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The .40 S&W was designed in 1990 which makes it one of the more recent cartridges I have talked about. Originally designed for law enforcement to be a replacement for the 10mm Auto cartridge but be able to retrofit a 9mm handgun frame to the new cartridge. This cartridge was designed by Smith & Wesson with Winchester.

This all came about after the 1986 FBI Miami Shootout that left two agents dead and five more wounded. The FBI had some testing done include the 9x19mm, 45 ACP and the unit chief of the FBI Firearms Training Units personal 10mm Auto with handloads. This turned out to be exactly what the FBI was after so they requested that Smith & Wesson do a new handgun based on this cartridge and handload in which S&W realized it was possible to shorten the case and be able to fit it into the medium handgun frames.

Loaded with a 180gr bullet they could duplicate the custom handload that the FBI had for the 10mm Auto. The .40 S&W typically comes loaded in the following options 165gr @ 1,130 FPS, 155gr @ 1,160 FPS, and 200gr @1,050 FPS. These are all factory loaded options you can find on the internet. Which gives the .40 S&W a wide range of loadings.

S&W debuted the cartridge alongside its new model 4006 pistol in January of 1990. Funny enough you could buy a Glock pistol chambered in .40 S&W before you could buy a S&W variant just due to manufacturing logistics. The .40 S&W is short overall and a shorter case then the 10mm Auto but otherwise the case is identical.

As far as trajectory goes with a 180gr projectile travelling at 1099fps when zeroed at 20 yards you see the following drop:

40 Yards: 0.30 inches of drop.

60 Yards: 1.99 inches of drop.

80 Yards: 5.21 inches of drop.

(Please note the above trajectory information was pulled from http://gundata.org/ballistic-calculator/ )

If youre looking for another pistol round to compliment your 9mm or looking for something with a little more power behind it the .40 S&W is a fantastic cartridge for the job.

Short Notes.

Official Name: .40 S&W (40 Smith & Wesson, 10.2x21mm.)

Year Designed: 1990.

Designed by: Bob Klunk, Smith & Wesson, Winchester.

Parent Case: 10mm Auto.

Rifling Twist Rate: 1 in 16”.

I hope you enjoyed this brief overview of the .40 S&W and will return next week for our Cartridge of the Week series.

Please remember to always practice safe muzzle control when dealing with firearms and happy shooting.

B