Just some ramblings. I don't have any science to back this up, but I've thought about this for awhile.
There seem to be, for whatever reasons, ideal projectiles for various types of firearms. What I mean by ideal is that for whatever reasons, some caliber ranges seem to have become and remained VERY popular worldwide.
For example, in handguns, the projectile diameter range .355"-.363" is VERY common, not only in revolvers but also in autopistols. I'd venture to say that the vast majority of centerfire handgun ammunition produced worldwide falls into this caliber range. I'd also venture to say that there's not a single store in the world who stocks ammunition that won't carry at least one chambering in this caliber range. What's more, things haven't changed much in the last 80 years...
Similarly, the 12ga bore seems to be ubiquitous when it comes to smoothbores. As before, if you go into ANY store ANYWHERE that stocks shotgun ammo, you're going to be able to buy 12ga.
In rifles, it's not quite so obvious, but I'd guess that the caliber range that is most analogous to the above bore diameters is the .300" to .323" range. The small bores seem to be skewing things low a bit, but I'll bet that you can find something in that range on the shelf in any ammo store in the world. And, I'll bet that a large percentage, if not the majority of centerfire rifle ammo falls into this range. If you go back a few decades, this caliber range would definitely be the clear winner.
So...
Why would it be true that in spite of the huge proliferation of different calibers that a fairly narrow range of projectile diameters would so clearly dominate?
Why does this seem to be more obvious in handguns and shotguns than rifles?
There seem to be, for whatever reasons, ideal projectiles for various types of firearms. What I mean by ideal is that for whatever reasons, some caliber ranges seem to have become and remained VERY popular worldwide.
For example, in handguns, the projectile diameter range .355"-.363" is VERY common, not only in revolvers but also in autopistols. I'd venture to say that the vast majority of centerfire handgun ammunition produced worldwide falls into this caliber range. I'd also venture to say that there's not a single store in the world who stocks ammunition that won't carry at least one chambering in this caliber range. What's more, things haven't changed much in the last 80 years...
Similarly, the 12ga bore seems to be ubiquitous when it comes to smoothbores. As before, if you go into ANY store ANYWHERE that stocks shotgun ammo, you're going to be able to buy 12ga.
In rifles, it's not quite so obvious, but I'd guess that the caliber range that is most analogous to the above bore diameters is the .300" to .323" range. The small bores seem to be skewing things low a bit, but I'll bet that you can find something in that range on the shelf in any ammo store in the world. And, I'll bet that a large percentage, if not the majority of centerfire rifle ammo falls into this range. If you go back a few decades, this caliber range would definitely be the clear winner.
So...
Why would it be true that in spite of the huge proliferation of different calibers that a fairly narrow range of projectile diameters would so clearly dominate?
Why does this seem to be more obvious in handguns and shotguns than rifles?
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