IL:St. Charles Twp. homeowner shoots intruder

couriernews.suntimes.com ^ | 18 March, 2014 | Janelle Walker

[marktwain]

ST. CHARLES TWP. — A homeowner shot an intruder who had broken into his house Monday morning, Kane County sheriff’s police said.

The alleged intruder — a 26-year-old St. Charles resident who initially ran from the scene — was taken to Delnor Hospital in Geneva, where he was being treated for injuries not considered life-threatening, authorities said.

He is expected to survive, said Kane County sheriff’s Lt. Pat Gengler.

Deputies were called at 11:20 a.m. to the 38W000 Block of Mallard Lake Road in unincorporated St. Charles Township by the homeowner, said Gengler.

The 43-year-old resident shot the intruder with a small-caliber revolver, reports said.

[marktwain]

I suspect that a "small caliber revolver" is a .22. I do not know that I have heard of a .32 described as a "small caliber", but it might be to some.

[jjotto]

I don’t hang around with as many shooters as I used to, but we always called a .380 or less “small caliber”. Maybe it’s regional.

[LegendHasIt]

Yep. It is a regional thing.

Around here, they consider anything smaller than .44 ‘small caliber’.

(I’m only half joking.)

But yeah, most ‘gun nuts’ consider a .32 to be small caliber.
(trivia: most ‘.32s’ are actually .31s... .308 to .313 diameter)

[DuncanWaring]

And “.44” is actually .429.

[ought-six]

In non-magnum rounds, a general rule of thumb is if it begins with a 2, it is small caliber; with a 3, medium caliber; with a 4, large caliber.

Thus,

Small Caliber: .22; .25;
Medium Caliber: .32; .380; 9mm; .38 Spl;
Large Caliber: 10mm (it is really a .395, but is considered a .40); .40; .45

[LegendHasIt]

Yep.
And a .460 S&W, is actually .452”, a .460 Rowland is .451 etc.

[lostboy61]

You need to check out the new ammo for the.380 as it's a brave new world. Horndy Critical Defense, Horndy Critical Duty and Buffalo Bore. Where not playing with my mothers pocket pistol any more.

[Carl Vehse]

"The 43-year-old resident shot the intruder with a small-caliber revolver, reports said."

Here's the difference: If the resident had killed the intruder, the news article would have referred to the weapon as a "semi-automatic large-caliber assault pistol."

And since the article carefully avoided any description of the intruder, it is highly probably that he was an Amish Eskimo aspiring rapper, and if he had died, the news article would also have devoted half the space to recounting the "Tragedy of Trayvon."

[jjotto]

Yes indeed.

The new .380 stuff is very nice. Have a nice one myself.

I just doubt there’s a universally agreed-upon definition of ‘small caliber’ beyond a .22 or .25, and I would never think of a .32 as ‘medium caliber’. Medium caliber to me would be a 9mm handgun or a .308 rifle.

Yes, I understand we’re technically talking caliber only, but I feel odd equating a .32 handgun with a .30-’06 rifle.

Besides,we’re talking j-urinalists here; folks who think an AR15 is a “powerful automatic rifle”.