Confusing Cartridge Names

 I had previously authored an article on Cartridge Naming Conventions and the confusion surrounding the names and sizes of various cartridges. This post is similar, only this time we will cover cartridges that are known by more than one name. Hopefully this will clear up some of the confusion.

We will start with one of the smaller cartridges. The .22 Winchester Rimfire or .22 WRF.

Introduced in 1890, it was an improvement over the .22 Long Rifle in a couple of areas, one was the speed, the other was the use of a non-healed, inside lubricated bullet.

Later the cartridge was introduced in the Remington model 12 as the .22 Remington Special, same cartridge except for a rounded nose bullet. Remington just didn't want to put the name of their competitor on their barrel.

This next one is old, but still could cause confusion with owners of older guns. The .32 Smith & Wesson Long was introduced in 1896 as an improvement over the .32 S&W. 

In Europe it was known as the 7.65 x 23mm. When Colt introduced their New Police revolvers, they called the cartridge the .32 Colt New Police. Same cartridge, just different names.

Once the most popular deer cartridge in North America, the 30-30 Winchester did not start out with that name.

Developed in 1895 for the Winchester model of 1894 rifle, the cartridge was originally named the .30 Winchester Smokeless, it was later changed to the .30 Winchester Center Fire or .30 WCF.

When Marlin chambered their rifle for the cartridge, they called it the .30-30 Smokeless. The 30-30 name stuck and soon it became known as the .30-30 Winchester.

This one is more common; the .380 Auto is officially known as the .380 Automatic Colt Pistol (380 ACP).

Designed by John Browning for Colt's 1908 Pocket Hammerless pistol, the cartridge is known by many names including the 9 x 17mm. In Europe the cartridge is known as the 9mm Short, 9mm Kurtz, 9mm Corto, 9mm Browning Short, 9mm Browning Court or just the 9mm Browning.

This one is not as confusing, but it sometimes comes up with novice gun owners. The 45 Colt was introduced in 1873 for the Colt Single Action Army Revolver.

Early on the 45 Colt was referred to as the 45 Colt Government, but that nomenclature has gone by the wayside. 

Some people mistakenly call the cartridge the .45 Long Colt. 

Here is the interesting part, Colt never called it the "45 Long Colt", but there was a 45 Colt that was shorter (1/2" shorter than the 1873 45 Colt we are discussing here) and there were officially named short and long versions of the .32 Colt, .38 Colt and .41 Colt, so it only made sense to call the longer 45 Colt, the ".45 Long Colt", even though it curiously never officially received that moniker. 

There was a 45 Colt that was modified (larger rim diameter) and given a military designation as the M1909 cartridge, but that is no longer sold and probably would not cause any confusion.

Another cartridge that was introduced the same year as the .45 Colt was the .44 Winchester Center Fire or .44 WCF, also called the .44 Winchester. The cartridge was known as the .44 Largo in Latin America.

When the Union Metallic Cartridge company sold the cartridges, they would mark the box .44-40 as they didn't want to put their competitor's name on their ammo box. 

When Merwin Hulbert chambered their revolvers in the cartridge, they referred to it as the 1873 Winchester Calibre. Today most people call it the .44-40 or .44-40 Winchester.

The .40 Smith & Wesson only has one official name, but it does have an unofficial and less than endearing nickname: The .40 Short & Weak. This nickname comes from its origins as a shortened and downloaded version of the 10mm Auto.

In 1892 the US Army adopted their first bolt action rifle and with it their 1st bottle necked, smokeless cartridge. The rifle was designated the M1892 Springfield but was known colloquially as the Krag-Jorgensen. 

The cartridge is usually called the 30-40 Krag, but could also be labeled as the .30 US or .30 Army (I own examples of both).

This one is a bit rare, the .22 Remington Jet is also known as the .22 Remington Jet Magnum, it could also be called the .22 Centerfire Magnum or possibly the 357/22 Magnum as it is a .357 Mag necked down to .22 caliber.

This next one is very popular and has many names. Usually just called the 9mm or 9mm Auto it is also widely called the 9mm Luger, 9mm Parabellum (Latin for "prepare for war"). Also called the 9 x 19mm and after it was adopted by NATO it gained the name 9mm NATO.

This next one has experienced a name change due to political correctness. The 7.7mm Jap cartridge was developed by the Japanese in 1940 as a rimless version of the .303 British.

The cartridge is sometimes referred to as the 7.7mm Arisaka (the gun which it was most often chambered in) or the 7.7 x 58mm. Some find the term "Jap" as offensive, it is simply short for Japanese, not sure how that is offensive, all I know is that people are way too touchy nowadays.

The .375 Winchester was introduced in 1978 for the "Big Bore model 94"

It is a modern version of the old 38-55 Winchester, also known as the .38-55 Winchester Center Fire & 38-55 Ballard. It was introduced in 1876 by the Ballard Rifle & Cartridge Company. While the cartridges are nearly identical (the .375 is just 1mm shorter) commercial 375 Winchester ammo is loaded to pressures the older guns cannot take. You can safely fire the .38-55 ammo in a modern gun.

 If you are a reloader though, the .375 Winchester is an excellent source for brass for your 38-55 chambered rifle.

The .32 Automatic Colt Pistol (32 ACP) was designed by John Browning for the model of 1900 pistol. It was the start of a whole line of pistol cartridges named by Colt and designed by Browning.

The cartridge was popular in Europe where it was called the 7.65 x 17mm, 7.65 Browning Short or 7.65 Browning. Stateside it is usually just called the .32 Auto.

The .25-20 Winchester or 25-20 Win is a necked cartridge usually found in lever action rifles. 

It was created by necking down the .32-20 Winchester to 25 caliber. 

While Winchester introduced the cartridge in 1892 for their model of 1892 rifle, Marlin had introduced the cartridge 3 years earlier in their model of 1889 rifle, they called it the .25-20 Marlin, same cartridge. 

There was also a 25-20 Single Shot, which is a different cartridge altogether and does not interchange.

The .38 Smith & Wesson also called the .38 S&W Short was developed in 1877 for use in revolvers.

The cartridge caught on in Europe and was called the 9 x 20mm R (R standing for "rimmed"). Later it was chambered in the Webley revolver with a 200-grain bullet and was given the name the .38/200 Cartridge Revolver Mark I. Later the bullet was downgraded to 180 grains and then called the .380 MKIIz.

Colt introduced a revolver chambered in the cartridge but called it the .38 Colt New Police, same cartridge, different names.

The 8mm Mauser was once one of the most popular rifle cartridges in the world.

The actual designation of this cartridge is the 7.92 x 57mm, but it also sometimes called the 8 x 57mm Mauser or 8 x 57mm IS. There was also a rimmed version created for special use, but those are rare.

The .45 Automatic Colt Pistol or .45 ACP was created by John Browning for Colt. Made famous by the M1911 pistol which served the US military for 75 years.

The cartridge is known usually as the .45 Auto in the states, but in Europe, especially during the war, the cartridge had different names.

The British called it the .45 or .450 inch Colt Automatic, the French called it the 11.43mm cartridge for pistols. 

Here in the states, it is often referred to as "God's Caliber" or the "Lord's caliber", this nick name is often given to the 30-06 Springfield as well.

Finally, we have the military cartridges that have different commercial names.

The .223 Remington is the civilian version of the military 5.56 x 45mm NATO, some will argue that the two are different and there is some difference in the design of the chambers and the 5.56 mm is loaded to higher pressures. It is completely safe to fire a 223 Remington in a 5.56mm chambered rifle, but not necessarily the other way around. Also when reloading the .223 Remington to be fired in a 5.56mm rifle (like the AR-15) you may need to use "small base" dies to get the case shrunk back down to NATO specs.

The .308 Winchester is the civilian version of the 7.62 x 51 mm NATO round. Similar to above, the military version (7.62mm) has slight chamber differences and higher pressures. Most agree it is safe to shoot either caliber in either rifle, but always consult your manufacturer's instructions before doing so.

The .50 Browning Machine Gun or .50 BMG, was adopted before NATO was created but did get the metric designation as the 12.7 x 99 MM NATO.

Well, that is about it, if I missed any please say so in the comment section below.