what is the most powerful handgun?, page 2
Pages: <<  1    2    3    4  >>
ATS Members have flagged this thread 0 times


reply posted on 21-7-2005 @ 05:14 PM by orangetom1999
off the street is correct......again.....on this ...If I may take the liberty of quoting him.

"You can also get single shot breech-loading pistols like the Thompson Contender which fire .223 and (IIRC) the Winchester .30-.30 rifle rounds. "

"In any case, these guns are absolutely worthless unless you want to (1)have continuing opportunities to visit your nephew the orthopaedic surgeon, (2) have bragging rights for the biggest handgun around, or (3) want to hunt grizzly bears with a handgun -- all of which are silly enterprises indeed."

I own one of these Thompson Contenders in two calibers. .223 and .35 Remington.

The .223 caliber is quite managable in this handgun and when fired leaves very little powder residue in the 14 inch barrel.
The .35 Remington however is another story. I bought this barrel because I had the Marlin Lever Action Rifle in .35 Remington. So logically why not buy a barrel for the Contender. Big mistake. The recoil is horrendous. The recoil is so violent that without a glove it causes the nerve in my wrist to pinch and numbe my hand for a few minutes. It is managable with a glove but alot of shooting ..which I will not do with this barrel...I am sure will have the same result with a glove.
I know people who have bought this pistol in .45-70,.444 Marlin, et al. Very viscious recoil even with handloads and gloves. Not for the weak spirited.

Moral of the story is ....bigger and more powerful is not necessarily better.
Just be good, profecient , and effecient with what you can afford.
Yes ...lets not leave out affordability. These big powerful handguns and rifles are very expensive to buy and feed. Dont get stupid and hurt yourself and your budget.

Thanks Orangetom


reply posted on 21-7-2005 @ 10:13 PM by Lonestar24
I have a question, since my pistol firing experience is a bit limited. Sometimes you see large caliber handguns fitted with scopes like this:



I was taught to always shoot from the usual two-handed firing position. So how can you use the scope then? Is the magnification low enough to actually use the scope with your eyes being 1 meter away from it?


reply posted on 25-7-2005 @ 02:50 AM by nightwing
Is the magnification low enough to actually use the scope with your eyes being 1 meter away from it? = Lonestar24

Hello OT. From the above quote, I think Lonestar is referring to "eye relief". It takes some experimentation with how
you shoot to get a pistol scope that is right for you. The scopes I use have an eye relief zone of about 4 inches, where the
center of that zone is the best sight picture. Eye relief is the distance between your pupil and the lense element of the scope.
For me, with an extended two hand grip, I use a TC 14 inch eye relief, 4 power. Thats mounted on a Thompson center
30-30 barrell. I have a (16 inch eye relief) Bushnell 4 power on an XP-100 in 7 mm BR. The former is my brush hunter and the later for
open country. My 454 days are over. Not mentioned so far is that even if you like heavy recoil, which I do, many years
of shooting the big ones will do long term degradation to the wrists. Which brings this back to the primary topic.

"what is the most powerful handgun? Which one of them are the best in accuracy?"

Thats two different questions, with multiple answers and begs the question, for what ?
Serious hunters know the answers for hunting. Its Taylor KO Value, not muzzle energy.
And accuracy at what range ? If you can hit with a hunting pistol at extended ranges, you are using
a rifle bullet of some sort as pistol bullets lose energy too fast. A rifle cartridge can
be loaded with numerous bullet types. I prefer the grandslam boattail spitzers as they hold energy very well at
200 yards. Pushing a big pistol bullet supersonic is ok for 50-75 yards, but beyond that, they lost energy and bullet
drop tends to mean a clear miss. If you are missing the target, handgun power does not matter, accuracy does.
And the longer the range, the more likely you will have a pistol with rifle bullets and ballistics.
So for hunting, the most powerful cartridge is found by doing the math. Here is your calculator:

www.siskguns.com...

The most accurate depends on range and several variables not defined herein.

(Post script. It is no longer politically correct to explain what Taylor KO Values are, so
I will just say bigger is better.)


reply posted on 25-7-2005 @ 06:59 AM by rogue1
OK, we've talked about all your cap pistols, but now for the big boys.

The .600 Nitro Express

The .600 is the largest and most powerful of the elephant cartridges developed around the turn of the century, a family that also includes the .505 Gibbs, .500 Jeffrey, and the lesser Nitro Express rounds in .400 and .500 calibers. It was introduced in 1903 by the rifle manufacturer Jeffery, and at least three other companies built rifles to accommodate it; I can find catalog references for the Holland & Holland, Heym and Searcy rifles in .600 N.E., and rumors but no solid evidence of any others. Originally only double rifles were chambered for the .600, but Searcy later released a bolt-action version under their Express line.

The term "Nitro Express" indicates cartridges developed for smokeless or "nitro" powder that uses nitroglycerine-soaked fiber (AKA nitrocellulose) to produce explosive energy. Compared with black powder cartridges, the improvement in performance is startling. A typical big-game rifle loaded with black powder produces muzzle velocity between 1,500 and 1,800 feet per second. The same cartridge using nitrocellulose delivers more than double the velocity and has muzzle energy measured, literally, in tons. Anecdotal evidence indicates that even professional hunters of the time considered the .600 to be almost unusable in the field, but they also spoke highly of its effects on big game. One hunter wrote that any head shot, even one which merely winged the skull without penetrating the brain, would put a bull elephant down for at least half an hour purely from shock.


Bullet Weight; 900 grains

Muzzle Velocity; 1950 fps, Energy; 7591 ft/lbs

@50 yards: Velocity; 1794 fps, Energy; 6427 ft/lbs

@100 yards: Velocity; 1646 fps, Energy; 5413 ft/lbs


Anyone game to fire a few rounds with this -
rapidshare.de...


reply posted on 28-7-2005 @ 03:55 AM by groingrinder
Originally posted by Aviator
the most powerful handguns ever were probably the "howdah pistols" carried by big game hunters in the Victorian Era. Basically they were cut-down hunting rifles used mainly as close range defense against tigers and other predators.



I'd venture to say that a .75 caliber rifle round makes the .500 S&W look wimpy in comparision




The projectile may have been bigger, but it was propelled by BLACK POWDER which burns much more slowly than modern smokeless propellants. Also the bullet would not have time to develop maximum velocity in the pistol barrel due to the slow burning black powder.


reply posted on 31-7-2005 @ 03:42 AM by nightwing
OK Try again
For starters, lets compare the hunting performance of the 38 special (Non Plus P loads) to the 9 mm and S & W .40 auto.

Factory Round Data.............................Bullet weight in grains............... Test Velocity (fps)..........Muzzle Energy (Ft/lbs)...............Taylor KO Value (dimensionless number)

38 Special Winchester JHP...................110..........................................1089...............................290............................................6
38 Special Federal Hydrashok JHP.......147............................................892...............................260............................................7

9 mm Federal JHP................................125............................................945................................248.............................. .............6
Cor Bon JHP ( Plus P load)..................115...........................................1350...............................466........................................... .7

SW 40 auto Nosler JHP.......................135...........................................1325...............................526........................................ ..10
SW 40 auto Nosler JHP.......................180...........................................1030...............................424........................................ ..10

Now the big magnums

44 Magnum Cor Bon JHP......................320..........................................1273..............................1151.........................................2 5
50 AE CCI and IMI (Samson Ultra).......300..........................................1380..............................1269.........................................29

Now a real hunting revolver

Cor Bon 500 S & W JSP.......................400..........................................1675..............................2500......................................... 47
500 S & W HC Cast..............................440..........................................1625..............................2580................................. ........51

I know you will think I am crazy but for the sake of a math resolution, lets say you are going to hunt Grizzly with a handgun from the above list.
Given the politically incorrect meaning of the TKO Value, your guide says anything less than 30 has no safety margin at range. Thus, only the
bottom two cartridges for the S & W 500 are recommended for a successful hunt.
Pages: <<  1    2    3    4  >>    ^^TOP^^



Nano Drones Flying in Formation
  Posted 7 days ago with 15 member flags
FPS RUSSIA
  Posted 12 days ago with 7 member flags
Spinel Thin Transparent Ceramic Armor defeats Barrett .50 Cal BMG
  Posted 11 days ago with 6 member flags
Self-steering Bullet Researched
  Posted 8 days ago with 5 member flags
Shockrounds take out three of your five senses.
  Posted 0 days ago with 5 member flags
Robotic Nano Quadrotors...
  Posted 2 days ago with 4 member flags