Best .40 Handgun?

[Tamara]

One of the comments made was "not another 40, we can move those" that lead to a conversation about nobody is buying 40 and 9mm are selling. I was a little surprised.

If you'd taken a 9mm High Power into Cabela's they would have told you 9mm's weren't selling.

...except that .40s really aren't selling anywhere near as well as nines.

Early this year there was a big drought at the wholesaler level where it was next-to-impossible to get your hands on Glock 19s or 17s. You could get all the 22s or 23s you wanted, but the nines were gone.

At any good size gun show, check out the dealers who have bulk quantities of LE trade-ins. Market price on used 22/23s is anywhere from $50-$100 less than the equivalent 17/19 trade-ins...when you can find the latter. There's just a glut of LE trade-in .40s and .45s on the market right now. They're like Model 10s were back in the late '80s/early '90s.

[serialsolver]

If you'd taken a 9mm High Power into Cabela's they would have told you 9mm's weren't selling.

Yeah you're right cause 45acp an 357 mag must have not been selling either.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[serialsolver]

...except that .40s really aren't selling anywhere near as well as nines.

Early this year there was a big drought at the wholesaler level where it was next-to-impossible to get your hands on Glock 19s or 17s. You could get all the 22s or 23s you wanted, but the nines were gone.

At any good size gun show, check out the dealers who have bulk quantities of LE trade-ins. Market price on used 22/23s is anywhere from $50-$100 less than the equivalent 17/19 trade-ins...when you can find the latter. There's just a glut of LE trade-in .40s and .45s on the market right now. They're like Model 10s were back in the late '80s/early '90s.

And the aftermarket barrel makers can't keep up with the demand for 40 to 9mm conversion barrels. I waited a couple of months to get one for a 27.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Nephrology]

...except that .40s really aren't selling anywhere near as well as nines.

Early this year there was a big drought at the wholesaler level where it was next-to-impossible to get your hands on Glock 19s or 17s. You could get all the 22s or 23s you wanted, but the nines were gone.

At any good size gun show, check out the dealers who have bulk quantities of LE trade-ins. Market price on used 22/23s is anywhere from $50-$100 less than the equivalent 17/19 trade-ins...when you can find the latter. There's just a glut of LE trade-in .40s and .45s on the market right now. They're like Model 10s were back in the late '80s/early '90s.

Yeah, I'm angling to get a Gen 4 G22 sometime in the next year or so ish just because it plays nice with CO mag limits and is a reasonable AIWB pistol in the winter. LNIB trade-ins with fresh night sights are going before $360-375 before shipping/transfer. Lots of great SIG P229s in .40 for cheap too, seem to be everywhere.

Also lots of great .45s that would be more tempting if I had the money/motivation to shoot .45ACP. M&P45s and the few H&K USP45s that are popping up lately.

[Digiroc]

Heh. This is the first time I've heard of a 1990s-vintage Third Gen auto described like it was a Registered Magnum or something.

Ah, those far-off days of yesteryear...I remember them well. I was working for a S&W Stocking Dealer back when the Shorty Forty was still the New Hotness. It weren't all that long ago...

I'm glad you're getting into Smith & Wesson collecting! It can be an enjoyable and rewarding hobby!

Thank you for your kind words Tamara. My apologies to all if my enthusiasm for my Shorty Forty knew no bounds. I just got home from picking it up and cosmetically it exceeds my expectations. It is in perfect condition LNIB as far as I can tell. As soon as I got home I went into the backyard to see how it shoots. Grabing a mag out of my 411 I proceeded to run 10 rounds through it from 10 yards.

Not competition grade accuracy, but combat effective for an old man with shaky hands and poor eyesight.



A most welcome addition to my S&W 3rd gen collection.

Digiroc

[ST911]

A while back during a trying financial time I took some extra inventory to a cabela's in Dallas. One of the items was a 40 hi power. One of the comments made was "not another 40, we can move those" that lead to a conversation about nobody is buying 40 and 9mm are selling. I was a little surprised.

This is normal. Some are stuck with a significant quantity of 226, 229, M&P, and Glock .40s that they paid too much for and have to massively mark down to move. Expect low values on trade ins or outright encouragement to sell them elsewhere. They don't want them.

[Duelist]

A .40 belonging to someone else.

More and more a .40 is a solution to a problem that no longer exists. One could argue that at the time the .40 S&W hit the market it filled a niche between the .45 ACP & the 9 mm. With improvements in 9 mm ammo the .40 no longer offers any appreciable benefit. Unless you are a gamer and want to sling bullets weighing 180 grains for power factor purposes I just don't see it. In order of ascending hen's teeth rarity I see the .40 S&W, .357 Sig and the .45 GAP going the way of the Dodo.

Just because the 9mm has become more effective, or is now more commonly seen as being more effective in measurable tests, doesn't mean the .40 has become somehow less effective. Yes, more recoil in equivalent loads. Yes, fewer rounds per magazine in equivalent sized pistols. But that's always been true. Doesn't mean the bullets suddenly became bunny farts just because another round is now percieved as the wave of the future.

I've owned 2 .40 S&W pistols. Don't own any now, but I wouldn't turn down the right one. Shot a bunch. The most accurate was an STI - I think it's a Trojan. Haven't shot enough current production pistols enough rounds to have an opinion on durability, but I had a Star Firestar that started self destructing after a couple of years of ownership. I was in college for most of that time, so it couldn't have been terribly many rounds - couldn't afford to shoot more than a box or two per month. Probably shot a box of .22 through my Ruger for every round of .40 I shot. Least accurate .40 I remember shooting was a full-size 3rd Gen S&W. It so unimpressed me that I never considered buying a new 3rd Gen in the very brief time they were still in production and I had a job that paid enough I could have afforded one. Had a SD40 that didn't suck. At least, it was well made and everything about it worked. Bought it for short money to help a guy out, flipped it for a $50 profit a couple weeks later. Couple of months after that, I was kicking myself - the only ammo regularly on the shelf was .40 for over a year. Ah, well.

[Duelist]

Can't complain about that Shorty, Digiroc.

[LockedBreech]

Bud's STILL has unissued Detroit PD M&P40s and they have for months and months now. .40 really is in a slowdown. I bought one and have been so happy with it I almost bought a second one just because they have fresh trijicon sights and 3 mags and are literally brand new. It's a steal on maybe the best-designed .40 on the market.

Of course, if you're not interested in having .40 in your collection at all, it'd be a bad deal for $100.

[Tamara]

I need to get a .40 barrel for my G32 to make it the perfect "Ammo Panic" gun...