what is the most powerful handgun in the world?

Answer 1

The .500 Smith and Wesson magnum is now the most powerful handgun cartridge in the world (not including custom made handguns that are made to fire rifle cartridges which are impractical and only for show). Other cartridges such as the .454 Casull may have more felt recoil because of their higher velocities with lighter bullets but, the .500 S&W magnum produces the most energy.

Answer 2

The Smith & Wesson is the new kind of the hill of handguns. That is not counting the rifle cartridge specialty hand cannons. The 500 is the most powerful ever mass produced handgun in the world today. Huge, heavy, and with brutal recoil, it takes two strong hands to handle this whopper! It shoots a .50 cal. (that's one half inch diameter) heavy bullet at somewhere between 1500-2000+fps and is used almost exclusively for hunting big game. it's freaking AWESOME!

Answer 3

Actually, the most powerful handgun in the world isn't the single-shot in .600 Nitro Express, it's a revolver in .600 Nitro Express. It also weighs over fifteen pounds. I, personally, wouldn't like to shoot it.

More manageable rounds have been chambered for handguns, including .500 Wyoming, .500 Linebaugh, .50 Action Express, .50 Beowulf, and the newest monster revolver cartridge the .500 Smith and Wesson.

Answer 4

Yep...the S&W 500 is a monster alright....but the latest monster gun is the .825 G&S Online Magnum.

There will be two initial .825 G&S Online Express Magnum loads. The "Standard" (or medium velocity) load will drive the 750 grain JHP bullet at a MV of 1280 fps for a ME of 2724 ft. lbs.

NOW GET THIS....

The "Premium," full power load drives the 750 grain MHP bullet at a MV of 1610 fps and ME of 4300 ft. lbs. This is power on a par with elephant rifle cartridges

4,300 foot pounds of muzzle energy makes everything else look puny in comparison. How the heck would ya shoot that beast??

Of course, a new, larger revolver is required in which to chamber the .825 G&S Online Magnum cartridge. It is far to large--and too powerful--for the puny Smith and Wesson "X" frame revolvers developed for the .460 and .500 S&W Magnum cartridges.

The Guns and Shooting Online Technical Department is developing an innovative new revolver based on the 9-lug Weatherby Mark V action. Despite certain minor pre-production snags, they hope to have a review of this new revolver available soon. The new revolvers, as well as factory loaded .825 Mag. ammunition, will be sold exclusively though the Guns and Shooting Online Store.

So you can't buy one YET.... I'll let others argue if "technically",this is the worlds most powerful handgun yet or not. But this IS one asss-kicker of a handgun.

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Answer 5

The Maadi-Griffin .50 BMG handgun
The .50 BMG is a large individual firearm round, exceeded only by the old 20mm anti-tank guns from WWI. The .50 S&W is a handgun round (albiet the largest with handguns and ammo offered by major manufacturers).
The two rounds compare only in the nominal diameter of their bullets. (Actually, the .50 BMG uses a .510 bullet, while the .50 S&W is a true .50 caliber.)
The .50 BMG with a 750gr bullet can be loaded to leave the muzzle (of a rifle with a long barrel) at 2900 fps, giving it a muzzle energy of 13,000 ft-lbs. It still has 7404 ft-lbs at 1000 yds, 3321 at 2000 yds, and 2085 at 2500 yds. (Obviously, the short barrel of the M-G pistol shown above would severely compromise muzzle velocity, but it would still be substantial.)
The .50 S&W with a 400gr bullet has a muzzle energy of 1675 fps and a muzzle energy of 2500 ft-lbs. (less than the .50 BMG has at 2000 yds). Most shooters will probably prefer the lighter 275gr bullet, with a muzzle velocity of 1665 fps and a muzzle energy of 1688 ft-lbs. (less than what the .50 BMG provides at 2500 yds).
There's no comparison in terms of range. A .50 BMG can be fired well past a mile with enough energy left to do some damage. A .50 S&W should be fired within 150 yards of the target.

Link attached

http://airbornecombatengineer.typepad.com/airborne_combat_engineer/2005/01/the_maadi_griff.html

D58

Answer 6

There are pistols on the market chambered for rifle cartridges, both custom and factory manufactured, and, as new cartridges are developed, some maniac is taking one and putting it in a pistol as soon as the ammo becomes available, but hardly anyone would consider buying or shooting these monsters.
I would presume, though, that you are referring to a pistol and cartridge from a legitimate manufacturer that would be sold in a regular gun shop. This would be the .500 S&W Magnum, which is a monster in its' own right. It is at least TWICE as powerful as the .44 Magnum, which held the "crown" for many years. I personally fired a .44 in Combat competition for years, with all loads from semi-wadcutter lead to full-house hollow points, and carried a .44 as a defensive concealed weapon for the same time. I wouldn't even DREAM of doing either one with the monster .500. Except for hunting big game, the .500 doesn't serve much of any purpose I can think of beyond "bragging rights"!

Answer 7

The most powerful handhun in the world is a single-shot handgun using a rifle cartridge. These are not "custom" guns, as previously mentioned. They are mass manufactured. I own a Thompson center contender pistol but ti is in .22lr (match). But you can get a TC contender in a variety of rifle calibers. It is true that .500SW is the most powerful handgun using a handgun cartridge, but you did not make that distinction in your question.

Answer 8

well this is kind of a crazy question proper handgun cartridges it would be the Smith and wesson 500 magnum but the line between handgun a rifle cartridges is blurred now..you can get a 50 bmg handgun now.

Answer 9

A .22 single action revolver, interior the hands of a good marksman, with the suitable coaching and motivation will kill you purely as ineffective as any of the different weapons stated right here. this is not the weapon, or the ammunition, however the guy at the back of it, pulling the set off that makes a weapon useful. and that i assure you that maximum of those large bore weapons are complicated to hearth, make a large style of noise, are difficult to guard, heavy, have huge shy away and are not that precise.

Answer 10

The most power full well lets see i seem to recall a 45/70 single shot.