ATK Secures .40 Caliber Ammunition Contract with DHS, ICE

Remember, .50 cal can only be used on the squirrels equipment...

 

My sister is a LEO and she has long prefered to carry a .40 cal. Her claim is the handling ease and stopping power. She use to carry .45 ACP. I've never fired a .40 so can't speak from experience however I am very happy with my Sig .45 ACP single stack. Small enough to carry concealed and fits my hand well.

 

You do mean resistance, right?

 

.40 came about after the shootout known as the "Miami Massacre". The FBI decided they needed something heavier than 9 mm, so they tried 10 mm, which kicked too much for many of them to shoot effectively. They started down loading 10 mm to lower velocities. The .40 S&W is the 10 mm. case shortened to hold the FBI load, with a standard primer instead of a magnum primer.

.40 is easier to handle than .45.

 

They're daffy, but the DHS is dangerous and daffy:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/at...on-and-customs-enforcement-dhs-ice-2012-03-12

Which leaves every U.S. citizen gifted with even the slightest sense of self preservation asking, "Who does the DHS intend to fire 450 million hollow-point rounds at?"

 

Well, that's the question I asked in another thread, where I posted this contract info, and, hmm, let's just say the question was not well received.

 

I'm dying to know what the defense of this purchase is. We have a deficit spending problem of insane proportions. Our federal government should not be buying anything it doesn't need. What does the Department of HOMELAND Security NEED this quantity of HIGHLY LETHAL ammunition for? These aren't target rounds. Nobody in their right mind practices with ammunition this expensive and this dangerous.

Seriously: WTF?

 

Here's the thread where I first posted this:
http://www.travelunderground.org/in...nition-contract-with-dhs-ice.2523/#post-26771

 

Although we let subjects wander, diversions that are clearly off-topic get moved to their own threads.

This will be the 2nd time DHS ammo comments have been moved to their own home.

 

At the ranges and gun clubs Im a member of or shoot at 9mm & 45acp are the the prodominate calibers shot, 40 doesnt even break the top 5 as its 9mm, 45acp, .380, 22 & 38 spl. 40S&W is 7th as sig 357 is in 6th. This is based off the brass casings recovered, as I scavenge the range for brass to reload or trade in addition to my marked brass (except 22 as thats recycle only). Then rifle its mainly AR & AK brass mainly except for at one club that shoots high power/long range you get a real mixed bag but normally very little brass to be found as most of those shooters reload.

The reason the feds went away from 9mm is because they were using in my opinion underpowered rounds and they skipped/riochetted of the windshield into the 2nd & 3rd Story windows. 40S&W is a compromised round IMHO as its very snappy &speedier round for very little gain off 147gr 9mm round in terms of terminal ballistics. I reload a majority of my rounds, but even my 115gr will penetrate a windshield at 50 yds. The military use 9mm (accept the marine corp that still uses 45acp) but then again weapon selection and caliber is a different topic all together.

Mike i disagree on 40 being easier to handle then 45, but to each is there own. Ive shot both I just prefer the 45 round for stopping power.

This a government contract so you can bet anythings possible and at the highest possible cost for the lowest quaility. They went with 40 because they have decided to stick with Sig Sauer in the P226, P228 or P229 frame and 40 is the largest caliber for those frames from Sig. Dont get me wrong Sig makes a nice weapon but way over priced in my opinion.

 

Nothing of the sort. As I indicated above, read up on the Miami Massacre: http://www.thegunzone.com/11april86.html

The sidebar on the right has additional links to continue the narrative & the followup.

In the coarse of selecting a replacement round, rather than using traditional methods of selecting popular law enforcement rounds (neither the .38 nor the 9 mm. performed very well at the Miami Massacre), they developed a list of different targets (usually with a mass of gelatin resembling a soon-to-be-dead human as the final component) that the loads must penetrate.

At the point at which it ends (mid 80's) the FBI is still trying to use 10 mm Colt Delta Elites, but they eventually downloaded these to current .40 loads & the .40 S&W (a shortened 10 mm case) was developed for the loads. The .40 allows for smaller frames & actions, e.g. if you look at the Glock lineup 9mm & 40 use the smaller frames, 10mm & .45 the larger frames.

I've had both a .40 Glock & a 10 mm. Delte Elite for ~ 20 years, lots of practice reloading & shooting both.

I'd still like to know what **** they're going to do with 450 million rounds of the stuff.

 

Mike I stand corrected, completely wrong incident.

Who knows have a machine gun party...who knows