.50 caliber handguns

Common card · No. 264240

A .50 caliber handgun is a handgun firing a bullet measuring approximately 0.5 inches (12.7 mm) in diameter intended with the task of penetration. Historically, many black powder pistols fired bullets with diameters well above a half inch. However, following the development of smokeless powder, the focus shifted to smaller-diameter bullets propelled at higher velocities, and the development of .50 and larger calibers in handguns became uncommon. In the twentieth century, several new cartridges of half-inch diameter were developed, the first by John Linebaugh of Cody, Wyoming, in 1986 with the development of the .500 Linebaugh, and then later with the .50 Action Express (1988), which was the first to achieve wide popularity. The .500 Linebaugh utilizes a bore diameter of .500" with the corresponding bullet diameter of .510", the same as the .50 BMG and other .50 caliber rifles, while the .50 Action Express, .500 S&W Magnum, and .500 S&W Special use .490" bore diameters and correspondingly...

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