The 1990s were a time of great innovation and experimentation when it came to handgun cartridges. Numerous cartridges were developed by all sorts of companies, each one trying to improve on its predecessors. And while some, such as .40 S&W and .357 SIG, have remained with us, many faded away into obscurity. That’s the case with the cartridge we’re looking at today, the .40 Super.
Like many cartridges of recent memory, the .40 Super sought to gain its extra performance by necking down a larger diameter cartridge case to accept a smaller bullet. In this case, the designers of the .40 Super knew that they wanted a .45-caliber case and a .40-caliber bullet. But unlike other concepts that merely necked down the .45 ACP to accept a 10mm bullet, the .40 Super used a shortened .45 Winchester Magnum case to achieve a case length roughly .100” longer than the .45 ACP.
That extra case length brought a little extra performance. And because the .45 Win. Mag. case was already built to sustain significantly higher pressures than the .45 ACP, the .40 Super was able to operate at much higher pressures than existing handgun cartridges. With a case the same length as the 10mm Auto, plus the extra diameter, the .40 Super is able to offer performance on par with or equal to the 10mm, while still being able to be fired from firearms originally chambered for .45 ACP with just a barrel and recoil spring swap.
The downsides to the .40 Super, however, are many. Factory ammo is just about non-existent, with Underwood and Double Tap being just about the only sources available. Brass is only available from Starline, and dies are also scarce, with Redding being the only mainstream source.
And then you have to try to find a barrel, which is also difficult. It seems that Barsto is about the only source available today, as most other barrel manufacturers have given up on wildcats like .40 Super.
That’s a shame, because .40 Super offers some pretty phenomenal performance. Quoted velocity from a 135-grain bullet is 1,800 feet per second, while a 200-grain bullet is advertised at 1,400 feet per second. That results in 900 to 1,000 foot-pounds of muzzle energy, from a handgun. All it takes to convert a Glock 21 to .40 Super is a barrel and a stronger recoil spring. Some recommend only using 10-round Glock 21 magazines, as the 13-round magazines may not feed properly.
The .40 Super can certainly offer significant performance from a handgun, and may very well fit your self defense needs. The only question in a survival scenario is whether or not you’ll be able to feed your .40 Super pistol. And if the answer is no, you may want to look to more mainstream calibers.
Image: Fernando Coelho