Is .40 cal the most common pistol round in the US?

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Is .40 cal the most common pistol round in the US? (Page 1 of 2)

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:43:34 PM EDT

Seems like it has surpassed 9mm.

Back in the day .38 was very common, then 9mm took over and now it seems like everyone has a 40

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:44:14 PM EDT

[#1]

.22lr is still king.

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:45:03 PM EDT

[#2]

Seems like ?
Around here 9mm and .45 are always sold out and .40 sits on the shelves.

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:45:22 PM EDT

[#3]

Around here 9mm ammo sells more than any pistol cal.

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:46:24 PM EDT

[#4]

Not even close.

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:46:50 PM EDT

[#5]

9MM is

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:46:53 PM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
Seems like ?
Around here 9mm and .45 are always sold out and .40 sits on the shelves.

Exactly like that here.

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:46:56 PM EDT

[#7]

Maybe if you factor in LEO's. Around here at least, every agency uses .40

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:47:01 PM EDT

[#8]

nope

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:47:13 PM EDT

[#9]

No.

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:47:43 PM EDT

[#10]

.22

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:47:52 PM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
Seems like ?
Around here 9mm and .45 are always sold out and .40 sits on the shelves.

Truth...Even at the hight of the "panic" there was always .40 to be had at Wally World.

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:47:55 PM EDT

[#12]

No way. .22lr probably followed by 9mm, .45acp and .38 Special.

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:49:45 PM EDT

[#13]

no.

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:50:24 PM EDT

[#14]

fail

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:50:56 PM EDT

[#15]

40 S&W is the most popular caliber in my SuperTuck today. The USP Variety.

Who knows, maybe 45 AUTO tomorow, maybe 9mm. Hell, maybe 38 SP just for ole times sake.

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:53:19 PM EDT

[#16]

It is very hard to find .40 ammo in stock anywhere around here.

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:53:49 PM EDT

[#17]

At one time I had nine .40 caliber pistols. Now I have none.

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:54:49 PM EDT

[#18]

For cops it is.

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:57:52 PM EDT

[#19]

Not around here. It's 9mm all the way in a centerfire round. You can't GIVE a .40 Glock away for love or money around here.....I buy them cheap and put 9 mm conversion barrels in them!

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:58:54 PM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
Not even close.

Posted: 11/20/2012 12:59:46 PM EDT

[#21]

In my experience, if you put two identical guns in front of someone, one in 9 and one in 40, they tend to shoot better with the 9.

Except for one semi-special run Beretta that I haven't found just the right collector for, I don't own anything in .40 anymore.

Posted: 11/20/2012 1:00:43 PM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
Seems like ?
Around here 9mm and .45 are always sold out and .40 sits on the shelves.

+1

I kept my .40 BHP simply because the round seems to be the last to run out at the stores.

Posted: 11/20/2012 1:01:03 PM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
Seems like it has surpassed 9mm.

Back in the day .38 was very common, then 9mm took over and now it seems like everyone has a 40

Nope.

9mm rules. With current technology a good 9mm jhp rivals .45 acp leaving the .40 short and weak behind.

If the .40 had stayed 10 mm this would be an entirely different discussion.

Either shoot a quality 9mm or just move to .45acp, no reason to screw with the anemic .40 cal. it's a bastard caliber.

Posted: 11/20/2012 1:01:23 PM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Seems like ?
Around here 9mm and .45 are always sold out and .40 sits on the shelves.

Truth...Even at the hight of the "panic" there was always .40 to be had at Wally World.

This is why I bought a .40

Posted: 11/20/2012 1:03:19 PM EDT

[#25]

It's odd, but I shoot the best with my G23 gen3 than I do my G19 gen 2 or my g21 gen 2. I shoot the others fine but my double-tap accuracy with the g23 is far better than with the G19. No clue why.

As for popularity : 22>9mm>38>40>45

Posted: 11/20/2012 1:06:46 PM EDT

[#26]

I'd be willing to bet that .22 and 9mm are ahead of .40 by a large margin.

.45 and .38 Special probably are too.

Posted: 11/20/2012 1:08:35 PM EDT

[#27]

A lot of .40 is used by LEO.

.22lr is probably the most wide spread followed by 9mm and .45 and .38

Posted: 11/20/2012 1:12:11 PM EDT

[#28]

Christ no. It's getting to be in the same league with the .45 GAP and the .41 mag.

I see from patrolling the For Sale Boards, the Fowtay is just not very popular these days. 9mm and .45 sell much quicker.

Posted: 11/20/2012 1:32:57 PM EDT

[#29]

The .40 Short & Weak is not nearly as popular as it was back in its fad days. Shooters have realized that there is little point to the round and it has ended up being used mostly by two distinct groups. Indecisive folks who can't make up their minds between the two primary service pistol cartridges, 9mm Parabellum & .45 ACP, and law enforcement administrators (desk-driving bureaucrats) who would rather spend money on gear than training. Oh, and Glock shooters who enjoy the thrill of shooting a hand grenade..

Everyone else has pretty much realized that 9mm works pretty well, just as it has been doing since 1902, and being able to launch a lot of rounds downrange without reloading is pretty darn handy. And for those that want to go bigger, the .45 ACP has built a justifiable reputation at putting bad guys down for almost as long as the 9x19. Between the two cartridges they have 218 years of service behind them, compared to less than 25 for the .40 caliber.

Posted: 11/20/2012 1:38:21 PM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:
For cops it is.

And for USPSA Limited class.

Posted: 11/20/2012 1:41:27 PM EDT

[#31]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Seems like it has surpassed 9mm.

Back in the day .38 was very common, then 9mm took over and now it seems like everyone has a 40

Nope.

9mm rules. With current technology a good 9mm jhp rivals .45 acp leaving the .40 short and weak behind.

If the .40 had stayed 10 mm this would be an entirely different discussion.

Either shoot a quality 9mm or just move to .45acp, no reason to screw with the anemic .40 cal. it's a bastard caliber.

It's good for "making major" in some shooting games, especially in production or limited class.

I shot a G35 the other day, and it was one of the nicest-shooting off-the-shelf guns I've used that retails under $600. Definitely an advantage over a standard service pistol with regard to use in competition.

I still don't like .40, but it has its uses I suppose.

Posted: 11/20/2012 1:48:53 PM EDT

[#32]

Quoted:

Quoted:
For cops it is.

And for USPSA Limited class.

LOL, that's why I got into it.

Ditched it when I decided that I just liked the 9mm BHP too much.

Posted: 11/20/2012 1:50:16 PM EDT

[#33]

9mm is.

Posted: 11/20/2012 1:51:25 PM EDT

[#34]

.40 is maybe #4 or #5.

Posted: 11/20/2012 1:53:11 PM EDT

[#35]

Quoted:

9mm is.

This. Among cops- yes .40 is extremely common.

At the range and amongst gun owners I know? I see much more 9mm and .45 than .40

Posted: 11/20/2012 1:53:21 PM EDT

[#36]

Quoted:
Seems like ?
Around here 9mm and .45 are always sold out and .40 sits on the shelves.

My FFL notices that he sells a lot of .40's but not a lot of .40 ammo. Mainly 9mm, .223, and .45ACP.

People buy the guns but don't shoot them as often.

I have a couple of .40's, a Sig 229 and a HK USP C, but I almost never shoot them, and when I do I usually put the .357Sig barrel in the 229 and shoot that.

Posted: 11/20/2012 1:54:57 PM EDT

[#37]

.22 and 9mm.

Posted: 11/20/2012 1:55:39 PM EDT

[#38]

Quoted:

Quoted:
For cops it is.

And for USPSA Limited class.

True, but they mainly reload their own instead of buying commercial ammo.

Posted: 11/20/2012 1:57:23 PM EDT

[#39]

It's a gimmick caliber like 10 mm .

Posted: 11/20/2012 2:01:10 PM EDT

[#40]

Quoted:

Quoted:
For cops it is.

And for USPSA Limited class.

True, but they mainly reload their own instead of buying commercial ammo.

Only about for 30-40% of the shooters who use STI/SVI & Para's(1911) they load long. The rest shoot factory lenght ammo.

You might be thinking Open class where 99.999% reload.

Posted: 11/20/2012 2:12:51 PM EDT

[#41]

Quoted:
It's a gimmick caliber like 10 mm .

In my opinion (which ain't worth shit) 10mm started out with the best of intentions. And it was to be brought out with a pistol that actually would have been a "game changa" in service pistols. There were shenaniganz. If it (the pistol) would have taken off as it was intended, I'd probably be carrying one in 10mm today. It is an impressive round.
As it stands, I have 9mms, .45s, and .357s.
Neither 10mm or the girl cop cartridge, 40s&w, fill a niche for me.

Posted: 11/20/2012 2:21:55 PM EDT

[#42]

I'll go with 9mm as being the most popular!

Posted: 11/20/2012 2:31:24 PM EDT

[#43]

I tend to think that if you could dig every pistol out of all the homes in the USA to take inventory that .38 would be the most owned caliber of all.

The guns been around for generations, long enough for guns bought new when the caliber was the new hotness, to have been passed to from buyer, to son, to grandson, to great grandson. The .38 has had the longest run as the standard police firearm fo decades and has been in US military inventory for most of its lifetime as well.

Based on its law enforcement and military careers it's likely many, many of those guns were sold to police wanna-be's, to military shooters and to cops as backup guns. And I have no doubt that those guns are still out in the publics' hands. Plus until the acceptance of the 9mm by the American public the .38 was the typical "cheap handgun" well into the 1980s.

Only when the magnum craze took off with Dirty Harry did the majority of the US gunbuying public even realize something besides the .38 and maybe the .45ACP even existed.

What's the most common caliber in the US? I'd bet big it's the .38.

Posted: 11/20/2012 3:13:54 PM EDT

[#44]

9mm

.45

.40

Posted: 11/20/2012 3:33:50 PM EDT

[#45]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Seems like ?
Around here 9mm and .45 are always sold out and .40 sits on the shelves.

Truth...Even at the hight of the "panic" there was always .40 to be had at Wally World.

Which is a good reason to have something in .40 S&W!

Posted: 11/20/2012 3:36:39 PM EDT

[#46]

Quoted:
No way. .22lr probably followed by 9mm, .45acp and .38 Special.

this

Posted: 11/20/2012 3:38:21 PM EDT

[#47]

Always .40 available, not so with 9mm and .45. As stated above, .40 is a gimmick round.

Posted: 11/20/2012 3:40:48 PM EDT

[#48]

Maybe just the shooters are buying up all the 9 and .45. There is always .40 on the shelves around here.

9mm is still king I'd say.

Posted: 11/20/2012 3:42:31 PM EDT

[#49]

Quoted:
Seems like it has surpassed 9mm.

Back in the day .38 was very common, then 9mm took over and now it seems like everyone has a 40

Don't own any of that other stuff. .45 and .44 in my gun safe.

Posted: 11/20/2012 3:43:33 PM EDT

[#50]

Most common police issues handgun caliber. But probably not the biggest seller overall.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Is .40 cal the most common pistol round in the US? (Page 1 of 2)

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