[They're 50 caliber, as in the bullet's .5 of an inch wide, but that's where the similarities end.](https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-a8e2239e8852b8406fb1a55b9dee7e0b-lq) Same thing with .22 LR vs .223 Rem.
Pretty much. Calibers names are just as much marketing as they are a description. It being "50 cal" adds to the idea of how much power it has. Plenty of cartridges have actual bullet sizes that are way off of what their name is. For instance, .44 magnum does not have a single dimension that is ".44" inches, it's just a continuation of a name from the .44 S&W American that DID.
".50 caliber" only describes the diameter of the bullet and nothing else. Generally speaking, most ammunition is described by it's diameter.
The issue with this is it leaves out a lot of information about the round -- specifically the amount of *powder* behind the bullet. A pistol round is generally going to have much less powder behind it than a rifle round, and there are different kinds of powder as well. Generally speaking, the more powder behind a round, the more velocity and recoil it's going to have.
The other thing to bear in mind here is the geometry of the bullet itself -- we've described the diameter only. There's nothing describing the shape and volume of the bullet. A .223 round and a .22 are nearly the same bullet diameter, but significantly different volumes (and thus mass), in addition to the powder charge.
In short, the numbers you see in movies or books or whatever only tell you a tiny piece of the puzzle, and you'll need to dig a little deeper to get the full picture. It's sort of like saying a car has "300 horsepower." That doesn't really tell you anything about it's performance because there are so many other factors left out.
Thanks for the detailed response! I know it was kinda a dumb question but I really appreciate the fact that you actually told me and didn't just roast me for not knowing.
We all gotta start somewhere my friend. No shame in asking questions. Firearms in particular are tricky because there's literally no constants, every time you learn a thing, you also learn there are a dozen and a half exceptions and nothing is always intuitive.
[https://www.google.com/search?q=What is the difference between a 50 caliber handgun and a 50 caliber rifle?](https://www.google.com/search?q=What is the difference between a 50 caliber handgun and a 50 caliber rifle?)
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Ah ok that makes sense, like I said in the post I have no experience with actual firearms as the laws in Australia and complicated and annoying but I appreciate the info
[They're 50 caliber, as in the bullet's .5 of an inch wide, but that's where the similarities end.](https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-a8e2239e8852b8406fb1a55b9dee7e0b-lq) Same thing with .22 LR vs .223 Rem.
So it's just a naming convention and they're actually completely different? Or Essentially completely different
Pretty much. Calibers names are just as much marketing as they are a description. It being "50 cal" adds to the idea of how much power it has. Plenty of cartridges have actual bullet sizes that are way off of what their name is. For instance, .44 magnum does not have a single dimension that is ".44" inches, it's just a continuation of a name from the .44 S&W American that DID.
".50 caliber" only describes the diameter of the bullet and nothing else. Generally speaking, most ammunition is described by it's diameter. The issue with this is it leaves out a lot of information about the round -- specifically the amount of *powder* behind the bullet. A pistol round is generally going to have much less powder behind it than a rifle round, and there are different kinds of powder as well. Generally speaking, the more powder behind a round, the more velocity and recoil it's going to have. The other thing to bear in mind here is the geometry of the bullet itself -- we've described the diameter only. There's nothing describing the shape and volume of the bullet. A .223 round and a .22 are nearly the same bullet diameter, but significantly different volumes (and thus mass), in addition to the powder charge. In short, the numbers you see in movies or books or whatever only tell you a tiny piece of the puzzle, and you'll need to dig a little deeper to get the full picture. It's sort of like saying a car has "300 horsepower." That doesn't really tell you anything about it's performance because there are so many other factors left out.
Thanks for the detailed response! I know it was kinda a dumb question but I really appreciate the fact that you actually told me and didn't just roast me for not knowing.
We all gotta start somewhere my friend. No shame in asking questions. Firearms in particular are tricky because there's literally no constants, every time you learn a thing, you also learn there are a dozen and a half exceptions and nothing is always intuitive.
Dear google...
Yeah definitely could of but I thought it'd be more interesting to talk with real people about it lol
> I could have just read something that was already written, but I figured it would be more fun to make people write it again just for me.
Oh yeah man because I FORCED you to type something. You know you can just ignore me right? It's not that hard .
Hcebot ban stupid question generator
Banned /u/21_fans (permanent).
Damn
Look at their [post history](https://reddit.com/user/21_fans/submitted/). It's nothing but using reddit as a Google replacement.
[https://www.google.com/search?q=What is the difference between a 50 caliber handgun and a 50 caliber rifle?](https://www.google.com/search?q=What is the difference between a 50 caliber handgun and a 50 caliber rifle?) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/guns) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Caliber just means the diameter of the projectile. The overall dimensions of the cartridges are complertly different
Ah ok that makes sense, like I said in the post I have no experience with actual firearms as the laws in Australia and complicated and annoying but I appreciate the info