Why did police switch to 40 S&W

[medicineball]

No Iowa in the chart that started this thread?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Tangle]

To really understand the LE adoption of the 40, you have to either go back and read, or remember the mindset of the era. Like was pointed out, there was a culmination of events that brought the FBI to search for a better stopper.

Given the advantage of hindsight, today we know that one 9mm bullet fired into Platt did not fail, and we also know even though other agents used 357 revolvers, they were loaded with 38 spls.

Also about that time, I believe the Illinois St Police were one of the first to adopt the 9mm in the S&W M39.
Like was stated earlier, the 40 was found to be a good compromise of bigger bullet and capacity. Years later with bullet design technology we can see there really isn't much difference.

One thing I like about the 9mm is it's tapered case design, which in my opinion lends itself to better feed reliability than the more squared off cases of the 45 and 40. IMO, that is why Glocks became legendary in feed reliability, as they designed the barrels to not fully support the case to allow for the 45 and 40.

Excellent points glockman10mm.

[Tangle]

What Tangle said. Bullet design/ time warp.

Bullets kill, not calibers.

Correct shot placement puts bullets where they need to be to do their job.

I think so too. Although we would certainly see differences when this is taken to extremes. E.g. a .22 would not be as good of a fight stopper as a major caliber round; Tte .22 may have indeed killed as many or more than any other caliber, but few wish to count on it as a fight stopper.

But among the major calibers there doesn't seem to be a lot of difference.

[xXxplosive]

And NJ still issues the 9mm to the NJ State Police..............probably a 'Politically Correct" statement somewhere there.

NJ has no clue...........

[Biggie313]

.40 s&w - al, ak, az, ca, co, ct, il, io, ky, la, md, ma, mi, mn, ms, mo, ne, nv, nd, oh, or, ut, vt, wa, wi, wy (26)

[bunker]

IN NYS, only the State Police are using the 45 GAP... most Sheriffs use 40's, and i think the NYC police dept still use the 9mm, but i could be wrong with that one. Bunker

[Tangle]

Tennessee Highway Patrol issues the .357 sig, as does the Federal Air Marshalls and I believe the US Border Patro, and the US Coast Guard???

[JD]

.40 s&w - al, ak, az, ca, co, ct, il, io, ky, la, md, ma, mi, mn, ms, mo, ne, nv, nd, oh, or, ut, vt, wa, wi, wy (26)

Iowa is abbreviated "IA", not "IO"

[Saber]

As it turns out, getting hit with any size bullet hurts like hell. The 40 does seem to be a compromise between round count and effective stopping power. Still, I'm sure a few so-called experts and police chiefs decided on the current trend together with ammo manufactures.

[TX-JB]

Decisions made by any state agency are always based heavily on economics...

[afcarpenter]

Tennessee Highway Patrol issues the .357 sig, as does the Federal Air Marshalls and I believe the US Border Patro, and the US Coast Guard???

Tangle,
US Coast Guard issues Sig 226's in 9mm. I work with a few and they are fine weapons and fine Americans.

I do have to respectfully disagree about your opinions on shot placement...though I also have to caveat this by saying that what you said is true. Good shot placement will stop the fight every time without fail. My disagreement is that in those "Oh S%&#" situations, you don't have time to think about shot placement as you won't be able to index the weapon properly nor will you be able to get far enough into it to think about anything but how to stop the situation at hand. You're just looking at getting a bullet or two into the target to slow the progression. And I speak as someone who has used a 9mm in combat over yonder a few too many times...and no, I'm not a fan of 9mm as I think they aren't enough when the adrenaline of battle is flowing through your veins but they sure as heck will make anyone stop and think twice about their choices in life! I prefer to kill my attackers.

[razor02097]

Why did police switch to 40 S&W.....

The man behind the pen signed the paper for the pistols.... maybe a new trend? Either way I'm sure not a lot of reasonable thought went into the decision on what caliber to get. Anytime you have asset requests it is almost always the lowest bidder that gets the city's business. If a .40 model pistol was priced right then by golly that is what will be in the officer's holsters next year.... now who has the cheapest ammo?

[afcarpenter]

Why did police switch to 40 S&W.....

The man behind the pen signed the paper for the pistols.... maybe a new trend? Either way I'm sure not a lot of reasonable thought went into the decision on what caliber to get. Anytime you have asset requests it is almost always the lowest bidder that gets the city's business. If a .40 model pistol was priced right then by golly that is what will be in the officer's holsters next year.... now who has the cheapest ammo?

There's more truth in that than any of us care to admit!

[Devone6]

Tennessee Highway Patrol issues the .357 sig, as does the Federal Air Marshalls and I believe the US Border Patro, and the US Coast Guard???

357 Sig - State Police/Patrol - DE, MT, NM, NC, OK, RI, SD, TN, TX, VA (10) and the US Secret Service, Treasury Inspector Generals, and I know of a dozen or so PD and SO's that also issue the 357Sig.

[TheGreatGonzo]

Tangle,
US Coast Guard issues Sig 226's in 9mm.

Actually, the Coasties have switched over the P229 DAK in .40S&W with the rest of the Department of Homeland Security (Secret Service being the exception...they maintained their contract for the P229 DA/SA in .357Sig).

As for the state list, you would have to move the Mississippi Highway Patrol from the .40 column to the .357 column. They recently switched from .40 S&W Smith & Wesson pistols to Glocks in .357Sig.
Gonzo