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by jessica pisaniello on March 4th, 2006

jessica pisaniello

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What does the "caliber" of a gun mean?

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  • by stryder on March 6th, 2006

    stryder

    The caibler is the diameter of the cartridge, although it is a general description as opposed to a specific definition. Calibers are generally described as either .45 or .357, which represents their diameter in inches (so a .45 is 45/100ths of an inch) or it could be in millimeters (as in a 7.72 mm or a 9 mm).

    With rifles, you see the same general method of stating the caliber, such as a .243 or a .270 Winchester. These are both stated in thousands of an inch. In the case of a complex caliber, like a 30-06, the 30 represents the diameter of the bullet (30/100ths of an inch) and the -06 represents the relative power of the cartridge. A .30 caliber is a fairly powerful cartridge, while a 30-06 is the same diameter bullet, but it is much larger at the bottom of the casing and it has far more gunpowder than a normal .30 caliber cartridge.

    Go to the website for Winchester Cartridges and you can see a comparative table of rifle and pistol cartridges.

    Shotguns are different. The smaller the guage, the larger the barrel diameter. A 12 guage is the standard shotgun guage. A 20 or a 28 guage shotgun has a much narrower barrel and requires a more accurate shot to the the clay pigeon (if you are shooting trap or skeet) than a 12 guage.

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