Favorite Pistol Caliber

[Rapier]

Today, I carry or shoot a 66 or 19 Smith with cast RCBS SWCs. It is a relatively light, with decent accuracy, carry revolver.

[Kosh75287]

I wish I COULD remember what my vote was! General purposes suggest (to me) a 5" or longer barreled .357 Magnum, since it can digest almost all other .38 caliber revolver rounds (my Ruger DA will chamber and accurately fire .38 S&W rounds).
I'm a dyed-in-the-wool .45 ACP fan, for its capacity to handle social problems which rapidly decay into crises. With more modern propellants and bullets, the round CAN be pushed to ballistics making it suitable for harvesting white tail out to 50 yards. In milder loads (4.0/Bullseye/200gr LSWC), it is deadly on squirrel, jack rabbits, cotton tails, and grouse.
ALFERD PACKER'S endorsement of the .32 caliber revolver rounds (especially the .32 H&R & .327 Federal) has its merits. They tend to be quiet (milder loads), economical to feed, VERY accurate from the right firearms, and somewhat more portable than my candidate calibers. They would not be my first choice for downing larger game, nor defense, but smaller rounds have also worked admirably in both roles. Given the inherent accuracy of the .32s, it could be a serious edge in either scenario. The portability of the .32 firearms also somewhat assures that one will have one handy for whatever need arises ("First rule of gunfighting: HAVE A GUN!").
While I might STILL opt for a .357 revolver, or a 1911A1 in .45, I DO see merit in the other choices made by various thread contributors.

[GregLaROCHE]

I voted for 357 mag. I was surprised that not many others did.

[Beerd]

thread title is "Favorite Pistol Caliber", but the question in Post #1 is "Choosing only one, what center fire caliber do you shoot the most?".
for me, favorite and shoot the most are not the same thing.
..

[shdwlkr]

If I were to choose a favorite it would be the 45acp because that was the one in the Army that I got to shoot. First pistol I ever shot too.

[bisleyfan41]

Toss up between the 45 acp, 38 special, and 357. Hard to pick one over the others.

[jeffsmith13]

44 magnum and 45 acp are about dead even on my list.

[jimlj]

The gun I like to fondle the most is a series 70 Colt, so I guess my favorite centerfire would be .45acp.
I shoot more 9mm, 32 auto and .357 mag though.
I shoot hundreds of times more 22lr than any of them. It's not centerfire, but that is my favorite caliber.

[Spooksar]

Favourite is the 10 MM

[gwpercle]

I wish we could pick 3 favorites :
38 Special
41 Magnum / 41 Special
45 ACP

In the March 2023 issue of Shooting Times magazine is a great article - " When The 38 Special Was King " When 38 spcl was king of Competition and personal defense ... wadcutter accuracy loads fired in 4 different Target guns (I'm keeping this issue) and self defense wadcutter loads to boot . All tested for accuracy with velocities and loading details .
If you a 38 wadcutter fan or want some good loads ... this article is a good read .
Gary

[TXTad]

My favorite varies over time, often in cycles. I voted .44 Special since I always come back to it, but right now I'm on a .357 Mag and .38 Spl kick. Mostly the .38, which is even surprising me. Then other seasons, I'm all about my .45 ACP or .45 Auto Rim.

One I never have had, but have long been interested in is the .41 Special. I wish that Ruger would formalize the .41 Special and then make a GP100 so chambered.

[MT Gianni]

Right now nine gets shot the most. 124 gr pb and 3.5 gr powder. The hole in the target is the same size as a 357.

In 2009 I might have only had 7 or 8 centerfire handguns. I still shoot a lot of 9 but much more of the LR primed cartridges until the Covid slow down. I now shoot a lot of 38/357 and the contender cartridges, 22 hornet & 7 TCU.

[1hole]

For medium and big game hunting, casual plinking, target punching and sudden defensive shootings, nothing else has the marvelous useful range of the hand loaded .357. Other hand gunners have more popularity for narrow nitches but none of them can happily do the things a competent .357 shooter thrives on. And that includes my beloved S&W Md. 29/.44 Mag. and 1911/.45ACP.

[Pete44mag]

I shoot mostly .41 magnum and .41 special. Love big bore.