Chart of all Rifle Calibers In Order, And Their Power

If you’re just getting started in learning about firearms, it can be really complicated to understand all the different calibers and what each cartridge is capable of. Let’s begin with understanding what caliber actually means.

“Caliber” is the measurement of the internal width of a firearm’s barrel, and consequently the width of the bullet. A larger caliber such as .308″ means the bullet is physically wider than a bullet such as a .22″. Larger caliber bullets can cause more damage and generally weigh more, so they penetrate deeper; however, caliber only describes the size of the bullet, and provides no information as to the cartridge’s speed or power.

Next, we need to understand what exactly a “cartridge” is, and how that differs from a bullet. A “Cartridge” refers to the entire firing unit: brass case, primer, gun powder, and projectile. The word “bullet” only refers to the action projectile that is shot through the barrel and hits the target.

Now that you understand that, things will start to make sense. Let’s take an example. The .308 Winchester and the .300 PRC are both the exact same caliber. They both shoot a .308 caliber bullet. Don’t be confused by the names of cartridges. Sometimes they round things off to make a nice marketing name (such as the .300 PRC when it’s really a .308) and sometimes they use other ways to measure so they can have a nice sounding name.

Both the .308 and the .300 PRC can shoot the exact same bullet (projectile). For example, a 180 grain GMX bullet could be loaded and fired out of either cartridge. Bullet designs are mostly interchangeable between cartridges of the same caliber.

However, the .308 Winchester case is much smaller than the case of a .300 PRC. Thus, the .308 Winchester case can’t hold as much gun powder, so when it shoots the projectile, it won’t cause as much damage to the target.

Now you’re ready to see some numbers. On this chart, you’ll see the name of the cartridge, the caliber measurement for that cartridge, then an approximation of how big of an animal that cartridge could kill (much of which is highly debatable), and how much average energy the cartridge would produce at a typical hunting distance of 100 yards.

Cartridge	Caliber	Suitable for Hunting Animals Up To…	Avg Muzzle Energy
.50 BMG	0.51	Anything with a pulse	12600
.458 Win Mag	0.458	Cape Buffalo	5063
.45-70 Govt	0.458	Elk at short range	3138
.450 Bushmaster	0.452	Elk at short range	2810
.444 Marlin	0.429	Grizzly Bear	3067
.416 Rigby	0.416	Cape Buffalo	5166
.416 Remington Magnum	0.416	Cape Buffalo	5123
.416 Ruger	0.416	Cape Buffalo	5498
.378 Weatherby Magnum	0.375	Cape Buffalo	6004
.375 Ruger	0.375	Cape Buffalo	4780
.375 H&H Magnum	0.375	Cape Buffalo	4560
9.3 x 62mm Mauser	0.366	Grizzly Bear	4017
.35 Whelen	0.358	Grizzly Bear	3932
.350 Legend	0.357	Elk at short range	1907
.338-378 Weatherby Magnum	0.338	Grizzly Bear	5035
.33 Nosler	0.338	Grizzly Bear	4799
.338 Lapua Magnum	0.338	Grizzly Bear	4851
.338 RUM	0.338	Grizzly Bear	4694
.340 Weatherby Magnum	0.338	Grizzly Bear	4674
.338 Win Mag	0.338	Grizzly Bear	4164
.338 Federal	0.338	Grizzly Bear	3340
.325 WSM	0.323	Grizzly Bear	3596
.30-378 Weatherby Magnum	0.308	Grizzly Bear	4666
.300 PRC	0.308	Grizzly Bear	4246
.300 Weatherby Magnum	0.308	Grizzly Bear	4092
.300 RUM	0.308	Grizzly Bear	4135
.30 Nosler	0.308	Grizzly Bear	4111
.300 Winchester Magnum	0.308	Grizzly Bear	3827
.300 WSM	0.308	Grizzly Bear	3718
.30-06 Springfield	0.308	Elk	3179
.308 Winchester	0.308	Elk	2784
.300 Ruger (RCM)	0.308	Grizzly Bear	2948
.300 Blackout	0.308	Hogs	998
.30-30 Winchester	0.308	Elk	1942
7.62 x 39mm	0.308	Deer	1608
.28 Nosler	0.284	Elk	3678
7mm Weatherby Magnum	0.284	Elk	3482
7 STW	0.284	Elk	3458
7 WSM	0.284	Elk	3255
7mm Rem Mag	0.284	Elk	3122
.280 Ackley Improved	0.284	Elk	2912
7 SAUM	0.284	Elk	3004
.280 Remington	0.284	Elk	2873
7mm-08 Remington	0.284	Elk	2528
7mm Mauser	0.284	Elk	2330
.27 Nosler	0.277	Elk	3513
6.8 Western	0.277	Elk	3011
.270 WSM	0.277	Elk	3072
.270 Weatherby Magnum	0.277	Elk	3176
.270 Winchester	0.277	Elk	2862
6.8 Remington SPC	0.277	Deer	1624
6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum	0.264	Marginal for elk	3395
6.5 Weatherby RPM	0.264	Marginal for elk	3098
6.5 PRC	0.264	Marginal for elk	2780
.264 Winchester Magnum	0.264	Marginal for elk	2766
6.5-284 Norma Match	0.264	Deer	2462
.26 Nosler	0.264	Marginal for elk	3125
.260 Remington	0.264	Deer	2273
6.5 Creedmoor	0.264	Deer	2231
6.5 x 55 Swedish Mauser	0.264	Deer	1983
6.5 Grendel	0.264	Deer	1447
.257 Weatherby Magnum	0.257	Deer	2675
.25-06 Remington	0.257	Deer	2201
6mm Creedmoor	0.243	Deer	2125
.240 Weatherby Magnum	0.243	Deer	2099
.243 Winchester	0.243	Deer	1958
6mm Remington	0.243	Deer	1953
6mm BR	0.243	Paper/steel 🙂	1712
.22 Creedmoor	0.224	Coyote	1769
.224 Valkyrie	0.224	Coyote	1519
.223 / 5.56	0.224	Coyote	1499
.22 Nosler	0.224	Coyote	1613
.22-250	0.224	Coyote	1654
.220 Swift	0.224	Coyote	1766
.222 Remington	0.224	Coyote	1165
.22 Hornet	0.224	Varmints	680
.22 WMR	0.224	Varmints	276
.22lr	0.223	Varmints	133
.204 Ruger	0.204	Varmints	1325
.17 Hornet	0.172	Varmints	622
.17 WSM	0.172	Varmints	398
.17 HMR	0.172	Varmints	240

For many of you, that’s what you’re looking for. You want to know how powerful each cartridge is. But if you’re also looking for a conversion of caliber in inches to mm, the following chart should have what you’re looking for.

Caliber to MM Conversion Chart

Rifle Caliber Name	Common Metric Name	Bullet Diameter
.17	4.5mm	.172″ (4.32mm)
.204	5.2mm	.204″ (5.2mm)
.223	5.56mm	.224″ (5.7mm)
.22 (lr)	5.6mm	.223″ (5.66mm)
.22 (not lr)	5.6mm	.224″ (5.7mm)
.243	6mm	.243″ (6.17mm)
.257	6.53mm	.257″ (6.53mm)
.260	6.5mm	.264″ (6.71mm)
.270	6.8mm	.277″ (7.04mm)
.280	7mm	.284″ (7.21mm)
.30	7.62mm	.308″ (7.82mm)
.325	8mm	3.23″ (8.2mm)
.33	8.6mm	.338″ (8.59mm)
.366	9.3mm	.366″ (9.3mm)
.375	9.5mm	.375″ (9.53mm)
.416	10.6mm	.416″ (10.57mm)
.50	13mm	.51″ (12.95mm)