Yes it’s another Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0…this one is in .40 S&W, though. Cue requisite “short and weak” comments. Here’s the deal, though: .40 S&W still has a place in the self-defense world. Sure, shooting 9mm is cheaper and recoil is a bit less.

But have you ever considered perhaps the edge .40 S&W gives you is worth it? Just take a minute and consider the possibilities.

What if…what if .40 S&W is A Good Thing?

 

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44 COMMENTS

  1. VERY hard to do better for a true “pocket gun” than a tiny (CM/PM/etc.) Kahr .40 S&W. Tiny, reliable, powerful… Doesn’t get any better for the size/weight/power!

    • Agreed! I also carry the pocket Kahr PM 40. I also care an additional 7 round mag.
      The best pocket gun on the market.

    • I gave up on .40 S&W years ago. I now carry my Glock 26 with a drop-in 6.5mm Creedmoor barrel. Now that’s true pocket power and puts the .40 to shame! 😂

        • That said, the solids are the perfect answer to any “Go ahead and try; I’m behind nine firewalls!” situation.

        • You wimps… how about a 3D-printed plastic single shot in .50 BMG? You only need to carry a couple of those, because 750 grain ball is the definition of self-defense ammo!

          Come to think of it, carrying more than one might be redundant; it’s probably just as dangerous to the shooter as it is to the target…

          (Well aware that I’m late to the party here, but gimme a break – I’m a couple days behind in reading.)

        • Oh, and recoil? Barely noticeable.

          (You won’t notice the recoil because you’ll have much bigger problems to worry about, once that thing goes off near you!)

  2. Same dump as January 17. We’ve now seen January 15 and 16 repeated in order, a new dump and now January 17.

    Fuck it. I’m going to build a bunch of loadouts ranging from reasonable to completely off the wall and post them just so I don’t have to keep seeing the same goddamn content again and again and again.

      • My annoyance is due to the fact that the whole point is that these are supposed to be a conversation starter for readers and they used to be a neat way to see different things that people (may or may not really) carry. They fail at both when it’s the same post again and again.

        There’s a place for recycling content as new reasons to discuss it come up or when it’s a good topic that hasn’t been brought up recently but doing it monthly with the only difference being a change in the question, one that was usually discussed in the previous postings comment section, is just a waste.

        • Looks like it started a conversation to me. Only so much stuff out there. You’re going to see it repeated. Besides, anytime someone posts anything different, or unusual (read expensive) they’re accused of being an elitest. Someone, anyone, please make up my mind!

    • As the little skinny guy checking the oil in the bottom of the Valdez said on Water World, when the flare came down.” “Oh thank God” ,,,, good idea Strych

  3. Let’s see. Decent pistol in a good caliber. Spare mag. Looks like decent holster and mag pouch. Light. Spyderco. Couple of other odds and ends. Guy looks to be 10-8. Don’t understand the whole question about cost of .40 vs 9mm. This is about defending your life. Who give a shit about how much the ammo costs?

    • You can practice more with the less expensive caliber, therefore improving your ability to defend your life. That seems pretty straight forward to me.

      • A few cents a box for factory ammo. You are kidding right? Buy the $5.00 special at the drive through. There I just saved your money. Problem solved.

        • 9mm practice ammo locally as low as $9 for 50, 40 is $12 per 50, a 33% increase. That means you can shoot about 1300 rounds of 9mm per 1000 rounds of 40. If you don’t consider that a meaningful increase then you should look into a remedial math class.

        • Drew, you’re right. $3.00 a box would send me to the poor house. And my life is certainly not worth that. For the record I have three 9mms that I can think of off the top of my head. Around 1000 rds put away for them. One .40. Around 250 rds put away for it. The .40 lies on my my night stand.

        • Oh, I learned to multiply and divide 50 years ago. Algebra, geometry and calculus not long after, but thanks for the remedial math lesson. I would have almost had to get a pencil and pad to have figured that one out.

        • This is a damn silly argument.

          Arguing over 3.00 a box??

          I’d say if this is a deal breaker than you should get a .22, or find a better paying job.

          I shoot 9mm because I like the guns better than I do the guns that I can get in .40. I find the recoil of a 9mm to be less annoying than the recoil of a .40.

          The cost difference is meaningless.

        • Kyle I agree arguing over $3.00 is silly, but I enjoy the debate. Very little worth watching on television and I’m between books at the moment. However, I must point out, that almost anything available in 9mm is available in .40. Recoil? I can’t tell the difference. Really. I’ve owned Kahr Arms in both. If there was a difference in recoil neither I nor the timer could tell.

        • Roll your own….guns in 40 are cheap and so are the components….since everyone went on the 9mm kick.

          Problem solved.

        • Its a matter of scale. You people say 3 dollars a box doesn’t matter, but when you crunch the numbers out a person can shoot over 6500 rounds of 9mm for the cost of 5000 rounds of 40. Anyone who shoots 1500 more rounds per year will be more proficient.

          You raised the question of why someone would care about ammo cost, I answered it. I don’t care what you carry, that’s fine, whatever. The cost of ammo is a determining factor for a lot of people, and everyone can shoot more with a less expensive caliber. As for handloading, I do that too, but you are aware that only about 2% of gun owners load their own ammo, right? It isn’t relevant to most people, so it isn’t particularly relevant to this conversation. Obviously handloading mitigates ammo cost, but the overwhelming majority of people will never do it.

      • I’m so tier6 Operator Operating Opossumly I don’t need no practice, it just happens. I once shot up my buddies when I fell in the ditch drunk after blowing up a tractor, for laughing at me, all with mud in my eyes and the cylinder stuck on my fully semi automatic .38 long colt 1911A1…. When your bad your bad.

    • Exactly! 40 is not that expensive from freedom munitions or LAX Ammo.
      Or just invest in a Dillon 650. I load about 1000 every two weeks.

      • Got a Dillon 550B myself. Using Unique and hardcast my cost per round is down to .10 per round. That is a lot of trigger time.

  4. It’s a good thing if you have it ready to use when you encounter Mr. Tweaker on the street. But then so is 9mm, .45, .38/.357, .380, .32…….

  5. I’d leave my pocket dump except I lost all my guns when my friend’s boat hit a wave.

    Nothing wrong with a .40 at all. I’d give one to my father in law but not my dad. It shoots fine but my dad is a math teacher. And he’s cheap. My father in law is just happy he can have a handgun in the house because my wife won’t let her mom give it back.

    If my dad wasn’t a cheap math teacher I wouldn’t carry a 9 (if I had a gun which I obviously don’t). I’d carry a 357 sig in the smallest gun possible.

    And buy a Dillon.

  7. I like the .45 more but I standardize in 9mm. Why? Simple family is full of recoil sensitive people that are more adapt at using a 9. In my opinion I would rather have 1 caliber for 5 people that is interchangeable then 2-3 calibers. Don’t get me wrong I own a .40 as well and it’s a hoot to shoot but for EDC it’s the 9 for me.

  11. Caliber wars are stupid. If you’re carrying anything over .32acp you’re probably good. Personally I like .40 carried for years, switched recently to 9mm because my hand strength isn’t what it used to be and follow up shots with the 9mm are easier. It’s much more important that you’re carrying a reliable handgun that fits your hand and that you can shoot well and that is a size, shape and weight that you will carry it than the caliber.

  13. Firearms calibers go in and out of fashion just like hemline and neckline heights.

    The most meticulously documented, caliber specific statistics on firearms used in homicides can be found in the FBI’s annual publication LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS KILLED AND ASSAULTED. Anyone with a set dating back to 1970 (myself) knows that for many years the weapons of choice for cop killers were the .38 caliber revolver, 12 gauge shotgun and the .30 caliber M-1 carbine. Back in the 1980s, cop killers suddenly became partial to 9mm pistols and no doubt influenced by the TV show THE A TEAM, the .223 caliber, Ruger Mini 14. After President Bill Clinton’s (of “it really wasn’t drug abuse because I didn’t inhale” and “it really wasn’t adultery because Monica didn’t swallow” fame) false statements that the Uzi and the AK-47 were the weapon of choice for cop killers persuaded Congress to pass the Clinton gun ban, cop killers suddenly began using semiautomatic rifles chambered in the 7.62 x 39 mm cartridge. Once the Clinton gun ban was repealed, cop killers suddenly discovered the AR-15 chambered in the 5.56mm cartridge.

    It appears that in recent years, cop killers are beginning to revert from pistols chambered in .40 S&W to the 9mm.

  14. The only reason that a 40 Smith & Wesson caliber exists is to confuse 9 mm owners and 45 ACP owners when they are picking up spent brass at the gun range.

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