Are some ammo calibers inherently more reliable??

[22lovr]

Just another trivial curiosity I've been mulling over................

Handgun and ammo quality notwithstanding, are certain ammo calibers inherently more reliable as far as feeding/ejecting and generally being more reliable round-in-and-round-out?

One that seems to come to mind is the 9 mm Luger. It just seems to thrive and perform in most guns from the cheapest to the most expensive.

Then, I hear about the .40 S&W and how it seems to punish some guns.

Some say the .22 LR in a semi-auto is unreliable. I, the 22lovr, can never remember a malfunctioning .22 LR round.

.25 ACP, .32 AUTO, .357 SIG, 38 SUPER, .40 S&W, 10 MM, .45 ACP ???

Am I making any sense? Yeh, I know, I have too much time on my hands at present.......

 

[WoundChannel]

The 9mm because it is tapered and the 357 SIG because it is bottlenecked would be more reliable in theory.

I have never had a feeding or ejection malfunction in any of my 9mm SIGS, Glocks, or my Firestar.

 

[Ala Dan]

From a personal standpoint, I have found that most
.22LR ammo is good to go, in firearm's of quality design.
Sure, every now and then you may have a failure to feed
(jam) even in the most expensive gun's; but 9 times out
of 10, it just isn't going to happen. I've tested Ruger's KMK-
512, Colt's Match Target Woodsman, and a Browning
Medalist.

On centerfire ammo, I agree that the 9m/m is one of the
most reliable feeding rounds available to handguner's.
Gun's I have personally tested range from the early model
Star to Sig model's P226 and P228, and most everything
in between. However, Sig's P210 has always eluded me
for some reason's; mainly cash flow. One of my favorite
9m/m's is the Browning Practical model. I once read an
article in a gun rag that stated the shooter (and I forget
who) picked off several jack rabbit's at 50 yards, using
a target sighted Browning in conjunction with the then
popular Super Vel 90 grain JHP.

.As most of you know, the .40 caliber firearms never
really enthused me; and I've owned a Sig P229, G-23,
and a G-27. The G-27 was the best of the litter, and
I probably should have kept it.

As for the .45 ACP, this is a real winner. From my launch
platform's it has been the most accurate of all cartridge's.
Again, as most of you know I carry a Sig P220 daily; and
this has proven to be the most "combat accurate" firearm
that I have ever owned. So, in closing I vote for the time
tested, vintage 70+ year old .45 ACP as being the most
accurate round available to this date.

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

 

[Blue Duck357]

I'd suggest that the .22lr may have more problems in semi-autos due to the fact thats it's a rimmed cartridge. Not impossible for a quality manufacturer to overcome this of course as AlaDan pointed out, but it's still one more issue to deal with. I've found that cheaper guns (with I suspect looser tolerances) tend to work with the 25 acp round, but have yet to come across a cheap 22LR semi that I would totally trust.

I've also wondered if the smaller cartridges cause problems by magnifing manufacturing tolerances. A .22 cartidge is less than half the size of a 45 ACP round. If something like the extractor or ejector etc is 1/50" out of spec wouldn't that affect the .22 round more than the 45?-Just something I've wondered about...

Regards, Blueduck

 

[Mike Irwin]

I've had a FEW dud .22 rounds in my lifetime, but I've had far MORE dud centerfire rounds from Remington's yellow & green box ammo.