One of the many charms of a revolver is the nearly infinite number of cartridges it can be chambered in. Ranging from diminutive rimfire rounds like .22 Short up to massive, questionably practical cartridges like .45-70 and encompassing nearly all pistol calibers in between, revolvers quite literally have a round for nearly every need.
With so many options available, though, it can be hard to sort through them all to find the one that’s best for your needs and situation. Below, we’ll review the major categories of revolver cartridges and the most popular options in those categories.
A Note on Caliber
While “caliber” is often used to refer to the cartridge in which a firearm is chambered, it’s not the same thing. Caliber technically refers to the diameter of the bullet, which can be shared across a variety of different cartridges.
For instance, .300 Blackout, .308 Winchester, and .300 Winchester Magnum all share the same bullet diameter, making them the same caliber. However, they are all distinct cartridges, which are in no way interchangeable between firearms.
In some cases, though, different cartridges with the same caliber can be used interchangeably in the same firearm. This is the case with several revolver rounds, as we’ll explore in more detail below.

Magnum Cartridges
The biggest, most potent rounds offered for revolvers and often some of the best-known, magnum cartridges are powerful loads designed for maximum energy and velocity. In many cases, these rounds derive from smaller, older ones and had their cases increased in size to allow for more powder capacity, and therefore, more power, endowing them with the “Magnum” designation.
The oldest magnum cartridge was the .357 Magnum, first produced in 1935. The round was conceived primarily as a revolver-compatible alternative to the .38 Super, a high-powered round utilized primarily by Colt’s 1911 pistols. It quickly became popular for both revolvers and lever-action carbines, heavily aided by the fact that .357 Magnum firearms could also fire .38 Special cartridges, which were already popular and commonplace.
.357 Magnum offers a huge variety of different loads with bullet weights ranging from 125 to 200 grains. The most common load utilizes a 158-grain bullet driven at over 1200 feet per second, achieving a muzzle energy of over 500 pounds from a 4″ .357 Magnum revolver. Hotter loads with heavier bullets and heftier powder charges can achieve nearly 800 pounds of muzzle energy—over twice that of a standard 115gr 9mm round.
.44 Remington Magnum, often shortened to .44 Magnum or just .44 Mag, offers even more impressive numbers. Developed in the 1950s as an evolution of the .44 Special, this powerhouse was deliberately engineered for greater ballistic potential and hunting performance. Unlike the .357 Magnum, whose primary target audience was law enforcement, the .44 was always destined for the forests and fields as a hunting and defensive cartridge for medium-to-large game.
Common .44 Magnum loads offer bullet weights between 240 and 300 grains, delivered at similar velocities to .357 Magnum. These heavier rounds can exceed 1,000 pounds of muzzle energy, even reaching up into the 1400-pound range with certain loads.
While modern technology has allowed the development of more powerful cartridges such as the .454 Casull and .500 S&W Magnum, the .44 Magnum remains one of the most popular magnum rounds on the market and a capable hunting cartridge.

“Special” Cartridges
There are several revolver cartridges that utilize the “Special” suffix, the most common two being the .38 Special and the .44 Special. These rounds are best known in the modern day as lower-powered, softer-recoiling alternatives to .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum respectively, and can be safely fired in firearms chambered for their respective magnum cartridges. Despite this, .38 and .44 Special actually predate their related magnum rounds.
.38 Special came about in the late 1800s as an improvement over the older .38 Long Colt and became an exceptionally popular service cartridge among police. Uniquely, and in contradiction to it’s name, the .38 Special is not .38 caliber. It utilizes the same .357 caliber bullets as the .357 Magnum, which is part of why it can be safely fired in a .357 Magnum, although the inverse is not true.
.357 Magnum generates significantly higher pressures than .38 Special, which would make it unsafe to use in firearms designed for .38 Special. To prevent a .357 Magnum from being loaded into a .38 Special accidentally, the former was deliberately designed to be slightly too long for a .38 Special chamber.
.38 Special is also available in several +P loadings, which have identical dimensions to standard .38 Special, but are loaded to a higher pressure and velocity. .38 Special +P rounds don’t reach the level of power and recoil of a .357 Magnum, but surpass that of standard .38 Special, making them a popular choice for personal defense. It’s worth noting that some .38 Special revolvers, especially older models, may not have been designed with +P ammunition in mind, so users should consult their manual or manufacturer before using +P ammo.
.44 Special has a similar story, arriving in the early 1900’s just a few decades after the .38 Special. It was essentially a modification of the popular .44 Russian with a lengthened case to allow for more powder capacity. While .44 Special never achieved the level of popularity that .38 Special has, it remains in production today, primarily as a way for .44 Magnum owners to practice with their pistols with reduced recoil.

Pistol Cartridges
While most revolvers are chambered in rimmed cartridges, certain models can make use of rimless rounds designed for autoloading pistols. Popular calibers like 9mm and .45 ACP can be utilized despite their lack of a protruding rim by using moon clips.
These simple clips are little more than a piece of stamped spring steel, but they effectively hold a set of cartridges together and allow them to be dropped into the pistol’s cylinder and ejected. Moon clips, whether full or partial, can also be used in compatible revolvers with rimmed cartridges for faster reloads, but for rimless cartridges, they are essentially required.
While revolvers chambered in rimless cartridges are relatively uncommon, 9mm revolvers are somewhat popular for users wanting the advantages of a revolver but the expansive choice of defensive loads offered by 9mm Parabellum.

Retro Cartridges
Revolvers have been around for hundreds of years, and in that time, they’ve accumulated a huge number of cartridges, many of which are no longer produced or available. But, nostalgia is a powerful force, and so a few of the older cartridges are still produced.
The most popular cartridge in this category is unquestionably .45 Colt, sometimes erroneously called .45 Long Colt, even though no such name has ever been officially recognized by Colt or the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturer’s Institute.
The .45 Colt was first developed long before smokeless powder was brought to market and was first loaded with black powder. Today, it’s most popular as a chambering for Colt Single Action Army revolvers and replicas, although it has in recent decades found a second source of popularity: compatibility with .410 shotgun shells.

.45/.410
A few revolvers, like the Taurus Judge and S&W Governor, feature uncommon long cylinders. It’s no coincidence that these revolvers also happen to be chambered in .45 Colt, which shares a very similar outer diameter with .410 shotgun shells.
These hybrid firearms are not technically shotguns, owing to their rifled barrels and the fact that they are primarily intended for use with .45 Colt cartridges, but they also allow for the use of .410 shotshells in much the same way that a .357 Magnum allows the use of .38 Special, despite not being explicitly designed for it.
While these types of firearms come with their drawbacks, the versatility of being able to fire both centerfire cartridges and shotshells certainly has value for certain users, with one popular application being defense against venomous snakes.
Rimfire Cartridges
Lastly, revolvers are available in a full assortment of rimfire cartridges, including not only .22 Magnum and .22 LR but also less common varieties like .22 Long and .22 Short.
While most autoloaders are limited to a single cartridge, it’s not uncommon for a .22LR revolver to be able to utilize .22LR, .22 Long, and .22 Short interchangeably. Some revolvers, such as Ruger’s Super Wrangler, can even handle .22 Magnum with just a simple cylinder swap.
Conclusion
Revolvers may be an older format than autoloading pistols, but that long history also affords them a huge range of available calibers that pistols simply can’t match. With options ranging from .22 Short all the way to .44 Magnum and larger rounds, there’s a cartridge out there for every person and purpose.