The confusion comes about because there are around two dozen cartridges around the size of a .38 or 9mm with different names. While I usually get annoyed at reporters for getting gun stuff wrong (like that one did with the '94 ban), I can’t really blame someone who doesn’t have firearms as a hobby for getting confused over which of the .38/9mm/.357 rounds they’re talking about.
Most likely what she was carrying is a gun chambered for .357 sig, which is pretty much a .357 magnum made for a pistol (.357 sig is shorter and has a rim IIRC it’s a little lighter). That cartridge was originally developed to appeal to police who were required to switch from a .357 revolver to a pistol, the idea being ‘look, you can still keep that high-powered .357 you’ve used for 20 years’. AFAIK, it hasn’t caught on (probably because it was developed too long after the start of big switch from revolvers to pistols). While I think it was developed post-94, IIRC the cartridges use necked down .40 S&W brass so would probably fit into a magazine for a .40, so it’s probably possible to have a legal full capacity magazine for it.
HPL, from the handgun hunters I’ve talked to, .50 AE is not generally considered good for hunting - it’s a big round, but fairly low-powered (somewhat like a .45 ACP), so doesn’t do a good job getting through the fat on a bear, boar, etc. Big game handgun hunters tend to go with .357 magnum, .44 magnum, or .454 casull.
Why anyone would consider the .50 AE for anything at all is confounding to me. Sure it sounds big, and the DE is a huge piece of crap gun that looks like it could do some damage (mostly to your wrist or foot when dropped). Who said they would hunt with this for big game? Huh? Underpenetration mean anything to you? Go back a few years when pistol hunting was getting pretty ridiculous and American Handgunner ran a safari article about a custom .45 mag revolver and the cape buffalo it dropped. the AE round won’t do that. Sure it’ll blow a man in half, but for big game? Try a Casull .454 or the new .458. Great penetration and accurate as all hell.
Why anyone not in a movie need a gas blowback .50 cal handgun for self defense is beyond me. It’s complete overkill of unarmored persons and won’t penetrate most body armor any better than a .357 MAG which is usually a lot more accurate and easier to wield.
No, they use 357 Magnum. The .50 is AE though. I don’t believe there is such a cartridge as a .357 AE. The only AE calibers I’m aware of is .41 and .50.
.38 Super is a long, straight-walled case, 9mm in diameter. It frequently is loaded with teh same bullets as as traditional 9mm Parabellum, driving that bullet down-range at a rather sharply increased velocity. .45 barrels will not safely fit in any .38 Super 1911/1911 clone. For that matter, the magazines wouldn’t match the magazine well, either.
Shooting & reloading Gov’t Model in .38 Super for over 15 years, now.
“But if I wanted to increase the odds that a single shot would stop an attacker (assuming I could handle the recoil and didn’t mind carrying around a desert eagle), that’s probably what I would go with.”
Can you say (12g.00buck 3"mag.) that round has 9, .38 cal. lead shot in the shell, at close range w/ 18" barrells, it leaves one hell of a hole. Try slugs if you want less mess.
Plus, you don’t need a permit to carry a shotgun. Not in Texas anyway. I keep a pistol handy too! My wife likes the shotgun for at night security. Easy to use, can’t miss!
Sorry 'bout the hijack…just had to butt in…:rolleyes:
Keep in mind the .357 Sig is based on the .40 S&W round and uses the same magazines. Any pre-ban, high capacity .40 S&W magazine should be useable for .357 Sig and not subject to the federal ban. The point is moot in this case because CNN reported she had a magazine that was marked as restricted for law enforcement.
While that’s true, that would mean that she owned a pre-1994 .40 S&W (so that she had legal high-capacity magazines) for which a barrel was later produced to enable the gun to fire the .357 SIG caliber. And offhand, I don’t know of a pre-1994 non-Sig gun that can be refitted with any ease to fire the .357 SIG caliber. My Sig Pro (a post-1994 model) can change between the two calibers with just a barrel switch, but that’s a rarity. It appears, from looking at Sig’s owner’s manuals, that the SIG P229 and P226 have the same capability, but the P239 requires a different magazine for each caliber.
I suppose there was also the possibility that she had loaded her magazine with the wrong ammunition. But like you say, the point is moot, she was carrying an illegal magazine.
You’re linking two things that have nothing to do with each other. While so-called assault weapons and high capacity magazines were banned in the same bill they are two entirely separate clauses. The '94 crime bill had no impact on ordinary pistols anyway, just high capacity magazines. Even for weapons that were effected by the ban, such AR-15 types, it’s perfectly legal to use high capacity pre-ban magazines in a post-ban weapon.
Best guess is she was carrying a Sig 226 but not enough information to be certain. If the gun was made before or after 94 or originally as a .40S&W or .357 Sig would make no difference.
Personal pet peeve: Modern handguns use magazines, not clips. A magazine encloses the ammunition. A clip does not and usually holds the rounds by the rim. There are stripper clips as used in Mauster rifles and the old Mauster pistol which do not go into the weapon and en-bloc clips as on the M1 garand which do. At any rate the law in question never used either term but instead “high capacity ammunition feeding devices.”
Guess I didn’t make myself clear. I know that it’s fine to use pre-ban magazines in a post-ban weapon. What I’m saying is, unless she had one of perhaps two handgun models, she wouldn’t have the proper barrel to fire .357 SIG, even though the magazine would accept the ammo. And with someone identifying the gun as an HK, I didn’t see how that was possible. Hope that makes it clearer.
Max T, the K&K USP is available in .357 SIG and I’m pretty sure it’s a drop in barrel conversion just as the Sig 226 and 229 are. That’s the whole reason calibers like .357 Sig and .400 Cor Bon were invented, to make a caliber change that only requires a barrel swap. The chart on the K&K website doesn’t show it but the text does. The H&K USP compact in .40 S&W shows a law enforcement mag capacity of 12 so it would follow the .357 Sig version would as well.
Brutus, sorry but the short lived 9x23 Winchester is not bottleneck either. It’s very similar in size and shape to .38 super but rimless IIRC instead of semi rimmed. The only other caliber like that I can think of is the .356 TSW which I think is also based on the .40 S&W.
Never implied that it was I am shopping for an ‘exotic’ caliber, and have been thinking about .400 Cor-bon, .38 Super, and .9X23 Win. (Heck, I’ll probably get a Makarov and sink the savings into the Money Pit, AKA Bushmaster) Then this topic comes up, and I brain fart
I am shopping for an ‘exotic’ caliber, and have been thinking about .400 Cor-bon, .38 Super, and .9X23 Win. (Heck, I’ll probably get a Makarov and sink the savings into the Money Pit, AKA Bushmaster) Then this topic comes up, and I brain fart 