This well be my first hangun and I was going to get a 40S&W but I have heard that you can have some problems with the higher velocity of the 40S&W in handguns, so I have been thinking I might be better off with a 9mm. What is your guys thoughts on this? Also does anyone know if the Smith & Wesson MP9mm can take the higher velocity of the +P and +P+ cartridges? I know some handgun can't. Thanks for your guys help.
I like the 40 s&w better for ccw but will carry a 9mm. If you plan to shoot alot of pratice I would go with 9mm for cost saving. If money is no object go forty. My G22 is very fun to shoot and I have no problems shooting it in IDPA comp.
The M&P's I've see at matches all had happy owners.
I know a lot of folks like them but I'm not a big fan of the .40s. Seems it's there to split the dif 'tween a 9 and a .45 and it turns out to be not quite either. I'd rather have a hot 9, or the old .45.
I like the .357 sig which is the .40 necked to .357, but in some areas ammo would be real scarce.
I read somewhere a long time ago (seems like I even put a pecil to it and confirmed it for myself, so that means it was long enough ago that it was before I got lazy) that if you double the weight of a bullet you double it's energy, but if you double the velocity of a bullet you quadruple it's energy.
I love my .40 S&W Beretta. Ammo does cost more than the 9mm but is just as easy to get. Actually I think it's more available right now. Get the .40 and you don't need the +P. Check with the gun manufacture to see if a particular gun will handle the +P.
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That one is going to come down to personal preference. I don't think either one is a wrong choice. If cost is an issue 9mm will be cheaper, but if you shoot a lot you can always reload. If a gun does shoot +P and +P+ most people only shoot enough of those to make sure the gun handles them reliably and then load then up for home defense of ccw and hope they never have to use them. Any steady diet of hot ammo will hurt pretty much any gun out there.
I have a Smith M&P in 9 MM and find it to be one of my better shooting 9mms.
I prefer to shoot almost any of my 9mms over my .40s except my CZ Standard IPSC in .40 which is the best shooting pistol I have. It is huge and weighs a ton,has a 2 lb trigger and is definitely not a carry gun.
The whole .40 vs 9mm controversy has been fueled by the the Hague Conventions that require signatory nations to use only full metal jacket projectiles when engaged in warfare. If you use only hardball (which you won't in a self defense mode) the a larger projectile may be a better stopper (depending of velocity ...yada, yada).
I personally would prefer to have 17 rounds of 9mm JHPs available to me in a tight spot (and I am a good shot).
I think that the M&Ps are nice pistols and that you will enjoy one in either caliber.
Regards, DocAitch
9mm is cheaper. recoil is pretty close. do yourself a favor and scope out the ammo situation near you. nobody in NE atl shoots .40 apparently. walmarts have been full of the stuff for 6 months now. seen 60+ boxes of stuff several times. i of course chose 9mm for my XDm and the stuff is scarce.
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I love my M&P 40 compact, just purchased a 357 sig barrel for $100 so it will shoot both .40SW or 357 Sig , just secs. to change the barrel and the 357 Sig uses the same magazine as the .40
Thank you guys for your posts. One of the reasons I was thinking of getting the 9mm is the cheaper ammo. I'm going to be shooting it alot lol. But like TheWall said, from what I have seen the 40S&W is more available right now and is about the same price as the 9mm.
Thank you guys for your posts. One of the reasons I was thinking of getting the 9mm is the cheaper ammo. I'm going to be shooting it alot lol. But like TheWall said, from what I have seen the 40S&W is more available right now and is about the same price as the 9mm.
I have been paying $30.97 per 100 at wallyworld here in se mo. 9mm are hard to come by. they sell as soon as they go on the shelf where the .40 are always in stock and so are the 357 Sig. but a bit higher $23.00 for 50 of the 357 Sig but both are always in stock however they do have a 6 box limit per cal.
This is going to be one of those threads where you will get 1,000 reasons why a .40 is better and 1,000 reasons why a 9MM is better and all of them are right. If you are brand new with handguns my personal feeling is go with the 9MM because it has less kick and easier to handle. Also, the very most important word in any sentence that contains the word gun is SAFETY. The more you practice the more comfortable you will be with the gun. The more comfortable you are with the gun the safer you are with the gun. 9MM ammo is a lot less expensive than .40 is so you can shoot more for less money. More shooting equals more comfort equals more safety. Shot placement is more important than the size of the hole and a 9MM is easier for a newbie to handle and place a shot well. A 9MM to the chest will stop a bad guy faster than a .40 to the hand.
As you shoot more you will probably become addicted to it like most of are and you will buy more guns as you shoot more. You can always get comfortable with the 9MM and move up to a .40 or .45 later down the line. Every time I buy a new gun I tell myself that's it for 2 years and rarely make it 6 months without buying another. I just picked up my 13th handgun today. Got myself a Slim. No matter which way you choose I would invest the time and money in some lessons. Most ranges have NRA instructors on site. Well worth the time and money to take a few lessons.
As for the M&P 9 taking the +P and +P+ rounds, the M&P will handle any 9mm round on the market.
Just remember treat the gun as if it were loaded at all times, always keep the barrel pointed in a safe direction and never point the gun at anything you don't want to kill or destroy.
Welcome to the world of shooting, shoot often and shoot safe.
KW Gary is right on about seeking some prof attention when you first start. It is so much easier to instill a good habit when you don't have to overcome a bad habit. IMO quality eye and ear protection is even more important with a handgun, than a rifle. I have known people who were just natural phenoms with a handgun, but they are RARE (and they often make poor instructors as a bunch of them don't really understand how they do what they do).
I would suggest you get with someone who can school you in the fundamentals then practice them at the range or at home. You can get great handgun practice without popping a cap or even leaving the house.
Dry fire it...a bunch. The best pistol shots in the world dry fire a lot. Watch your front sight when you dry fire to see if it dips or pulls. It's the best diagnostic tool for pistol shootng there is. Also, there's the mind set factor. Repeat after me "Hello pistol, I'm gonna kick your a$$".
One caution on dry firing. Unload in one room, leave the ammo behind and go in another room to do your work. Check visually (look in the chamber), check physically (stick your finger in the chamber), no your finger won't fit, BUT it reinforces the check. People who perform a task repeatedly can get in the habit of "looking without seeing". I set the timer on the stove for 15-30 and if I get fatigued/sloppy and start teaching myself bad habits I call it a day.
Thank you guys for your posts. One of the reasons I was thinking of getting the 9mm is the cheaper ammo. I'm going to be shooting it alot lol. But like TheWall said, from what I have seen the 40S&W is more available right now and is about the same price as the 9mm.
Check your local Walmart. I have seen a lot more 9MM in stock lately. For a while .40 was much easier to come by but I have seen 9MM a lot at Wally's. I bought a few 100 packs of WWB 9's for $17.99 each at Wally's and a couple .40 WWB 100 packs for $26.99. It may only be 9 cents a round more but 9 cents times several thousand rounds adds up.
I bought the M&P40 specifically so I could get a 9mm conversion barrel or a stock 357 sig barrel. This opened up all the doors. Yeah, I paid $174 for a Storm Lake barrel and two S&W 17 rd magazines but when I shoot a lot the price is made up fairly quickly with 9mm being $10 a box and 40 S&W being $15 a box. Plus I can shoot whatever is available at the time.
That is how I justified my purchase. You'll have to determine if that works for you.
I bought the M&P40 specifically so I could get a 9mm conversion barrel or a stock 357 sig barrel. This opened up all the doors. Yeah, I paid $174 for a Storm Lake barrel and two S&W 17 rd magazines but when I shoot a lot the price is made up fairly quickly with 9mm being $10 a box and 40 S&W being $15 a box. Plus I can shoot whatever is available at the time.
That is how I justified my purchase. You'll have to determine if that works for you.
Thats what I think I will do. Like you said I can then get a 357 sig and/or a 9mm barrel. I do have another question now though...can I get a 45 acp barrel for a 40M&P or not? I'm guessing you can't but thought I would ask anyway
You can't get a M&P9 and put in a 40 barrel either. If you get a 40 make sure you get a 40S&W to 9mm conversion barrel. A factory 9mm won't drop in and work. The only two factory barrels that swap are the 40S&W and 357 Sig since the Sig is a necked down 40S&W.
A nice side benefit of my 9mm barrel is that it seems to be more accurate than the 40 barrel. I'm not sure if that is because I'm more comfortable shooting the 9mm round or the barrel is made to better tolerances? Either way I feel like it was worth the additional expense. I've never had a single FTF or FTE problem with it.
1911's Rock! 
