.40 for practice?

[Alaska Gun Dad]

With used .40 S&W chambered police trade in guns showing up at good prices. What do you think about incorporating a .40 into practice if someone already had the same gun in 9mm? Is their anything that could be gained from a similar gun that had a little more recoil for training or is it a waste of time and money?

 

[ggammell]

Waste of time and money. .40 has been more expensive recently.

 

[Kain]

Since I'm looking at picking up one or two police trade in .40 Glocks for reasons, I'll chime in.

Personally, other than incorporated as part of my I'm bored, and want to fuck with something else to remind me why I'm shooting a 9mm that I have various addons on, I don't really think there is a whole lot of benefit. I personally, don't think there are much in the way of benefits for added recoil in training. There is also the whole thing with .40S&W is more expensive than 9mm, so it a thing there. More so with .40 locally being only like a $1 or two cheaper than .45acp, and in a few instances recently it was actually more, which made me scratch my head, though I was gobbling up that .45acp to feed my 1911.

Only real reasons I can come up with my want for a Glock 22 and 23 are as more or less stock play things, because I want more guns(which is either a great or shitty reason depending on the person), and because I can add a couple hundo cash and grab extra caliber swap barrels for more over priced odd ball rounds to play with. I suppose I could justify the 22 as pistol for a full caliber conversion for competition since it would be a little bit heavier than my 17.

My end point, no reason to not buy if you want them. But, for training I think it dubious. And I say that while looking at grabbing two. So....

 

[Sunshine_Shooter]

I say do it.

I've heard Jedi say that him shooting hot 9mm in practice makes him shoot 115gr "like a machine" in matches, so there's likely something there. I imagine that shooting .40 in practice would give you the same benefit. Since the guns are so cheap at the moment, you wouldn't be out much if you find that it doesn't work for you and you sell them later (or just bury them in the back of the safe).

 

[Grizzly]

There are leo trade in g19s and g17s for only a little more than g23s/g22s. When looking at them a g22+ barrel was more expensive than a used g17. Most places have g22s for around 280 and used g17s for 380. $130+ for a barrel means the g22 didn't make sense to me.

 

[JLL2013]

I don't think shooting .40 is the equivalent to lifting heavier weights.
You need to know exactly how your gun recoils and how that trigger breaks. That's why swapping between pistols gives you a drop in performance.

 

[Kain]

There are leo trade in g19s and g17s for only a little more than g23s/g22s. When looking at them a g22+ barrel was more expensive than a used g17. Most places have g22s for around 280 and used g17s for 380. $130+ for a barrel means the g22 didn't make sense to me.

True. But, what I am looking at is a gun with a couple barrels, and maybe a few spare parts, that I can stick 9mm, .40, and .357sig in for those days I feel like screwing around. So there is a something for that. Now, if there is just a desire to stick to one caliber, then it is hard to argue with just getting a 17 or 19. However, the .40 guns are much easier to source if one is inclined. Depends on what you are wanting to try to do. And if you are going to try to gamer up the gun as a start, you're probably swapping the barrel, and some do think a .40 cal gun has benefits for a 9mm comp gun, with a slightly heavier barrel.

 

[Alaska Gun Dad]

We all have a flinch or preignition push sometimes. I know from shooting .357 magnum and switching to .38 specials in the same shooting session seems to turn off the flinch circuit in my head.
In addition to any mental conditioning I am courious if shooting .40 in the same size gun will show any shortcomings in my fundamentals.
I am a sucker for a good deal and more guns is a good thing so I will probably pick up a police trade in or more. If I sour on .40 I can always convert it to 9mm or give it to a more progressive liberal friend to spread gun ownership.
I wonder if in 10 to 20 years guys will say “I remember when you could get those for $280 bucks. I should have bought a crate of them.” Only time will tell.

 

[jnc36rcpd]

Alaska, I'm inclined to think the best way to improve proficiency with a particular caliber is to practice with that caliber.

That said, when my former agency transitioned from 9mm 226's to the .40 flavor, one of the instructors told me that his shooting improved because he had to pay attention to the basics to handle the increased recoil. Recoil is somewhat subjective. You may or may not have the same results.

Nonetheless, you're making this choice for you. If you were making the purchase for an entire agency or perhaps even to train others, I'd say spend your money elsewhere. Since it is you and you have the money, you might take the risk.