A question about gun ammunition

[brownninja97]

So ive been confused about this and googling confused me even more, i know a bit about guns,, like 9mm, 5.56 round, 7,62 and that stupid chinese crap which uses 5.55. Anyways the point im confused about is .50 BMG, why isnt mr bmg called something like 500mm, wouldnt that make make more sense, if its like that then why isnt a 5.56 mm round called a 10 cal and a 7.62 called a 30cal(actually i think it is called that). 

 

Also what the hell is the reason for the existence of .22 rounds, they are crap at everything(crap just saw the hornet .22 thats a monster).

[Hootch]

.22's are made for ski shooting(or whatever) and shooting at targets, due to their low recoil. And it's a good starting rifle/pistol to start with

[TheRetiredSlave]

.50 BMG is measured in inches.. It's a half an inch, or 0.50 inches... (approx. 12.7 mm) (edit: BMG stands for "Browning Machine Gun", which was the first gun made to use that bullet)

 

Same with .30 cal.. 7.62 mm is approximately .3 inches, and 5.56 mm is approximately .223 inches..

 

Another edit: .22 pistol rounds are generally used for target shooting because of their low recoil and low price.. Last time I bought .22 LR, a 500-round box was ~$20, .223 Remington (similar to 5.56 NATO) was about $170 for 500 rounds.

[qwertywarrior]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliber#Metric_versus_Imperial

The following table lists some commonly used calibers where both metric and imperial are used as equivalents. Due to variations in naming conventions, and the whims of the cartridge manufacturers, bullet diameters can vary widely from the diameter implied by the name. For example, there is a difference of as much as 0.045 inch (1.15 mm) between the smallest and largest of the several cartridges designated as '.38 caliber'. And it may be noted that 0.38 inch is more than 9 1/2 mm.

[LukaP]

So ive been confused about this and googling confused me even more, i know a bit about guns,, like 9mm, 5.56 round, 7,62 and that stupid chinese crap which uses 5.55. Anyways the point im confused about is .50 BMG, why isnt mr bmg called something like 500mm, wouldnt that make make more sense, if its like that then why isnt a 5.56 mm round called a 10 cal and a 7.62 called a 30cal(actually i think it is called that). 

 

Also what the hell is the reason for the existence of .22 rounds, they are crap at everything(crap just saw the hornet .22 thats a monster).

its cuz it was developed in america. they use inches, so .50 is like 12.7mm and BMG stands for browning machine gun (was designed for it)

5.56 was designed by UK and some other nato countries as a response to US wanting to standarise .30-30 caliber (used in their M1 Garands at the time. 

 

.22 is a round designed for small PDW weapons

[Valhallatier]

.50 BMG is 12.7mm x 99mm
well it's more simple saying 50 bi-em-ji

[D3MON]

So ive been confused about this and googling confused me even more, i know a bit about guns,, like 9mm, 5.56 round, 7,62 and that stupid chinese crap which uses 5.55. Anyways the point im confused about is .50 BMG, why isnt mr bmg called something like 500mm, wouldnt that make make more sense, if its like that then why isnt a 5.56 mm round called a 10 cal and a 7.62 called a 30cal(actually i think it is called that). 

 

Also what the hell is the reason for the existence of .22 rounds, they are crap at everything(crap just saw the hornet .22 thats a monster).

because- imperial vs metric.

.50bmg is actually 12.7mm btw.

i think it helps with saying the round too, id rather say "point 38" instead of "9 and a half mil". but when talking about the m4 round i do preffer "five-five-six" instead of saying "two two three" which could almost be confused with a "twenty two" (.22), the annoying thing is im in the uk and dont have guns (im not learning all of this from cod/battlefield unlike most of my friends btw) and know more than some of my friends in the forces.

[brownninja97]

.50 BMG is 12.7mm x 99mm

well it's more simple saying 50 bi-em-ji

ok cool, btw is your avatar misaka, and the mini misaka that wasnt fully developed.

[Jaybird]

BMG - Big MotherF Gun. haha no idea why they call it a BMG. the .22 is used for its light recoil in beginner pistols and rifles. they are also used by a good number of people general use in target practice. they are cheap as dirt so you can fire 2000 rounds of .22 for the price of 100 rounds of .45 ACP. yeah I have a .45 ACP pistol and a .22LR pistol. have yet to shoot the .22 yet because i cant find any ammo.

[brownninja97]

because- imperial vs metric.

.50bmg is actually 12.7mm btw.

ok that helps a lot, why the hell did fallout have .50 and 12.7, i find it weird that fallout had a .50 pdw.

[Valhallatier]

ok cool, btw is your avatar misaka, and the mini misaka that wasnt fully developed.

yeah it's Misaka 10032 and Misaka 20001

[Valhallatier]

BMG - Big MotherF Gun. haha no idea why they call it a BMG. the .22 is used for its light recoil in beginner pistols and rifles. they are also used by a good number of people general use in target practice. they are cheap as dirt so you can fire 2000 rounds of .22 for the price of 100 rounds of .45 ACP. yeah I have a .45 ACP pistol and a .22LR pistol. have yet to shoot the .22 yet because i cant find any ammo.

.50 BMG was originally named after the first weapon that was used specifically for itself, the Browning Machine Gun...

[Jaybird]

.50 BMG was originally named after the first weapon that was used specifically for itself, the Browning Machine Gun...

I like my definition better though. its well suited. haha

[dizmo]

.22 rounds are awesome for killing small game creatures, and target practice as many have said.

You can also kill a person pretty effectively at close range, if you're accurate. While it doesn't carry the velocity of another round, if you manage to get a headshot (or two depending on your accuracy) the bullet will simply bounce around in the skull, causing catastrophic damage.

[D3MON]

.22 rounds are awesome for killing small game creatures, and target practice as many have said.

You can also kill a person pretty effectively at close range, if you're accurate. While it doesn't carry the velocity of another round, if you manage to get a headshot (or two depending on your accuracy) the bullet will simply bounce around in the skull, causing catastrophic damage.

theyre also cheap as hell (compared to other rounds) so are great for practicing and trigger time, dont make the mistake of thinkign theyre "just plinkers" though, even at 600yards they should have plenty of velocity behind them to do serious damage, not having shot it myself i cant say for sure but id say theyre lethal for a very long way, you can get shot point blank with a 9mm and still run around for a bit, it depends if it hits a vital organ/artery, same is true for a .22 round.

[brownninja97]

theyre also cheap as hell (compared to other rounds) so are great for practicing and trigger time, dont make the mistake of thinkign theyre "just plinkers" though, even at 600yards they should have plenty of velocity behind them to do serious damage, not having shot it myself i cant say for sure but id say theyre lethal for a very long way, you can get shot point blank with a 9mm and still run around for a bit, it depends if it hits a vital organ/artery, same is true for a .22 round.

sadly that doesnt matter to teh uk folk as we cant get any weapons, if there is a zombie day then we have cricket bats and tennis balls.

[Cronus97]

So ive been confused about this and googling confused me even more, i know a bit about guns,, like 9mm, 5.56 round, 7,62 and that stupid chinese crap which uses 5.55. Anyways the point im confused about is .50 BMG, why isnt mr bmg called something like 500mm, wouldnt that make make more sense, if its like that then why isnt a 5.56 mm round called a 10 cal and a 7.62 called a 30cal(actually i think it is called that).

Also what the hell is the reason for the existence of .22 rounds, they are crap at everything(crap just saw the hornet .22 thats a monster).

Because .22 is normally A supersonic round that is easy to use, cheap, and effective. Also a .227 is used in many ar-15's for the same reason.

[Nicolas]

why isnt mr bmg called something like 500mm

Because maybe it's because you don't know the metric system, but 500mm is half a meter or ~20 inches, so that's why it's not called 500mm if anything it should be 12.7mm, but anyhow, I feel you, I sometimes get confused by these thing too and wish there was a standard like I want to have inches or millimeters, but not both

[Birdman]

because- imperial vs metric.

.50bmg is actually 12.7mm btw.

i think it helps with saying the round too, id rather say "point 38" instead of "9 and a half mil". but when talking about the m4 round i do preffer "five-five-six" instead of saying "two two three" which could almost be confused with a "twenty two" (.22), the annoying thing is im in the uk and dont have guns (im not learning all of this from cod/battlefield unlike most of my friends btw) and know more than some of my friends in the forces.

Don't get confused. 223 and 556 aren't the same round. 

[Mentalguy]

Don't get confused. .223 and 5.56 aren't the same round. 

not quite, they pretty much are the same. they are interchangeable. .223 is made civilian use though and tends to be higher quality. 

[Mentalguy]

ok that helps a lot, why the hell did fallout have .50 and 12.7, i find it weird that fallout had a .50 pdw.

because there are many different rounds that have a half inch diameter. Three that i can think of are, .50 BMG, .50 Beowulf(a conversion for AR type rifles) and .50 A&E(Used in the Dessert eagle).

[RatedBlam]

Don't underestimate the .22. It's the no. 1 gun used in school shootings here.

Sadly

[D3MON]

Don't get confused. 223 and 556 aren't the same round. 

dont worry i know my stuff when it comes to guns, im a brit so all i can do is read...

[DLM_012]

not quite, they pretty much are the same. they are interchangeable. .223 is made civilian use though and tends to be higher quality. 

 

.223 can go into a firearm that shoots 5.56 but the opposite is not true

[Mentalguy]

.223 can go into a firearm that shoots 5.56 but the opposite is not true

I've fired .556 out of an AR.