40S&W was an evolution of the 10mm FBI Lite load, which was developed because of concerns that the full-house 10mm was too much for female and smaller male FBI agents (concerns about the 10mm's reputation for battering guns may have played a role, but this happened early in the 10's history, so I find that questionable). .40 shortened the 10mm's case, thinned the case's web, and switched to small pistol primers--sort of a reverse of the .38Spl to .357Mag evolution. (Incidentally, the different web on .40S&W is why you don't just cut a 10mm down to .40 length; the thicker web results in a smaller volume inside the case, which results in higher chamber pressure.)

As to why .40 has fallen out of favor: it doesn't really gain you anything over 9mm or .45ACP as far as "stopping power" goes (and reading Medal of Honor citations illustrates how iffy a notion that is from the get-go); it costs you magazine capacity (you can get 11 rounds of 9mm in the space of 10 rounds of .40); and it doesn't have the economies of scale of 9mm in particular, so .40 costs more to shoot (which tends to be especially noticeable when you're buying large batches).

Personally, I don't shoot .40 because I find it to be very unpleasant to shoot, and this is coming from someone who enjoyed shooting 10mm and .44Mag. (Pro Tip: don't shoot bowling pins with PMC 240gr TCSP from a Model 29. After one cylinder, it was shredded...)
 

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