[zsill7]

Im just wondering...why hadnt anyone tried to use spitzers in a revolver?
i mean there must be plenty of use for them with pistol hunters for longer pistol shots....

and i know about the new Leverevolution bullets but those were really designed for the leveraction not for longer range revolver hunting....

maybe its a bad question and the answer is simply "it wasnt needed" but i thought i would ask...

[ChristopherG]

Because the chamber length is limited (unlike a rifle, where the long spitzer point can point indefinitely out into the barrel)? A pointed bullet would have to be considerably shorter than a conventional rifle bullet--so you'd lose the ballistic coefficient the spitzer is intended to produce.

(PS--this is a WAG)

[zsill7]

WAG?

[Jim March]

wild-ass guess

[ChristopherG]

Thanks, Jim ;)

[armoredman]

Is the 5.7mm a spitzer style bullet?

[.38 Special]

A wide, flat nose is useful at handgun velocities. Firing a pointy bullet into a live target at +/-1000 FPS is liable to end badly.

[Matt304]

While those shapes may be limited to certain calibers, you can easily use pointed bullets in single-shot pistols. For instance, the 300gr .45cal bullets inside a .54 caliber muzzleloader sabot are pointed spitzer style, just like a ballistic tip. Assuming they were right at .452, they would work in .45cal handguns. Also, I'm pretty sure you can get 200gr pointed tip bullets for muzzleloader sabots which are .40cal. You could always cast your own pointed bullets as well for any caliber.

If you needed the OAL cylinder clearance to use the longer bullets, you could use a shorter case in a longer chamber, such as 454 Casull in a 460SW for example.

I think one of the main reasons it is not done is because those big calibers which already don't use pointed bullets really aren't going to gain a whole lot by doing so. You cannot cure their trajectory more than a little by using the pointed bullet, and you will find it hard to make such far shots with a pistol which would really take advantage of such trajectory benefits. Remember, people who can shoot 200 yards accurately with a pistol are few and far between. I'd say that the general consensus agrees that it's better to smash your game with a big meplat at those velocities than to use a pointed bullet. Think of Taylor's Knock Out value.

[PTK]

Is the 5.7mm a spitzer style bullet?

It sure is.

[The Lone Haranguer]

At handgun ranges and velocities the aerodynamic efficiency of a pointed bullet is wasted.

i mean there must be plenty of use for them with pistol hunters for longer pistol shots....


In pistols chambered for rifle cartridges to start with (single-shot or based on a bolt action), yes.

[EddieCoyle]

Is the 5.7mm a spitzer style bullet?

Does someone make a revolver chambered for this cartridge?

[Markbo]

At handgun ranges and velocities the aerodynamic efficiency of a pointed bullet is wasted.


I'm not too sure about that. Not at .460 S&W Mag velocities anyway. :D

Obviously they are not true spitzer shaped, but they are pointy shaped. FWIW Hornady has just announced the Leverevolution ammo is being made in handgun ammo now, .357 & .44 mag for sure... not sure about any others at the moment.

[RyanM]

Aren't there pointed .460 S&W mag bullets available? I think I remember seeing some.

[Markbo]

Did you not just read the post directly above yours?

[MCgunner]

My contender fires a 150 grain Nosler BT spitzer boat tail. It is accurate and powerful and has taken five deer. It is a pistol. You said "pistol", then in the OP said something about "revolver". A revolver is not a pistol, so I offer up the Contender as a "pistol" that will shoot spitzers. I have two barrels, .30-30 and 7mmTCU that both fire spitzers. If you wanna move up in ballistics, come on up to the contender or encore. You can get belted magnums and short magnums in the encore. :D

[rcmodel]

Shoot!

I thought a Colt Walker was a Horse Pistol in it's day!

rcmodel

[AndyC]

"I remember the day when all handguns were called "pistols"..." http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/4714/oldmanad0.gif

I've seen a number of texts dating back to the 1800's referring to revolvers as pistols - meaning "handgun" more than our more modern reference to autos - beg pardon, semi-autos ;)

[Murdock]

I've seen a number of texts dating back to the 1800's referring to revolvers as pistols - meaning "handgun" more than our more modern reference to autos - beg pardon, semi-autos

I have used the definition that a pistol is a handgun that has only one chamber. My unabridged Webster's defines it as a small firearm that can be carried at the side and fired with only one hand. They also say that either a revolver or a semi-auto may be referred to as a pistol.

Regarding spitzers, didn't the S&W Model 53 in .22 Jet use spitzer bullets?

[MCgunner]

I think taurus had a "raging bee" in .218 bee, I think, or was it a raging hornet in .22 hornet, or both? They had SOMETHING in 22 centerfire with spitzers.

[zsill7]

it seems the concensus is that unless your using a rifle style bottlenecked bullet theyre just isnt enough velocity to warrant using a spitzer. because all of the straight walled carteriges use mostly flat point or round nose bullets.
the cartriges like .17 rimfires and .22 hornet and such used pointed bullets

but tapers on revolver bullets (As i have just learned) tend to lock up the cylinder and are therefore not as common in revolvers

[roscoe]

Hornady has spitzer-pointed .357 and .44 in their Leverevolution line. I am waiting to see if they put out a .45 colt.

[KD5NRH]

http://www.magnumresearch.com/BFR.asp

.22Hornet, and of course the 30/30 LeverEvolution are both available in spitzers for this critter.

[bhk]

The NRA still uses pistol to refer to both revolvers and autos. I am a NRA Pistol Instructor and am not restricted to teaching the use of autos. This use of the term pistol is certainly not ancient if it is current NRA terminology. They ought to know.

[20nickels]

Zsill7,
You have found the answer. Wildcatters have tried it for years, unsuccessfully. There simply is not enough velocity out of a packable handgun to get .223 like ballitics. Additionally bottleneck cases tend to set back in cylinders causing obvious problems, although there are exceptions. Not to take away from the .22 magnums, 5.7's and .17 HMR's which are all fine rounds for certain targets. I believe the the .357 mags and Sigs are the closest thing we have to a rifle cartridge in a defensive handgun. The new 327 mag looks promising though.

[rcmodel]

The NRA still uses pistol to refer to both revolvers and autos.Zactly!

rcmodel