Lets Talk Calibers

WELCOME TO THE NO BS ZONE OF TEDDY JACOBSON


I think it would be a good idea to discuss various calibers as my outlook on them is quite a bit different than most people. I look at a lot of factors before I make a personal decision of what caliber I want for a specific intended purpose. Having a house gun changes a lot of factors for me because I need a caliber that will not be so loud as to ruin my hearing as well as anyone else here and of course I must think about Sam and Lisa, my two dawgs. So in this house large calibers are out of the question. Ported guns of any kind do not belong in my life as I would never own one. Another major problem for me is over penetration because I do not want to zip thru walls and hit innocent people 200 feet away. If I fire at nite I can't risk losing my night vision with a 2 foot wall of flame in front of the barrel because of using slow burning powders in a very short barrel.
So now you can see how the field of choices are narrowing for me. I am going to run down most of the popular calibers and give my opinion.


25 acp caliber - I have owned quite a few of these tiny semi autos and most were never super reliable, except the baby Browning. I have not seen one of these pistols for a long time and I am not very fond of this caliber.


25 NAA caliber - I own one of these Naa Guardians in this caliber. It is a small package that has tremendous velocity, about a 35 grain bullet that travels about 1300 feet per second. Its good as a second or third pistol for my pocket. This is a necked down 32 acp case, all ammo is made by Corbon.


32 acp caliber - This has become very popular with some of the american pistols made today like the Seecamp and the NAA Guardian, etc. I like velocity and thats why I went with the 25 NAA Caliber.


32 NAA caliber - This is another new hot caliber made by NAA for their Guardian pistol. As with the 25 NAA all the ammunition is made by Corbon. Its a necked down 380 acp case but the size of the pistol is larger than I wanted. Just was too heavy in my pocket.


380 acp caliber - (9x17mm) This cartridge has been around for a very long time. I have owned many pistols chambered for this round. Years ago when I did quite a bit of reloading I was able to use an 88 grain bullet at a velocity of 1100 feet per second.
I always loaded hot rounds using new brass. This is a marginal caliber for a man stopper, it would depend on the bullet you select and the placement of the bullet.
I always liked the Colt Mustang in this caliber.


9mm caliber - (9x19mm) This is probably the most widely used caliber today, worldwide. It is available most every where. American ammunition was never that hot years ago, actually the main company that started to make our ammunition in the +P range was the Super Vel Company, that was owned by Lee Jurras, that was a long time ago. This is my choice of caliber in my home as I can deal with the noise and the pentration if I select the proper bullet or use some of the bullets that I have made. The famous FBI Miami shoot out gave this caliber a very bad reputation. I believe they were using Winchester silvertips at about 1100 feet per second and it did not stop the attackers. Had they used a +P+ bullet like a Corbon or a Triton Quik Shok or a Magsafe bullet the out come would have been much more favorable and our people would have been able to stop the attackers very quickly. My personal property gun of choice here is the Beretta 92F or the Beretta Cougar.


9x18mm Makarov - This is a Russian Caliber dedicated to the Russian Makarov and its clones. It is the strongest caliber that can be safely used in a direct blow back design. You can now buy very good american ammunition for this caliber and makes a very decent personal carry gun for states that allow their people to obtain a CHL (concealed handgun license) , I do like this handgun and I like this caliber.


9x21mm caliber - This is not a caliber I am familiar with. I have never owned a pistol chambered for this cartridge. I personally never felt the need to have one.


38 super auto - This was a fairly popular round in the past, many people really like this cartridge. I personally only like calibers that will be available to me when hard times come. Its not that I do not like this caliber but I did not want to expand my inventory as I no longer shoot a gun as much as I used to.


38 special - This has always been one of my favorite calibers for a small revolver. If you have the right bullet and the right powder for the length of your barrel this can be a real life saver. I used to carry a model 60 SW "J" frame all the time and my bullets were inverted hollow base wadcutters over 4.5 grains of bullseye powder. That is a +P round. I always used new brass and I always sealed my primers. I always recommend that you practice with standard velocity 38 special ammunition but carry 38 special +P ammo.


357 magnum - This is another revolver cartridge that is very powerful. The case is approx. 1/10 of an inch longer than a 38 special case. You can fire 38 special ammunition in a revolver chambered for 357 magnum. I like this caliber a great deal but I do not like to carry it because its to loud and it will over penetrate my walls. If I fire this in an enclosed area I will lose my hearing. This is a very important factor to me. You can not fire a 357 magnum cartridge in a 38 special revolver. All these revolver cases headspace on the rim. For many years Police carried this caliber when their dept. would allow it. It is one of the best man stoppers there is when using a federal hollow point in 125 grain bullet weight. That is of course providing you place the bullet in a vital area.


357 sig caliber - This is a very hot bullet and many police agencies are giving this caliber a second look. It is being used by state police when they need to penetrate a car body. It is a bottle neck case but it still headspaces on the mouth and not the shoulder of the case. I suggest using a stronger recoil spring in pistols chambered for this round. This is not a common caliber and for those that do own a handgun chambered for this round I suggest you stock up on ammo and put some away for hard times. If you do not, you will have a paperweight if no ammo can be found. I really think this caliber has potential in the right circumstances.


40 sw caliber - This seems to be the new police round of choice. Its beating up the guns and to help stop this, I suggest you install a recoil spring at least 2 or 3 lbs heavier than factory rated springs. You can not go too high in upgrading your recoil spring unless you also change your magazine spring. You certainly do not want your slide out of sync with your magazine spring. I carry this caliber in a Glock 27 that has a hard chrome slide. I shoot it once a year and the barrel has a coating of moly that is baked on there. I am now trying to educate myself in learning more about ceramic coatings for these barrels. My good friend Mr. Camp the excellent gun writer and I have come up with a wonderful ceramic primer sealer. Using the right load in about 135 grain bullet is a real stopper. I highly recommend that you visit www.hipowersandhandguns.com
Mr. Camp knows more about ammunition testing than most anyone there is and his articles are second to none. Ask him to let you read his analysis of this new primer sealer. I use strong wolff springs which are excellent in my mini Glock but for the larger glocks call Marc at ISMI 800 773 1940 and ask him about his chrome silicon alloy wire springs. There is nothing better.


10mm caliber - This is a good caliber that is super powerful. Not for everyone and its not that popular. I think this cartridge got a bad rap in some of the magazines years ago but it is still around and I like it. There are but a few guns that are still chambered for this cartridge. If you are recoil sensitive, this is not for you. This is a straight wall case that like the 9mm and the 40 sw and the 45 acp, etc, etc, headspaces on the mouth of the case.


44 sw special cartridge - This revolver cartridge still has a cult following. I can remember years ago when people wanted to carry this caliber. I have worked on many revolvers that were chambered for this caliber years ago, but I very seldom see them any more. It is a very good revolver cartridge.


45 acp cartridge - America is still in love with this caliber. It is one of the best man stoppers out there but in my opinion, not in using ball ammo. If you use the right bullet and powder designed for your barrel length this caliber is excellent. The best small pistol chambered for this caliber is the Glock 36.
It was mainly designed to use in a full size government model where you get optimum performance. Thru the course of my smithing career I have worked on over 7000 - 1911 pistols chambered for this caliber. It is not my gun of choice to carry in the concealed mode in the heat in south Texas. Its too big and heavy for what I want by way of a small carry handgun. I have studied the 1911 design since 1970 and this is an all time great caliber but not for everyone.


To sum up, I know I have left a lot of calibers out due to time and my typing skills which are poor at best. I know so many people like the 45 long colt caliber and one of the very best revolver cartridges ever made is the 41 magnum. That would have been the very finest police caliber in days past but it got a very bad rap. It had distinct advantages over the 44 magnum for a quicker second shot. Police depts. no longer carry many revolvers but I have always preferred the 41 magnum in the sw model 657 which I still proudly own. It is too much of a caliber to use in the house. Remember the noise factor, that is critical for me, my 657 is one of the smoothest revolvers you have ever seen. I have talked to my friend Mr. Taffin about this caliber many times. I had the hogue grip people make me a set of grips that were laminated to fit my exact frame, it is a revolver that I have always cherished. Should you have any questions or a topic you want me to cover please email me or call me. If you want me to talk about the other calibers please let me know.

Thanks for coming to my no BS zone, you get the truth here. I have no other agenda.


AUTHORS PERSONAL NOTATION:
This commentary as well as all my previous commentaries are my personal opinion and my personal viewpoint only.


Teddy Jacobson / Pistolsmith (semi retired)
www.actionsbyt.com
281 277 4008
tjacobson@houston.rr.com
jaj45f@alltel.net
www.actionsbyt.blogspot.com/