The Most Powerful Handgun in the World

golok

golok

Joined
Oct 20, 2000
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Back in those days when the movie Dirty Harry was the flavour of the month, it was claimed that Magnum 44 was THE weapon.

Of course, that's no longer true. I am a novice as far as guns are concerned, so I have to rely on the gun experts on this one.

If you identify a certain model as the most powerful, I would like to know how did you arrive at that conclusion.

I suppose as an illustration, one should say a powerful handgun would be able to stop a charging elephant at 20 paces! Or something to that effect.
 
If you don't count hunting handguns chambered in rifle cartridges, then the 475 Linebaugh is the most powerful production gun (Freedom Arms) that I'm aware of. In the custom gun arena, there's the 475 and 500 Linebaugh Max cartridges. Not sure which one is more powerful there, but both are brutal. The most powerful that is offered by more than one company is probably the 454 Casull.

I arrived at my conclusions based on the ballistics reports I've seen.

Chris
 
You have to be a glutton for punishment to use some of these...I recall in Elmer Keith's "sixguns" a modified Ruger blackhawk made up to take 45-70 cartridges. Nothing like a 500 grain bullet to irritate that carpal tunnel syndrome!

Back around the turn of the century, when proper English gentlemen went tiger hunting in India, a standard item was the so-called "Howdah pistol". The Howdah (I think I'm spelling it right) was the little platform you put on top of an elephant, which you rode in and also shot at the tiger from. ( that's if the tiger didn't kill a few "beaters".) Anyway, everyone carried the big double rifles that were standard for white hunters of the period. Only two shots.
So, on the off chance that the tiger would get rather cheesed over being shot at, and decide to climb up the elephant and devour the white hunter, they took to carrying large-caliber pistols as a back-up weapon of sorts.
Some of these were literally sawed-off double rifles, chambered for such huge cartridges as the 600 nitro express. Others were the equivalent of sawed-off shotguns, usually 12 guage, loaded with solid ball rather than shot.
Must have been interesting to fire!
On a similar note, prior to smokeless powder, big game rifles tended to rather large sizes. The largest I've heard of was a 2-bore.
That's 2 "balls" to the pound, or a chunk of lead weighing 8 ounces.

One white hunter of the period described shooting one of these beasts- said it never failed to give him a headache and a nosebleed, as well as spinning him halfway around. But, he noted, he "never failed to bag the game".
Ah, back when men were men....
 
I cant remember the site but there was a site that had a Pistol modification of the Barrett M82, Basically they chopped off %80 of the barrell and most of the stock, still weighed 15lbs but nothing like putting a .50 BMG round into someone 10 feet away and watching them literally get blown apart :) Cant remember the bullet weight but it was over 600 grains. They were using FMJ's.
 
Sheeeeeesss!! You guys arn't talking about hand guns you're
talking about hand .......cannons!!!! These are the real big boys!!!!
 
I have to second what Rifter posted. The most powerful pistol I'm aware of is chambered in .50 BMG. IIRC it had a muzzle break on the end of it that was lifted from a Panzer tank. ;)
 
50 cal. Hand gun???????? Good Lord, Who can hold on to
one of them?????? Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Originally posted by Tightwad
50 cal. Hand gun???????? Good Lord, Who can hold on to
one of them?????? Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Nobody. I'm sure that some fool will put a pistol grip on a 105 mm howitzer and claim the title - unshot, of course.

This question is loaded with pitfalls. Most powerful production gun, or production ammo, or ever made? Kind of like the best knife question.

Probably the Casull, although if the Linebaugh is ever made in production, it would top it.
 
Originally posted by swede79
Probably the Casull, although if the Linebaugh is ever made in production, it would top it.
Click to expand...

The 475 Linebaugh is in production. Freedom Arms chambers their Model 83 in that caliber and a few companies offer factory ammo for it (Buffalo Bore is one I believe). It's not common, but it is production. Ruger's 480Ruger is a 475Linebaugh Short (same bullet, shorter case, less pressure).

Chris
 
Ouch. The Casull .454 is at the upper level of my ability to absorb the recoil, although with weightlifting gloves it is much more pleasant.

Not sure I'd want to try something more unless I could watch someone else go first.
 
I have a 454 Freedom Arms and it is potent. There is ammo
available that will definetly get your attention. As I've
aged my desire for punishment has waned. My gun is in the process of being traded to a well known "flat grinder" of super human proportions.:)

My collection also includes a 44 Mag and a 14" Contender in
30-30. These will be for sale, soon.

I have shot a 45-70 Contender and it hurts. Alot. The 475 and 500's must be exciting.

I love the 45 LC and have a custom Grover, and will probably order a
custom, that can handle heavy loads. Hamilton Bowen is my first choice.

A great book is "BIG BORE SIXGUNS" by John Taffin.

Win
 
Win,
Have you considered ordering a second cylinder for your Freedom Arms revolver? I absolutely love my .454 Casull and take it with me whenever I'm hiking in bear country. Still, as you've pointed out, the recoil, etc. of the .454 round is a bit much for extended range sessions. With that in mind, I ordered mine with an additional cylinder chambered for .45 ACP (and you'll be pleased to know that .45LC is also an option). It's really having the best of both worlds. So now, when bears are about, I have just the right medicine. The rest of the time I can shoot .45 ACP rounds to my hearts content and further appreciate the finest single action revolver ever made. Just a thought my friend, I hate to think of anybody parting with such a fine pistol. :)
 
When this debate comes up it is usually assumed that the cartridge they are discussing is a commercially available load shot from a traditional handgun.

There is some debate on if the .44 Rem Mag was ever the most powerful, even in 1955. Casull and Elmer Keith had been experimenting with the .45 Colt ("Long Colt") with a load referred to as a "triplex load." If memory serves me, it was an amount of Bullseye near the primer, then Unique and finally 2400. The theory was that it burned at a safe pressure and built maximum velocity. This takes a knowledgible handloader to do. In fact, the amounts were not published so that some idiot would blow his head off.

In a traditional load, the 475 Linebaugh is considered the top load now. However, a case could be made for rifle loads in a one shot Contender since this firearm is commercially produced.
 
Bill,

Thanks for idea to add additional cylinders to the 454.
I did consider that and have put a few rounds of 45 LC through the
gun. Since I don't hunt the 454 just seems like overkill. My favorite
semi is a Sig 220, and with the 45 LC Grover I'm pretty well covered.

It's been a pleasure to own and shoot this fine handgun. I wish
I would use all me knives the way I've shot all my guns!!

Win
 
I have a Gary Reeder African Hunter in 500 Linebaugh. With a 4 7/8" barrel, it's a handful to shoot. Makes my Freedom Arms 454C seem pretty reasonable. But, it's still nothing close to a 50 BMG!
 
I've owned several very powerful chamberings for the TC Contender, and by far the nastiest was the 445 Supermag in a 10" barrel, now discontinued.
My 45-70 or even my 50-70 just could not compare to shooting the 445, but all are great fun to shoot, in moderation.

I have since sold my Contender and all of my barrels, because I got worried about permanent wrist damage, as experienced by John Taffin.
I'm not much of a worrier, but after reading about John's problems, I decided to quit before I had problems and had to give up shooting handguns altogether..
 
If you are looking for a production semi-auto a Desert Eagle .50AE.
If you want a custom revolver a 500 Linebaugh. If you want a production revolver a 454 casull. Single shot pistols like the Thompson Contender come in numerous rifle calibres. I suppose you have to look at what your definition of a handgun is and what you want it for. Bottom line is bullet placement. More people are killed with small calibre handguns than large ones. If you are new to handguns and are looking to buy for self defence reasons I would recommend a Smith and Wesson Model 10 .38 or a Glock 22 in .40cal. You folks in the states have concealed carry laws, that being the case the Glock 23 or 27 in .40cal would be perfect. These guns are easy to shoot and train with. Not too many gadgets on them to worry about.
 
I've shot and enjoyed some of the heavy caliber Contenders, but don't own one. I do have a Lone Eagle rotary bolt single shot in .308 NATO, but I don't think of it first when someone mentions "handgun".
 
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