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Now on to the .40. I reload for all of my guns, and the pressure in the .40 is close to the .45acp while shooting a much lighter bullet.

What is being overlooked is the physical size of the gripframe. .40 S&W will fit into any existing 9mm with modifications made for the higher inertia the .40 S&W generates over the 9mm. In the past 10 years or so, bullet technology has improved to where 9mm is a bit closer in performance to the .40 S&W. The .45 ACP requires a larger grip frame to accommodate the longer and wider cartridge. All Glock set out to do with the .45 GAP was to fit a .45 caliber (and shorter) cartridge in a 9mm platform pistol and give standard pressure .45 ACP performance in a 9mm pistol size that is easier for officers from small females to medium size males to grip comfortably. There are 5 state LE agencies using the .45 GAP. It's certainly not dead, but, in all 5 cases the pistols used are Glocks.

The .40 S&W is an entirely different matter. Among state police agencies, the .40 S&W is THE dominant catridge. Outside of the agencies using the .45 Gap that I mentioned, there are a few agencies that use the .45 ACP and a few more using the .357 SIG like the Texas Dept. of Public safety which includes Texas Rangers, the Secret Service and a few other states.

I quoted the previous poster because he gave incorrect info on pressure. The max. standard pressure of the 9mm is 35,000 PSI, the same as the .40 S&W. 9mm +P has a higher limit of 38,500 PSI, and when using 9mm I recommend 124 gr. +P JHPs if you want to limit the difference between 9mm and .40 S&W. The majority of agencies that use 9mm are using +P 124 gr. JHPs like the excellent SPEER Gold Dot load. The .45 ACP is actually much lower in pressure than either the 9mm or the .40 S&W. The max. standard pressure for the .45 ACP is 21,000 PSI with a limit for +P at 23,000 PSI. .45 GAP pressure is identical to .45 ACP +P at 23,000 PSI, but with its shorter case it doesn't provide better performance than standard pressure .45 ACP. The 10mm is in use with a couple of state agencies and it has higher standard pressure than the standard 9mm or .40 S&W and the .357 SIG has a pressure limit of 40,000 PSI. If anyone is interested you can check these state LE agency numbers at:http://www.stoppingpower.net/forum/ which is Evan Marshall's website. Find the link on .40 S&W stopping power and LE usage and you'll see a running compilation of what state LE agencies are using as far as caliber and type/brand of pistol.

For me, and as a 27 year handloader the choice is simple. The .45 ACP will cover all the ground of the .40 S&W and then some. When you move up to .45 ACP +P, it's no contest and the fact that I have large hands, the larger grip of .45 ACP pistols works better for me and I'm not talking about 1911s. I use an XDm 4.5 in .45 ACP for defense with it's larger grip and 13 round magazine. I do use +P ammo, but that's 23,000 PSI compared to 35,000 PSI for the forty. The .45 ACP offers me flexibility in handloading matched by no other service cartridge.

I also shoot 9mm quite a bit and went through about every .40 S&W pistol ever made. I was never enamored with the accuracy of .40, but I will say that I had a CZ 75B that was probably the most accurate .40 I ever fired with my best handloads.

If I had smaller hands, and the 9mm pistol size worked better for me, I'd have no problem carrying one with the caveat being it would be with +P ammo, even the 147 gr. variety that gives similar performance to the .40 S&W.

I also believe that the .40 S&W is an excellent defense cartridge and I prefer the higher energy loads in 155 and 165 gr. weights. Particularly the 165 gr. Remington Golden Saber. But a good choice in .40 S&W are the loads that have passed the FBI's penetration tests and only the 155 gr. Gold Dot is on the approved list. I don't concern myself as much as some people do with the "approved list" because my main criteria is that a load penetrates and expands sufficiently after passing through 4 layers of denim.

As a reloader, I wouldn't have any problem with the .45 GAP, either, if my hands were smaller and a 9mm platform fit my hand. All of the service cartridges will do the job. My choice of .45 ACP is based on a grip size that fits my hand with a pistol that has a total capacity of 14 rounds combined with the lower operating pressure of the .45 ACP cartridge. I'd have no problem carrying a .40 except for grip size and I could really cover that with a larger 10mm semi-automatic and load 10mm to .40 S&W performance level.