38 special vs .40 S&W?

[Mike Irwin]

"Mods: Sometimes you're too quick to close {pointless} threads, especially dank necrothreads, why so slow to tank this stinker? A question was asked and it appears a decision was made. Years ago..."

Because I agreed with the premise of the restart that the restarter offered.

[Nanuk]

I agree Mike. The premise is still valid.

[totaldla]

Originally Posted by gsteele

Realizing this post is 12 years old, it nonetheless may benefit those who come across it to read updated information perhaps not applicable in 2009. The question is .38 Special vs .40 S&W.

While your wife may not have liked .357 magnum recoil, it must be recognized that the recoil of a revolver is very different from that of a semi-auto pistol. A revolver translates all recoil impulse directly, and essentially instantaneously, to the shooter's hand - a "sharp" recoil, mitigated only by the typical revolver's heavy weight and the tendency to translate recoil impulse to the hand into muzzle flip and rotational energy that moves the grip through the hand. That muzzle flip, however, increases the time and effort required to position and aim the gun for a follow-up shot - which, with an anemic round like a .38 Special, will probably be necessary, and perhaps several times, before an assailant is incapacitated. That's not good.

With a semi-auto pistol, however, the reciprocating slide dissipates energy in spring compression, and distributes recoil over a longer period. Stronger recoil springs that work with your chosen defense round may lessen the felt recoil even further. Bore axis height of a pistol is lower than that of a revolver, lessening the rotational moment responsible for muzzle flip, and speeding follow-up shots. My polymer-framed Taurus G2 .40 S&W recoils gently in my opinion, and its unloaded weight is 18 oz - easily handled by a woman, to boot. Add a 10 round magazine capacity, with 1 in the chamber, and you have double the firing capacity of the revolver.

Since some ranges allow you to "try before buy," I would recommend bringing your wife to the range and letting her compare the two, augmented by a lesson by you on the relative power and incapacitation capability of the two options. I would hope she selects the .40, for her sake.

If there ever was a reason to kill a necro thread, this is it. Start a new thread because no one wants to wade through pages of 11-12 year old posts.

I think it is common courtesy to start a new thread instead of resurrecting something 12 years old.

[Mike Irwin]

When TFL becomes a democracy, then we can all vote on whether to kill a thread or not.

Until that (never) happens, the staff entrusted to run daily operations by TFL's owner and founder will make that decision.

[Alan0354]

Ha, I did not know the OP was from 2009!! Or else I won't waste my time respond to this!!!

But the question can be just a valid today as 11 years ago. There are new people that join the forum everyday. Like me, I quit 30 years ago, time that info were not readily available on line. I never even heard of .40 or 10mm in the 80s. Main choices were 9mm, 45, 38/357.

[Nanuk]

Alan, the 40 was not really much of a splash until the mid 1990's.

[Alan0354]

Yeh, I have my eye on the Sig SP2022 40. Not easy to find though. So I open to Glock 30 45ACP, no luck either.

[JustJake]

I never even heard of .40 or 10mm in the 80s. Main choices were 9mm, 45, 38/357.

Maybe only if you were stuck in a time-warp in the 1970s, ... a decade when wheelguns in .357 & .44 Mag were the top doggies.

The 10mm AUTO was introduced in 1983.

The .40S&W, ballistically and morally, a downloaded "10mm" stuffed into a shortened case, was introduced in 1991, right about the same time "Grunge" music started getting popular.

[Alan0354]

Never heard of 10mm at the time, it must not be popular. Everyone was talking about 38, 357, 9mm and 45. High capacity semi was not even that popular until Beverley Hill Cops came out, Then I notice the high capacity guns started getting popular. In those days, revolvers were still the go to guns. I can't say about the semi auto now, but those days, they were not very reliable. I had to do gun smithing myself to fix all my big semi autos. They all had problems. Only one that was good was the Beretta 950BS 25ACP and the Ruger Mark II.

Remember in the 80s, internet is not big, mainly learning by going to the gun stores and Gun & Ammo. I just saw a lot of 1911 style semi those days

[JohnKSa]

10mm wasn't introduced until 1983 and didn't get much traction until 1989 when the FBI adopted it. The company making the gun introduced to go with the ammunition had a lot of trouble and went bankrupt in 1986. Colt started making a pistol in the caliber a year later, which kept it alive

When the FBI went to their downloaded version of 10mm, S&W realized that they could match the ballistics in a 9mm-sized package and introduced the .40S&W cartridge in 1990.

So it's not surprising that you didn't hear much about the 10mm in the 1980s, and it would be REALLY surprising if you had heard anything about the .40S&W in the 1980s.

[1goodshot]

I would get the 1 she shoots best.

[JustJake]

So it's not surprising that you didn't hear much about the 10mm in the 1980s

Unless he never watched any of the episodes of the first two seasons of Miami Vice, ... or was still in diapers.

and it would be REALLY surprising if you had heard anything about the .40S&W in the 1980s.

True, ... although as Star Trek proved time-warping is theoretically possible.

[RUT]

What we really need is a thread dealing with "what's the best gun lube?"

[Alan0354]

Originally Posted by JustJake

Unless he never watched any of the episodes of the first two seasons of Miami Vice, ... or was still in diapers.

True, I did't watch Miami Vice, not even a single episode. I had a life in the 80s, who had time to watch those shows?