which is better handgun calibre, 45, 357,22,38,9mm?

Question

what do you mean when you say calibre? and which is better among them and why?
thanks..

just for general info. does it also stands for its size/measurement when u say 45, 22,,etc..

Answer 1

Bound's hubby here:

As most people here have said, caliber is the diameter of the projectile, and the name that follows the caliber designates the cartridge.

What caliber is better is totally dependent upon what you are looking to do.

The .22 is a winner for several reasons. Light recoil and affordable, it is a great cartridge for learning how to shoot. The .22 is a standard in 3 gun bullseye pistol matches. The .22 should not even be considered a man-stopper, even though it is an excellent small game round.

The .32 (S&W Long) which you left out, was a very accurate centerfire target round with almost no recoil. It was marginal as a manstopper and decent for small game.

The .38 Special has been around a hundred years. It is an accurate centerfire pistol round that is an adequate man-stopper (the standard in police sidearms for almost 80 years). It is generally considered the standard in centerfire pistol matches, low recoil and accurate. It is the round I recommend to anyone looking to get a handgun for self-protection. The .38 is also versatile for small-game hunting. The .38 Special is to the handgunner what the .308 is to the rifleman.

The .357 is a first-rate police round and hunting round for small to medium game. Recoil can be a problem for repeat shots. The .357 is accurate and can be used reliably as either a man-stopper or a hunting round for game up to medium sized deer.

The 9mm is a military round that has found it niche in police work ... providing lots of shots in a small package. The 9mm generally does not have the accuracy of the .38, but it can provide more shots with fewer reloads for police work ... something many departments took into consideration as they began to encounter well-armed criminals in the '70s. It is good for target shooting where high capacity can contribute to higher speed in matches such as bowling pins and steel plates.

The .45 is a very effective man-stopper, and in accurized pistols can be very accurate. However, the price to pay with the .45 is recoil. In the hands of a skilled pistol shot, nothing can beat a .45 for defense or target. The .45 ACP is not a hunting round, but it is the best friend a person can have in a hostile environment!

What is best really is dependent upon how you wish to use your handgun. The .22 is affordable and efficient. The .45 is hard to argue with!

Good luck!

Answer 2

Which is best depends on what you're doing. They're all tools, and their uses differ just as there are different sizes and shapes of hammers for different uses. Caliber (we in the US do that, you know) should be simple, but isn't quite. It correlates with the diameter of the hole through the barrel. Barrels are rifled, with wide grooves cut in them, and therefore there are two diameters: those between the lands (the uncut part) and those between the grooves. Traditionally, British calibers most often give bore diameter, between the lands, so the old SMLE rifle was thirty calibre, 0.300" between the lands, and 0.311" or so between the grooves. Americans and European calibers had a tendency to be named for the groove diameter, which is about the diameter of the bullet, with the US using inch calibers and Europe millimeters. This is not always the case, and in fact the measurement of the 357 and the 38 for interesting-only-to-gun-nuts reasons are exactly the same, .357", whereas the 9mm is .355". The 45 is .451". The difference between the 38 Special and the 357 Magnum is that the latter has a slightly longer case holding more propellant and is designed for higher working pressures, so the bullet comes out of the barrel a lot faster and hits harder when it gets where it's going.
Confused yet? Internal ballistics is a huge field, and we gun nuts can go on forever.

Answer 3

Depends on what use you are goint to get them for. Is this for personal defense, hunting, target shooting, or general plinking? Caliber refers to the diameter of the lead projectile. They are not exact, like a 38 is the exact same diameter as a .357, which in this case is .357 inch. A .22 is around.223 inch. A .45 is around .452 inches. And when you get into the mm guns, you can really get messy. For instance a 9mm is actually about .356 inch, just 1/1000 of an inch smaller than a .357. A 10mm and a .40 caliber are both .401 inch. And your third question goes back to the first, as what do you want the gun for? For instance it's hard to beat a .45 for home defense. A .357, 10mm, and 44 magnums are best for hunting with. A 9mm is pretty much of a carry or target gun, assuming you have a concealed carry licence, but a snub nosed .38 or .357 are good, too. .22 is pretty much just a target round that is extremely cheap to fire, though they can be used to hunt for squirrels, rabbits, and other small game. If you're just beginning I would say get a .22 or .38 revolver as they are the least comoplicated guns, and cheapest guns. Learn the shooting basics then you can slowly ease your way into the big boys later.

Answer 4

You can conceal any caliber these days. I have a Bersa Ultra Compact 45 that is very easy to conceal. The 45 has great stopping power. that's why so many PD's have switched to that. The 357 magnum is great. You can get it in a semi-auto or a nice little, easy to conceal revolver. There is a lot of good stuff to choose from. It all depends on what you need it for, and how good you can shoot in a high stress situation. 1 hit with a 45 is as good as 3 from a 9mm. BUT 1 hit from anything is better than no hits from a 50 caliber AE. Happy hunting.

Answer 5

Well Henry, let's start with caliber (or 'calibre' using the continental spelling). Calibre defines the diameter of the bullet and/or bullets a gun is chambered for. Examples:

.45 acp (a short, stubby rimless round intended for use in a semi-automatic pistol fed from a box magazine and approx. .455 diameter).

.45 GAP (a shorter, stubby round developed by Glock to rival the .45 acp but made to be shot out of a smaller framed gun; also about .455 diameter).

.45 Long Colt (a huge, long rimmed round intended to be shot out of a revolver also about .455 diameter). NOTE: None of these .45 rounds are interchangeable.

The .357 Magnum is a revolver round while the .357 Sig is an auto-loader, bottle-necked round not interchangeable with the Magnum round. NOTE: The .357 Magnum 125 grain hollow-point is considered the best man-stopper, period. It is an excellent defensive round out of a standard 4" revolver. The older .38 Special (and family of .38s, the .38 Colt, .38 S&W, .38 Short, etc.) are just shorter .357s which will chamber and shoot out of a .357 Magnum.

The .22 is a small rimfire rifle or revolver round very deadly but generally not suitable for defensive purposes except as a last resort. It is a good plinking round or small varmint round, though.

The .9mm Luger, Parabellum, or .9mmx19 is probably still the most common military round in the world for small arms (pistols and submachinguns).

I would rate them as .357 Magnum first as a man-stopper and practicality due to versitility and availability of ammo. If you can't find magnum ammo then use .38s. The .9mm next, as you can get .9mm ammo anywhere in the world. The .45acp is nearly as easy to find ammo for as the .9mm and has more 'bang' for your buck but generally holds less rounds. The .38 Special with good hollowpoint ammo is about on par with the standard 9mm and the .22 is strictly a plinker or varmint gun. I rate the .22 last place mainly because you can't reload .22 rimfires. The availability and low cost of .22 ammo precludes the need to reload under normal circumstances, though.

H

Answer 6

Caliber Identifies what bullet it is chambered for ( what it Shoots)
I prefer the 357 for a lot of reasons Accuracy, Flat trajectory for a hand gun, ample knock down power and hand gun long range.
I hunt with my 357 with a 6 inch barrel both Deer and Varmints and target shoot to 150 yards.
I would not hesitate to us in for self defense near and far.
Close combat 45 ACP for Room to Room or in house and carry conceal. Accuracy is there and lot of knock down. Only limitations I am aware of range and trajectory 50 yards is pushing it a bit much. And some people complain about its recoil.
22 great for target shooting and small game varmints hunting, cheap to shoot all around fun.
If by chance that is what is in my hand when things go bad, two to the head arguments over.
22 holds it own as a self defense weapon BUT there are better ones for that.
9 MM and 38 special run a heck of a horse race my reloading say 38 special ahead by a nose.
Accuracy is good on both knock down good trajectory is improved the 45 range about the same.
When I say range I am not talking lethal range but average maximum range of accuracy.
There are always exceptions to every rule.
Every thing is based on quality of gun, ammo and last but not least the shooter.

Answer 7

caliber is size in inches 45 is .45 inches, 22is .22 inches, and 9 mm is just nine mm...lol

different sizes for different applications
general speaking you need more powder in the round to propel the bullet. the bigger the bullet, the more powder, the harder it hits it's target.

but also the bigger the bullet the more kick, if your starting out with guns get a 22, very littler recoil and cheap ammo. i own a 9 mm, i like it because it won't kill my wrist if i shoot off 200 rounds at the range, it has good stoping power( notice i didn't say great stooping power for all you 1911 fans), and bullet capacity

but when i don't want to blow $40 in ammo i break out the 22, i can get 1500 round for under 15 bucks.

is all about what you fell comfortable with and what your shooting at... have fun all

Answer 8

Caliber is the diameter of the round. IE .45cal is 45/100 of an inch accross. Id go with the .45 for the decent price of ammo and the stopping power.

Answer 9

It's a matter of preference. If your a criminal, then you'd want some thing that's fairly easy to conceal, especially if your walking around with it all day. In the end it doesn't matter how big it is,what matters makes a difference when criminals get into shoot outs with the police. That's why the police always win unless there jump in a surprise attack.

Answer 10

If all rounds had hollowpoints, I would rate them in the following order:
1. .357 Magnum/.357 Sig
2. .45LC/.45ACP
3. 9mm
4. 38SPL
5. .22lr

BTW, I own .22 rifles/pistol and a .45ACP. But I would still rate the .357s highest because of kinetic energy.