40S&W making a comeback

[jnc36rcpd]

My former agency was pretty happy with the .40 226's until we're weren't. We suddenly experienced multiple cracks in the frames beneath the grips which were discovered during annual armorer inspection and detail cleaning. There did not seem to be any correlation with the number of rounds fired. I'm not sure if the age of the weapons was actually checked. SigSauer never gave us an actual answer regarding the cause though I felt their customer service was great.

Unfortunately, I can't offer a comparison to the 229. I had a personally owned 229 and there may have been other off-duty 229's, but I doubt it. We did have a .40 239 with a cracked frame, but I have no idea on the age of the weapon (though, love them as I do, I doubt any of our 239 shooters were repeat students at ITTS or Gunsite).

[fatdog]

.... But I'm buying it to be a multi-caliber project for fun. .

Data point, sample of one, but I bought the IEK Firedragon 9mm and .357 Sig barrels for my USP40, both work just fine, they both feed every type of JHP ammo I tried. I have observed that the accuracy of the 9mm is very good. I am not going to carry either conversion barrel down the street as an EDC but nice to have for practice and making it a mulitcal gun.

I got a factory .357 barrel for my P229, it is quite accurate, and also got the IEK Firedragon 9mm barrel for it. Same results for the IEK barrel, accurate, no malfunctions with the JHP stuff I shot testing or all the practice ammo since.

Since that all worked, I got and IEK Firedragon 9mm barrel for the USP/c 40, and already had the factory .357 barrel for that.

In all three cases I use the factory 9mm magazines for the 9mm conversions and I use the factory 9mm spring in the P229 (use the same springs for 9 & 40/357 in the USP's).

When I travel out of state with one of those guns, I carry a little pouch that has both spare barrels and a pair of magazines in the other caliber plus the spring in the case of the P229. Theory being that if I am far from home and all I can find is one of those calibers for resupply, I can run it.

Being able to practice 9mm is a great side benefit. End of the day my "carry down the street "first choice for those .40 guns will always be the native calibers.

[JRB]

That's the kind of deal I'm looking for on a USP40 full-size. Wow!

It was a buy-it-now on Gunbroker! I didn't even have to bother bidding!
USP40's are priced one of two ways on GB; Never-gonna-sell NOS guns with crazy high prices, or PD/used USP40's from pawn shops, etc that gave $250ish credit and want a fast sale around $400ish. Just keep on top of the guns listed and I'm sure you'll see one worth buying. There was another one I almost got already set up as a match hybrid LEM with two mags with the nicer newer baseplates for $455-ish buy-it-now IIRC. Just a hell of a lot of pistol for the money, no doubt about it.

Data point, sample of one, but I bought the IEK Firedragon 9mm and .357 Sig barrels for my USP40, both work just fine, they both feed every type of JHP ammo I tried. I have observed that the accuracy of the 9mm is very good. I am not going to carry either conversion barrel down the street as an EDC but nice to have for practice and making it a mulitcal gun.

I got a factory .357 barrel for my P229, it is quite accurate, and also got the IEK Firedragon 9mm barrel for it. Same results for the IEK barrel, accurate, no malfunctions with the JHP stuff I shot testing or all the practice ammo since.

Since that all worked, I got and IEK Firedragon 9mm barrel for the USP/c 40, and already had the factory .357 barrel for that.

In all three cases I use the factory 9mm magazines for the 9mm conversions and I use the factory 9mm spring in the P229 (use the same springs for 9 & 40/357 in the USP's).

When I travel out of state with one of those guns, I carry a little pouch that has both spare barrels and a pair of magazines in the other caliber plus the spring in the case of the P229. Theory being that if I am far from home and all I can find is one of those calibers for resupply, I can run it.

Being able to practice 9mm is a great side benefit. End of the day my "carry down the street "first choice for those .40 guns will always be the native calibers.

Dude, this is great info! Thanks!
I'm planning on a 10mm conversion with an enlarged ejection port, modded HK45 mags, and probably a milled slide for an RMR plus a Match V3 trigger setup. The EFK 9mm conversion barrel as well as the .357 SIG barrels are also of interest to me, just from a perspective of how cool it'd be to build a 'shoot all the flavors' range gun. That and I'm an old school HK fanatic and the dream of a 10mm USP is just too freaking sexy to deny.
If it all works great, I'll likely buy a super-beater ugly USP40 just to have another 'chassis' to run with the same ensemble of parts. I figure it'd be a perfect camping/backup gun when my USP45 full of supers isn't needed.

[beenalongtime]

We have had the best results with 180 grain. Usually HST.

If you add time pressure you Will likely find better results with the nine.

Didn't know there was a 9mm 180 grain, as that is what has always shot accurately for me in the .40. That I am trying to find the 9mm ammo that will shot as well.

[TicTacticalTimmy]

Didn't know there was a 9mm 180 grain, as that is what has always shot accurately for me in the .40. That I am trying to find the 9mm ammo that will shot as well.

https://seismicammo.com/shop/185gr-9...nd-bonus-pack/

[Borderland]

Haven't seen any cases in the brass bucket where I shoot. Mostly 9 mm and some 45 acp occasionally.

When it starts showing up in the bucket I'll know it's on it's way back.

I once knew a guy that bought a .40 because he had unlimited access to LE brass and that was his only reason for a 40.

I bought a .223/5.56 for the same reason, free brass. Isn't better, just too cheap to buy brass.

[willie]

One area of attack for the anti 2A crowd will be lethality of handgun ammo, and they will accomplish this goal state by state. We know that N.J. has been an example for a few years. That federal legislation might support this madness is not far fetched. After hollow point handgun ammo becomes illegal, and civilians are restricted to fmj ammo, and after magazine capacity is restricted, we can expect to see re-emergence of the 40 and 45 caliber handguns. So, if you are a young man or woman, keep what you have. You will need it eventually.

[HCM]

Didn't know there was a 9mm 180 grain, as that is what has always shot accurately for me in the .40. That I am trying to find the 9mm ammo that will shot as well.

I was referring to .40 cal. The 147 grain would be the equivalent 9mm load.

There are noticeable differences in time performance and “shootability” between various .40 cal loads. Shooting 135 or hot 155 vs 180 grain is similar to shooting .357 mag vs .38 spl out of the same gun.

With 9mm I have not experienced or observed any real difference between various 9mm bulletin weights or between standard and +p loads.

[HCM]

One area of attack for the anti 2A crowd will be lethality of handgun ammo, and they will accomplish this goal state by state. We know that N.J. has been an example for a few years. That federal legislation might support this madness is not far fetched. After hollow point handgun ammo becomes illegal, and civilians are restricted to fmj ammo, and after magazine capacity is restricted, we can expect to see re-emergence of the 40 and 45 caliber handguns. So, if you are a young man or woman, keep what you have. You will need it eventually.

NJ hollowpoint ban is decades old and is not supported by facts. The public safety aspect of hollowpoints not exiting the intended target out weigh that argument, this is why every significant LE Agency in the country, even in NJ and the notoriously liberal NYC issues hollow point ammunition. The better terminal ballistics are secondary but they also contribute to public safety because the few shots needed to stop a threat, the less chance of a miss since every round fired on the street actually hits something.

[willie]

The facts support very little of the anti-2A legislation. Look at anti gun sentiment that's spreading. Consider demographics and don't overlook large urban populations(Seattle is an example)whose progressive voting habits dictate policy to the rest of the state. Much maligned fuds who are knee jerk gun rights supporters are dying out. Fewer persons are buying hunting licenses so this is another segment that will have reduced influence. View the enormous list of Democratic financial supporters, reflect on their billions, reflect on their influence, and then speculate on how this force will impact firearms policy. Last, calculate the number of airheads and snow flakes.