Cartridge Types with Declining Popularity

[Idaho-Lefty]

In my older years, I am going back to what I started with 22LR, 223, 308, 30-06, 243, 22-250 and a straight 6 BR. I tried and liked a lot of other calibers but these will do anything I want to now. Easy to load for. Easy to find components. All good.

YUP,. Me too,. I have, a Custom Ruger 10-22, a 22-250 Rem, a 6mm XC, AND,.. a 6.5 Creedmoor as, my, "Do ALL",..
Big Game, Rifle, now !
My Grandsons, GOT all the rest and I don't,.. miss them !
Life's,.. SIMPLER as,.. not as, many different "Loads" to try to, remember,.. LOL !
And I ENJOY watching my grandsons,.. shoot My old, "Toys"

 

[SteveOak]

25 calibers became stepchildren because bullet makers didn't make many different bullet weights and almost no accuracy bullets. The good 250 Savage was hamstrung from it's birth by the factory loading it for varmints instead of using heavier bullets and faster twists recommended by it's inventor Chas. Newton. 7MM's and all metric stuff suffered because of the metric designation. The .243 is still used a lot for long range work and unlike the good 6BR you can find ammo just about anywhere you land that sells it.
Truth is we choose pretty much what is produced for consumer sales by choosing what to spend our money on. Our government and NATO solidified the .308 and .223 with their choices in munitions.
I don't consider anything particularly obsolete, just sorta dormant waiting for another generation to discover it.

I would pose a different hypothesis for the lack of success of the 25. Based on my unscientific study, when designed to a bullet weight appropriate for the caliber, certain calibers seem to be more amenable to yielding bullets with a higher BC. 25 cal is not one of those.

When I started shooting NRA Highpower Rifle Silhouette 25 years ago, I did a survey of the highest BC bullets made by Sierra at the time. The 6.5mm, 142gr MK was a standout. 22 caliber was not permitted (and probably not sufficient) so I looked at 25, 270, 7mm, 308. It was not until I got to the 308, 220gr Palma bullet that there was one with a higher BC than the 142.

I don't think there was a lack of interest in the 270 and 7mm and a corresponding lack of development, any more than there was a compelling interest in 6.5mm to drive development. I think there is an inherent balance in the 6.5mm dimensions.

 

[FNSafari]

deer rifle calibers (suitable ones) are like fly swatters. There are lots of different ones and they all will kill a fly.

IMO, there is nothing wrong with being over-gunned for anything you are hunting. Versus, being under-gunned which is a dumb thing to do just because you know someone who got it done with an inferior caliber.

Example....there is a young lady near us who is licensed to track wounded game...mostly deer. She uses a European dachshund breed. A number of years ago she was called to trail a wounded whitetail that was shot by a young man on our youth hunting day. She tracked for a number of hours but lost the little blood there was and the scent. Walking back she asked the father what his son was using for a rifle caliber? He said, 243 Winchester. She told him that of the hundreds of deer she has tracked the .243 Win has accounted for the largest % of wounded, had to be tracked and lost deer. The shooters can't be all that bad!!

 

[Steve h]

I think the 7mm WSM is a great round but you can hardly find ammo for it.