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Handgun Ammo

.40 S&W Ammo

In stock from $0.35 / round · 21 of 24 products available now

It sits between 9mm and .45 in bullet weight and diameter, with a firm, quick recoil impulse. Agencies moving back to 9mm left it one of the best-value cartridges on the shelf.

In stock today

Cost per round
$0.35 to $2.34
9 Brands
Barnes, CCI, DoubleTap, Federal, G2 Research, Hornady, Liberty Ammunition, Underwood, Winchester
Bullet weights
60, 88, 122, 140, 165, 175, 180, 190, 200 grain
Pack sizes
10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 250, 500, 600, 1,000 rounds

Order before 4:00 PM ET on a business day and it ships the same day, then 1 to 5 business days in transit depending on how far it travels. You will see the arrival date before you pay.

Learn more about .40 S&W

At a glance

Also known as
.40 Smith & Wesson
Common bullet weights
155, 165 and 180 grain
Typical use
Duty and qualification, range practice, USPSA Limited
Before you buy
Recoil is quick and firm rather than heavy. Grip matters more than it does in 9mm
Age to purchase
21+ (the federal licensed-dealer minimum for ammunition suitable for a handgun, applied as TAS policy)

.40 S&W was built in the late 1980s to give agencies most of what the 10mm Auto offered in a cartridge that fit a 9mm-sized frame, and for roughly two decades it was the default American police round. Law enforcement has largely gone back to 9mm since, which has had a happy side effect for everyone else: .40 pistols and .40 ammunition are widely available and often the cheapest way into a quality service pistol. The cartridge itself did not get worse when the fashion changed. It hits between 9mm and .45 in bullet weight and diameter and delivers a firm, quick recoil impulse that rewards a deliberate grip.

What to know before buyingCommon questions

Before you buy

What to know about .40 S&W

What people buy it for

  • Duty and agency carry
  • Concealed carry in a service-size pistol
  • Range practice on a trade-in pistol bought cheaply
  • USPSA Limited and Limited 10 major power factor

165 and 180 grain are the two you will actually see

180gr is the traditional weight and gives a heavier, slower push; 165gr is a little faster and, to most shooters, a little sharper. 155gr exists and is faster still. None of the three is wrong, but they land differently on target from fixed sights and they feel quite different under a timer, so buy small quantities of each before committing to a case.

Recoil is the reason it lost, not performance

The move back to 9mm in duty use was driven by capacity, cost, and how much faster most people shoot a 9mm accurately, not by any discovery that .40 underperformed. If you shoot it well and the ammunition budget works, it remains a completely capable cartridge. If you find yourself flinching, that is worth more than any ballistic chart.

A .357 SIG barrel is often a drop-in away

.357 SIG is the .40 S&W case necked down to take a .355" bullet, so a great many .40 pistols convert with nothing more than a barrel swap and, usually, the same magazines. It is a genuinely useful piece of flexibility if you already own the pistol, and a reason to check whether a bargain .40 is also a bargain .357 SIG.

Reloads and lead deserve extra care

.40 runs at high pressure in a case with relatively thin walls, and some older pistol designs support the case head less fully than current ones. Factory ammunition from a reputable maker is not a concern. Unknown-provenance remanufactured ammunition and heavy cast-lead loads in an older gun are where people get into trouble; if in doubt, shoot jacketed factory ammunition.

Questions

Common questions

Can I fire .40 S&W in a 10mm pistol, or 10mm in a .40?

No, in both directions. They share a bullet diameter but the 10mm Auto case is longer and loaded to higher pressure. A 10mm cartridge will not chamber in a .40, and a .40 cartridge in a 10mm chamber has nothing to headspace against. Some pistols convert between the two with a barrel and magazine change, but the ammunition is never interchangeable.

Why did police departments move away from .40 S&W?

Modern 9mm duty loads narrowed the terminal performance gap enough that the remaining differences favoured 9mm: more rounds in the magazine, cheaper training ammunition, less recoil and therefore faster accurate follow-up shots across a whole department. That is an institutional calculation about averages. It says very little about whether .40 is the right cartridge for one shooter who shoots it well.

Is 165gr or 180gr better?

Neither, categorically. 180gr is the original loading and pushes; 165gr is quicker and snappier. Both are made in excellent defensive and practice versions. The one that matters is the one that shoots to your sights and that you can control on a second shot, which is a range question, not a chart question.

Can I convert my .40 to .357 SIG or 9mm?

.357 SIG is usually just a barrel change, because it is the same case necked down and the magazines generally feed it. 9mm is a bigger job (different breech face and extractor geometry on most designs) and typically needs a conversion barrel plus dedicated magazines, if the manufacturer supports it at all. Check what the maker of your specific pistol says before buying parts.

How much does .40 S&W cost per round?

.40 S&W runs from $0.35 to $2.34 per round in stock right now. Every price on the page carries its cost per round beside it, so the comparison is one glance rather than arithmetic.

Is it cheaper to buy .40 S&W by the case?

Usually, yes. We stock .40 S&W from 10 rounds up to 1,000, and the cost per round beside each price is what shows whether a particular case actually beats the box. It is not automatic: a discounted box sometimes wins.

Which brands of .40 S&W do you stock?

Barnes, CCI, DoubleTap, Federal, G2 Research, Hornady, Liberty Ammunition, Underwood and Winchester are in stock in .40 S&W today. Stock changes as the feed runs, so the list on the page is the current one.

What bullet weights does .40 S&W come in?

The .40 S&W in stock runs 60, 88, 122, 140, 165, 175, 180, 190, 200 grain. Weight changes how the round feels and where it prints more than most shooters expect, so it is worth matching what you already shoot.

Is .40 S&W in stock?

21 of the 24 .40 S&W products we list are in stock right now. Out of stock items stay on the page rather than disappearing, so a link you saved still works and you can see what normally sits here.

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