Daewoo DH40

The Daewoo DH40 is a lightweight semiautomatic pistol made in South Korea. It fires.40 S&W rounds and features a locked breech and short recoil. Its closest cousin is the Daewoo DH45, which fires .45 ACP rounds. The Daewoo DH40 can be used in single-action, double-action and fast action three firing modes. The tri-fire option is not something that users find easy to get used to at first. It is equipped with a spare 10 rounds magazine, which is not interchangeable with other magazines of its kind.

The market price ranges between $320 and $500, depending on the condition of the handgun. New units are not available since production has stopped, and the Daewoo DH40 will doubtlessly become something of a novelty based solely on that fact. The original product comes with an compartmentalized plastic carrying case. The pistol itself is about the size of a Colt Commander, though the grip is considerably wider. It has been designed for ambidextrous use and the first drawback that comes to mind is the manual safety system, which users state could do with some upgrading. It also incorporates a passive firing pin safety. It is approximately 7.4 cm long, 5.27 cm high and weighs 32 ounces in an unloaded condition. The grip and clip are reminiscent of the Beretta's.

The process of disassembling the Daewoo DH40 is exactly the same as that of the DP-51 - one pulls back on the slide until the notch aligns with the tab. After this, one pushes the pin out on the left side, causing the slide to disengage. The barrel and spring assembly is then removed.

The Daewoo DH40 features a black steel body that is fitted with a poly-finger rest and follower. The trigger pull is reportedly on the heavy side and the sights are apparently rather primitive in their design. Some users find the machining quality to be substandard. The Daewoo DH40 uses delayed blowback like the H&K P7 series handguns. There was an 11-round model, which was banned later on. This pistol is held to be a well-designed quality piece of work and it is the weapon of choice of the Korean Military. However, this fact reportedly reflects in its entire design and this is considered a big minus by some.

While it is not yet a choice collectors' item, it does enjoy a good reputation as a personal protection handgun. There is a lot of ambiguity about the Daewoo DH40s validity as a product. Parts availability is an issue and feeding of hollow-point rounds is a problem. In fact, market reports about this handgun conflict wildly. This can possibly be attributed to the fact that the users own Daewoo DH40s of varying ages, and also the differing individual preferences. Another possible reason for negative reports could be the fact that the Daewoo name has fallen into great disrepute in recent times.

The Daewoo DH40 comes from the house of Daewoo, which is a South Korean conglomerate founded in 1967 as Daewoo Industrial. It was shut down by the Korean government. Its founder, Kim Woo-Jung, was sentenced to a fine of 22 billion dollars and a ten-year jail sentence in May, 2006. The charges were fraud and embezzlement. These facts should not reflect on individual products such as handguns, but it seems that much of the disfavor that surrounds some of its handguns and even cars has something to do with these facts.

Other handguns manufactured by Daewoo included the Daewoo DAR-21 (an assault rifle that shoots 5.56 mm NATO rounds), the Daewoo DR-200 (assault rifle for 5.56 mm NATO), the Daewoo DR-300 (assault rifle for 7.62 x 39 mm) and the Daewoo K1 (compact assault rifle for 5.56 mm NATO). Other pistols manufactured by Daewoo included the Daewoo DH45 (for .45 ACP rounds), the Daewoo DP51 (for 9 x 19 mm Parabellum rounds) and the Daewoo DH380 (for 9 x 17 mm/.380 ACP rounds).