Second mainstream caliber choice 40 vs 45

[pastaslinger]

Find the gun you like and fits your hand

If a Glock 41 is too big for your hands then try a Glock 35, by the same token this applies to other .45s and .40s

[John Hearne]

The P220 shoots noticeably better than the .40 226. Performance wise on drills, I do better with the .45 vs .40. Now some might think my results on drills are splitting hairs, but across the board the results consistently favor the .45 over the .40.

Have you ever run the P220ST or any P220 with a stainless frame. I find the extra 12 ounces is very noticeable for the drills I care about.

[Surf]

Have you ever run the P220ST or any P220 with a stainless frame. I find the extra 12 ounces is very noticeable for the drills I care about.

Hey John, the 220 Stainless Elite is the primary P220 that I really like to run. The weapon shoots very well and soaks up recoil. This is a really nice pistol to shoot.

[LSP552]

You guys are making me want a stainless P220....because reasons. I have a pretty fair amount of time and rounds on regular P220s as an both an issue and personally owned duty gun. I went back to the 226 in 9mm because I ran and shot them noticeably better.

But I've been pondering picking up another 220 just because.....might have to be a stainless now.

For the original question, .45 over .40 all day long.

[DocSabo40]

I find .45 much more pleasurable to reload than .40, so that's a little thought.

What make it more enjoyable? With my Dillon 550 and dies, .45ACP is the only caliber with which I consistently get crushed case mouths. Like, 1 or 2 out of 100. Of course, I haven't loaded .45 since I started lubing cases, so that may be the issue.

[Dagga Boy]

There is another caliber for auto's other than 9mm or .45 ACP?....learn something new on the internet everyday.

[Hi-Point Aficionado]

The Short & Weak is already my primary caliber. Were I to switch to another, it would likely be 357 Sig. My Dillon could crank them out cheap with the same powder I use for .40, I like the flat trajectory, and my USPc/Glocks are a mere barrel change away. Hell, already have a G32 barrel marked and in the ammo cabinet on a box of Gold Dots with a couple paint marked mags pre-loaded. I do still need to get a toolhead and dies for the press, however.

Picking either 9mm or 45 ACP would be a fiddlier consideration. I like 45 ACP being low pressure and shoot a Glock 30 comfortably with no real growing pains. I'd also fit and enjoy a USP compact more in 45 ACP than 9mm. But don't want to tool up to load the fatty and don't want to pay the premium on powder consumption and bullet cost. The cartridge would involve new guns, a fresh set of dies/toolhead/shellplate/index pins/primer tube, large pistol primers (refuse to accept the existence of SPP brass), and stocking yet another projectile. So a switch to 9x19mm would be more likely. There are also fewer guns around that interest me in this caliber than nine mil.

The Europellet could use the same bullets as 357 Sig, be cheaper to load, and I already have a toolhead set up for the Dillon. I dislike nine millimeter Glocks and would pick up a PX4 compact, PX4 subcompact with the hook ground of the magazine baseplate, 92FS/D/G/compact/whatever, VP9, or M&P compact. I'd even consider a decocker CZ.

E: FWIW, 40 S&W loads more smoothly for me than 9x19mm. Actually, so does 380 ACP.

[John Hearne]

You guys are making me want a stainless P220....because reasons. ... But I've been pondering picking up another 220 just because.....might have to be a stainless now.

Since Sig now sells the P220ST with an external extractor there isn't much reason not to. Also, they are on the IOP list - what more do you want.

As a side story, I shot Handgun 2 with my P220ST that had been worked over by Teddy Jacobson. The trigger wasn't light but it was SMOOOOOOTH. Over half the class was DOE who shot conventional P220s for the whole class. When we did the battlefield pickup drill, NONE of them believed that my pistol was in fact a P220.

[Lost River]

What would be your ACP load from the stubby 30S for large critters? I understand the .45 gets "ate up" with velocity loss in sub 4" barrels worse than higher intensity 9mm/.40. I could be mistaken.

A 250-260 grain hard cast flat point pushed a bit on the warm side. If life ever slows down, and I can get one of the Dillons switched to .45 ACP, I will load a batch up, and test for reliability in the short gun.

I have seriously given some consideration to doing a comped, compact extended magwell, laser sighted G30S.

[JonInWA]

There are some excellent points on this thread. Personally, I'm all over the board (or, conversely, I'm laser-focussed on 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP.....)

Historically, I shoot 9mm best, followed by .40, and then .45 ACP platforms. The major difference between the 9/40 and .45 is in the platform, rather than in the cartridge. Conversely, the reason I shoot 9mm better than .40 IS in the cartridge.

For wilderness use, I also think there's much to be said for a .45 ACP Glock; my preference being my Gen 3 G21, carried in a tanker or tactical thigh holster. My wilderness cartridge currently is Buffalo Bore's 230 gr hollowpoint, suitable for black bear/mountain lion/2-legged critters in my Pacific NW area. However, I'd probably also be decently served with my 9mm Glock G34 with Winchester Ranger 127 gr +P+, or with any of my .40 platforms, likely with Federal HST 180 gr.

Otherwise, for urban use, my preference (when choosing between .40 and .45) tends to be .40/.40 platforms, primarily my Gen4 Glock G22 ad HK VP40. The guns are excellent, and I handle them reasonably decently, finding that I index to them better than I do with most .45 ACP platforms.

I don't reload, but in my area, I can get both Federal Champion Aluminum Case in either .40 or .45 from Walmart for $14-$15 for a box of 50, making price a wash between the two cartridges, well covering me for both practice and match use (and my VP40 as had zero issues in handling the aluminum cases).

So my answer to the OP and the thread question would be to try out .40 and .45 platforms, and go with whichever between the two you index with and shoot the best/most effectively, as I think the key selection/decision-point between the 2 cartridges is more platform-driven than cartridge-driven.

Best, Jon