Craig Boddington was the senior contributing editor of our modern gun and ammunition caliber dictionary. Craig was involved in the development and testing of many of these and writes from first hand experience. This dictionary was written exclusively for Wholesale Hunter with unique information found nowhere else.
GUN CALIBER DICTIONARY
Centerfire Handgun
10mm
22 TCM
25 ACP
25 NAA
30 Luger
32 ACP
32 H&R MAG
32 North American Arms
32 S&W
32 S&W Long
32 Short Colt
327 Federal Magnum
357 Magnum
357 Maximum
357 Sig
38 Colt Short
38 Long Colt
38 S&W
38 Short Colt
38 Special
38 Special +P
38 Super Automatic
380 ACP
4.6X30 Heckler & Koch
40 S&W
400 Cor-Bon
41 Colt
41 Remington Magnum
41 Special
429 Desert Eagle
44 Auto Mag
44 Colt
44 Rem Magnum
44 Russian
44 Special
45 ACP
The 45 ACP (45 Auto) was designed by John Browning in 1905 for his prototype semiautomatic pistol that eventually became the legendary Colt 1911, using a .452-inch bullet. Browning proposed a 200-grain bullet; U.S. Army Ordnance, smarting from reports of poor performance of the 38 Long Colt in the Philippines, increased bullet weight to 230 grains for greater stopping power...and the 45 ACP as it is today was adopted in 1911. It remains an iconic and popular handgun cartridge for personal defense and competition, and was used by the U.S. military in submachine guns (Thompson and M3) through the 1970s. Although largely replaced by the 9mm for military use and the 9mm and/or 40 S&W in the law enforcement community, the 45 ACP is still used by the U.S. military and numerous law enforcement agencies in various applications. The standard load remains a 230-grain bullet at 780 to 850 fps, but lighter, faster bullets from 165 to 200 grain, delivering a bit less recoil, are also available. — Craig Boddington
