Top 10 Handgun Calibers in the U.S.by Sales

[tipoc]

The information here is pulled from a few sources that I'll paste links to below. It's based on ammo sales. I'm excluding the 22 l.r. from this list because it's extensive use in rifles and carbines skews the results. But it's high and popular. I also excluded the 17 HMR and 22 Magnum for the same reasons. Most of the lists drew from Lucky Gunner and are a few years old (2015-2016). The information draws from sales of handgun and long gun ammo.


1. 9mm (this includes +P and +P+)

2. 45 acp

3. 40 S&W

4. 380 acp

5. 357 Magnum

6. 38 Special

7. 44 Magnum

8. 45 Colt (Long Colt)

9. 32 acp

10. 25 acp

357 Sig would be 11th on the list.

From what I've seen here 38 Super outsells the 44 Special by a small amount, coming in 35th and 36th on the list of top 100. 10mm lags behind both, coming in at 61st. That may have changed some recently.

I don't believe that this includes sales to law enforcement or the military.

The site below Knowledge Glue also lists ammo sales by state. Which is quite interesting.

http://knowledgeglue.com/what-are-th...ers-in-the-us/

http://knowledgeglue.com/what-are-th...rers-by-state/

Most other sources pointed to Lucky Gunner as well.

Other sources for an idea anyway are to go to:

https://www.midwayusa.com/handgun-ammunition/br?cid=691

and look at the number of options in calibers available for sale. The more types of ammo listed the more sales of it. But that's a very rough gage.

tipoc

[TXAZ]

Thanks. No surprises on 9/+P/+P+, but some of the revolvers were much higher than I expected.

[TJB101]

I thought 40 was a dying breed ... surprised it wasn’t lower down the list.

[USNRet93]

With the TON of small/pocket/wee .380 handguns now being produced by just about everybody..I'm surprised .380 isn't a little higher BUT I'm thinking, since the list is ammo sales..a lot of these small .380s just get function checked a few times rather than being used as a 'range' gun..

[Nathan]

I keep reading how 40 & 45 are dead! Guess that must be wrong!


Would like to see a graph of # of boxes of each sold...

[tipoc]

Would like to see a graph of # of boxes of each sold...

I don't know where you'd find that.

What is listed on the charts is by percentage of Lucky Gunners (maybe a couple of other places) sales. So it has it's limits.

I don't seem to be able to copy and paste just the charts here so folks can see just them. So you have to click on the links. The chart showing the breakdown state by state of caliber popularity on page 2 is interesting.

In W. Virginia the top caliber is 45 acp. In New Jersey it's 22 L.R.

http://knowledgeglue.com/what-are-th...rers-by-state/

tipoc

[kenny53]

That is interesting, thank you. Out of the top 6 I buy 5 of the calibers. Never bought into the 40, nothing wrong with it just didn't trip my trigger. I am not surprised that 9mm is the top selling round. When I first started searching for a carry gun the cost of ammo played a big part in the decision. 9mm was the cheapest for practice.

[stinkeypete]

.22 LR must be number 0 then.... top of the list!

[Wag]

I'd like to see how these rankings compare to the rankings 5 and 10 years ago.

--Wag--

[Onward Allusion]

Damn, I gotta get me something chambered in 45LC to round off my list.

[pblanc]

The top four are exactly what I would have expected, and in the order I would have expected. I am also not surprised that 357 Magnum and 38 Special are in fifth and sixth place, but I am surprised that 357 Magnum beat 38 Special. I know quite a few owners of 357 Magnum revolvers who shoot as much or more 38 Special.

Not surprised that 10 mm is not among the top 11. I shoot all of the top 6 on a fairly regular basis as well as .22LR and 357 SIG.

[Dufus]

It is good that they don't depend on me. I don't buy factory ammo.

[SIGSHR]

Intresting that .25 ACP is No. 10.

[labnoti]

Here is a survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F.../viewanalytics

Second graph shows 9mm at 70% among those who report carrying. Obviously this is different than gun chamberings by sales or loaded cartridge sales, or an ownership survey. This was based on what people reported carrying, and it was a somewhat small sample at only ~6000. But it's probably not hard to extrapolate something realistic using this data and some empirical reasoning.

What I think this data does not represent is the huge popularity of small snubnose revolvers for then intention to carry concealed or for personal protection. I'm not sure the J-frame/LCR/K6 etc. actually gets a very big share of the guns that people really carry, but I am convinced it gets a very substantial portion of sales to people who intend to carry and then either they carry it or they stash it in a nightstand or glovebox or some other off-body location just-in-case. I can tell you I've seen j-frame/LCR's vastly outnumber Glocks at CCW classes, but those people are not mature in their carry practices and we don't know what they went on to do with their permit and gun. Among people who carry, the Glock 19 or 43 or a similar gun of a different brand seems to be the most popular by a landslide. FWIW, I carry a medium-sized revolver myself, every single day, so I'm not self-justifying by speculating that most people agree with me about my choice of jframe/lcr or my brand of polymerstrikerfiredwonder9.

[2wheelwander]

Pleasantly surprised to see .40 at #3. All those naysayers should hush now!
SHOCKED that .25 ACP is even on the list and beating out .357 Sig, because I figured .357 Sig would be around #20. But, glad its at least at #11.

Gotta go get me a .45 LC.

[tipoc]

380 didn't surprise me.

But I was surprised by the sales of 25 and 32 acp.

So I went and looked at who's making guns still in these calibers and who made them. Mousegun and vestpocket guns have been very popular for a long time. Many guns are still out there. Some still being made. Plus, Beretta, Kel-Tec, Phoenix Arms, Colt, CZ, Walther, Mauser, Browning, Seecamp, and a host of others. Gun Broker has pages of them for sale.

A lot of women and men still carry these in purses and shirt pockets. It seems they shoot them some as well. Think of them as a 8-10" long Philips screwdriver that you can stick in someone's chest 6 or 7 times really fast.

tipoc

[labnoti]

The reason for high sales of .25 and .32 is because Lucky Gunner is one of the few popular sources for those. People who use them at all aren't likely to find them in local stores or if they do at all there will be poor selection at a big-box store or high prices at a LGS. So it's not surprising online sales of .25 and .32 are more popular than one might expect overall. Contrast this to online sales of 9mm where it is less likely to make sense to buy online except perhaps in great bulk for a volume discount but even then someone has to pay the cost of shipping an individual order.

[kozak6]

I was surprised to see .40 so high on the list (omg but its teh ded calibur). I suppose it makes sense considering the boom of cheap police surplus pistols and that subcompact .380's can be expensive and unpleasant to fire.

Just to settle my curiosity, would .22 lr have been #1 on that list? If not, where?

[TXAZ]

Originally Posted by stinkeypete

.22 LR must be number 0 then.... top of the list!

I’m guessing everyone bought thousands of .22 rounds during the previous administration, or the surveyors don’t consider .22 a handgun round.

[peterg7]

I’m surprised with .45acp ranking, it’s not a Hipster caliber it’s a old codger caliber, I thought all codgers were reloaders?


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[reddog81]

I have a feeling whoever put together that list did so in a very haphazard manner. 45 ACP outsells 22lr? 12 Gauge is listed multiple times. "50 Black Powder" is listed at #18 overall along with 45, 54, 44 Black Powder whatever those are. You've got 45 Long Colt & 45 Colt, 40 Cal and 40 S&W...

[IdaD]

I would have guessed the top 3 correctly and in the correct order, but I would have expected 38 and 357 to be ahead of 380.

[tipoc]

From Kozak6:

Just to settle my curiosity, would .22 lr have been #1 on that list? If not, where?

Well you can look here:

http://knowledgeglue.com/what-are-th...ers-in-the-us/

On this list it would have been #3 right after 9mm and the 45. That list covers all handguns and long guns. But I believe that that figure is low. The chart shown covers, as someone else pointed out, on line sales and possibly sales from other sources that Lucky Gunner, as is implied in the article. But does not and can't account for all the sales in your local gunatoriums and gun shows.

I think 22 l.r. is #1 for both handgun and long gun.

tipoc

[precision_shooter]

Cant reload 9mm for as cheap as I can buy it right now and as long as 10mm stays available at decent prices I’m happy. I’ll just keep buying and stockpiling it while I can then back to reloading when needed.

[huntinaz]

Can't believe 10mm is below 32acp and especially 25acp...