Can you easily distinguish between most 9x19 and .40 cal. ammo rds.?

[Ignition Override]

Thank you. With identical bullets it's impossible between my .380 and 9x18 Mak. My eyes need glasses to read head stamps unless the light is bright.
Having glasses available can be the main issue here.

Both the superb, used CZ PO1 compact (9mm) and superb, used Sig 229 (.40 S&W, DA/SA) are Very new to me. Never owned these chamberings before and very seldom shot these 'calibers'. Began owning handguns in 2015.

Luckily my Tula .40 S&W has bimetal silver cases and silver flat bullets.
In contrast, both Monarch and Tula 9 mm have the green lacquered cases and typical rounded, copper fmj bullets.

 

[tipoc]

Loose ammo: Without trying to read the headstamps?

Sure it might be a dumb question, but some of us will end up with plenty of loose rounds in those plastic tool boxes which hold gun gear. One or two of us are equally new to both chamberings.

My 40 brass appears just a mm or so longer than my 9mm, when both rounds are available for comparison. I have no idea what most bullets' lengths are like, but just ordered 1,000 Tula for each type. Maybe the bullets (the projectiles-not the steel cases) don't resemble each other.

Yes I can.

But why do you ask? Also why do you say you don't know what most bullet lengths are like? If you don't know why not?

 

[Panzerschwein]

Yeah I can, especially since .40 is oft loaded with truncateds.

 

[doubleh]

Kinda the same as picking out the 1/4-20s from a bucket of bolts at work. After you work with stuff for awhile, you become familiar and the different items stand apart.

Yes, you do. Same as looking at a bolt and knowing what sized wrench it takes. The wrench thing has gotten harder for me with all the metric stuff now and not using wrenches very often anymore.

When my oldest GG daughter was about 6 years old she was helping me sort some range brass that consisted mostly of 9 mm, 40, and 45 ACP. She told me she would do the big ol' fat ones and I could do the rest. She can do them all now and knows the name of each.

 

[Ignition Override]

tipoc: my only prev. handguns were WW2 Sauer (.32 Auto) and commercial + military Makarov: .380 and 9x18.
The fact that .40 bullets are all flat nose was a complete surprise, as I don't randomly open ammo boxes at Academy.

It appears that the flat nose .40 S&W bullets are required for better feeding and this also allows more mass for a given length.

 

[Jim NE]

Many years ago I complained on the High Road that some of my spent 9mm casings from the range had expanded during shooting to an alarming size. Someone on the forum said, "um...could those be .40 casings??" So I checked. Oops.

 

[Riomouse911]

Like the earlier posts stated, with time and experience it becomes easy.

 

[tipoc]

tipoc: my only prev. handguns were WW2 Sauer (.32 Auto) and commercial + military Makarov: .380 and 9x18.
The fact that .40 bullets are all flat nose was a complete surprise, as I don't randomly open ammo boxes at Academy.

It appears that the flat nose .40 S&W bullets are required for better feeding and this also allows more mass for a given length.

Some are not flat nosed. You can see that by perusing this link...

https://www.midwayusa.com/s?targetLocation=/_/N-21804?No=24&Np=2&Nr=AND%28p_visible%3A1%2Ccustomertypeid%3A1%29&Nrpp=24&Ns=p_metric_sales_velocity%7C1&Ntpc=1&Ntpr=1&userItemsPerPage=48&persistedItemsPerPage=0

The OAL of the 40 S&W is 1.135". (the 9mm 1.169") You're right to look at the O.A.L. and the weight of the bullet as a reason for the preference for the truncated cone shape of the bullets. But, It's also the case that the 40 S&W did not begin it's career as a military round. It began as a law enforcement round and a JHP bullet. That is why the prevalence of the truncated cone over the ball round, even in plinking ammo. It became custom. There is no physical reason that we don't see ball ammo in the light weight (135 gr., 155 gr.) bullets for the 40 S&W. At least that's my take on it.

Look at ammo online. A reloading catalog and websites will show you available bullet shapes, weights etc. for given rounds.

Then experience.

 

[Jonesy814]

While sorting to reload, I can easily tell 40 from 9mm. Sorting 380 and 9mm is a little harder. I have gotten to where I can usually tell a 38 special from a 357 just by the weight difference when I pick them up.