In militaries throughout history, soldiers have gone into combat with a sidearm to ensure they
always have a weapon. While most militaries have issued relatively underpowered sidearms,
the countries that gave these pistols and revolvers to their troops wanted to
ensure that even if they lost their rifle, they could still pack a devastating punch.
To clarify, to make it on this list, the sidearm had to be chambered in at least a .45 ACP and
above or fire some kind of armor-piercing round. As you will soon find out, though
there are many rifle calibers amongst military service rifles, military sidearm calibers are
much more limited. However, that has not stopped armies worldwide from issuing some of the most
powerful sidearms in military history. Number Five: British Webley Revolver
From the hills of South Africa, the trenches of Western Europe, and the jungles of South East
Asia, the British Webley revolver continuously served the British Commonwealth forces from 1887
to 1970. Because of this, the Webley has the second longest service history on this list.
As the only revolver on this list, part of the reason why the Webley remains
such a popular sidearm is its reliability. Unlike more complex semiautomatic firearms,
the Webley is incredibly simple to operate. Its six-shot cylinder firing .455 Webley rounds in
double action made it perfect for any environment. Its large bullet also helped a good deal.
The .455 Webley is a bit longer than the American .45 ACP, but it’s a good deal
heavier. Weighing an average of 17 grams, the actual .455 Webley bullet weighs in about five
or six grams heavier than its classic American cousin. The main reason why the .45 ACP outshoots
the .455 Webley is more to do with its propellant. Because the British designed the revolver in 1887,
the firearms' ability to accept "hotter loads" is diminished compared to its modern counterparts.
This means that firearms like the Webley can only safely shoot ammo of lesser power and pressure.
Since the Webley design never changed too drastically in the almost 80 years it was in
service; it could not be adapted to shoot more powerful rounds like the .45 ACP. Even though
a person could make a slight modification to a Webley to accept the American round,
it would not be safe to shoot it since .45 ACP creates too much pressure for the Webley.
Despite this flaw, the .455 Webley is a massive round, and still one of the
largest and most powerful military side arm rounds ever to grace the battlefield.
Number Four: The Russian SR-1 Vektor None of the sidearms on this list are
more shrouded in mystery than this one, and for a good reason. As the sidearm of choice
for the Russian equivalent of the Secret Service, the Spetsnaz, and other specialized
anti-terrorist units, these handguns are no joke in terms of power and reliability.
Because of the people who carry it, little information is known about the handgun outside
Russian military and police circles. Such mystery has also caused the pistol to go by many names
like the SPS pistol, the Serdyukov SPS, the Grach pistol, and the Gyurza. However, all these names
refer to the same gun despite what you call it. When you first look at it, you will see that it
mixes the classic Russian Makarov with the European Berretta. Such a look was
intentional since, during the 1980s, the Russian government wanted to revamp its military sidearms
to upgrade them to modern standards. After all, the US and other European militaries
had been pumping out tons of new small arms, and the Russians knew they were lagging behind.
The Russian military first wanted to develop several strong pistol rounds and build guns
around them. The testing lasted years and resulted in three new pistol rounds. All of these have
since been adopted by the Russian government in various capacities, but the 9x21mm Gyruza
rounds were by far the most powerful of all three. While the 9x21mm Gyruza rounds are just a tad bit
longer than the standard 9mm rounds commonly used worldwide, the extra space leaves plenty of room
for more propellant. The Russians specially made a new propellant for the rounds and packed more
of it into the cartridges. The end result was a muzzle velocity of about 1450 feet per second,
which is about 50% greater than the average muzzle velocity of 1000-1100 feet per second
seen in the most common 9mm rounds. The extra energy allows these rounds
to pierce armor. During testing, the bullets could penetrate up to 30 layers of Kevlar armor
and 4mm of steel at 50 meters. Though body armor technology has certainly advanced since the 1990s,
especially for military body armor, the rounds are still powerful enough
to penetrate most civilian and police body armor. Because of how much energy these rounds have, many
nations around the world, including the United States, have banned them completely. Whenever the
Russian Secret Service travels outside of Russia, they must leave their SR-1 Vektor pistols behind
and exchange them for a less powerful sidearm. Why the government does not issue the side arm
to every soldier in the Russian army is a matter of quality control. Each pistol has to undergo
strict tests before it can be issued to the military or police. Every handgun must pass
a series of tests including being subjected to a wind tunnel full of sand for an hour, being rained
on for an hour, and being frozen for an hour. Once the gun goes through all this punishment,
if it does not fire like it was supposed to, it gets tossed away and a new one built.
Number Three: Chinese Type 92 The Chinese Type 92 pistol,
also known as the QSZ-92, is the standard sidearm of choice for its military and police
forces. In contrast, the police are equipped with the less powerful 9mm version, and the
military fields the much deadlier 5.8mm version. Officially known as the 5.8×21mm DAP92 round,
this cartridge also came about during the 1990s when China wanted to revamp its military sidearms.
Because body armor was becoming more prevalent, Chinese leadership wanted a weapon that had
the power to defeat body armor but could also have the recoil and size of a pistol.
Chinese engineers spent the next several years designing the 5.8mm cartridge as a clone of
the infamous FN 5.7×28mm round. Despite their similarities, the two pistol rounds have one
significant difference in performance. Unlike the Belgian 5.7mm round,
the Chinese 5.8mm is designed to punch through body armor and then quickly dissipate energy.
The Chinese military wanted the round to mimic the effects of intermediate rifle cartridges
like the American 5.56mm. Just like the 5.56mm, the 5.8mm round will tumble once inside the
target. The tumbling effect from the bullet is what causes incredible wound cavities that will
take out a person with just a single shot. Despite having about one-fifth the energy of
the standard 5.56mm round, the 5.8mm has about half the speed of the 5.56 round but is only
around 25% lighter. Because of these factors, it’s no wonder that tests have
shown its ability to pierce 1.5mm of steel out to 100 meters and 4mm of steel to 50 meters.
And if you think you can get your hands on one of these guns, then think again. The
Chinese military strictly controls the export of these handguns. Only models chambered in the
standard 9mm cartridge are allowed for sale on the civilian market, and Chinese soldiers are the only
people allowed to carry and use the firearm. So unless you plan on enlisting in the Chinese army,
you might have to wait a while for one of these bad boys to show up on the market.
Number Two: American 1911 The most iconic pistol on this list and arguably
of all time is the American M1911. Serving as the primary military sidearm for almost 80 years and
still serving in various iterations among US Special Forces, the M1911 also ranks as one of
the most powerful military handguns ever fielded. The US military opted for a round stronger than
the standard 9mm because of the US experience in the Philippines. After the Spanish-American war,
US troops fought a decade-long guerilla war against Filipino guerillas desiring
independence. During this conflict, the US .38 special revolvers were deemed not strong enough
to take down determined and drug-fueled fighters. The US Army began test trials in 1906, and six of
the world's top arms manufacturers submitted designs for a .45 ACP caliber pistol. After
years of trials, Colt's classic M1911A1 design won out when during final testing, it fired over
6,000 rounds over two days, only stopping for reloads and getting cooled down with water.
The .45 ACP round is not necessarily known for its clean ballistics and accuracy but for its raw
power. Depending on the load and amount of propellant, the .45 ACP round clocks
in at about twice the power of a 9mm round. With further advances in firearm technology,
some .45 ACP rounds creep up close to about half of what a 5.56mm round can deliver.
Because of its long service life across numerous nations and battlefields, the M1911 was fed with a
wide range of makes and models of .45 ACP ammo. Of course, older lots of ammo will be less powerful
than newer ones since firearm technology has developed so much in the past fifty years
to give older rounds much more power. Despite the disparity in performance,
one thing is for sure. The M1911's raw power and reliability made it the military sidearm
of choice for millions of troops worldwide when they needed to engage in a short-range fight.
Number One: Belgian FN Five-Seven Of course, a list discussing the
most powerful military side arms would be incomplete without talking about the Belgian
Five-Seven pistol. While it’s scientifically proven to be the deadliest pistol a soldier
can wield on the battlefield today, many myths exist that need to be dispelled.
First are the facts. The Belgian government arms manufacturer FN first designed the pistol in the
1990s as an alternative to relatively weak 9mm handguns. The Belgians liked that most
9mm handguns had controllability and accuracy with large magazine capacities. They decided to
take all these factors and wrap them all into a firearm that could punch through body armor.
After years of development, the Belgians released the Five Seven to the international
arms market starting in 2000. The Five Seven clocks at just a pound and a half loaded,
making it one of the lighter military side arms in use despite its huge round. This is because
the gun uses a lot of strong yet lightweight polymers to give it a balanced and light feel.
However, what gives the Five Seven its bite is its FN 5.7×28mm ammo. The 5.7mm bullet can be
considered a revolution in firearm technology. With its incredibly high muzzle velocity of
around 2,800 feet per second with relatively low energy, not much higher than a 9mm bullet,
the 5.7mm round can punch through armor and still remain inside a target, preventing
innocent people or civilians from getting hurt. NATO and various police agencies and governments
have done a mountain of ballistics testing throughout the past twenty years. Though
body armor technology has improved, the fact that the round can consistently penetrate two
Level II vests at 100 meters shows how devastating it can be. Because of this,
over 40 militaries and police agencies worldwide use this as their go-to firearm.
However, it is its armor-piercing ability that has generated a lot of myths. One of the most
prevalent is that it’s not as good as many people think it is and a person saying that would be
correct when talking about the civilian market. Because the 5.7mm bullet is so devastating,
FN only sells the armor-piercing variant to military and law enforcement customers.
Civilians can only purchase a much less powerful round purposefully designed for the civilian
commercial market. Though the civilian version of the Five Seven round still clocks in at a whopping
1,600 feet per second, it’s not considered armor piercing by the ATF, and numerous studies have
backed this claim up. Because of this, whenever cities or states try to ban the ammunition,
the bills never pass because the civilian variant is nowhere near as powerful as military ammo.