Let’s have some fun during the COVID pandemic by starting some arguments. This time, the 6 Most Overrated Calibers.
People make a huge to-do about certain calibers, and they just aren’t the greatest thing since sliced bread in the real world. Just as with anything else in the gun world, the people that rant and rave about them won’t shut up and making those people upset is just good fun.
Buckle up, buttercup, because here we go. And remember you hoopleheads, this is just for fun.
.357 Sig
The .357 Sig is a great idea on paper. In the real world, nobody cares. That’s why hardly anyone makes or buys guns in this chambering.
Yes, it comes close to .357 Magnum ballistics, but the price of getting there combined with what that actually gets you in the real world just don’t make it worth it. Sure, it’s a hot round. However, the increase in recoil, increase in wear on the gun, HUGE increase in cost of shooting the pistol, and the fact that 9mm or .40 S&W work so well in the real world when loaded with quality ammunition that there’s really no point to .357 Sig.
There’s no advantage that it gives you in the real world, but there are disadvantages that it foists upon you in the real world. Sig Sauer themselves have all but dropped it from their product lineup. That is what we call a “clue.”
10mm
Oh yes, he went there. First, the reason why 10mm is a thing is nobody thought to actually load the .45 ACP to its full potential. .45 ACP actually has more case capacity than 10mm Auto, and can be goosed with powder to the point that it does everything 10mm does with ⅔ the chamber pressure. Less wear on the gun, and easier on the shooter.
Second, most 10mm loads are just .40 S&W with stilts.
Third, there’s barely a capacity advantage over .45 ACP and the ammo is more expensive, so that means less practicing or more expensive practice. Fourth, it hasn’t proven itself in the real world to be any better an anti-personnel round than pretty much any other handgun caliber.
Sure, it makes a great pistol for bear country, and works for that purpose. But let’s not go pretending it’s really all that superior to other handgun calibers as a general rule.
10 Gauge And 3-½” 12 Gauge
10 Gauge and its stretched sibling, 3-½” 12 Gauge, have few upsides and many downsides. First, darn few 10 Gauge shotguns are getting made any more. Plenty of 3-½” 12-gauge guns are, and they’re usually about $50 to $100 more than their 3-inch counterparts.
Second, the reason most people want them is to increase the range of the shots they can take on birds, which means that these bores and loads are being mostly used for skybusting, which means their primary customer base is irresponsible hunters.
Third, that’s what a choke is for, and also why you don’t buy cheap shells. Fourth, they aren’t really any more effective on ducks, geese or turkeys if you can actually hit what you’re aiming at. Ditto for defensive use.
Lastly, heavy 10-gauge and 3-½” 12-gauge loads produce the same recoil energy as an elephant gun. More expensive, not really more effective, and all you get is beat up in the bargain.
.300 Blackout
.300 Blackout is just a .30-30 that put on a tactical vest and Oakley sunglasses to look cool, but really just looks like an idiot.
Sure, it’s bigger than a .223 and you can put a can on it, but it’s hardly the hammer people seem to think it is. It’s just hitting something at close range with a bigger bullet.
You can put a can on it. So what? What gun CAN’T be suppressed?
The Insane 7mm Magnums: 7mm Rem Ultra, 28 Nosler, Et Al
The reason why the bonkers 7mm magnums were invented was to shoot game animals at distances that everyone knows is irresponsible to shoot them at, which is what many modern hunters continue to do with them.
There aren’t too many guys shooting .28 Nosler in Palma matches. There are a lot of them shooting 6.5mm Creedmoor, 6mm XC, 7mm-08 and .308 Winchester. That there is a clue. Dangerous game is hunted with more powerful calibers and more people hunt more standard game with less powerful calibers. This is also a clue. Also, a deer, elk, black bear or pronghorn can’t tell the difference.
Sure, you get all sorts of wallop and long range, but so what? Your bank account gets depleted, and you get bursitis.
5.7x28mm
Oh, you all knew this was coming. In many regards, yes, the 5.7x28mm is an overrated caliber.
It has SOME virtues. Yes, you can carry more ammunition. (Yes, an astounding 3 more rounds than a Glock 17 or M&P9. What. A. Game. Changer.) Yes, there is some proof of efficacy, but it’s not necessarily better than…basically anything.
Would I trust it to save my bacon if I had one and had to use it? Sure, but that doesn’t mean the same isn’t true of 9mm. There’s nothing it really gets you that totally justifies it.
Don’t like it? Take it to the comments section and see if I care.
