If New Handgun Caliber is Developed These Days... Is It Possible to be Adapted?

[LibraPMC]

If new handgun round for self defense in terms of average civilian and LE Military use is developed, can it be popular and adapted in these times?

Just like 40S&W and 357 Sig round became adapted although it was developed few decades ago, maybe new round might appear in the market. If that happens do you think people will adapt it eventually or are there already enough? No caliber war please

Thanks

 

[GCBurner]

People picked up on the .40 S&W, and the FN 5.7mm seems to have a growing following. A lot depends on the gun it's offered in, I think.

 

[hmphargh]

People picked up on the .40 S&W, and the FN 5.7mm seems to have a growing following. A lot depends on the gun it's offered in, I think.

Agreed. I think it also helps if major brands that sell in huge volume, to military/police adopt the new round. 5.7 is growing, but there aren't enough platforms for it to make it really take off.

 

[bergmen]

I've got enough calibers. I don't need anymore. Really.

Dan

 

[InkEd]

It is difficult to launch a new caliber. It has to fill a niche that isn't covered by existing cartridges in the market.

The .40 has been accepted because of law enforcement contracts. The 5.7FN and.357SIG have small followings too. The .327 looks like it is going to fail as a popular choice.

 

[NMGonzo]

I don't think that a major caliber is going to be developed.

9mm is going to be as it is now the dominant round for the market since most of the world uses it, it does an OK job, and it is produced in large enough quantities to be relatively inexpensive compared to everything else.

 

[DWFan]

Besides trying to fill a niche and generate a following, you have to make components and ammo readily available. That's been the .327's biggest failing.

 

[mavracer]

I seriously doubt it. The 40 S&W is the only truely successful cartridge developed in the last 50 years. It's the only one that's suplanted the old standbys in the top 5 handgun rounds in terms of sales.

 

[Snowbandit]

You would have to fill in a gap somewhere and I don't really see any. The 40 S&W managed to get adopted by law enforcement but, with all the improvements in the 9MM some departments are returning to it. If that happens in mass even the popular 40's long term survival could be in jeopardy.

 

[Mike J]

How often do you see or hear about .45 GAP? I think you could develop a new caliber but getting anyone to adopt it would be an uphill battle.

 

[scythefwd]

do you mean adopted? I'm still asking.. "Adapted to what?"

I've adopted the .40 S&W.

 

[JohnBiltz]

I'd say the secret to success is wide adoption by someone who counts. The FBI made the .40. The military made .223 and if you go far back enough .45, 30.06, and 7.62. Wow, didn't realize it as I wrote that, the military seems the biggest reason a cartridge takes off or not. If the military decided tomorrow that all its pistols would be chambered in .45 GAP or .357 Sig it would gain popularity. The same thing if it decided to chamber its rifle in 6.5 or 6.8. A lot of that is wannabes wanna be and it drives down cost of ammo.

 

[waidmann]

The niche and being "adopted" are together the key. Until the .40 S&W there were significant attempts to introduce a .40/.41 offering: .41 Colt, .38-40 WCF, .41 Rem. Mag., .41 AE, 10mm. Bridging the gap between .38/9mm and .44/.45 took a while didn't it?

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

I have thought about taking a .223 casing and shortening it to make something like a 5.7 x 28 but be short enough that it could be chambered in any 9mm.

 

[DWFan]

FIVETWOSEVEN, look at the .22 Reed Express. Very similar to what you propose.
http://www.reedsammo.com/-.html

 

[pazz]

The 8mm will someday be developed since it's all about capacity and shot placement

On a serious note, I don't see any new ones coming down the line. I think the trend will be to develop new guns like what Kel-Tec is doing with their shotgun and PMR-30

 

[LibraPMC]

The 8mm will someday be developed since it's all about capacity and shot placement

On a serious note, I don't see any new ones coming down the line. I think the trend will be to develop new guns like what Kel-Tec is doing with their shotgun and PMR-30

Yup, I think all gaps are filled by now and it's all about guns that fit these caliber...

 

[Caliper_Mi]

Possible? Yes. Likely? Not very. I can find .38, .357, 9mm and .45 brass aplenty at local ranges and matches. Some .40 as it has become popular. Have only seen a very few .357 SIG. Never seen any 10mm brass left.

I'm sticking with 9mm and .45. Pretty much covers things as far as semi auto is concerned. G/f has .357 and .44 to cover the revolver side of things. Although I still want a 10mm handgun...

 

[CraigC]

It would be uphill all the way. Shooters, as a whole, tend to be rather cynical and closed-minded about anything new. As if the whole thing was just a scheme to rid them of their money and that they were required to purchase or face eternal damnation. Just look at all the immediate negativity surrounding the introduction of the .327Federal. Never stood a chance.

 

[ccsniper]

Maybe, if it has the knockdown power of a 44 mag, the recoil of a .22, the capacity of the 9mm and the cost of BB's, the cartridge might have a fighting chance. Other than that, not likely. The round would have to offer a significantly great advantage in order to make it in today's market.

 

[Kliegl]

10mm is too balls-out awesome to be adopted by the unwashed masses.

 

[DNS]

Danny Vermin special -

"Its an 88 magnum. It shoots through schools!".

 

[Shadow 7D]

Look at the history of new cartaridges, either they are introduced by the major gun makers for a new line of rifles or they are developed by the major makers for the CONTRACT market, 40 took off cause the FBI was pushing 10mm and S&W made a bastardized compromise round, more cap than 45, more 'power' than 9 and more shootable than 10....

and so a legend was born.

as for 5.7 I'm kinda in the 'its a specialty round' lots of little AP, it'll kill you but... I seriously see it as just a MARKETING success, all the 'taki kool' guys getting neutered PS90's

I mean, really what does it do, that something like Fireball or even a .22 hornet hadn't already done?

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

FIVETWOSEVEN, look at the .22 Reed Express. Very similar to what you propose.

Sorta but not quite, I was thinking about taking the same measurements of a .223 but shortening it.

 

[pendennis]

While the .40 S&W is a compromise, it proved superior to the 10mm in the accuracy department. The original 10mm guns weren't as accurate as hoped.

It seems (to me anyway) that the .357 Sig is the answer to an unasked question.

There are still lots of .357 magnum revolvers out there, and they aren't going away anytime soon.

The .327 Federal magnum doesn't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. That's the latest one, and it doesn't appear to have gained much, if any, traction.

The next one will have to be a quantum leap. It will need to combine all the ground breaking qualities of the .357 magnum, .44 magnum, .40 S&W, and the .45 ACP, without requiring a lot of new pistol/revolver tooling.