I'm writing some science fiction that involves a threat to humanity from entities with reflexes sufficient to dodge normal bullets. This seemed like a good place to ask- can the forum members here help me find a handgun cartridge with extremely high muzzle velocity, without reguard to round weight? This would seem an ideal weapon for the opposition, and would help me tremendously.
Also including a typical pistol capable of chambering and firing the cartridge would be appreciated.

Go to the weapons board, /k/, at www.4chan.org and ask them as well.

A gentleman I know has made a muzzleloading revolver that sends copper projectiles at well over 2500 FPS.

The very same gentleman converted a CZ-52 to fire epoxy-cored thick copper jacketed round nosed bullets, with a small ceramic epoxy cap at well over 3250 FPS. The bullets fragment violently in flesh/water, but pierce hard materials easily.


I hope this helps.

Would an FN Five-seveN at 1,900 fps be too slow? More than twice the velocity of the 1911 .45ACP service round- 20 round magazine and barely kicks harder that a .22

If you really need the extreme edge of velocity, you may have to move up to a rifle platform such as the Steyr ACR firing flechettes at 4750 fps http://world.guns.ru/assault/as56-e.htm

Don't forget, they would have to see anything that moved faster than the local speed of sound, rather than hear it coming, so could be shot in the back or distracted and shot. Or glue the floor.

I know .22 hornet's travel at very high speeds (2500-3200 ft/s). And your more likely to die from a .22 than a larger caliber round because the .22 will bounce off bones and skin and make it look like somebody took you apart, cut you up and sewed you back up. Although I somewhat doubt that a .22 hornet would stay intact if it ran into something made almost entirely out of water. But still you would have tons of fragments floating around in someones body doing all sorts of damage.

And check out this link for a .22 hornet handgun.

.22 hornet handgun (http://www.magnumresearch.com/news_detail.asp?story=shoottimes04.asp)

I bet that the MV of the Hornet round is lower from a handgun than a rifle.

I watched that awful film "Equilibrium" the other day, and was overwhelmed by the stupidity of it. The concept of the "Gun-Ka" (Gun Kata) was good, but the obvious answer to someone like that, were it possible, would be a tripwire and a claymore (of either type). This would, of course be the answer to your fast moving aliens. As would a shotgun with birdshot and an open choke.

Don't forget, also, that you have issues with the mass being accelerated too fast. They will need to be powerful creatures. I would go with them being nearly 2D, so they dodge by turning side-on, or pivoting on a foot. If they were made to jump on a pit with a thin cover, they would punch down through the floor at a rate of knots.

It's a great idea, I hope you post a link to the finished story once you have it written.

I bet that the MV of the Hornet round is lower from a handgun than a rifle.


I've been looking for a MV of a .22 hornet handgun but I can't find it anywhere. All the websites I use for muzzle velocity only list it for a bolt action rifle which is the ideal way to fire a round to obtain max muzzle velocity. That’s why I listed such a wide range of muzzle velocities because it is probably most likely down there at the bottom but it might be close to the top.



Here's what you need!!!

Fully Auto Shotgun (http://midamericarecreation.com/aa12_videos.htm)

Or mabye this.

410 gauge handgun (http://www.taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?model=4410TKR-2SS&category=Revolver)


Or maybe one of these!!

P90 SMG (http://www.fnhusa.com/contents/tw_p90.htm)

Extremely fast fire rate, not much bigger than a handgun, and it has a really high confirmed muzzle velocity (2300fps).

That full auto shotgun is nice. I need that! The girl is rather nice, too. Check out the pile of empty shells on her right, there's got to be a few hundred cases there!

Further thoughts: A silenced pistol or low powered mouse load might not sound enough like a gunshot for them to hear it and react. They would need to be a bit armoured so that birdshot wasn't the easy answer, and don't forget that speeds like lightning require an equal and opposite reaction, so they would suffer if on ice or mud.

If you don't care about bullet weight look at the .17HMR and related bullets. They are small but have a very high velocity.

a handgun cartridge with extremely high muzzle velocity, without reguard to round weight?

The weight of the projectile will always directly affect velocity (all other factors remaining equal).

Lighter projectiles will result in higher muzzle velocities, and will normally require a heavier powder charge for optimum performance.

Heavier projectiles will result in lower muzzle velocities, and will normally require a lighter powder charge in order to not create dangerous pressures (i.e. blown gun).