What is your favorite handgun caliber?

[Echo40]

.45 Long Colt
The legendary center-fire cartridge which debuted in 1873 alongside the equally legendary Colt Single Action Army revolver (aka the Peacemaker) yet still remains relevant and popular well over a century later. Designed not only to be a decisive man-stopper on the battlefield, but also to literally down the horse he rode in on, this cartridge packs a serious wallop in the original Black Powder loading, and in modern maximum power Smokeless Powder loads can equal or surpass the .44 Magnum with significantly lower chamber pressure.

.45 Automatic Colt Pistol
The decedent of the legendary .45 Long Colt designed in 1905 by the iconic John Moses Browning to duplicate the performance of the US Military's Black Powder .45LC load from decades past in a modern Smokeless Powder cartridge fired from a semiautomatic pistol. The .45 ACP was adopted along with the timeless classic that is the M1911 and proudly served the US Military for over a century even after being replaced by the Beretta 92 platform chambered in 9mm Luger as the standard issue sidearm of SpecOps. Much like the .45LC before it, as if the .45 ACP wasn't already effective enough in the original Standard Pressure loads, more powerful +P and .45 Super loads increase the effectiveness of the .45 ACP to rival full-power 10mm Auto loads.

.380 Automatic Colt Pistol
Often mistaken as a shortened version of the 9mm Luger cartridge as a result of their dimensional similarities, (9x17 - 9x19) the .380 ACP is in fact a scaled down .45 ACP designed in 1908 by John Moses Browning to offer the maximum amount of power possible in a compact straight blowback operated semiautomatic pistol. Many consider it to be the bare minimum in terms of viable self-defense cartridges, but it served as both a military and law enforcement cartridge across Europe well into the 1980s. In modern self-defense loads, the .380 ACP offers performance similar to the .38 Special, with High Velocity loads (often inaccurately marketed as +P loads) which offer performance similar to the Russian 9x18mm Makarov cartridge, and thus remains a popular self-defense cartridge to this day.

 

[brucev]

Favorite handgun caliber? Easy! It's the .22 LR!!! No doubt about it. I positively adore the .22 LR caliber especially in handguns. I have a little 18-3 that I've fired a wheel barrow load of ammo through. It is the most accurate little revolver I've ever fired without exception regardless of the manufacturer or ammo used. Using CCI Mini-Mags or Aguila that little revolver will simply obliterate the center of a standard bullseye. Three or four hours of shooting ... cost is just negligible. Nothing even approaches it for utility, accuracy, cost effectiveness, etc. Sincerely. bruce.

 

[RobertJ.]

Tough to come up with a favorite, but if I had to choose one, it'd be the most versatile of them all- the .44 Magnum.

 

[fdw]

45 auto...44mag, 22 and 9 tie, 38.

 

[revolver_ph]

357

 

[Mr.Harry]

That's a tough question. I like mag rounds, I think it comes down to .357 or .44 mag. I don't know that you can call either of them more versatile than the other; they both cover such a spectrum. They kind of 'overlap' in a zone, for lack of better term, but I think I have to take the .44 mag for where it's particular spectrum tops out; if you need/want/must have the ability to go there. I have only recently started shooting any 44 special, and am discovering it's a surprisingly awesome round in ways I would not have thought. I like it better than .45 ACP.

 

[wittmeba]

I only have a Ruger SR22 and M&P .40. But my favorite caliber is 9MM. I don't think there is a better general purpose caliber than 9MM. It is proven in law enforcement and general purpose all around easy to shoot caliber.

 

[joe44va]

.357. Unless I'm shooting a 44, unless I'm shooting a 22, unless I'm shooting a 308.

Hey 75 Vette, you're gong to run out of pool table pretty soon.

 

[JohnRoc65]

Another vote for 44 magnum.

 

[Protocall_Design]

I love a good .22. A close second is the .44 Special.

One reason revolvers are better than women - you can always trade an old 44 for a new 22!

 

[kraynky]

While I pretty much like them all, I have also narrowed it down to the 22 and it's double, a 44 special. Since as a reloader I have more versatality with a reloadable cartridge, I choise the 44 special. (Never did like shooting a 44 magnum much.)

 

[yfdcap]

Hands down 44 mag. 2nd, 45 Colt.

 

[Narragansett]

In a revolver, the 44 mag, because I handload and can make it do great things. I would not want full house 44's all the time. In a semi auto, the 45acp.

Shooting cheap, and just plain fun, the 22 in a model 17

As a secondary thought, I have never fired one, but the 41 mag has always had a lot of appeal to me

 

[silentflyer]

I like them all, but if it's going to be just one----.357

 

[one eye joe]

Favorite handgun caliber? 44mag??

WOW, THAT'S A VERY IMPRESSIVE COLLECTION, AND A BEAUTIFUL PHOTO, 75Vette. THERE'S NO DOUBT, AS TO WHAT YOU LIKE......lol.

 

[Weimar]

I will be as bad as everyone else and suggest several

22 LR is one of the greatest all around cartridges
9mm is a go to but I am a 45 ACP guy for sure in semi auto
357 for the reasons above, but a slow stopper in 45 LC is awfully nice

 

[RSBH44]

My first love even before I bought my first handgun was the .44

 

[The Norseman]

Probably favorite Caliber

The .44 S&W Special is probably my most
favorite Revolver Caliber.

It is something different to most people, easy
to Reload, easy to Shoot, usually always Accurate.

 

[Jtown]

MY favorite caliber is 41 mag for target and hunting.
If I could only chose one caliber for everyday carry it would be a 357 in some form
Walt

 

[BC38]

Like so many others if I had to pick one favorite it would have to be the 357.

I can load everything from light 105 grain bunny-toot 38 special loads with the power factor of a hot 22lr, all the way up to 180 grain fire breathing 357 magnums that will take down big game.

Hard to beat that much versatility and that wide of a spread with anything else.