“Caliber confused”

[Mark W.]

I got .22 .25 .30 .380 .38 9mm .44 .45 handguns single action double action semi auto even cap and ball. At the maybe 8ft away I might use them for self defense they will all keel you. My only deal with handgun calibers is I don't have enough of them.

 

[Member 3687]

I like many here had a verity of handguns in many different calibers but converted for the most part to 9mm for everything years back.

Why you may ask, well it was because every time I went to the range it seemed I only had a box or two of each caliber at any one time as there was to many types to buy. (22lr,25acp,32acp,380acp,9mm,357sig,38special,357mag,45acp,44special,44mag and yes, I had guns in each of these)

Now I just buy a case of 9 and shoot all the different handguns/PCC's I have and also during an "apocalypse" NATO uses 9mm so got a better chance of finding ammo (LOL).

I do have a few 22lr rifles/pistols and my main rifle calibers are 5.56/7.62x39 these are for the same reason buy one case and shoot many guns.

Yes, I still have a couple odd balls in 32/380acp but more collector items than shooters.

I am old and do not drink or smoke so I buy guns, I mean we all have addictions of some kind mine just happens to be guns.

With the modern home defense ammo for the 9mm it is hard to beat penetration and magazine round count but the true reason to run 9mm is it rubs the 45 guys raw…..LOL

In reality as others have already said the main trick is practice, practice, practice with whatever caliber you chose, it just so happens mine like yours is 9mm.

 

[tac]

I am old and do not drink or smoke so I buy guns...'

Juist as I would, if I could.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Sometimes folks new to muzzle loaders get "caliber confused".
As in :
A new shooter buys a .54 caliber rifle , with this rifle you would want to use a :
.526 round ball
.528 round ball
.530 round ball
Or a .535 round ball.

Also most antique guns were marked as "balls to the pound" , not caliber.
So a .54 caliber rifle would be about 32 balls to the pound and could be listed "32" in a ledger book or the mold marked as "32".

Also something to consider here is just what patch size to use.
Patches come in .05 - .20 in size.
In theory the thicker the patch the more "accurate" your shot will be for various reasons.
( Which is indeed the case , for many , not all , but many firearms )
In reality , the thicker the patch , the more difficult it will be to start your round ball down the bore.
In the days when all there was , were muzzle loading firearms , the patch and ball combos were much looser than what is commonly used today.

You would want to try several different sizes of patch and ball combinations to see what loads the best and shoots the best for you.
Please note that :
What loads the best or easiest , may not be the same as what shoots the best...
And...
A .530 round ball ( or any size for that matter ) from one company or round ball mold , may not be quite the same size as from another company or mold...the same with patches.

So "caliber confusion" is nothing new....
Andy

 

[belshawelk]

I ended the confusion and just a carry a 10mm. Extra dead bad guys works for me.

 

[bbbass]

I'm bi-plus caliber.
Or belonging to the "BPC" community , if you prefer.

Me too, I carried and used both 9mm and .45ACP, but thanx to Uncle Arthur I can no longer stroke my .45... but at least I've never been as confused as those .40 owners that try to be both at the same time, while secretly wishing they could handle a real gun, 10mm!!!

 

[bbbass]

The .357 magnum is the "gold standard" handgun chambering if you don't trust your fellow man, everything else is just a compromise. I don't think it ever lost its reputation as the best one shot show stopper, back in the day it was the famous Remington 125gr semi jacketed hollow point that was hard to top. Here are some in the 140gr flavor.

Too "common". The very elite .41Mag is much better!!!

 

[bbbass]

Kind of like referring to clips and magazines as the same.

A "magazine" is the area of a ship where the powder and shells are stored, and easily translates to small arms. A "clip" is something a woman uses to hold her hair in place, or an engineer has to hold his pens in the pocket protector.

 

[wollzy]

Geez...no love for 10mm in here

 

[oremike]

I'm poly caliber and just like the Mormons, have to work hard to keep them all happy.

 

[DirectDrive]

I remember those days. Same rifles, even. They didn't say 30 Caliber, they said 7.62mm on the receiver heels. Only I didn't have R. Lee Ermey, I had PSG Seacrest. But just as big of a ball-buster. We had five platoons in my BCT company. Four of them had young, short-timer drill sergeants. I got the remaining platoon with a hard-core lifer. CIB worn over the left pocket with two stars = combat infantryman in three wars. We were out running every morning in the dark before the other platoons were even awake. And last in the breakfast chow line.

That movie, "Full Metal Jacket," the first half I felt was very realistic at least in my own experience of army recruit life. Even the weird stuff, like the guy putting the muzzle of an M14 in his mouth and pulling the trigger, certainly not an impossibility. BCT is the first stop in the army; not all the misfits have yet been weeded out. It's a process. We had lots of guys wash out of my BCT company for all kinds of reasons.

The second half of the movie, highly ficticious and I never watched it a second time.

I have a friend that was in the Marines from '61-'64
His Drill Instructor told the recruits the following....
"The enemy uses the same ammo we use, so if you find some of their ammo, you can use it."
7.62x39 is a little different than 7.62x51

Rick swears to this day that that was what they were told.
There's some real caliber confusion....er, um cartridge confusion.

 

[CLT65]

Sometimes folks new to muzzle loaders get "caliber confused".
As in :
A new shooter buys a .54 caliber rifle , with this rifle you would want to use a :
.526 round ball
.528 round ball
.530 round ball
Or a .535 round ball.

Also most antique guns were marked as "balls to the pound" , not caliber.
So a .54 caliber rifle would be about 32 balls to the pound and could be listed "32" in a ledger book or the mold marked as "32".

Also something to consider here is just what patch size to use.
Patches come in .05 - .20 in size.
In theory the thicker the patch the more "accurate" your shot will be for various reasons.
( Which is indeed the case , for many , not all , but many firearms )
In reality , the thicker the patch , the more difficult it will be to start your round ball down the bore.
In the days when all there was , were muzzle loading firearms , the patch and ball combos were much looser than what is commonly used today.

You would want to try several different sizes of patch and ball combinations to see what loads the best and shoots the best for you.
Please note that :
What loads the best or easiest , may not be the same as what shoots the best...
And...
A .530 round ball ( or any size for that matter ) from one company or round ball mold , may not be quite the same size as from another company or mold...the same with patches.

So "caliber confusion" is nothing new....
Andy

I'll give an example of the worst caliber confusion I ever had. I'm not a black powder expert but I do have several 36 and 44 caliber cap-and-ball revolvers and a 45 caliber flintlock. I cast round balls for all of them.

I had visitors a couple years ago, from out of the country no less (relatives from Switzerland). They wanted to go to the range. We had a very enjoyable afternoon, with the exception of trying to shoot the 1851 Colt 44 revolver. I had inadvertently brought the .44" bullets that are for the 45 caliber rifle, instead of the .45" bullets that the 44 caliber revolver needs.

Yes, a 44 cap-and-ball revolver takes .45" bullets because you need a force fit into the chambers, then the bullet gets swaged down in the 44 caliber barrel. The 45 caliber flintlock rifle needs a .44" bullet, because it gets wrapped in a wad as you ram it down the 45 caliber barrel. Very confusing to a beginner.

 

[Spitpatch]

We have to discipline ourselves to use the correct terms. I like the word "chambering" for a specific round for a firearm.

Another thing, you don't use ".30 caliber," it's, "30 caliber" if you're going to include the word. Without the word, you simply use the decimal, ".30"

Some people don't know that "caliber" is defined as 1/100th of an inch. The decimal tells you it's 30/100ths, so you don't need the decimal and the word caliber together. ".30 caliber" would be 3/1000th of an inch, technically.

These things seem picky, but if we are going to sound halfway knowledgeable, it's good to get them straight.

Such is the bastion of the prescriptive theory of language.

My favorite example of why this doesn't always work is,

"I'm looking for a magazine to go with my Marlin Model 62".

You produce a "thingy that holds the bullets". Which requires me to clarify and say, "No, I already have a clip. I want the American Rifleman issue of (insert date here) that featured a review of the gun."

We DON'T have to "discipline ourselves". Doing so occasionally gets in the way of what we do have to do: deliver our message.

And that is the essence of the descriptive theory of language. I prefer a shifting mix of both theories in order that the message is delivered and understood.

Postscript: Quite possibly the greatest obstruction to communicating solid information to novices comes from persons trying to "sound knowledgeable".

 

[CLT65]

Then you'll have someone ask "is that old Marlin twenty-two a clip, or tube fed?"

If you're a purist, you'll say, "It's a magazine fed!"

To which they'll answer, "Yes, but which kind of magazine, clip or tube?"

To which you'll reply, "It takes a detachable box magazine. I don't know of any Marlin .22s that use 'clips'."

At this point he'll shake his head at your condescending snarkiness, and walk away.

Not everyone who uses the "wrong" terminology is an ignorant liberal or newbie. Often it's just a regional or generational thing.

 

[CLT65]

I'm poly caliber and just like the Mormons, have to work hard to keep them all happy.

I'm like you, Mike; I like them all! Cartridges, that is, I'm happily married to one wife.

I realize it's not terribly practical, in a purely practical sense, but it's my hobby. I really enjoy getting a gun in a new caliber (or chambering if you will). Of course then it means new dies, brass, maybe molds, load workup, etc..

 

[Certaindeaf]

I just thank the jesus they're not calibre confused because then I'd have to learn them about the fundamentals of throat punching.
probably

 

[1775usmc]

I have a friend that was in the Marines from '61-'64
His Drill Instructor told the recruits the following....
"The enemy uses the same ammo we use, so if you find some of their ammo, you can use it."
7.62x39 is a little different than 7.62x51

Rick swears to this day that that was what they were told.
There's some real caliber confusion....er, um cartridge confusion.

Well that drill instructor may have just been an idiot.... haha. You would be amazed at what you see a "rifleman" do. "Every Marine is a rifleman" is a lie.

 

[RyanG90]

I think the confusion comes when you start carrying your 10.5" AR as your carry gun

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Imo ability to shoot quickly, accurately, and confidently in a high stress situation is most important. And as Reno said above, if the gun is not with you then caliber is completely irrelevant. Whatever caliber u can do that with, use that (probably with the exception of most mouse caliber guns).

 

[mhayd93]

Imo ability to shoot quickly, accurately, and confidently in a high stress situation is most important. And as Reno said above, if the gun is not with you then caliber is completely irrelevant. Whatever caliber u can do that with, use that (probably with the exception of most mouse caliber guns).

Unless of course, that mouse caliber is what you are most confident and effective with!