Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Do I need a 40 S&W?

I've been seeing some good prices on 40 S&W handguns and ammo and I'm wondering if I need one..
It seems a bunch of shooters are losing interest in it but I'm still wondering.

If I was following true 'campfire routine I'd buy ammo and find a gun to fit it..

What's your view of a 40 and do I need one or two?

We report, you decide.

http://www.thesixgunjournal.net/the-40-sw-your-tax-dollars-at-work/

None needed.

The question is why don’t you already have one?

Prices on police trade ins are so low, you might as well have one. You never know when 9mm and .45 will suddenly fly off the shelves due to a pandemic, leaving only .40 S&W available.

Or, use all the money that you would use to buy the 40 and the ammo and buy some cases of ammo for guns that you already have. Put it aside for a rainy day.

Did you write that?

Good job.

Why not have one?

Yes Sir, Sixgun Journal is mine. And thank you JWP.

Great article, Sarge.

Well written.

A 40 is not a bad thing to have.

Mine is a Glock 22. I have alternate barrels for it in 9mm and 357 Sig.

Sometimes when 9mm ammo is hard to find, 40 or 357 Sig might be on the shelf.

I get around the recoil & controllability issue with a nice, solid firearm... the full-sized IMI Baby Eagle in .40 S&W.
I bought it in 1993 - it is an all-steel weapon. It has thin grip pads and solid-steel front&rear straps - but is still very comfortable! Polygonal rifling as well.
Gotta love skilled weapon designers.

It looks like this one (except that the safety is slide-mounted, not frame-mounted), down to the "Desert Eagle Pistol" marking!

I have a couple and love them. I could care less if anyone else has one.

I've always had some of 40 for the last 25 years, still have 2 that won't be going anywhere soon. BTW great article Sarge.

Seems strange to hear someone say they've had .40 S&W for 25 years. To me, as someone who remembers its first appearance on the scene, it seems like a new offering still. I remember when it didn't exist like it was yesterday.

I got a G23 back in 1994, 26 years ago. Another "I'm getting old" moment about it was that Speer had just introduced the Gold Dot. It and the Hydrashok were the first reliably expanding handgun bullets, from what I remember. Remember when Gold Dot came in gold boxes, not the black ones that they've used for years? My, how things have changed.

I got my Gen 2 Glock 23 back in the early 1990s, too, when it first appeared. Already had a Gen 2 Glock 19. Sold both of them, because at that time I decided I didn't like the way Glocks felt in my hand, and didn't like the triggers. I wish I could travel back in time and tell myself to just shoot them a lot and I will get used to them till they feel very natural in the hand and point naturally, and the trigger becomes second nature with practice. Wish I never sold those two.

I was then Glockless till the early to middle 2000s, when I picked up a Gen 3 Glock 27. Didn't like the way it carried IWB (felt uncomfortable for some reason), and didn't like the way it shot, so it stayed in the safe for a few years, then got dumped at a gun show.

Then, in the early 20 teens, I determined to get a Glock 17 and focus exclusively on learning it and learning to carry it IWB. With range time, and research, I became quite good with it, and discovered you get used to the way it carries to the point you don't even notice it, given a proper belt/holster. After that, I became a huge Glock fan, and acquired many of their models.

Currently (and for the last nearly two years), my daily carry has been a Glock 26, Gen 5. A close second favorite for daily carry is my Gen 5, Glock 19. Both are bone stock except for red dot front night sights by Ameriglo. Love that little 26, the way it shoots and carries (I don't even know I'm carrying it). The 19 could replace it, though, at least on occasion. Both great daily carry guns that shoot and carry really well, not to mention their being 100% reliable with tons of aftermarket support.

Yeah, mine is the original. It was made 30 years ago:


Then I have a newer one with a 16+1 capacity, that runs flawlessly as well:


I'll never be without my 40's...