What is a .45 calibre?

i could have posted this topic in the film area in the hope of getting a quicker response (due to the apparent lack of visitors in this part) but figured that this isn't even mentioned in the film--as far as i know.

my question refers to Puzo's term of a pezzanovante , a .45 calibre. (mostly used by hagen to describe Woltz). what does this mean? what does pezzanovante translate into? and why is it referred to as a .45 calibre? sounds like a gun to me!

mick

Actually, I think the book used a reference to a ".90 caliber pezzanovante." Firearms ammunition that had either .45 or .90 caliber bullets--respectively almost half and inch and an inch in diameter--would pack a lot of punch, or knockdown power. The meaning is that the .90 caliber pezzanovante is a powerful guy with a lot of clout.

so i was right in thinking it was guns! but i was wrong in thinking it was .45! i had a felling it was something along those lines. thanks, Turnbull

Turnbull is spot on as usual. He's a pezzanovante himself, a real bigshot. Bigshot is another translation of the word.