This means that we will explain about calibers and how they function, and then will provide some recommendations for you.
You might be surprised at how little you know about this often used term. Through this article, we plan to give you a comprehensive guide on understanding caliber, so that you can make the best decision for yourself in regard to purchasing a gun for yourself. The key is to look at your own needs, and to match them with a choice in our guide. I can agree with the first definition, but being a firearms enthusiast, I think the second one has some inaccuracies. Think semi-auto handguns, rifles and shotguns.
The chamber and the barrel of any of these guns are formed from the same piece of steel , but the chamber has a different measurement compared to that of the bore.
So again, The Cambridge Dictionary is inaccurate. To flesh out all the details, I created a table that lists all of the most common and not-so-common handgun calibers and all pertinent info about them:. It helps to look at the category of calibers based on their intended use because it allows you to visualize it based on how you want to use the gun. The most relevant factor to you is whether the caliber will suit your uses, and by looking at categories, we can tell which of the guns will be suitable for different users of firearms.
Handgun calibers for hunting will be further divided into three sub-categories: varmint, medium game, and large game. I was initially going to include other metrics like stopping power for self defense rounds , one-hit-kill potential for hunting rounds , accuracy, terminal performance and recoil to compare all listed handgun calibers against each other but decided against it because of the following reasons:.
Suffice it to say not every target hit by a specific bullet center of mass will react the same way : humans have different stature and varying levels of willpower, and bad guys high on meth, regardless of physiological and psychological limitations, will be even harder to take down.
Game animals on the other hand, well there are just too many species to compare. We will not be covering that topic in this analysis. Theoretically, anyone can place well-aimed heart and head shots in their target given ample time and practice.
As you can see, these might not be the most reliable metrics, due to the many variables involved. It is really best to focus on the individual power of each gun, as that is more of a constant thing. Focusing exclusively on stopping power will yield too many variables to have a reliable metric. Some bullet shapes and designs have a higher ballistic coefficient, making them much more accurate than others. The type of sights on a firearm also have a direct influence on accuracy.
Reflex sights and red dot sights are great for faster target acquisition but are expensive. Scopes are real accurate for long range shots but rendered useless for bullets with poor ballistic coefficient. Almost all handguns and revolvers come with either adjustable or fixed iron sights. Whether or not these sights are zeroed properly will greatly affect accuracy as well.
And lastly, barrel rifling stabilizes a bullet by making it spin as it exits the barrel. Not to complicate this topic, but there are two types of barrel rifling — lands-and-grooves and polygonal, and the number of rifling grooves in the case of the former or rifling surfaces in the case of the latter affects how fast a bullet would spin , thereby also affecting accuracy.
Bullet shapes and designs, firearm sights and barrel rifling are really broad topics and we are not talking about those in this article.
Ergo accuracy as a metric will not be used. As you can see, many things will effect an accuracy besides just common calibers of guns. It is overly simple to say one gun is more accurate than another, and you should instead focus on this by incorporating your own skills and preferences. Terminal performance is largely determined by two things: muzzle energy which is a function of bullet weight, powder charge and barrel length and bullet design a function of price.
A Lehigh Defense Xtreme Penetrator. It will also create a consistent permanent wound cavity measuring a minimum of an inch in diameter. Yet with a fluted bullet design it can go toe to toe against its bigger brother , the 9mm FMJ and even surpass the. But I digress. As far as terminal performance is concerned, when comparing handgun calibers within the same category, bullet design trumps muzzle energy.
And there are simply a lot of popular bullet designs out there which is a topic for another day. Since this article is about handgun calibers, we will not be talking about bullet designs , which is why we are not using terminal performance as a metric. Recoil depends on a few variables , two of which are outside the scope of this analysis: the weight of the handgun polymer handguns will have more recoil compared to all-steel semi-autos and revolvers and the platform design an all-steel semi-auto will always have less felt recoil compared to an all-steel revolver of the same size by virtue of the recoil spring within its slide assembly.
It will push a grain bullet to fps and generate foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle. Check availability here. Most of the really powerful handgun cartridges are housed in revolvers, but the 50 Action Express AE is an exception.
It will push a grain bullet out of the barrel of a Magnum Research Desert Eagle at fps and generate almost as much muzzle energy as the. However, from a pressure standpoint, the 50 AE is not that powerful.
Still, with a power factor of , the 50 AE is likely the most powerful handgun cartridge you can get in a semi-automatic pistol. You knew this one was on the list, but you probably thought it was a lot more powerful than it really is. After all, Harry Callahan said so , right? With one of its most powerful loads, the. It has even proven to be enough for African buffalo. Interestingly, many consider full-power.
However, from the standpoint of energy generated in relation to pressure, the. Well, to make this list, a cartridge has to generate a lot of pressure and the. Maximum loads will peak out at an amazing 45, psi. All that pressure is what is required to push the small 0. Though unimpressive when compared to the other cartridges on this list, the.
Based on the pressure generated, this is not a very efficient cartridge. The Ruger fires a 0. Considering it only generates 48, psi, with a power factor of , it is very efficient. Differences between the two are small but can have a large impact on performance, safety and weapon function. The first difference is the higher pressure level of the 5.
A Remington is loaded to approximately 55, psi. The second and most important difference between the two is the fact that a 5. This allows approximately one more grain of powder to be loaded into a 5.
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