[Steely Tom]

You are correct. The leakage is considerable...the other problem is that the barrel is simply not long enough to give the explosion time to speed the bullet up...

Hmmm. I liked the "speed of sound" explanation.

I guess this has to be settled by looking at the muzzle velocities for revolvers vs. pistols.

I believe that muzzle velocities for rifles are, as you indicate, much higher than those for short-barreled weapons.

[Gorzaloon]

I believe that muzzle velocities for rifles are, as you indicate, much higher than those for short-barreled weapons.

You can only do so much in 4-6", despite using faster burning powders in hangun loads. There is a lump of lead there, and when you try to accelerate it from Zero to Mach1+, you have to accelerate it at (for a 5" barrel) 220 Feet per second Per inch of barrel at an average transit time of 0.3 milliseconds per inch. That means you have to put, with a .01984 Pound 9/mm round, over 1.5 milliseconds, almost sixty Horsepower into that projectile.

I plead low coffee, if I slipped up the calculation, but still, it is an entertaining thought the next time you shoot a zucchini with Hydrashock..

[El Gato]

I believe that muzzle velocities for rifles are, as you indicate, much higher than those for short-barreled weapons.

You have to compare using the same cartridge. Not many pistols in .308 or 30-06. However even the difference between the full length M-16 vs the shorty M-4 Carbine has an effect on range and on the terminal ballistics.

There are of course .44, .45, 9mm and even .40 S&W carbines available for comparison with the same rounds fired from semi-auto pistols.

[LeGrande]

I guess this has to be settled by looking at the muzzle velocities for revolvers vs. pistols.

Check out Ol hogheads posts and my replies. Around post 83.

Something that I hadn't realized was that they don't measure the length of the chamber on a revolver, typically about 1 3/4 inches and they do measure the chamber on a semi.

So it appears that semi's have the same power as revolvers that are almost two inches longer. The difference can only be attributed to the loss of pressure in the gap.

[norton]

Velocity is very much affected by barrel length - I don't think any handgun has a long enough barrel to allow the powder to burn completely - hence lower velocity ("power").

Watch the muzzle flash of a carbine versus rifle in same caliber. A Colt Officers Model versus standard full size [1911] Colt, or any short versus long barrel revolver in same caliber. Greater flash means powder still burning on exit - expending energy into the air rather than pushing the bullet.

But isn't the argument moot?
At the appropriate range, and for the purpose intended, each is "best" and "power" comes more from the bullet mass than from a couple of degrees of muzzle velocity.
[Meaning that you're probably gonna feel 'more hurt' by a .45ACP from a three inch barrel at ten feet than by a significantly faster .22 from a twenty-plus rifle barrel at same range...but you can't factor in a lucky shot or a stress induced miss.]