The Forty Comes of Age

by
posted on November 4, 2014
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
sw40.jpg

I well remember Smith & Wesson’s new product press conference at a Las Vegas SHOT Show conference room. They announced the introduction of a brand-new automatic pistol cartridge—the .40 S&W—and the third generation gun to go with it. That was 1990 and nothing has been quite the same since. Before the introduction, the firearms press was awash with stories of policemen going down in a blaze of glory and a pile of brass from their ineffectual 9 mm pistols. Presumably, policemen in general were dying for a .45 pistol the size and weight of those vintage 9 mms. It is interesting to look at this round’s performance at the quarter century mark, as well as its impact on small arms in general.

I might be missing something, but you just don’t seem to hear much about the .40 S&W being a poor fight-stopper. If the .40 has silenced that criticism, it has done its job. Technology in firearms and ammunition has improved to the point where relatively few police officers are undergunned in handgun fights with criminals. Skillfully used, most police service handguns are up to the job. That includes the steadily popular 9 mms, which benefit most of all from improved ammunition. The .40 S&W is a pivotal cartridge and continues to be the most effective pistol cartridge in wide use, particularly when all its characteristics are concerned.

Latest

Hearing Healthy
Hearing Healthy

Summer Suppressor Deals On Now

Whether it is a BOGO deal from SIG or free tax stamps from Guns.com and Silencer Central, there's plenty of hearing-safe savings to be had this summer.

Rifleman Report: Defending Freedom For 250 Years

"Anyone who claims not to understand the plain and simple intent of the Second Amendment—especially if that person happens to be a constitutional law professor, Supreme Court justice, congressman, senator or president—is likely hiding nefarious intent: to strip individual liberty from American citizens for the express purpose of making them susceptible to a tyrannical government."

Book Review: 2025 Traveler’s Guide To The Firearms Laws Of The Fifty States

Newly updated for 2025, the 29th edition of the Traveler’s Guide To The Firearm Laws Of The Fifty States is packed with all the need-to-know information for cross-country trekkers seeking to bring their arms along with them and remain legal in all localities.

Springfield Kuna: A PDW For The Masses

Small, yet fierce, the namesake of Springfield Armory’s latest large-format pistol is a revered forest dweller in the land of its Croatian manufacturing partner, HS Produkt. The new Kuna is poised to be just as welcome in America.

The Armed Citizen® June 30, 2025

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

Book Review: Clockwork Basilisk: The Early Revolvers Of Elisha Collier & Artemas Wheeler

The result of a decade of research, Clockwork Basilisk is a comprehensive, two-volume history of the rare revolvers that preceded the development of the well-known Colt guns of the 1830s.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.