40S&W... The love... The hate...

[Brick85]

Well its 380 in amidst the 9mm that causes a few whoops on the square deal b and the 9 goes into 40 which goes into 45 , best was a 9mm got into 45acp went through the decapping where it stuck on decapper was next couple of cases taking more then usual leverage to notice it , I like 40 easier loading then 9mm and bullets more to my fingers liking then the 9mm just seems to load with less issues and smoother motions of the press .

You know it's funny, my pet peeve loading 9mm as I have been doing lately is that it doesn't sit high enough in the loading trays to grab with my fingers. I use a single stage so I am grabbing each casing multiple times. Only really becomes insurmountable when I am charging the cases and then want to seat a head onto them. Don't have this problem with .40!

[Brick85]

I think Lyman still sells "brass baggies", which are small plastic net baggies closed with a twist tie. Fill a with a box of 9mm and dump in a tumbler full of .45ACP.

How about the bags onions come in?

[dverna]

I am encouraged that 9mm is replacing the .40 for LEO's. Means there will be more trade-in guns and the .40 is at least "adequate" when compared to the 9mm....LOL

Like Jon said, cheap or free brass is a bonus.

I try to pre-sort brass before cleaning. A few get by.

[bakerjw]

My dentist, who also holds a type 7 FFL, hates 380. I mentioned that I was looking for some once fired brass and he gave me a bucket. He shoots a lot of FA and the occasional 380 getting mixed in throws his 1050 into a tizzy.

[MT Gianni]

I love the 40. I bought two medium flat rate boxes on two occasions that were full of brass run through a glock-buster die. Neither were more than $35 shipped. With two guns to shoot it through it works.
Onion sacks are your friend when it comes to tumblers.

[frkelly74]

I have to confess that I have not a single 40 S&W brass case on the property right now. I did use some a while back to make bullets for a 41 mag but casting is so much easier, and powder coat makes it unnecessary to use a jacketed bullet, My opinion. I had some but traded them off because I was afraid i would have to get a gun to use them in. As far as free brass goes, there is no caliber easier to get free brass in than 9mm, from my personal experience. If I stumbled into a 40 S&W that someone was eager to get rid of for a give away price that would be hard to resist, but then I would have to start all over with brass and molds and dies and data and I already have guns that I do not have time to shoot. Oh no! i just remembered that I have almost a rack of 50 assorted ,loaded ,found rounds in a box someplace.

[FLINTNFIRE]

You know it's funny, my pet peeve loading 9mm as I have been doing lately is that it doesn't sit high enough in the loading trays to grab with my fingers. I use a single stage so I am grabbing each casing multiple times. Only really becomes insurmountable when I am charging the cases and then want to seat a head onto them. Don't have this problem with .40!

Make your own trays out of wood , I bought a forstner drill bits in several sizes and with a drill press set depth mark where you want holes and drill , space as far apart as you like with more of the brass above good luck , I made them for doing large runs of 223 and 300 aac blackout .

[BigAlofPa.]

I did not know bersa made other caliber guns. I like my 380 a lot. So thanks for the posting about the 40 Baker. I was on their site looking at the offerings. Nice selection. I like the 40 too and the 40 magnum(10MM). 40 mag is a term i use to help folks who ask me about the 10mm round. I do the same for 38 super. 9mm mag lol.

[rockshooter]

A trick I learned from a posting here- to sort out .380 from 9mm after tumbling: get one of the plastic trays that .40 is packed in, and dump the 9mm/.380 into the tray- I use a handful at a time. The 9mm stand proud, the .380 are obviously shorter. The tray just makes them stand up and easy to see. Thanks to the original poster!
Loren

[Brick85]

Make your own trays out of wood , I bought a forstner drill bits in several sizes and with a drill press set depth mark where you want holes and drill , space as far apart as you like with more of the brass above good luck , I made them for doing large runs of 223 and 300 aac blackout .

I may wind up doing just that, although I have an RCBS tray I may be able to use which is a little shorter. Or I may be able to run one of the trays packaged ammo comes in (I have a garbage bag full of ones people threw out) through the table saw to shorten it.

A trick I learned from a posting here- to sort out .380 from 9mm after tumbling: get one of the plastic trays that .40 is packed in, and dump the 9mm/.380 into the tray- I use a handful at a time. The 9mm stand proud, the .380 are obviously shorter. The tray just makes them stand up and easy to see. Thanks to the original poster!
Loren

I like those plastic ammo trays for that. Brass drops in head down, and then I put another tray on top and invert it to sort out the less useable cases like the Federal NT and the military crimped primers. Also makes it easy to see those .380 as you mentioned.

[Lloyd Smale]

40s are my favorite self defense guns. Probably more today then ever because of the idiots who think the 9s are magically better because theres super bullets made for them. There to stupid to realize the same bullets are made in 40 cal. For the most part there bashed by people that think a 40 actually kicks hard. Hate to see them shoot a 357 snubby or God forbid some holy terror like a 44 mag

[bakerjw]

I did not know bersa made other caliber guns. I like my 380 a lot. So thanks for the posting about the 40 Baker. I was on their site looking at the offerings. Nice selection. I like the 40 too and the 40 magnum(10MM). 40 mag is a term i use to help folks who ask me about the 10mm round. I do the same for 38 super. 9mm mag lol.

My son picked up a Thunder 9 from our dentist. At the same time, I had him bring in a Thunder 9 ultra compact.
I like Bersa. I was having trouble finding magazines so I contacted them. They sold and shipped a pair to me at a decent price.

[jonp]

45-70 is obsolete and dying. So is 45-60 and many others. When has that stopped reloaders on this forum from using it? I have an MP 40 cal and love the gun. Shoots great, likes cast and is a winner in my book

[lightman]

A trick I learned from a posting here- to sort out .380 from 9mm after tumbling: get one of the plastic trays that .40 is packed in, and dump the 9mm/.380 into the tray- I use a handful at a time. The 9mm stand proud, the .380 are obviously shorter. The tray just makes them stand up and easy to see. Thanks to the original poster!
Loren

I do the same thing except that I use a loading tray. I'll also tumble 38's and 357's in with the 9's and 380's if I don't have a full load.

[brewer12345]

Just curious: aside from cheap trade in guns, what is the appeal of 40? I don't really have a dog in the fight as I mostly shoot 38 and 45, but understand the appeal of the obscure as a Makarov enthusiast. I even own a mold and cast the occasional run of 40 boolits for a buddy, but don't own a gun in that chambering.

[Lloyd Smale]

it falls in the middle of the 9 vs 45 comparison. It has a bigger bullet and is more powerful then a 9 but has more recoil. Its got a smaller bullet and is less powerful then a 45 but holds more rounds in a mag in a comparable gun. To me its a great compromise between the three. I will always own 9s because there's nothing as cheap to shoot but if faced with a threat would hope that day i left then 9 at home and carried a 40 or 45. I will always own 45s. Why? because were cast bullet shooters and the first lesson in cast bullet handgun shooting is bigger is ALWAYS better. Loaded with jacketed hps the 40 kind of shines. Its got the velocity of the 9 with a bigger bullet. 45 to me with its lower velocity relays more on bullet diameter. So imo for what its worth the 40 and 45 are on pretty equal ground and the 9 lags behind a bit. All of them are fun to shoot though and i dont kill to many people each day so it doesnt much matter. comparing them is like comparing the 2506 270 and 06. Which one is best? probably the biggest. One might shoot a bit flatter. One is in the middle and one is the biggest. Faced with a big dangerous threat make mine the o6.

[Brick85]

With the 165gr bullet, the commercial carry ammo I chose when I bought my first pistol (Speer Gold Dot) has more muzzle energy than a typical .45 load. So as Lloyd said, you can get pretty much the same as a .45 but in a smaller package. I wanted a gun I can hit the mag release without partly turning the grip in my hand. Most guns out there are a little too big for my hands, and while I can shoot my double stack Glock just fine, I didn't want to sorry about dropping it in time of need. So the .40 fit my hand and my bill just right.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Just curious: aside from cheap trade in guns, what is the appeal of 40? I don't really have a dog in the fight as I mostly shoot 38 and 45, but understand the appeal of the obscure as a Makarov enthusiast. I even own a mold and cast the occasional run of 40 boolits for a buddy, but don't own a gun in that chambering.

it falls in the middle of the 9 vs 45 comparison. It has a bigger bullet and is more powerful then a 9 but has more recoil. Its got a smaller bullet and is less powerful then a 45 but holds more rounds in a mag in a comparable gun. To me its a great compromise between the three. I will always own 9s because there's nothing as cheap to shoot but if faced with a threat would hope that day i left then 9 at home and carried a 40 or 45. I will always own 45s. Why? because were cast bullet shooters and the first lesson in cast bullet handgun shooting is bigger is ALWAYS better. Loaded with jacketed hps the 40 kind of shines. Its got the velocity of the 9 with a bigger bullet. 45 to me with its lower velocity relays more on bullet diameter. So imo for what its worth the 40 and 45 are on pretty equal ground and the 9 lags behind a bit. All of them are fun to shoot though and i dont kill to many people each day so it doesnt much matter. comparing them is like comparing the 2506 270 and 06. Which one is best? probably the biggest. One might shoot a bit flatter. One is in the middle and one is the biggest. Faced with a big dangerous threat make mine the o6.

Brewer,
I agree with everything Lloyd stated. While I am able to find small amounts of 9, 40, and 45 pistol brass for free at my range
...and surprisingly because of the local police qual shoots, I get more 45 than the others. But when I want large quantities of brass and have to buy it, my sources sell 40 the cheapest, because there is less demand than there is for 9 or 45. Last time I bought a few MFRB full of 40s, the price was cheaper than scrap value...so it was a no lose purchase.

[brewer12345]

Interesting. I suppose if things ever normalize I will have to consider a 40 trade in.

[FLINTNFIRE]

I like the 40 I also like 45 but I used to be critical of the 40 and then I shot one and now I like the caliber and have bought more especially the police trade ins great bargains .