What's the purpose of calibers between 22 and 38?

[winnre]

.25, .32, .380... are these worth it? Why would you get a 25 auto over a 22LR? Was the .32 made for WWII or something? And the 380, I think James Bond movies keep it alive, it seems to kill everyone who is ever hit with the bullet, probably not too accurate.

So did these rounds have a purpose that has been lost to time, or are they not really needed now, or is there a need I just do not see?

[Fjold]

Compact BUGs, pistols of last resort.

Nope, 32's were around long before WWII usually as "ladie's guns", "vest pocket pistols" and even as primary sidearms. 380 was a very common European police round.

The small caliber guns are great in a pocket holster for deep concealment or strapped to the ankle as an emergency backup gun.

[9mmepiphany]

the .25 ACP usually feeds more reliably than a .22lr in a small auto

the .32 ACP was the chambering of the Bond PPK and was the common LE round before the Munich Olympics incident

the various .32 rimmed chamberings have a variety of uses. in competition pistols, the .32 Long is used for the highest level of Olympic target shooting. it was also very popular in American NRA Bullseye shooting at one time...S&W produced the Target Master Piece series to include the K-22, K-32 and K-38.

the current .32 Magnum and .327 Magnum are viable SD rounds offering less recoil/flash and an extra round in comparable .38 frame sizes. they were meant to duplicate the .32-20 ballistics which was an excellent hunting round

[7x57]

The purpose of small self-defense rounds is small self-defense pistols. However, they were more useful before metallurgy made it practical to chamber pistols in .380 and 9x19 that used to be too small for anything larger than .25 or .32. They are less useful simply because we can make thinner chamber walls of sufficient strength. In more cases now the question is really more whether the pistol is so small it's gonna hurt to shoot it, but those little things really only have one purpose and if used for that purpose you're going to be too scared to even remember the recoil.

The difference in effectiveness between the pocket pistol rounds and something like 9mm is probably also much greater since we make good 9mm bullets that expand well. It's tough to get the mouse-gun bullets to expand, and law enforcement doesn't buy them in large quantities to make it worth the effort that is put into the standard calibers. So I suspect the bottom line is that metallurgy and bullet technology have made those little things a lot less useful than they once were.

Wasn't it Jeff Cooper who said that a .25 auto was a handy thing to have if you didn't have a gun?

7x57

[mif_slim]

Im sure at the time it was useful. Just as you see the LE change their weapons to bigger and more powerful weapons to catch up with the BG's weapons. I remember when I was a child, revolvers and shotguns were the issued guns, but after the BofA bank robbery, now I see LEO's with autoloaders pistols and AR type rifles to keep up with the BG's.
Its all history. It was useful for that time and period.

[BigDogatPlay]

the current .32 Magnum and .327 Magnum are viable SD rounds offering less recoil/flash and an extra round in comparable .38 frame sizes. they were meant to duplicate the .32-20 ballistics which was an excellent hunting round

+1

It's been largely forgotten just how good and how accurate the .32-20 and .32-40 WCF cartridges were in their day.

There were a whole lot of benchrest and schuetzen records set back in the day with the .32-40, which was a solid medium game taker as well. .32-20 was excellent on small game and varmints.

[Bruce]

Wasn't it Jeff Cooper who said that a .25 auto was a handy thing to have if you didn't have a gun?

7x57

In one of his books, he cites an occasion where a female "agent" asked his opinion of her .25 auto. "Carry it if it comforts you", he told her, "but don't ever shoot anybody with it as it may anger them and cause them to do harm to you."

[GunLover]

22-38

22= plinking target 22-32 Up close an personel 38 self defense

[PonchoTA]

I think quite a few rounds were invented or designed due to the "better mousetrap" idea.

Somebody thought they had a good idea and found a market for it.


.

[CSACANNONEER]

Are you talking about calibers like 25-06, 9mm, .357sig, 30-30, .30-06, .308, 7mm mag, 7.62x54R, 32-20, etc?

[winnre]

Are you talking about calibers like 25-06, 9mm, .357sig, 30-30, .30-06, .308, 7mm mag, 7.62x54R, 32-20, etc?

Well I meant pistol calibers, sorry.

[Jonathan Doe]

I shot a Walther GSP 22LR pistol for the International Standard Pistol comtetition, S&W model 52 for the International Centerfire competition, carried a S&W model 42 as a back up gun, still lke to carry a S&W model 642 when I dressed light, trained my wife with a S&W model 66. What else?

I enjoy shooting 22LR caliber pistols and rifles.

[nick]

.327 Federal magnum is a viable self-defense round.

[Mssr. Eleganté]

Remember that back when many of those cartridges were introduced, the average person was about 4 inches shorter and 50 pounds lighter. The .32 ACP might have been more effective on olde timey people.

[Quiet]

AFAIK...

1857 = .22Short
1860 = .44Henry
1870 = .44Russian
1871 = .22Long / .44Colt
1872 = .45Colt
1873 = .44-40 (.44WCF)
1874 = .38-40 (.38WCF)
1875 = .45Schofield
1875 = .32Long Colt / .38Long Colt
1877 = .38S&W / .41Long Colt
1878 = .32S&W
1882 = .32-20 (.32WCF)
1887 = .22LR / .455Webley
1895 = 7.62x38mmR 'Nagant'
1896 = 7.63x25mm 'Mauser' / .32S&W Long
1898 = 7.65x21mm 'Parabellum' (.30Luger)
1899 = .32ACP
1900 = .38ACP
1901 = 9x23mm 'Largo'
1902 = .38Special / 9x19mm 'Parabellum'
1904 = 8x22mm 'Nambu' / .45ACP
1905 = .25ACP
1907 = .44Special
1908 = .380ACP / 9x20mm 'Browning Long'
1920 = .45AutoRim
1929 = .38Super
1930 = 7.62x25mm 'Tokarev'
1934 = .357Magnum
1951 = 9x18mm 'Makarov'
1955 = .44Magnum
1959 = .454Casull
1960 = .22Magnum
1964 = .41Magnum
1973 = 5.45x18mm 'MPT'
1984 = .32H&R Magnum / 10x25mm 'Auto'
1986 = .41AE
1988 = 9x25mm 'Dillon' / .45Super / .50AE
1990 = 5.7x28mm 'FN' / .40S&W
1994 = 5.8x21mm 'PLA' / .357SIG
1996 = 9x23mm 'Winchester'
1997 = .400Corbon
1998 = .440Corbon
2001 = 4.6x30mm 'H&K'
2002 = .17HMR / .32NAA
2003 = .45GAP / .500S&W Magnum
2004 = .17HM2 / .50GI / .500S&W Special
2005 = .460S&W Magnum
2007 = .327Federal Magnum