.40 cal S&W, what grain do you shoot

[WardMan]

I have a Sig P229 that just came back from Sig after some clean-up and sighting (great customer service by the way!).

They shot it at 15 yd with what they noted were 100grain bullets. Tight group, a bit off center.

My question is what grain does anyone recomend. Factory loads too, I do not re-load here.

Thanks!

[BarnesX.308]

Are you hunting with it or just target and home defense? If hunting, I'd go with heavier bullets. Especially since pistol bullets are frangible to begin with.

I'm not that familiar with the .40 but, for the 44 Mag or 444 Marlin, I'd go with the 240 grain slugs. I'm thinking you want to be in the 200 range for hunting. Maybe 185?

[Houndog]

Federal Tactical Hydra-Shok, 180 Grain JHP(P40HS1G). Muzzle velocity (fps) 990, energy (ft-lbs) 390. Have fired thousands upon thousands from Sig 229's, good stuff.

[WardMan]

Thanks.

My goal is target shooting to become proficient, then mostly to have for self defense. This time around I want to do it right, and see how the gun and I perform.

And grain is the amount of powder, or the weight of the slug?

Wardman

[Nitrous SwampRat]

they tested it with 100 grain bullets? didnt know they made a round that small for a .40.

others are referring to the actual weight of the bullet.

believe factory rounds are 140-180 grain. im not sure what target shooters use but for home defense your main thing you want to avoid is over penetration. ie. bullets going thru walls hittin things they shouldnt be hitting.
take a look at glaser(glazer) rounds...expensive but if you hit somebody with em they aint goin' far....just follow the bloodtrail. they designed to break up on impact after a certain amount of penetration.

again for home defense i'd get jacketed hollow points for some knockdown power.
Nick

[WardMan]

That's what I thought. Maybe it's 180 and just a fast swipe of the pen that makes it look like 100.

I hear you on the hollow points and I'll probably look for that to shoot and practice with.

Thanks all!

[BarnesX.308]

And grain is the amount of powder, or the weight of the slug?

Weight of the slug. Good God!!! 180 grains is more powder than the 50 BMG holds :eek::D:D

[BigBuckDown]

wardman - my CCW is a .40 (glock 27.) Here is what I use:

Target - Winchester 165 gr. FMJ
Defense - Federal hydra-shok 155 gr. JHP
Snakeshot - CCI 100 pellets of 7 1/2 shot :D

Definitely practice with your hollow points, but if you shoot a lot do yourself a favor and buy FMJ in bulk.

[WardMan]

Thanks all!

BarnesX308 - I'm looking for canon style knock-down power :fight::D

Got it on the grain etc now ....

[edemi1]

i shoot 180 gr. fmj's out of my s & w 411 for practice (fun).
loaded with cor bon 135 grain jhp for the house.

shoot it as much as you can with any load, and get real comfy with it.
e.

[edemi1]

wardman - my CCW is a .40 (glock 27.) Here is what I use:

Target - Winchester 165 gr. FMJ
Defense - Federal hydra-shok 155 gr. JHP
Snakeshot - CCI 100 pellets of 7 1/2 shot :D

Definitely practice with your hollow points, but if you shoot a lot do yourself a favor and buy FMJ in bulk.


never shot the snake shot, is there any problem (damage) with the barrel shooting it?

e.

[BigBuckDown]

never shot the snake shot, is there any problem (damage) with the barrel shooting it?

e.

Not that I have found, or have been told about. I did ask the local gun shop when I bought the shotshells. In mine though, the rounds don't cycle properly and just stovepipe. But you can get one round off when you really need it!

[RUSS0079]

I'm on the job and have used this round in a actual deadly force encounter. 180 grn Gold Dot Speer, eight rounds center mass and the guy traveled 25 yards, while he was pointing his gun at other officers. "KNOCK DOWN POWER" is for the movies! You want a reaction when you have to shoot someone? By a shotgun and load it with 00 Buck. Real life, rounds go through people. The .40 cal is a great round, but if the bad guy wants to kill you, he'll try until he bleeds out. Oh for the nay sayers my first round hit the bottom of his aorta and he still fought for 35 seconds. Might not sound like alot of time, but you count it. Ballistics are great for paper, but they don't mean SH-T when someone is trying to kill you. And that's all I got to say about that.

[BigBuckDown]

I'm on the job and have used this round in a actual deadly force encounter. 180 grn Gold Dot Speer, eight rounds center mass and the guy traveled 25 yards, while he was pointing his gun at other officers. "KNOCK DOWN POWER" is for the movies! You want a reaction when you have to shoot someone? By a shotgun and load it with 00 Buck. Real life, rounds go through people. The .40 cal is a great round, but if the bad guy wants to kill you, he'll try until he bleeds out. Oh for the nay sayers my first round hit the bottom of his aorta and he still fought for 35 seconds. Might not sound like alot of time, but you count it. Ballistics are great for paper, but they don't mean SH-T when someone is trying to kill you. And that's all I got to say about that.


Russ - hard to argue that anything would beat a shotgun with 00 buck for home defense. It's a bit tough to jam 12 ga. buckshot into a CCW, though. :D

That's pretty damn amazing that someone could travel 25 yds. with 8 rounds in them, and still have their senses enough to point their gun at the LEO's. Hope none of the good guys were injured in this incident. And thanks for getting this POS off the street! :thup: