375 SUPER MAG

The 375 Super Magnum was developed by Elgin Gates, one of the pioneers and promoters of contemporary handgun metallic silhouette shooting. It was based on the 375 Winchester case cut down to 1.610”.  

39 BSA

Short summary of the history of the BSA pistol cartridges from Vol. 2 No.7 of The Historical Breechloading Firearm Association by Dr GL Sturgess. Both German and English arms manufacturers suffered a significant decline in their fortunes after the end of WW1 with the...

380 SMG

This was a Winchester produced cartridge for the Ingram MAC-11 Submachine Gun.    Below is a description from the August 1975 AFTE Journal: SPECIAL .380 SUBMACHINE GUN CARTRIDGE FOR MAC (INGRAM) SMG By Monty C. Lutz, Chief Firearms Examiner US Army Crime...

380 REVOLVER MK. 2

With concerns that the Mark 1 bullet might not be appropriate according to Art. 23(e) of the Hague Convention, the British Small Arms Committee commenced with trials late in 1936 and into 1937 with a jacketed bullet to replace the round-nosed lead bullet used. Various...

380 REVOLVER MK. 1

The 455 Webley was the official side-arm of British troops during the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, but after hostilities ceased, the military decided that in a modern era a lighter revolver would be sufficient. The firm of Webley & Scott submitted...

380 LONG C.F.

This was an English development from the period between 1870 – 1880 and was originally developed for Rook/Rabbit type rifles for varmint hunting. It was also listed in the 1898 Eley catalogue as a revolver cartridge and was also manufactured by various European...

38-45 HARD HEAD

The 38-45 Hard Head is nothing more than the 45-38 Clerke in a different dress. Whereas the 45-38 Clerke is based on the .45 ACP necked down to 38 caliber, the 38-45 Hard Head is the same thing but instead of using the standard 45 ACP case with its 19,900 CUP pressure...

38-45 CLERKE

The 38-45 Auto was designed by Bo Clerke of the Armory gun shop, Burbank, CA and was first announced publicly in the October 1963 issue of Guns and Ammo magazine in an article by Howard French. The 45-38 Auto is based on a .45 ACP case necked down to accept standard...

38-44 SPECIAL

The 38-44 Special was simply a more powerful loading of the .38 Special which was an intermediate step prior to the introduction of the still more powerful .357 Magnum. The inability of conventional police service revolver ammunition to reliably penetrate automobiles...

38 SUPER COMPETITION

The 38 Super Comp story started in 1900 when John M. Browning developed the semi-rimmed .38 Auto or 38 ACP for his original design Colt pistol, that would become the prototype for the M1911 adopted by the US Ordnance Department for the 45 ACP. After Browning’s death...

38 SUPER AUTO

The 38 Super is a higher velocity loading of the 38 Auto (ACP) and was introduced during the late 1920’s, about 27 years after the introduction of the 9mm Luger. During the early years and up to the end of WW2, the 9mm Luger was not well known in the US. It was only...

38 SPECIAL

During the early 1850’s the designation used for the revolvers in service was the 100-bore, or .36 cal. Colt percussion revolver, as used by the then Republic of Texas navy. The designation remained popular in the post-Civil War era with the Model 1851 Colt Navy...

38 SMITH & WESSON

-Work in progress updated 22-07-01- The 38 Smith and Wesson has enjoyed a long and colourful history since its introduction in 1877. It was developed by S&W as a black powder cartridge for the S&W Baby Russian Single Action Revolver, a scaled-up version of the...

38 LONG COLT (ARMY)

This is the improved, inside lubricated version of the original .38 Colt Navy discussed below. The case is longer than the original to enclose the inside lubricated bullet, but the overall length is basically the same as the Navy version. The US Ordnance Office...

38 DARDICK

This interesting cartridge was designed by David Dardick, who already started during the late 1940’s with his design, although the patent application for his “Open Chamber Gun” was only filed in 1954 and granted in August of 1958. The gun was designed to be a...

38 COLT SPECIAL

The 38 Colt Special is the same cartridge as the standard 38 Special cartridge. It was introduced in 1909 at the request from Colt so that they could use it for their handguns without using the S&W of their rival. Colt claimed that the flat nosed bullet provided...

38 COLT NEW POLICE

This was the designation that Colt gave to the 38 S&W cartridge so that they did not have to stamp the name of their rival on the revolvers they manufactured. Colt had cartridges loaded for them with a flat nosed lead bullet, claiming it provided better stopping...

38 CASULL

The 38 Casull was developed by Dick Casull of Freedom Arms around 1963. It is similar to the 38/45 Hard Head and based on the 45 Winchester or 451 Detonics case necked down, thus being able to handle much higher pressures than a standard 45 ACP case.       CAC was by...

38 AUTOMATIC

The .38 Automatic dates from the beginning of the 20th Century. It was the first in a line of semi-auto pistols that were designed by John M Browning that were both licensed to and manufactured by Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company in Hartford, Connecticut....

38 AMU

During the late 1950’s an early 1960’s, the Army Advanced Marksmanship Unit, (now known as the Army Marksmanship or AMU), at Fort Benning, Georgia used converted Colt 1911 pistols in 38 Special for National Match competitions. There was a concern however with the...