The .50 Action Express (AE) (12.7×33mmRB) is a large-caliber handgun cartridge, best known for its usage in the Desert Eagle. Developed in 1988 by American Evan Whildin of Action Arms, the .50 AE is one of the most powerful pistol cartridges in production.
The .45 Colt (11.43×33mmR), often called the .45 Long Colt, is a rimmed straight-walled handgun cartridge dating to 1872. It was originally a black-powder revolver round developed for the Colt Single Action Army revolver. This cartridge was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1873 and served as an official US military handgun cartridge for 19 years, before being replaced by the .38 Long Colt in 1892. Although there has never been a ".45 Short Colt" cartridge, the .45 Colt is frequently called the ".45 Long Colt" to better distinguish it from the shorter and less powerful .45 Schofield cartridge, which was also in use around the same time as the .45 Colt.
The .44 Remington Magnum, also known as .44 Magnum or 10.9x33mmR, is a rimmed, large-bore cartridge originally designed for revolvers and quickly adopted for carbines and rifles. Despite the ".44" designation, guns chambered for the .44 Magnum round, its parent case, the .44 Special, and the .44 Special's parent case, the .44 Russian all use 0.429 in (10.9 mm) diameter bullets. The .44 Magnum is based on the .44 Special case but lengthened and loaded to higher pressures for greater velocity and energy.
The .357 Maximum, formally known as the .357 Remington Maximum or the .357 Max, is a super magnum handgun cartridge originally developed by Elgin Gates as the wildcat .357 SuperMag. The .357 Maximum was introduced into commercial production as a joint-venture by Remington Arms Company and Ruger in 1983 as a new chambering for the Ruger Blackhawk. Shortly thereafter, Dan Wesson Firearms and Thompson/Center Arms introduced firearms in this cartridge. United Sporting Arms chambered it in their Silhouette series single-action revolvers. It is a .357 Magnum case lengthened 0.300 inches (7.6 mm). Based on the .357 Magnum cartridge, a revolver or single-shot pistol designed for the .357 Remington Maximum will chamber and fire the .360 Dan Wesson, .357 Magnum, .38 Special, .38 Long Colt, and .38 Short Colt cartridges. Intended primarily as a silhouette cartridge, such high velocity and energy levels have hunting applications. SAAMI pressure level for this cartridge is set at 40,000 pounds per square inch (280 MPa).
The .480 Ruger (12.1×33mmR) is a large, high-power revolver cartridge, introduced in 2003 by Ruger and Hornady. It was the first new cartridge introduced by Ruger, and when introduced, was the largest-diameter production revolver cartridge, at .475 in (12.1 mm).
The .475 Linebaugh (12.1x36mmR) is a rimmed revolver cartridge developed by John Linebaugh in the late 1980s in response to the scarcity of the .348 Winchester brass required to form his .500 Linebaugh cartridge. The cartridge is based on the .45-70 Government case trimmed to 1.4 inches and loaded with .475-inch-diameter (12.1 mm) bullets. While dimensionally similar to the older .45 Silhouette cartridge, the .475 Linebaugh is loaded to considerably higher pressures, resulting in significantly different ballistic performance.
The .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire, also known as the .22 WMR, .22 Magnum, .22 WMRF, .22 MRF, or .22 Mag, is a rimfire cartridge. Originally loaded with a bullet weight of 40 grains (2.6 g) delivering velocities in the 2,000 feet per second (610 m/s) range from a rifle barrel, .22 WMR is now loaded with bullet weights ranging from 50 grains (3.2 g) at 1,530 feet per second (470 m/s) to 30 grains (1.9 g) at 2,200 feet per second (670 m/s).
A .50 caliber handgun is a handgun firing a bullet measuring approximately 0.5 inches (12.7 mm) in diameter intended with the task of penetration. Historically, many black powder pistols fired bullets with diameters well above a half inch. However, following the development of smokeless powder, the focus shifted to smaller-diameter bullets propelled at higher velocities, and the development of .50 and larger calibers in handguns became uncommon.
A rim is an external flange that is machined, cast, molded, stamped, or pressed around the bottom of a firearms cartridge. Thus, rimmed cartridges are sometimes called "flanged" cartridges. Almost all cartridges feature an extractor or headspacing rim, in spite of the fact that some cartridges are known as "rimless cartridges". The rim may serve a number of purposes, including providing a lip for the extractor to engage, and sometimes serving to headspace the cartridge.
The .30-30 Winchester / 7.8x51mmR cartridge was first marketed for the Winchester Model 1894 lever-action rifle in 1895. The .30-30, as it is most commonly known, along with the .25-35 Winchester, was offered that year as the United States' first small-bore sporting rifle cartridges designed for smokeless powder. Since its introduction, it has been utilized alongside the development of flatter shooting cartridges, most prominently those derived from designs subsidized by interest in military expenditures. The .30-30 has remained in widespread use almost entirely because of reliable effectiveness in civilian applications, and has put food on the table for millions of people in hunting situations.
The .460 S&W Magnum round is a powerful revolver cartridge designed for long-range handgun hunting in the Smith & Wesson Model 460 revolver.
The Ruger Blackhawk is a six-shot, single-action revolver manufactured by Sturm, Ruger & Co. It is produced in a variety of finishes, calibers, and barrel lengths.
The .500 Wyoming Express or .500 WE is a "big bore" handgun cartridge. Freedom Arms introduced the cartridge in 2005 for their Model 83 .500 WE revolver.
The .50 GI (12.7×23mmRB) pistol cartridge was developed by Alex Zimmermann of Guncrafter Industries. The .50 GI was introduced at the 2004 SHOT Show alongside the Guncrafter Industries Model No. 1, a variation of the M1911. The round has a rebated rim that is the same diameter as that of the .45 ACP.
The Taurus Judge is a five-shot revolver designed and produced by Taurus International, chambered for .410 bore shot shells and the .45 Colt cartridge. Taurus promotes the Judge as a self-defense tool against carjacking and for home protection.
Freedom Arms is a Freedom, Wyoming–based firearm manufacturing company, known for producing powerful single-action revolvers. The company was founded in 1978 by Wayne Baker and Dick Casull to produce a mini-revolver, then later a revolver chambered in Casull's powerful .454 Casull revolver cartridge. This five-shot revolver was the Model 83. Freedom Arms currently makes a single-shot pistol in addition to their revolvers.
The .500 Linebaugh (13x35mmR) is a .50 caliber handgun cartridge designed for use in handguns. It is considered one of the most powerful handgun cartridges designed in terms of kinetic energy and power factor (momentum).
The .500 S&W Magnum or 12.7×41mmSR is a .50 caliber semi-rimmed revolver cartridge developed by Cor-Bon in partnership with the Smith & Wesson "X-Gun" engineering team for use in the Smith & Wesson Model 500 X-frame revolver and introduced in February 2003 at the SHOT Show. From its inception, it was intended to be the most powerful handgun cartridge to date, with the capacity to harvest all North American game species. While more powerful handgun cartridges, such as the .500 Bushwhacker, have emerged since, they are only available in custom firearms, and the .500 S&W remains the most powerful production handgun cartridge.
Richard J. Casull was an American gunsmith and wildcat cartridge developer whose experiments with .45 Colt ammunition in the 1950s led to the creation of the .454 Casull cartridge. Casull, whose passion was six-shooters, was determined to create high-velocity rounds for the .45 Colt. His goal was to achieve a muzzle velocity of 2,000 feet per second with Colt .45 rounds fired from a single-action Army-style revolver with a 7+1⁄2-inch barrel. This proved impossible due to the tensile strength of the Colt .45 cylinder, so he set out to develop his own casing and bullet.
The .500 Bushwhacker is a .50 caliber semi-rimmed revolver cartridge developed by TII Armory for the Magnum Research BFR revolvers. It is currently the most powerful revolver cartridge in the world, offering a similar level of ballistic performance to African stopping rifles, such as the .416 Rigby and .470 Nitro Express. Given comparable barrel lengths, it is nearly twice as powerful as the .500 S&W Magnum. A 10-inch barrel revolver chambered for the cartridge is capable of penetrating 103 inches of 10% Clear Ballistics gel. A 24-inch barrel rifle chambered for the round can penetrate 127 inches of the same medium. A 14-inch .500 Bushwhacker revolver can exceed 3,000 ft/s with select loads.
