FirstFreedom
Moderator
This year the rules read:
Italics emphasis is mine, and brackets are added by me.
I find several things odd or worthy of comment here.
First thing that jumps out is that a .357 sig handgun is legal, but a 9mm rifle is illegal (nevermind that the 9mm rifle would be much easier to make accurate hits with, and have more power). But this idea is expanded on greatly below, when you stretch the rules to their logical conclusion....
Second, you can use a .223 rifle with a hollow point, but a .223 handgun must have a soft-point, not a hollow point. OK, that sounds reasonable, actually.
Now, to delve into this a little more, presumably, the "Centerfire handguns" section refers ONLY to centerfire *pistol cartridge* handguns, since there's a specific section pertaining to "centerfire rifle ammunition"-using handguns. You could use a round that is a .357 mag case necked to .243 in a handgun, as long as it had a 100 grain bullet. And they don't define precisely what IS a handgun chambered for centerfire *RIFLE AMMUNITION*. What is a "rifle round" and what is a "handgun round"? Evidently you can use a .22 hornet (being a rifle round), out of a HANDGUN, if you can manage to cram a 55 grainer into your handload, but you could NOT use:
-a .32 H&R magnum with a 110 grain bullet out of either a handgun or a rifle, since it is a pistol round with a case length less than 1.25", OR a
-.38 special, with a 158 or 180 gr bullet, out of a handgun or even a rifle, since the case length is only 1.155", OR even a
-.44 special, with a 250 or 300 grain bullet, out of a handgun or even a rifle, since the case length is only 1.16" and it's not a semi-auto handgun, and it's not a "rifle" round!
Also, in the section specific to semi-auto handguns, what exactly is ".40 caliber or larger" handgun round? We can safely assume they are referring to case size, not bullet size, since they use .357 sig as an example of a legal round, but does it mean case length or overall powder capacity? At first glance, you might think it means powder capacity, but no that cannot be the case, since, once again, a .357 sig has *slightly* less powder capacity than a .40, and yet it's specifically listed as legal. So then that must mean that the round has a case length the length of a ".40" (presumably they mean a .40 smith & wesson round). Well, a .40 s&w case is .850" long, so that must mean that a .38 super is ok, having a case length of .900. Also, since the requirement on semi-auto handguns has no minimum caliber size (only a minimum weight of 100 gr and minimum case length of .850), you can also use, apparently, a round that is a .40 s&w necked down to .30 cal (.308), using a 100 or 110 grain .30 carbine bullet. You could even use a round that is a .38 super necked down to .30 caliber, since a .38 super case is longer than a .40 s&w case, or for that matter a .38 special necked down to .30 caliber, *as long as* you can make it function in a semi-auto!
So the bottom line of absurdity here seems to be that you COULD use a .38 super round necked to .30 cal using a 100 gr bullet out of a 4" semi-auto handgun, or a .22 hornet with a 55 grain soft point out of a NON-semi-auto 4" handgun, BUT you can NOT use a .44 special in a 20" levergun loaded with 300 grain semi-jacketed or cast lead, wide meplat FN or HP bullets.
We're just not overly brainy down here in okie-homie, are we?
I know, too much caffiene.....
Italics emphasis is mine, and brackets are added by me.
I find several things odd or worthy of comment here.
First thing that jumps out is that a .357 sig handgun is legal, but a 9mm rifle is illegal (nevermind that the 9mm rifle would be much easier to make accurate hits with, and have more power). But this idea is expanded on greatly below, when you stretch the rules to their logical conclusion....
Second, you can use a .223 rifle with a hollow point, but a .223 handgun must have a soft-point, not a hollow point. OK, that sounds reasonable, actually.
Now, to delve into this a little more, presumably, the "Centerfire handguns" section refers ONLY to centerfire *pistol cartridge* handguns, since there's a specific section pertaining to "centerfire rifle ammunition"-using handguns. You could use a round that is a .357 mag case necked to .243 in a handgun, as long as it had a 100 grain bullet. And they don't define precisely what IS a handgun chambered for centerfire *RIFLE AMMUNITION*. What is a "rifle round" and what is a "handgun round"? Evidently you can use a .22 hornet (being a rifle round), out of a HANDGUN, if you can manage to cram a 55 grainer into your handload, but you could NOT use:
-a .32 H&R magnum with a 110 grain bullet out of either a handgun or a rifle, since it is a pistol round with a case length less than 1.25", OR a
-.38 special, with a 158 or 180 gr bullet, out of a handgun or even a rifle, since the case length is only 1.155", OR even a
-.44 special, with a 250 or 300 grain bullet, out of a handgun or even a rifle, since the case length is only 1.16" and it's not a semi-auto handgun, and it's not a "rifle" round!
Also, in the section specific to semi-auto handguns, what exactly is ".40 caliber or larger" handgun round? We can safely assume they are referring to case size, not bullet size, since they use .357 sig as an example of a legal round, but does it mean case length or overall powder capacity? At first glance, you might think it means powder capacity, but no that cannot be the case, since, once again, a .357 sig has *slightly* less powder capacity than a .40, and yet it's specifically listed as legal. So then that must mean that the round has a case length the length of a ".40" (presumably they mean a .40 smith & wesson round). Well, a .40 s&w case is .850" long, so that must mean that a .38 super is ok, having a case length of .900. Also, since the requirement on semi-auto handguns has no minimum caliber size (only a minimum weight of 100 gr and minimum case length of .850), you can also use, apparently, a round that is a .40 s&w necked down to .30 cal (.308), using a 100 or 110 grain .30 carbine bullet. You could even use a round that is a .38 super necked down to .30 caliber, since a .38 super case is longer than a .40 s&w case, or for that matter a .38 special necked down to .30 caliber, *as long as* you can make it function in a semi-auto!
So the bottom line of absurdity here seems to be that you COULD use a .38 super round necked to .30 cal using a 100 gr bullet out of a 4" semi-auto handgun, or a .22 hornet with a 55 grain soft point out of a NON-semi-auto 4" handgun, BUT you can NOT use a .44 special in a 20" levergun loaded with 300 grain semi-jacketed or cast lead, wide meplat FN or HP bullets.
We're just not overly brainy down here in okie-homie, are we?
I know, too much caffiene.....
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