caliber names

[More Juice]

Now when you get into rifles... whoa boy.
30 caliber is 30 caliber?
There's at least 5 different 30 caliber rounds that I'm familiar with.... 30-06, 30-30, .308 Winchester/7.62x51, 7.62x39, etc.....

I remember that one of my friends with a Sig was shooting 357 out of it.

so 7.62 are considered 30 cal's?

I currently own a Ruger Mini-14 that takes 223 n I have a Glock 19 (9mm) on the way. I have bulk ammo for the 223 already. I didn't really notice a name associated with the 223. I noticed that most websites don't associate a name with the 9mm. I just ordered a bulk of 9mm PMC copper for the glock. That should be ok right?

[nick]

9mm Largo is different than 9mm Luger/Parabellum.

You want to buy 9mm Luger or 9mm Parabellum.

9mm Largo is for revolvers.

Actually, 9mm Largo is used in semiauto handguns and some carbines.

[nick]

I remember that one of my friends with a Sig was shooting 357 out of it.

so 7.62 are considered 30 cal's?

I currently own a Ruger Mini-14 that takes 223 n I have a Glock 19 (9mm) on the way. I have bulk ammo for the 223 already. I didn't really notice a name associated with the 223. I noticed that most websites don't associate a name with the 9mm. I just ordered a bulk of 9mm PMC copper for the glock. That should be ok right?

Should be fine. The one you need is 9mm, a.k.a. 9mm Luger, 9x19mm, 9mm NATO, 9mm Parabellum. It'll most likely be called 9mm or 9x19mm.

[SLO_Ryan]

The caliber refers only to the projectile's diameter (and as mentioned, even that may not be correct, IE, 38sp can be chambered and fired from a gun designed for a .357 Magnum).

True, but not the other way around.

The .38sp round is approximately the same diameter as the .357 Magnum (IIRC, both are closer to .355"), but the Magnum's casing is longer than the 38sp casing.

They both use 0.357 bullets, so they are exactly the same. The 9mm (and .357 Sig, just to be confusing...) uses the 0.355 bullets.

Now when you get into rifles... whoa boy.
30 caliber is 30 caliber?
There's at least 5 different 30 caliber rounds that I'm familiar with.... 30-06, 30-30, .308 Winchester/7.62x51, 7.62x39, etc.....

Not to mention 300 Win Mag, 300 WSM, .30 carbine, .30-40 Krag.

Oh, and 7.62x39 is 0.311-0.312 for most Chinese/Russian guns (SKS, AKs), and 0.308 for US guns (Ruger Mini 30).

Moral of the story: make sure you are buying the right ammo (or bullets/brass if you reload).

[Cokebottle]

I remember that one of my friends with a Sig was shooting 357 out of it.

so 7.62 are considered 30 cal's?

No, they are considered 7.62 (x whatever length).
The only one you might see used interchangeably are the 7.62x51 NATO round and the .308 Winchester, and the rounds are interchangeable between rifles.

The 7.62x39 round is used in the AK47 and SKS
The 7.62x39 is actually 7.92mm, 0.312"
The 7.62x51 is actually 7.80mm, 0.307"
The 30-06 round is 7.82mm, also a 0.308"
The 30-30 round is 0.309"

I currently own a Ruger Mini-14 that takes 223 n I have a Glock 19 (9mm) on the way. I have bulk ammo for the 223 already. I didn't really notice a name associated with the 223. I noticed that most websites don't associate a name with the 9mm. I just ordered a bulk of 9mm PMC copper for the glock. That should be ok right?

You'll be good to go.
.223 Remington is the commercialized version of the AR-15's 5.56x45. A rifle chambered in 5.56 can fire a 223, but not the other way around, as there are slight tolerance issues in the casing.
No real reason to consider 5.56 for your Mini-14... the 223 Remington is what you want.
The Glock 19 will in fact use 9mm Luger, which is the same as 9mm Parabellum, or simply the 9x19 NATO. It's all the same and is the most common 9mm round available.

[Cokebottle]

True, but not the other way around.

And even at that, I learned something the other day that tipped me off to an issue that we had plinking in the dez a few months ago.

We had run the better part of a box of .38sp through my buddy's .357, then decided to change it up for some fun.
Chambered and fired okay, but we had a heck of a time extracting the casings.

Yup... due to the .38sp casing being shorter, it leaves deposits inside the chamber in the area occupied by the .357 Mag's casing.
Proper cleaning removes it, so it's not a big deal, but you can't go to the range and practice with .38sp and then reload with Mags for PD/Carry without cleaning first (unless you want to limit your PD/Carry to 5 shots).

[More Juice]

all your input is fantastic.

im now considering buying a book to learn more about ammo. Ojisan had mention "cartridges of the world." Do any of you guys use this book? And what version or edition did you get?