.40 Smith & Wesson Ballistics

Ballistics and Drop for the .40 Smith & Wesson

Cartridge Type: Handgun
Height: 0.85"
Width: 0.424"
Average FPS: 1074
Average Energy: 423
Average Gr: 165
Recoil: 0.74
Power Rank: 3.54 of 7

40 S&W is a nice medium between a 9 mm and 45 ACP as it offers a blend of power and capacity. The 40 caliber round is the standard round used for the most law enforcement centers, dhs, and FBI. In fact department of homeland security purchased 450 million rounds of federal hollow point hst 180 gr this is the equivalent to 1.5 rounds per every man woman and child in the United States of American.

While the 45 ACP was created in the late 1800's the 40 Smith and Wesson is relative new comer having been produced and designed as a joint venture between the F.B.I. and Smith and Wesson after extensive testing done on both a 9 mm and 45 (full details on FBI report here). This cartridge held the grain and powder needed to meet their standards while the 9mm did not, and the 45 ACP was overkill.

The 40 S & W bullet ranges from 115gr to 180gr with most being in the upper range and the average being 165gr. The bullet has an average speed of just over 1,000fps making it a bit faster than the 45 and a bit slower than the 9mm just like you would expect. Rounds are produced by every major ammo manufacturer and can be found at all sporting good and gun shops. All in all a good round, check out some of the videos attached below and the trajectory ballistics chart as well.

*Casing image above is an artist rendering and not a real photo of .40 Smith & Wesson Ballistics cartridge. While we have went to great lengths to make sure that it's as accurate as possible this rendering should not be used to generate specs for casings.

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Handpicked .40 Smith & Wesson Ballistics Videos from YouTube

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Known Rounds

.40 Smith & Wesson-Ultramax JHP, .40 Smith & Wesson-Black Hills Jacketed Hollow Point, .40 Smith & Wesson-Winchester Jacketed Soft Point, .40 Smith & Wesson-Fiocchi Truncated Cone Encapsulated Base, .40 Smith & Wesson-Black Hills Jacketed Hollow Point, .40 Smith & Wesson-Magtech FMJ Flat, .40 Smith & Wesson-Magtech FMJ Flat, .40 Smith & Wesson-Fiocchi FMJ TC, .40 Smith & Wesson-Remington Golden Saber, .40 Smith & Wesson-Magtech JHP, .40 Smith & Wesson-Blazer (CCI) TMJ, .40 Smith & Wesson-Winchester Brass Enclosed Base, .40 Smith & Wesson-Magtech FMJ Flat, .40 Smith & Wesson-PMC Full Metal Jacket, .40 Smith & Wesson-Winchester SXT,

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Other Cartridges with Similar Widths (cartridges not bullets)

.338 Remington Ultra Magnum, .243 Winchester Super Short Magnum (WSSM), .30-06 Springfield, 7mm Dakota, .35 Remington, .284 Winchester, .260 Remington, 10mm Auto, 7mm-08 Remington, .41 Remington Magnum, .35 Whelen, .40 Smith & Wesson, .404 Dakota, .25 Winchester Super Short Magnum (WSSM), .45 Auto (.45 ACP),

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Other Cartridges with Similar Length

.280 Remington, .416 Rigby, .375 Remington Ultra Magnum, 7.82mm (.308) Lazzeroni Patriot, .375 Winchester, .475 Nitro Express Number 2, .338-378 Weatherby, .480 Ruger, .375 A-Square, .40 Smith & Wesson, 8x57mm Mauser JS, 7mm Winchester Short Magnum (WSM), .45-70 Government, 6.53mm (.257) Lazzeroni Scramjet, .378 Weatherby Magnum,

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Bullet Database

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Power Rank

The PowerRank is an estimation of the cartridge power. The first number is the value of this cartridge, and the last number is the value of the most powerful round in our bullet database.

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