You can get a Springfield Armory XD40 or XD9 for less than 450 if you look. I would say that it is a pretty good gun, especially for the price.

I like mine.

 

When I say first handgun I mean my first purchase. I have a good deal of practice with a S&W 9mm, .38, .22, and a .44 hand cannon. Its been tough to decide on the 9mm or the .40 for a while now. The gun will primarily be for range fire but there are "situations" where I might have to carry. To be honest I ruled out the 9mm due to it being so much weaker than the .40 but maybe I will take it into consideration again. Are 9mm rounds that much cheaper than .40? I will look into some of the sights you have given me and see if i can get a better deal, thanks.
Part of the interest in the .40 over the 9mm is also the barrel conversion. A .357 is a pretty sweet round in my opinion and I would get two guns out of one. Just a thought.

 

When people say 9mm is underpowered they usually refer to the 115gr fmj. Then theres conerns on overpenetration on that 9mm which is going to cause death to the perp most likely if left untreated. Two holes bleed more than 1, and bleeding is what kills people. If you do some reading on firearmstactical.com you will see balistic information for a variety of rounds. Most notable is what the proper jhp 9mm can do. They have info on a 124gr jhp +p round. It outperforms the 155gr jhp .40 in both penetration and expansion. They have pictures of the rounds as well. Stopping power with a handgun is a myth. Theres thousands of articles on this tho so no need to go into it. Lots of good info at firearmstactical. Another point of interest is what the badguy is wearing. Makes a HUGE difference on penetration and expansion especially with hollowpoints. Heavy leather jackets denim etc...will slow down and distort a hollowpoint when a fmj will penetrate. Too many variables to consider when looking for a defensive round.

Eddy if money isnt a concern at the range then get the .40 and .357 conversion. You might have difficulty getting the .357sig round without having to order online. Lots of places dont carry. For my money a primary range gun would be 9mm.

 

it should be noted in case your not familiar that you can get a 9mm conversion barrel for the 229 as well. Just figured id toss that out if you had your heart set on the 229.

 

That will work!

 

All prices quoted from Ammoman.com:

1000 rounds CCI Blazer Brass (target/practice fodder) .40 S&W, 165 gr. ball - $169

1000 rounds Federal American Eagle (target/practice) 9mm, 115 gr ball - $139

1000 rounds Federal American Eagle 357 SIG, 125 gr ball - $209

Truthfully, I have a certain bias against .40 S&W. I don't like the idea of a high pressure cartridge with a relatively thin case wall like the .40. Recoil wise, it's more of a sharp snap, whereas something like the .45 auto is a gentle push.

From Natchez Shooters Supply (www.natchezss.com)

20 rounds Federal Premium 357 SIG, 125 gr. JHP - $27.51 (that's kinda stiff, you could probably find better prices elsewhere)

20 rounds Federal Premium Hydrashok .40 S&W, 135 gr. JHP - $13.55

20 rounds Federal Premium Hydrashok 9mm, 135 gr. JHP - $10.15

You might be able to find better prices locally though, so I guess it all really depends on what you want.

 

EddyG88 - if you have your heart set a Sig, then go for it. They are nice firearms with a great reputation. Whatever you choose, practice with it a lot until you become comfortable with it- especially if you are going to carry it. Depending on your comfort knowledge w/ firearms, you might consider a firearms class as well. For some great advice and a wealth of knowledge about all types of firearms, check out www.thehighroad.org

FYI - a .357 sig is only a 9mm on steroids
If you only plan on firing one round, you better better be using a shotgun - then I would still pop off couple more to be sure. I'll let you shoot at me once in the middle of the night in a high stress environment w/ a .40 caliber, if you let me shoot at you 11 times w/ a 9mm.
A mock up of a Glock - what? The Glock is plastic and has a polygonal barrel - the only other pistol that I'm aware of that has a polygonal barrel is the H&K.
I have a Taurus PT111 that is great gun. 11 rounds (10+1) of 9 mm (new ones now are 12+1) in a subcompact frame, and it can be purchased for less the $300. Even though the frame is a polymer composite, it still has a stainless steel slide.

And you can purchase 100 round value packs of Winchester White Box at Wal Mart for $11 - I think target rounds for .40 cal is about $14-15 for 50 rounds.

 

Not really relating anything to the original question, but anyway, I've got a S&W full sized 40 that I love to death. Hate to carry it. I wanted something with some decent knockdown power, but also easily concealable and light weight. Went out and shopped totally open minded. Came home with a Taurus Titanium alloy revolver in .38 spec. +P. Darn I love that weapon. Goes everywhere with me. Even fits the inside breast pocket of my Carhart Jackets...

Hated Taurus until I picked up this gun. Their auto's are junk IMHO, my brother in law had one blow up in his hand (no, not hot loads, etc., it was a defective part from the factory). All the ones I ever shot put hot empty brass right into my head/face.

Their revolvers, on the other hand, are actually darn good, and bargain priced as well. When it comes to Titanium Use, they are actually the industry leader...

 

My PT99 from Taurus is a 9 mm auto that I love, dont know what happened to your brothers gun, but I know I have over 5000 rounds through my 99, without one machanical issue, regular cleaning and good ammo, is all that I use. Since that purchase I've bought 2 more different caliber Taurus and love them too.

 

Well it was a good range visit over the weekend. I rented a Sig 229 .40, and I also got to shoot a 9mm (no-name piece of junk), Sig 220 .45, and a M1-A.
Since the 9mm was a compact gun, the 40 was a medium and the 45 was a fullsize, they all seemed to have pretty much the same kick/recoil. I really liked the 229, I wish I got to shoot it in 9mm as well just for reference, but I really liked the larger caliber.
I also checked out a Sig Pro 40 cal. At this time I think I am leaning towards the Sig Pro in a 40 cal configuration. I feel being a big guy, I can handle the 40 cal with just as much ease as the 9mm, and since we are only talking about a couple bucks difference in cost on ammo then I will take the larger caliber. I will give the 9mm a fair shot though and fire it in the same Sig style gun first though. Who knows maybe it will change my mind. Looks like I have to go back to the range this week. Damn!

 

Eddy, I buy my .40 cal rounds at Wal-Mart. When they have the double box in stock I usually buy everthing they have in stock. 200 rounds for about 15 bucks.

 

Now thats a nice deal. I will have to remember that, thanks sherm.

 

One thing to look at is what type of ammo to buy. For range shooting, i buy the cheapest ball ammo I can find. For at home protection, I use good JHP ammo.
It is good to use some of this at the range, just to make sure it doesn't shoot quite a bit differently than the cheap stuff.

 

I agree, for home defense or CC I would probably carry Cor-Bon or Federal or something along those lines. But el-cheapo for the range (most of the time)

 

Are you sure that they aren't 100 round boxes? A regular box is 50, and a double box/Value Pack is typically 100 rounds. You can't find mil-surp 9mm that cheap!