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Liquid Metal

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Is there a website that list the recoil strength, velocity or destruction power of all the common calibers? I am looking for a comparison between calibers or a list in order.


Also, does anyone know how much the average cost for each shot for a 454, 460, 480 and 50 caliber?

I am planning to get a 44 Super Redhawk next week. The 44 ammo is about $17 a box which is fine with me. I shoot the 44 everytime I go to the range.

I do like to shoot something more powerful and thinking of the 50 or 454. Can someone give me an idea of how much it cost for every shot? This will decide whether I am going to hold off on the 44.

Thank you
 
That really helped on the average cost per shot question. I think I will stick with the 44. 454,480,460, and 50 cost almost $2 or more a shot. Thank You!

Now, I just need a site that shows the destruction power of each caliber.
 
Destructive power... you mean like kilo tons?

A good reference point is the ft lbs energy produced at the muzzle. That should give you a pretty good idea of power. Much of that information is shown on the web site I gave you. Recoil will generally increase as the muzzle energy increases. Many of the loadings will give you this informatin. Buffalo Bore's web site will show their +P loadings. These are more upper end loadings in terms of power.

http://www.buffalobore.com/ammunition/default.htm
 
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If cost is a concern, the obvious answer is reloading. My 44 mag costs maybe $6.00 a box or 12 cents/shot. Also, you can download to 44 Special levels for practice. I've come to realize that it takes minimal knockdown power to kill a paper target. 50-100 rounds of 44 mag works you over.
 
CALIBER does NOT equate to CARTRIDGE! :banghead: Not interchangeable as most use them as though they are.
 
Thanks for getting to my thread guys.

redneck2, are there any disadvantages to use reloads? I think you made a good point.

McCall911, I am looking for a list that describe caliber or cartridge that will cause more damage when it hits an object. For example, 22 caliber has less power to penetrate or knock down than 45 caliber.
 
McCall911, I am looking for a list that describe caliber or cartridge that will cause more damage when it hits an object. For example, 22 caliber has less power to penetrate or knock down than 45 caliber.
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I gotcha!

The "knockdown" in terms of "stopping power" is a subject of intense debate which rages on and on. So far, no one has come up with an acceptable means for predicting how much damage a cartridge can do, especially when the target is a living being. Cartridges differ widely in their characteristics and capabilities, even within the same caliber.

As 22-rimfire mentioned, the most common way of measuring the power of a cartridge is through kinetic energy (K.E.) figures which are published in most ballistic tables. That table at buffalobore.com will give energy figures for the cartridges they load.

Federal also has an extensive list for the cartridges they load, which also show the kinetic energy:

http://www.federalpremium.com/ballistics/default.aspx

Hope this helps so far.
 
Totally Thank You McCall911!

BTW... How do you quote someone in this forum? There is usally a button after you login for this right?
 
BTW... How do you quote someone in this forum? There is usally a button after you login for this right?
Click to expand...

My lazy way of doing it is to first click "Post Reply" and then copy and paste whatever I want to quote into the Message box. ( I generally copy from the posts underneath the Message box.) Then I go back and highlight the quote and click the 4th symbol to the right directly above the message, the one that looks like a cartoon quote. And that's all I do.
 
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redneck2, are there any disadvantages to use reloads? I think you made a good point.
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downside...Cost to get started, time it takes (depends greatly on equipment), possibility of damaging gun and /or shooter if you do something foolish

Upside...taylor your own loads, save anywhere from 25-90% on ammo, shoot more, make rounds for obscure calibers, satisfaction of shooting your own stuff
 
look at the new yearly, peterson's annual, or guns and ammo annual. In the back of these mags, there is allways a cartridge table. It shows you velocity, trajectory, and energy, of many diff loads at the muzzle, and subsequently at 100 200 300 400 and 500 yds.
 
Rifle Cartridge Killing Power List

OK. Maybe I'm a geek but...

Mr. Hawks' "killing power" thingy is--well--mathematically unsound.

If the formula is this:
I found that if I took energy at 100 yards and multiplied it by bullet sectional density (a fractional number) and bullet cross-sectional area (also a fractional number),
Click to expand...

If we're going to be factual, the sectional density is nothing more than the bullet weight divided by the cross-sectional area. And if we're multiplying back the cross sectional area, we have in essence cancelled it out! So this formula is, I hate to say it, bogus.

Now, if he had used a formula which used energy x sectional density x caliber (in inches), it might appear to be more believable. Still wrong IMO, but more believable.
 
Not necessarily so

"Thanks for getting to my thread guys.

redneck2, are there any disadvantages to use reloads? I think you made a good point.

McCall911, I am looking for a list that describe caliber or cartridge that will cause more damage when it hits an object. For example, 22 caliber has less power to penetrate or knock down than 45 caliber."

There are many "22 caliber" cartridges that are far more powerful then some 45 caliber cartridges. Like a 220 swift vs. a 45acp. On the other hand of course the 458 lott is more powerful than any 22 caliber I know of.
 
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