best handgun (pistol) caliber.

Just to get the required characters to complete my post, I'd like to add I started with 44mag and the rest of you guys are sissies........:D


:cool: I started with 45ACP:shotgun: but guess what. My next gun was 22lr. And guess what? I bought CO2 pellet gun right next to it.
 
Gotta be .45 Cal., if you like semis it's the .45 Auto, Cowboy Action? .45 Colt....Hunting or long range work? .454 Casull or .460 S&W...all are accurate,inexpensive to load for, all the knockdown you need.
 
45acp! I bore way to easily for 22, especially in a handgun. I'll admit, someone who takes a bulk pack of 22lr out everytime they go, will probably shoot more accurately than myself. But I shoot a glock, as long as I can hit a playing card at 20 feet, I'm pretty happy. I honestly don't notice any appreciable recoil, I'm back on target almost as fast as I can pull the trigger again. It's a little bit of a pricy calibre, but that's why I reload and shoot twice as much.
 
Yeah, the MkIII safety "advances".... They make the strip and assembly so much like a square dance...

"You put the muzzle up, and eject the mag right out;
You put the muzzle down, and you shake it all about".

Pain in the ass!! Frickin' lawyers at Ruger!

That said, yes, I agree most whole-heartedly: I can rip through 300 rounds with the .22, have fun, improve my technique, not be dazed by recoil or muzzle blast, have money left over to buy lunch with the lads after the range trip, and clean the wee pistol in about 20 minutes flat.

The .45, on the other hand, is my "real" pistol, but even with reloads.... 200 rounds is pushing $75 in ammo. Having just recently become a homeowner on the west coast, I need to consider paying for the roof over my head, instead of weekly range trips of $100 value.

YMMV,

Neal
 
if you REALLY want to find out how good you are, get a small framed 22- like a jennings , one of the berettas, or something with a SHORT barrel- IT'S A humbling experience- chances are you're not near as good as you THOUGHT you were

I learned on a 9mm prohib with a 12-14 lb double action only trigger. It's humbling all right, but fortunately I had never fired anything before so that's all I knew. It sure makes firing anything else easy afterwards. :D
A target pistol it's not. But if I do my job it still shoots fine. It doesn't really matter how good you think you are. There is always someone else that is a hell of a lot better.

J/K. One trick I learned playing floor hockey. If you think you're going to get shown up really bad, you have to prep the stage before you start playing. IE that sore ankle knee etc. Mention it a bunch of times before the game. That way when the Shelacking comes you have your excuse already in place. :) It's much better than trying to come up with that afterwards :) like the rookies. I don't know what the equivalent is with shooting, but I'm sure there is one.

You put the muzzle up, and eject the mag right out;
You put the muzzle down, and you shake it all about".

Hahha, the MKIII Hokey, Pokey. Good one. Ya the first few times it took me forever to get the thing back together. Now it's pretty good.
 
Last edited:
I would have to say .22lr. We can only use pistols for shooting paper so why pay triple the cost for a bigger bang and a little bigger hole in the paper? Only makes sense that everyone just shoots 22's. Now having said that I also own 9mm's,40,45 and a 500 s&w so i Just like the big bang too. :D
 
45acp is easy to shoot, accurate, lots of fun, definately my first choice but to pricey.
9mm is a good compromise, a little snappy to shoot but accurate, available just about anywhere, and factory ammo is not to expensive.
22lr is cheap but will bore you to tears in no time.
Make mine a nine.
 
Favorite caliber .41 Magnum (best overall ballistics and I like oddball calibers) best caliber?

.44 Magnum because you can shoot .44 Magnum, .44 Special and .44 Russian in the same gun giving you unrivaled versatility.
 
If you are going to be shooting lots .22 is where you should start. Not only is it cheap but the little amount of felt recoil lets you get the fundamentals of shooting without setting yourself up for a flinch that you'll have to train out.

If you want more for your dollar per gun Id say a nice wheel gun in .357Magnum, so you can shoot both .38 special for target shooting and .357 when you want a big bang.

Also, That video is as old as the Internet!

sorry this is old.. but can you shoot the .357mag out of a .38special?? please explain I'm dumb:)

thanks limit.
 
sorry this is old.. but can you shoot the .357mag out of a .38special?? please explain I'm dumb:)

thanks limit.
.38 Special ammo is actually .357" in diameter, i.e., the same diameter (calibre) as .357 magnum rounds. A gun designed for .357 magnum can shoot .38 special but NOT the other way around as the .357 magnum ammo is too powerful for a handgun only designed to fire .38 special. The .357 magnum round is also slightly longer (.1" I believe) than the .38 special cartridge.
 
Last edited:
They are actually the same calibre. 38 Special ammo is actually .357" in diameter, i.e., the same diameter as .357 magnum rounds. A gun designed for .357 magnum can shoot .38 special but not the other way around as the .357 magnum ammo is too powerful for a handgun only designed to fire .38 special. The .357 magnum round is also slightly longer (.1" I believe) than the .38 special cartridge.

darn! i guess i need to look at some .357's. thanks for the info:)
 
Back
Top Bottom