calibre

thumb|7.92 mm caliber rifle barrel (Swedish Mauser|Mauser m/96) thumb|right|Rifle cartridges: from left: .50 BMG|50 BMG • 300 Win Mag • 308 Winchester • 7.62 × 39 mm • 5.56 × 45 mm NATO • [[22 LR]] thumb|right|A .45 ACP|45 ACP hollowpoint (Federal HST) with two 22 LR cartridges for comparison

In guns, particularly firearms, but not artillery, where a different definition may apply, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore matches that specification. It is measured in inches or in millimeters.Since metric and US customary units do not convert evenly at this scale, metric conversions of caliber measured in decimal inches are typically approximations of the precise specifications in non-metric units, and vice versa.