My shop brought in the 40 S&W c. 1994, adding it to the 9mm and 45 ACP that had been added in 1987. Our carry load was the W-W Ranger SXT 180 grain JHP, which is now sold as the WWB JHP 180 grain load. We used the less expensive WWB 180 grain FMJ as training ammo. The ballistics of all three of these loads is practically identical--they run at ~975 FPS from the Beretta 96, around 940-950 FPS from the CZ-75B, and 915-925 FPS from the Glock 23. Most of the makers' offerings run their 180 grain loads in the 950 FPS ballpark from 4.2"-4.5" barrels.
Recoil from the 40 S&W is a bit snappier than that of the 9mm or the 45 ACP. It is not uncomfortable, but a bit more than shooters of the 2 older calibers are accustomed to. My view, as one of the guys that trained folks how to shoot it and also examined the street results of its deployment and projection--the 40 S&W is the equal of the 45 ACP in terms of shutting down exchanges of finality, and most of the platforms so chambered hold more rounds than do 45 ACP pistols of similar size. The CZ-75B is all-steel, and the extra heft helps tame the recoil just a bit more than my compensated Glock 22C. I have shot a LOT of 40 S&W pistols, and have owned 6 of them--3 are still with me. The CZ-75B is the most accurate 40 S&W I have ever fired, by a significant margin. Its ergonomics suit me well, its heft soaks up recoil nicely.
My factory-load duplicator uses W-W brass and either WSP or CCI 500 primers, 4.7 grains of WW-231 powder, and the Lee 40-175-TC bullet is seated with .020" of its front drive band exposed above the case mouth. Alloy is 92/6/2, lube is Alox/BW in the bullet's conventional lube groove. These run about 950-960 FPS from the CZ-75B.
The 40 S&W is a mid-point in reloading effort that splits the difference between the extreme user-friendliness of the 45 ACP with the crankiness of the 9mm.