johnnyrigger

why is there 9mm, 45 acp and a few other +p ammo but not .40 S&W?

dukalmighty

40 S&W is a high pressure load any increase would cause over pressure in guns and cause lots of kabooms

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falcon1

+1. 9mm, .45 ACP, and .38 Special are relatively old loads, and there are a lot of older firearms and older designs chambered for them, not all of which are up to higher pressures. Hence the +P designation, generally safe in more modern firearms (follow manufacturer guidance, of course). The .40 S&W is such a new cartridge that manufacturers have confidence in the metallurgy of the firearms and the designs, so they loaded the cartridge to what would have been "+P" pressures from the get-go.

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Rob72

Or something like that. .40 S&W was to replicate 9mm velocity with a .40 cal bullet. The only firearm that didn't experience serious failures initially when feeding it was the USP- which was specifically designed around the cartridge. The "other guys" beefed up their 9mm barrels & frames with inconsistant success.