Poll: Only 1 Handgun Caliber

[The Courier]

I chose 357 sig just because I wanna be in the exclusive club that has the best performance out of any semi auto and I don't even have to provide evidence of such claims because government agencys carry it and they have never made mistakes...

 

[DeanMk]

Dunno the 7.65 aka .30 luger, is a cool little round. The 9MM didn't come around until '08.

Going to have to hit the books and research it a bit, the one in the video is likely a 30 luger , the zippy little round is singing along at 1300fps, suitable for close range game. I thought the pistol 1908 (P 08) was the advent of the 9.

According to Wiki, DWM first introduced the round in 1902.
Both the early Lugers and the early Broomhandle Mausers were chambered in 7.65.
I remember hearing/reading that the 9mm variation solved an intermittent feed problem that plagued the 7.65 round and probably why it eventually passed the smaller caliber as the popular choice.
Love it or hate it, you gotta admit, it's a dam popular round.
You could almost think of it as the European .38 Special, because it is so popular.


Dean

 

[Kruel J]

Ah. Gotcha

 

[JRuby]

Those are cartridges a caliber is .357 or .429.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

I choose .45 acp ... 'Cause it is the caliber of the handgun I shoot the best.
To answer the question of "Which caliber?..."
I'd say choose the caliber and gun combo you shoot best with and which one you can carry the most comfortably.
The only good caliber or gun for you is the one you can hit with.
Which may not necessarily be the one I like or someone else's favorite.
Andy

 

[Certaindeaf]

According to Wiki, DWM first introduced the round in 1902.
Both the early Lugers and the early Broomhandle Mausers were chambered in 7.65.
I remember hearing/reading that the 9mm variation solved an intermittent feed problem that plagued the 7.65 round and probably why it eventually passed the smaller caliber as the popular choice.
Love it or hate it, you gotta admit, it's a dam popular round.
You could almost think of it as the European .38 Special, because it is so popular.


Dean

I don't know about that.. I think it's pretty much conceded that the .30 Luger is probably the most reliable mechanically functioning cartridge ever designed.

 

[Pete F]

I had to go with the 9mm. Yes, it is kinda boring and won't get anyone's attention at the range, but I have a secret weapon. Pop the slide off, change the barrel, spring and mag and viola - the .41 Action Express. MORE POWER than the .40 and the same rim as a 9mm. I can shoot a 210 grain bullet at 950 fps and a 170 grain at around 1150 fps. These are near the max and I rarely push them quite that high. They will get attention after plinking with 9mm out of the same gun.

 

[coop44]

Yeah we all know Wikipedia never gets it wrong

 

[American123]

10mm for the win. Down load it to a screaming 135 grain and its a super hot 9mm, upload it to a 200 grain and make it a .45 with more mag capacity. Leave it the way it is and it does .40 cal and more easily. It's the "30" cal in pistol reloading, in terms of variety of loads that can be accomplished. 30 cal has the widest range of bullet weights for reloading.

 

[Flymph]

It's good to know what will penetrate steel plate, when skynet has the robots attack us we will be prepared.

Well, a .22lr did that pretty well compared to a .38 special when my uncle showed me... is that what you're referring to?

 

[Flymph]

All this whining about revolvers and nobody mentions 7.63... WHAT HAPPENED TO 30 MAUSER!!! BROOM HANDLES NO LONGER USEFUL!

 

[Brutus57]

Revolvers are hog legs, everyone knows that.

Brutus Out

 

[Tully Mars]

It would be the 10mm for me. If there were only one calibre, the price would be cheaper than it is now. I would build a double stack 10 in a 1911. .45ACP is a close second.

 

[coop44]

After some thought I came to the conclusion that caliber and capacity doesn't matter as much as training to be accurate.
Any scenario I see myself in would involve an urban setting and a single shooter, not a band of ninjas or zombie horde.
It would resolve itself in just a few rounds or less. Of course additional capacity is a comfort, just in case.

 

[PDXSparky]

9mm because it's what most of my fun guns shoot. Only 1 fun gun shoots .45acp and I can convert that to 9mm.

 

[Connor Murphy]

After some thought I came to the conclusion that caliber and capacity doesn't matter as much as training to be accurate.
Any scenario I see myself in would involve an urban setting and a single shooter, not a band of ninjas or zombie horde.
It would resolve itself in just a few rounds or less. Of course additional capacity is a comfort, just in case.

Don't be so quick to discount the band of ninjas scenario because a true boy scout is prepared for every single possibility.

 

[Bill in fl]

I don't know about that.. I think it's pretty much conceded that the .30 Luger is probably the most reliable mechanically functioning cartridge ever designed.

I agree. A bottle neck semi auto pistol cartridge like the .30 Luger or the 7.62x25 Tokarev (same dimensions as .30 Luger but loaded hotter so not safe to shoot in old Lugers or broomhandles), are less prone to hang up on the breech because the front of the cartridge case and its projectile is smaller in diameter than the opening of the breech. Thus it easily funnels in and almost never hangs a projectile nose on the edge of the breech. Also the velocity of the .30 Luger and 7.62x25 cartridges are very good for penetration. The Germans found this out at Stalingrad when they noticed their 9mm rounds sometimes did not adequately penetrate the heavy wool coats and heavy insulated Soviet clothing, which made many Germans choose captured Soviet Tokarevs firing 7.62x25 which would. I have a friend who had a friend who wanted to test his bulletproof vest to see what it would withstand. My friend brought it over to me and we attached the vest around a heavy gauge, orange, 5 gallon, plastic bucket filled with water. It was one of those very thick walled Hooters orange buckets, not the usual thin walled paint bucket.

We fired just about every common handgun cartridge into it. .25 acp, .380 acp, 9mm parabellum, .38 special, .357 magnum, .44 magnum, .45 acp, .22 long rifle, .22 magnum, .32 acp.....and none of them penetrated. The .357 and .44 magnums left a dent in the plastic bucket but no penetration on anything.

Next I broke out my 7.62x25 Tokarev and Czechoslovakian CZ52 of the same caliber. Not only did the 7.62x25 cartridge penetrate the vest, but the very first shot penetrated the front of the vest, through the first layer of the bucket, through the water, through the other side of the bucket, through the back of the vest and finally was caught by the kevlar in the middle back of the vest where we didn't dig it out of the back of the vest. All the rest of the Tokarev and CZ52 cartridges did the same. We were quite surprised at the astounding penetration and how the vest was totally useless against the FMJ, copper jacketed, steel core, 7.62x25 Tokarev pistol cartridge. So was my friend's friend when my friend later related our experiment to him and showed him his vest.

So much for that vest being "bulletproof" to the 7.62x25 pistol cartridge which is dimensionally the same as the .30 Luger but just loaded hotter. The 7.62x25 Tokarev FMJ copper jacketed projectile does not flatten nor deform much at all and approaches .357 magnum velocities in a .30 caliber projectile. Think about that a minute. It sliced through that "bulletproof" vest like it was a hot knife through butter. (Note: no trauma plate in the vest, just Kevlar that stopped all the other cartridges that didn't even scratch the vest nor leave a mark of any kind on the vest). Want penetration? Get the .30 Luger or 7.62x25 Tokarev cartridges that are copper FMJ and steel core.

 

[Bill in fl]

All this whining about revolvers and nobody mentions 7.63... WHAT HAPPENED TO 30 MAUSER!!! BROOM HANDLES NO LONGER USEFUL!

Flymph, the .30 Mauser/Luger still exists and can be bought, but it's not common anymore. Also it turned into the 7.62x25 Tokarev cartridge. Which is dimentionally the same case and projectile, just loaded hotter and not safe to use in the old Lugers. Broomhandles, Borchardt's and Bergman's etc. But even though the 7.62x25 Tokarev cartridge is hotter than the old .30 Luger, the old .30 Luger is nothing to scoff at on velocity neither. Both have vastly greater velocity and penetration than the 9mm parabellum (9x19). I've got a Tokarev and a CZ52 both in 7.62x25, and they are EXCELLENT in velocity and penetration and will penetrate a bulletproof vest with no problem (I've done it). But the one handgun I've always wanted and still haven't got yet is the old Broomhandle in .30 Luger. Hope to snag one of those one day. The Chinese loved the Broomhandle and used it up into the 1950's and in some police cases beyond even that time. The nice thing about the broomhandles using .30 Luger, is the cartridges front and projectile being smaller in diameter than the breech, almost never hang a projectile nose on the edge of the breech causing a jam. Also the barrel does not move in relation to the bolt like it does in most Browning style handguns, which increases accuracy (just as it does in a revolver with a non moving barrel). A broomhandle Mauser C96 in either the "Bolo" or normal configuration, firing .30 Luger is nothing to scoff at even today. Very accurate, very high velocity, very deadly. Imagine a .30 caliber handgun cartridge approaching .357 velocities. Then imagine it being copper FMJ with a steel core and not deforming. I'd love to have one and download 7.62x25 cartridges and projectiles to use in it.

 

[41mag]

appreciate the discussion above;
wonder how such as the 32/20; 32/40; 38/40; 44/40 etc would compare?

The lower velocity lead pistol loads were used in SASS matches.

 

[Flymph]

I wouldn't doubt it.
I'm not particularly familiar nor fancy Russian arms, but I suppose it would be effective given it's inception.
I like them for a host of reasons, one being it can become a carbine if so desired. It's also just the coolest gun ever made. Just wish I could get a modern reproduction at an affordable price.