Daily Archives: Jun 28, 2026

Handgun caliber debates often sound settled until controlled testing starts stripping away the folklore. The biggest change came when agencies and ammunition makers stopped judging rounds by label alone and started comparing what bullets actually do after impact. The benchmark that reshaped the conversation is the FBI’s 12-to-18-inch penetration...

A U.S. Army sidearm has rarely been just a backup weapon. Across different eras, pistols and revolvers have filled the gap when rifles were empty, primary weapons were out of reach, or close quarters made a smaller firearm the only practical option. The most important Army handguns were not...

Handgun caliber arguments often get flattened into slogans. In actual defensive ballistics, the more useful question is not which round sounds powerful, but which one can penetrate deeply enough, expand reliably enough, and do both from the short barrels people really carry. That is why so many experts return to...