Your thoughts on handguns and ammo in general.

coltle6920

coltle6920

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I'm not necessarily talking about what was used 100yrs ago but rather what's available today. I'm not that familiar with long guns so can we stick to handguns?

On the upper end there seems to be more difference between calibers and their effectiveness. On the lower end it seems to be more of a marketing thing to sell more firearms.

Do we really need .25acp, .30super, .32acp and .380acp or are we just catering to the new and uneducated? Seems to me we'd have more ammo available if the brass wasn't used for what I consider unnecessary calibers.

Is this worth discussing?
 
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coltle6920 said:
I'm not necessarily talking about what was used 100yrs ago but rather what's available today. I'm not that familiar with long guns so can we stick to handguns?

On the upper end there seems to be more difference between calibers and their effectiveness. On the lower end it seems to be more of a marketing thing to sell more firearms.

Do we really need .25acp, .30super, .32acp and .380acp or are we just catering to the new and uneducated? Seems to me we'd have more ammo available if the brass wasn't used for what I consider unnecessary calibers.

Is this worth discussing?
Click to expand...


Yeah we do really these smaller guns and calibers. Because most of us don’t carry a full bat belt full of stupid **** we are not gonna use. Not gonna carry a G30 in my pocket with even 1 reload. Certainly don’t need weapon light on my daily carry.
 
All that stuff has SOME level of utility. The .32 auto USED TO BE considered a reasonable police caliber in much of Europe. It is also a useful caliber for someone who is wildly recoil adverse. With advances in bullet and powder the .380 has moved up (IMHO) from sub-marginal to marginal. The .25 ACP is good for practice shooting in your basement if you are rich because the ammo is hella-expensive right now. It is also a good caliber to protect you from hamsters and smaller rats. I still haven't quite figured out the .30 super carry but since I can't buy one in CA I don't intend to worry about it that much. (I am, admittedly, strange. I also load and shoot .30 Luger, .30 Mauser, 8mm Lebel revolver and .30 Russian Nagant.)
 
Have a Glock 43x and a Ruger LCP Max with the trigger pivot safety thingy.
Adapting to the Glock, not liking the Ruger.
Just the other day was shooting the Ruger in sequence with my Runt Kahr.
I seem to feel more recoil from the Ruger 380 than I do the Kahr 9mm.
Say What?
And I prefer the Kahr trigger.
Long and steady. To us long time Revolver shooters, just like shooting Double action.
But - But these ain’t range shooters.
Pocket Rockets.
With 380 running about 60 cents a round, how much are you gonna shoot?
But if I see a Kahr 380 priced right, I could buy one!
 
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Hot new items, be they electronics, or guns, or ammo are dreamed up by the hundreds if not thousands a year in college Industrial Design classes every year! It is good mental exercise. (my son alone, did dozens!) Just because it is thought up does not mean it is needed or close to necessary.

Some new objects update old functions and improve cost or operating life or replace costly components. Some are brought to market just to sucker people out of their money!

Some would ask, "What is the one gun to do everything?" The true answer is: We are Americans, we are in possession of the God given right to have a gun to do every single thing, including just look at! We also have the God given right to not bother owning a gun, We can use a club if we wish to go Bear hunting.

So one more redundant cartridge is not a problem. The market will decide if it wants the newest Whizzbang gun or cartridge. The circus hucksters can call our attention to them, but the will of the people will prevail if allowed. to do so!

New designs, are just one more form of capitalism. Limiting production is just one more form of socialism.

Ivan
 
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sox said:
Yeah we do really these smaller guns and calibers. Because most of us don’t carry a full bat belt full of stupid **** we are not gonna use. Not gonna carry a G30 in my pocket with even 1 reload. Certainly don’t need weapon light on my daily carry.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but that doesn't make any sense to me. You can buy a small firearm in a larger caliber and capacity. You can also buy a large firearm in a smaller caliber but large capacity. I have some of both.

So what are you really saying without the **********'s.
 
If you are going to carry a handgun small enough and light enough, you should probably choose a smaller cartridge. If a micro automatic isn't pleasant in 380 ACP, it certainly won't be any less painful in 9mm Luger. People who try 357 Magnum snub nose and don't like it switch to 38 Special for a reason.

Just because they make small automatics in 9mm Luger doesn't mean they are better or a better choice than a similar size handgun in an old compact cartridge.

So, yes, they have a place, and always will. Physics never changes, recoil and muzzle blast don't change by magic.

If you want a more powerful cartridge, you will likely want a larger handgun. If you absolutely want or need a smaller handgun, you might want to move down to 380 or even 32. Simple stuff, and yes I'm being redundant.

I'll just say in passing, even though you say what you said about long guns, the old cartridges and bullets from 100 years ago are just as good as anything today. That is a subject that hasn't improved one bit in the last 120 years. Handguns are the controversial topic over the last few decades only because of propaganda defending government choices, as well as the objective change in bullet designs and performance.
 
My great uncle shot a criminal with a 7,65 Browning in the uprisings of the marxists and the Spartacus league in the 1920s in Stettin. The culprit dropped and stopped the assault and died without further ado, ask him.

The 7,65 Browning or .32 ACP is capable of great accuracy - in the right hands, that is.
 
I've never shot anything less than .380 ACP, which is definitely a worthwhile round, basically the semiautomatic equivalent of standard pressure .38 Special which is great for both concealed carry as well as a round which offers low recoil yet adequate performance, albeit not in the same type of pistols. (i.e. pocket pistols like the Ruger LCP are excellent for concealment, but tend to have snappier recoil, whereas larger .380 pistols like the M&P380 EZ have low recoil yet aren't as easy to concealed carry.)

From what I've seen, .25 ACP is terribly anemic, even a .22LR fired from a pistol is generally more effective. .32 ACP seems to be pretty close to .380 ACP, but underperforms with hollowpoint ammunition, thus rendering non-expanding full metal jacket ammo necessary.
It's still too soon to say for sure whether there's any legitimate advantage to .30 Super Carry over .380 ACP or 9mm Parabellum, but it just seems like a compromise between the two that doesn't quite offer the advantages of either. (i.e. guns aren't a small/lightweight as .380, yet not as powerful as 9mm) That being said, I'm sure that it's plenty effective, just not as practical, but it could easily be somebody's Goldilocks round.
 
Auric Goldfinger was known to carry a .25 ACP and made up for the lack of power by shooting people in the eye.
 
What ever you have, practice and get good with it. Glad ammo is available in many calibers again.
 
Most of the guns I own I would never carry for SD. I own guns in calibers: 22, 25, 32, 380, 38-55, 30-06, 30 carbine, 9mm, 357, 45Colt, 45-70 blah, blah, blah that are super duper guns great collectibles, great shooters and full of history and nostalgia. Most have no real practical purpose but I would buy most of them again. I also own a bunch of "cowboy guns" (45 Colt - Single Action Army Revolvers) that unless they are all I had available I would not use as SD guns either. Still, they would be some of the last guns I'd ever sell.

This hobby is more than just about "need".
 
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I have a Ruger LCP Max .380 that I pocket carry. I have both the 10 round and 12 round mags. It pocket carries very easily. There may be some 9mm guns that I could carry as easily (?) but at the cost of capacity. So, for me the .380 fulfills a role that the 9mm doesn’t. It’s my church carry gun. I like having the option of pocket carry.
 
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