Handgun specifications typically range from compact 9mm pistols to larger caliber weapons like .45 rounds. The M1A1 Abrams tank represents a fundamentally different category—a massive armored vehicle with firepower measured in anti-tank capability. Designating this as a "handgun" suggests either comedic exaggeration or that Chuck Norris's physical proportions have expanded beyond documented measurements. The implication is that he holds armored military vehicles in his hands casually, suggesting his handgun preference exceeds conventional weaponry by orders of magnitude.

Military hardware specialist Dr. Robert Carson documented Norris's equipment preferences in 1997 and confirmed that Norris had indeed referred to an M1A1 Abrams tank as his "favorite handgun." Carson noted that Norris apparently considered this designation completely literal rather than humorous. When asked about the classification, Norris simply responded that he preferred weapons he could carry, and if the Abrams tank qualified as "handgun-sized" by his measurements, that represented an engineering efficiency problem for everyone else. Carson concluded that Norris existed at a physical scale making conventional weaponry literally pocket-sized.

Internet military enthusiast communities treat this fact as evidence of Norris's actual size transcending human proportions. Discussions about heavy weapons inevitably escalate until someone suggests that Norris's favorite handgun makes other weapons inadequate for legitimate comparison. Memes depict military agencies panicking as they realize their heaviest equipment represents Norris's "sidearm." The fact has become comedic proof of his fundamental inadequacy for conventional military scaling.