Bullets and handguns?

Question

Me again, asking a question from the country with a handgun ban (so forgive my ignorance!)

Do most .45 bullets/cartridges fit in a .45 semi-automatic or are you restricted to ones that match your particular gun?

If you had a clip/magazine for a .45, but only had .38 or .357 caliber bullets, would you actually be able to insert them into it? If not, would you at least be able to insert one into the chamber? How likely would it then be to misfire?

I'm researching a book I'm writing, incase anyone's wondering why I'm asking these questions!

Answer 1

The first two answers are right on!  It can be confusing when you are looking at things like the .357 and the .38 special, so it is best to ask.  There are some cools firearms like the Ruger Redhawk, which has a cylinder for not only the .357/.38 but also a cylinder for a 9mm.  Please keep in mind though that if you have a .38 special you CAN NOT shoot a .357 in it.  Also be careful as there are more confusing ammunitions than ever, i.e. the .357 SIG, and the other manufacturer devised ammunitions.  Good luck and it is always best to ask.  

Answer 2

I am a ballistics expert.

A cartridge being 'fired' in a barrel is a controlled burn.  As the bullet leaves the brass case it seals the junction of bullet and barrel - as the powder burns pressure is built up and the bullet moves forward.

If a bullet was sucessfully discharged in a firearm with a larger barrel than designed - the initial inertia the bullet had while leaving the case is the only thing that would propell it forward.  As the bullet left the barrel it would be visible to the naked eye and land about 5 feet in front of the barrel.  The burning powder would pass the bullet in the chamber and make more of a 'Whoosh' noise than a bang.  The brass of the cartridge would be split in several areas since it had no chamber to support it.  No doubt hot gas from the expanding burning powder would escape out the ejector port and probably hurt the shooter.

In reality - the cartridge would probably not fire for two reasons.  First, the smaller cartridges primer would be lower than the firing pin when pointed in a normal firing position.  No firing pin contact means it will not fire.  Second, since the cartridge is not firmly held in place by the chamber - the strike of the firing pin would simply push the cartridge down the barrel a few inches.

For a cartrige to properly fire - two things are needed.  First, the cartridge must be supported by it's surroundings and form a seal so the hot gases do not escape past the brass.  Second, the bullet must form a seal between the bullet and barrel so the expanding gas does not pass the bullet.

You can solve the second issue with paper or tape - paper patching was an old way of making an accurate bullet.  More like a paper sabot.

You can solve the second issue by tape - but it would be a one shot deal, unless you had a revolver.  Reloading would be slow.

Email me.  I can help you.

Kevin    

Answer 3

For God sakes NEVER put a smaller bullet in a larger caliber. The calibers are in hunderthes of inches. A .45 is almost a half inch, You probaly know metric so I'll put this in metric terms: a .357/ .38 is the same bullet and is about a 9mm in size. The .45 is a 11.5mm or something about there if I rember or maybe and 11mm. it is  way bigger. If you put he littler shell into the gun you will go boom. Only correct calibers for a weapon.   So the ansewr to your second quetion is yes only bullets that are marked for the specfis caliber, also a .45 is usally only a Pistol or semi automatic and has a magizine. Other then the .357 Sig, the 357 is only a revolver caliber. The shell is to long to ever fit in a automatic regardless of being smaller. The .357 is a magnum and not a standard round and would do way more harm because of the larger amount of gun powder compared to the .45

Answer 4

bullets are measured by nominal diameter...and the barrel and chambers will be about the same size.

rounding off a bit....45 cal is nearly 1/2 inches in diameter (.450" or about 11 mm).. a .38/.357 round is about 3/8" (.357 or 9 mm).

.45-.38=.07"... just wont fit.  a .45 or .40 wont fit into a .38 hole and visa versa the small bullet would just fall in and get stuck.

size matters!

Answer 5

Guns only fire the cartridge they are designed for. If you take something that isnt made for that firearm, if it does go off it can cause damage to the gun and the person. A 45 acp, shoots only 45 acp. Now a 45 long colt, which is a revolver can be modified to shoot 45 acp, but not the other way around. 38 and 357 wouldnt even load into the magazine on a 45 acp.  You can however shoot 38 special in a 357 revolver because they are the same bullet, just different in case length and power. You cannot shoot a 357 in a gun chambered only for 38 special though. Does that help?

Answer 6

With a self feeding semi-automatic pistol that uses a magazine...nope, this would not work. The action of the firearm is designed to operate around the exact demensions of the cartridge which it is designed for.

Some six shot revolvers that are designed to fire the .357 magnum cartridge can also safely fire the .38 special cartridge (which is shorter and less powerful than the .357 magnum).

Answer 7

Guns are caliber specific with very, very few exceptions.  First, there are currently three popular calibers known as .45s and none will interchange.  The .45 acp is the most commonly known and it is used in semi-auto pistols like the Colt 1911 .45.  It is also known as the .45 Auto.  Then there is the old .45 (Long) Colt which is too long to feed into the shorter chamber of the .45 acp pistol.  It is properly a revolver cartridge and has a huge rim to hold it in place.  The third and latest .45 is the .45 GAP (Glock automatic pistol) which is slightly shorter than the .45 acp but operates at a much higher pressure in order to catch up with the .45 acp.  These two rounds will not interchange.  

Okay, on your hypothetical girl whose gun is taken away but gets to keep a spare magazine:  If her gun is a .38 Largo semi-automatic pistol and she is handed an empty .38 Super semi-auto pistol she is in luck.  All she has to do is empty her spare magazine and load the .38 Super pistol's magazine with her .38 Largo ammo.  This will work but not the other way around because the .38 Super is more powerful than the Largo ammo.  Now if her pistol is a .40 S&W Glock and she is handed an empty 10mm Glock she can shoot .40s one at a time by manually chambering each round.  It is still 'iffy' because the .40 is shorter than the 10mm but it could work in an emergency. NOTE:  In the real world this is NOT recommended but it is possible as the 10mm and the .40 S&W are exactly the same diameter.  The longer & more powerful 10mm won't cycle the weaker .40s from a magazine though.  

Here is really your most realistic scenario:  She has a .38 Special Lady Smith revovler and it is taken from her.  She retains a speed loader loaded with .38 Special ammo for her Lady Smith.  Someone then gives her say an unloaded  Ruger SP-101 .357 Magnum revolver.  Her .38s will work just fine in any .357 Magnum revolver but she'll probably have to load them one at a time as her speed loader may or not fit the new revolver.

Other combos that will work in revolvers:  The .460 S&W Magnum will also chamber and fire the .454 Casull and the old .45 Long Colt (not the other way around due to the first two rounds being way too powerful).  The .454 Casull will also chamber and shoot the .45 Long Colt.  In fact the new Ruger Alaskan .454 Casull is inscribed from the factory:  .454 Casull/.45 Long Colt.  (The caliber really is just '.45 Colt' but the word 'long' is added to differentiate it from the other .45 cartridges like the acp & the Glock offering).  NOTE:  These, the .460 & .454 are serious hunting calibers.  It is doubtful that too many girls would be comfortable with them.  On the other hand the .40 S&W pistol and the .38/.357 Magnum revolver are manageable even for a petite girl.  

One last possible scenario:  Your girl could be armed with say a Ruger Elsie P (LCP) .380 automatic pistol.  Those who take her gun from her are European and unaware that the .380 acp (also known here as the .380 Auto) and the European 9mm Kurz or 9mm Corto are the same caliber one with American caliber designation and the other two with popular European caliber designations.  When handed an empty say Mauser HSc pistol in 9mm Kurz they don't have a clue that her .380 acp ammo will work just fine simply by loading it in the Mauser's magazine.  

Loading a bigger (more powerful) caliber in a less powerful or smaller caliber gun really puts her in jeapordy.  Please don't injure the lady.

That is it in a nutshell.

Good luck.

H

Answer 8

guns only fire the CARTRIDGE they are designed to fire.  By that I mean the whole thing must be a perfect match.  CALIBER is only a rough approximation of the bullet's diameter.

For instance, you have 45long colt and 45acp.  They are both 45 caliber, but they are totally different lengths.  45 Long Colt is what the cowboys loaded in their revolvers.  45acp, which stands for Automatic Colt Pistol, is what World War 2 troops loaded into their handguns and their Tommyguns.

If your character has a gun, and a spare ammo for it, and someone takes her gun but she gets another one, she cannot use that ammo, unless the gun is designed for it.

Think of it like batteries.  You need the correct kind of batteries, smaller ones won't work and bigger ones won't fit.  However, most flashlights take D batteries.  If you have spare D batteries, probably the next flashlight you come across will take D batteries.

Same thing with guns, there are probably a 100 different chamberings for handguns, yet, there are just a few that are really popular.  9mm is very popular all around the world.  If your girl has a 9mm handgun, and some spare ammo, and someone takes it, but she later finds another handgun, chances are good that new handgun would also be a 9mm handgun, and she'd be able to use her spare ammo.  

The manufacturer of the gun doesn't matter.  Glock, Beretta, Smith and Wesson, Bronwing, CZ, and Sig (plus a ton of others) all make 9mm handguns.  Of course they all make 45acp handgusn too.

NOTE: the magazine, or clip, for each gun is different.  If the guy takes her glock 19 and gives her a new glock 19, she can just stick in her spare magazine, rack the slide, and start shooting.

If the guy takes her glock 19 and gives her a Berretta 92, she'll need to take out her spare magazine, push out each cartridge with her thumb, pull out the Beretta 92's magazine, and insert each cartridge into the magazine, insert magazine into gun, rack slide, and be ready to shoot