Extent of availibility of "American" handgun calibers overseas

S

ssorionhunter

Inactive
To what extent is "American" caliber ammo available overseas, like .40S&W, .45ACP, .357MAG, .50AE(American?) ? I'm guessing 9mm Parabellum is easier, but these others, say in Europe, Eastern Europe, New Zealand, etc. I already realize that in a number of countries (Britain, Australia, etc.) due to "bloody, buggering daft" laws it's a pointless question, so I'm only interested in the other places.

Also, I'm guessing that generally, former Warsaw Pact countries used different calibers (like this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makarov_PM), but some (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP-446_Viking) use 9mm Parabellum. I'm having trouble finding a list of Soviet/Russian calibers, so was/is that true?

Oh, and finally, is the .45ACP still primarily American, or has it, after all these years garnered an international following?
 
.45 acp and .357/.38 are extremely popular in Luxembourg/Germany/Belgium/France. Probably in many other countries too, but I don't know about those. .40 is only popular among IPSC shooters around here. .50 AE is not even popular in the US :p
 
Former Warsaw Pact will have mostly Soviet ammo like the 9x18mm Makarov.

.45acp is available in several western European countries.

.40s&w seems mostly popular in the USA.

.357 magnum is a popular revolver cartridge in many places.

.50AE is a designer round anywhere.

And the most widely spread and popular round semiauto handguns is the 9x19mm.
 
In Iraq 9mm is widely available for about $1/ round on the black market. Others calibers are much more rare and expensive.
 
You'll find 9mm Parabellum almost anywhere in the world, with the possible exceptions of Japan, China and Taiwan.
 
In Australia

I live in Oz and you can get pretty much all popular pistol ammo here. Not really 380 auto because it isn't legal for us to own the small pistols that it is usually chambered in. And nothing over 45 cal because once again over .45 isn't legal because the powers that be felt that .50 cal is so much more dangerous than 9mm....who knows what they are thinking. but 357mag, 44 mag and all those there is plenty of. can't say i've seen a huge amount of 40S&W but i've definately seen new unprimed brass so i'm assuming it's out there.
 
In the Philippines .45 ACP is readily available, as is the .38 Special.

Both rounds are easily obtained, either legally to lawful gun owners through special stores or through the black-market.

I did not inquire about other rounds, nor reloading component availability.
 
-- In Iraq 9mm is widely available for about $1/ round on the black market. Others calibers are much more rare and expensive. -

that maybe because you are not the type of guy that would normally buy stuff on the "black market"

at least in Afghanistan everything - and i mean EVERY TYPE - of weapon and ammunition is attainable for hella cheap.... if your the type of person that they would normally sell to
 
Italy here.

We find pretty much all calibers. Hard to find are low-diffusion super heavies like 480Ruger or the Linebaughs, 50 AE is a bit better thanks to the Desert Eagle ("as seen in movies etc.:D). 460 Mag findable, not so the 500 mag: apparently, our governors think it's "too much" (??).

Just one weirdness about the 9x19: it's forbidden! In place, we have 9x21. The limitation was born in the '70s (internal red terrorism was a huge issue, so ordnance calibers ownership was forbidden), but now you can have 45 ACP or .223 or .308... but no 9x19 and nobody knows why.:confused:

By
GfA
 
Just one weirdness about the 9x19: it's forbidden! In place, we have 9x21. The limitation was born in the '70s (internal red terrorism was a huge issue, so ordnance calibers ownership was forbidden), but now you can have 45 ACP or .223 or .308... but no 9x19 and nobody knows why.
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You obviously know a lot more about your country than I do, but when i was stationed there back in '71, you couldn't have 9mm, .380 (9mm Corto) or .45 ACP because these were for "War Weapons" and thus forbidden.

I have no idea why the .380 and .45 ACP were allowed for civilian ownership, but the 9mm wasn't.
 
You obviously know a lot more about your country than I do, but when i was stationed there back in '71, you couldn't have 9mm, .380 (9mm Corto) or .45 ACP because these were for "War Weapons" and thus forbidden.
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Yes, "War Weapons" is the best translation of the criterium used back then. I have very confused memories of the period, but I feel that, at least until the early '80s, semiautos were strictly limited to .30 / .32 calibers (ACP, Para, etc.), the bigger ones all being "War".
Revolvers, instead, were free.
Between organized crime and in-house terrorism, it was unthinkable to talk about "personal freedoms" in the guns dept. :-(

All other calibers were liberalized progressively: even the .45ACP (being US Ordnance) was, for a few years "made up for" with the shorter .45 HP (Hinterberger Patronen).
Man, I remember the general emotion in the shooting public, really being entitled to grasp a 1911, feed it with those little 230-gr salamis, and have a go! :D
Then the GI's got the 9mm, so we could get the .45 ACP :D

I have no idea why the .380 and .45 ACP were allowed for civilian ownership, but the 9mm wasn't.
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The liberalization was "progressive" but it seems it stopped halfway. One reason I sometimes hear is: the Italian Government pistol / subgun ammo are all 9x19 and the're afraid there might be ammo stolen to be resold on the market. Makes not a grain of sense to me... but mine is the country of straight things being made complicated, more than any other country :(

Ciao ;-)
GfA
 
Is that really supposed to say $1 per round? Seems a bit much......even with inflated ammo costs these days
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Yes, pistols and pistol ammo is much more expensive than battle rifles and rifle ammo. A good condition Glock or Berretta runs around $800-1000 a beater FA AK $125-200. 95% of the gun market in Iraq is the black market.
 
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