[mamba]

Hello,

I am new to the forum and I will be new to the firearm community in a week. Once I have my own firearm I will be getting my CHL within a short period of time.

I am wondering if there are any calibers that can be used for both rifles and handguns outside of .22LR??

I will be going to my second gunshow this weekend in Mesquite, TX. and I am going to be purchasing my first firearm. I am thinking a XD 9mm Sub compact would fit my needs. But I know that I would have to get a larger caliber handgun or rent one to pass the CHL exam. And I would pass on getting the XD 9mm for something that takes a caliber that can be used in both handguns and rifles.

But, I am also interested if there are any round calibers larger than the .22LR that can be fired from both a handgun and a rifle? An AR rifle would be more specific for what I'm interested in but I don't want to limit the possibilities.

Any help would be greatly appreciated by this rookie!

[Shoobee]

Back in the days of the old west, when cowboys went on long dives, it made sense to have a revolver and a saddle rifle in the same calibre. Today it does not however.

Having said that, a couple of calibres come to mind which actually do this rather well.

On the ultra-powerful end, the 45-70 is both a buffalo rifle and a bear killing revolver. This calibre and cartridge is the king of the hill for shots of 250 yds or less, but really hurts to shoot it. And you are going to be over-powered in both areas, the rifle area and the handgun area.

The 44 mag and the 357 mag are also available in many rifle and pistol combos. Whereas these handguns (they are available both as pistols and as revolvers) are excellent and accurate at what they do, self defense, and some close-in hunting, the rifles are under powered and function little more as accurate handguns, good only for about 100 yards or so.

What you should do is ask youself why do you need/want a handgun, then try out a few, and get the one that feels the best.

Then if you still need a rifle, ask yourself why, then try out a few different ones, and get the one that feels the best.

Most of us here have not done that however. We bought them, a bunch of them, and learned by trial and error which works best for each of us.

I have sold all the ones that I did not like, and now I am down to a handful which I really love.

Everyone is different, so no one thing is going to work for everybody.

[mountainman13]

Your options are basically endless. If you get a glock 9mm you can pick up an AR in the same caliber and use the same mags.

[Cattledog]

If you have a rifle , or find one you cant live without. The TC contender series pistol can be chambered in virtually any rifle round. Though it is a single shot. It depends on what you are going to be doing with the rifle and the pistol. Personally, I like the 357 mag revolver with the matching lever action as a combo. I think the cartridge is a good balance for both. But thats just me. Another one that comes to mind is 17hmr. I know Ruger makes a revolver chambered in this and there are more that a few rifles . Thatd be a good varmigeddon combo

[hawkguy]

my fave is .357/38. awesome combo for rifle and pistol imo. .357 is pretty nasty and 38 special has zero recoil and is fairly cheap.

lever and revolver in .357 is one sweet combo imo.

[Chainfire]

For a new shooter, the best multi purpose, multi gun, ammo would probably be .22lr. I shoot it in bolt rifles, semi-auto rifles, revolvers, semi-auto pistols. It is always plentiful and cheap.

[axxe55]

Originally Posted by mamba

Hello,

I am new to the forum and I will be new to the firearm community in a week. Once I have my own firearm I will be getting my CHL within a short period of time.

I am wondering if there are any calibers that can be used for both rifles and handguns outside of .22LR??

I will be going to my second gunshow this weekend in Mesquite, TX. and I am going to be purchasing my first firearm. I am thinking a XD 9mm Sub compact would fit my needs. But I know that I would have to get a larger caliber handgun or rent one to pass the CHL exam. And I would pass on getting the XD 9mm for something that takes a caliber that can be used in both handguns and rifles.

But, I am also interested if there are any round calibers larger than the .22LR that can be fired from both a handgun and a rifle? An AR rifle would be more specific for what I'm interested in but I don't want to limit the possibilities.

Any help would be greatly appreciated by this rookie!

first of all, in Texas 380 or above can be used for the CHL exam. so if you are really liking the XD compact in 9mm and the price is right, go ahead and buy it as you can carry it when you get your permit.

several of the AR makers have them in 9mm. so then you could have both pistol and rifle in the same caliber. RRA has complete AR's in the 9mm platform. or there is going the route of a 357/38 revolver, but usually most rifles in this caliber are lever actions. but there are many cartridges that are chambered in both rifles and pistols. 9mm, 38/357, 44mag./44spl., 45 acp, ect., ect.,,,,

[JonM]

My opinion is why gimp yourself with using pistol ammo in a rifle. Pistol are personal defense firearms and you dont need to carry a ton of ammo.

The xdm in 9mm holds 19+1 add in two spare mags at 19 each thats a decent ammo loadout. Then an ar15 chambered in 556/223 with 7 mags thats 210 roumds.

If you cant get it done with that load out no ammount of ammo is going to help you.

Using a pistol round in a rifle max range with even a 44mag is right at 100yds much less for 9mm or 45acp or 357mag

Same round for both doesnt make sense in a modern world. The reason the settlers liked it was cuz you could only get one or two types in most places.

[Sickofnotliving]

Maybe you guys can help me remember the exact name, but Kel-Tec has a .223/.556 pistol that i believe uses AR mags. I wonder what the possiblity of rigging up a buttstock for that thing is.

[CHLChris]

I, for one, really like the idea of having 2 firearms for every round that I stock. In the handgun calibers, however, I have 2 handguns. In the rifle calibers I would like to have 2 rifles.

There are only two major rounds that seem to crossover: 22lr and .357mag

Both of those rounds actually started life as a rifle round! The .357 is the only handgun round that can gain 50% more velocity out of a rifle barrel. 9mm only gains about 20% more velocity out of a rifle barrel over a handgun barrel.