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Cartridge Types with Declining Popularity

urbanrifleman said:
There are a lot more dead cartridges than people realize because essentially they've stopped producing much if not all of many of the common cartridges that used to be available at your local Walmart or hardware store.
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Very true statement, as shooters/enthusiasts we tend to look at the latest/greatest wonder round that someone is promoting. Normally it doesn't do anything that hasn't been done for 50-100 years BUT it's new and improved so we gravitate toward it in the quest for knowledge of the round. I can think of a couple that I jumped for joy when someone else needed to experience how wonderful they were. One rifle to hunt anything in the US, 30-06. Don't own one anymore, now my do everything is a 300 WSM.
 
My take on old cartridges is some are forgotten treasures, passed up by the latest greatest syndrome we see so much of. I have a lot of fun with the new stuff but the old stuff in many ways has just as much appeal to me. It’s like when someone who’s never heard of a 7x57, 6.5x55, 222, 30-06, whatever it may and discovers them for the first time and realizes that they are very capable cartridges. If they have a rifle built on par with with todays builds in one of those cartridges and they see them grouping itty bitty groups it’s like discovering a “new to them” cartridge.

I have a couple 06s, one in a Ruger #1 and the other in a Pre64 lightweight. The pre64 is my Dad’s old rifle and has taken a lot of game, it’s also part of the family. The Ruger #1 in 30-06 is a classic and very capable rifle. Some time it’s nice to use something a bit more “vintage”. I have a few bolt Action rifles chambered in dead or dying cartridges in neat rifles - I also have quite a few lever actions in cartridges many would look down on which makes little sense to me.

If your sole focus is the newest and fastest cartridges there’s nothing wrong with that but your passing by a lot of really outstanding cartridges that have a wealth of history and nostalgia and can still get the job done on many levels. That’s ok too, leaves more of those old dusty guns to be picked up by guys who appreciate them and the cartridges they are chambered for.
 
Bottom Fodder said:
Yep when the 223 showed up the 222 all but vanished
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Not the way I remember it, the .223 initially was solely viewed as a semi-auto cartridge- i.e. AR-15, Ruger Mini-14. It would be some years after Remington commercialized it (1964) that firearms companies would start chambering the .223 in bolt action actions. The .222 was king of short range Benchrest up until the mid '70's and the early problems of offering a suitable twist rate for the .223 had varminters opting for the triple duece or it's big brother the .222 Rem Mag (1958) (also setting records in SR BR) over the newer unproven case.
 
urbanrifleman said:
There are a lot more dead cartridges than people realize because essentially they've stopped producing much if not all of many of the common cartridges that used to be available at your local Walmart or hardware store.
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Which chamberings are you referring too?
 
May have been mentioned already but the good ole' 8mm Mauser : ) Great balance of bore diameter to powder capacity!
 
I stopped at a local Fleet Farm here and was frankly surprised at the selection of ammo. I was specifically looking for 243; they had at least 8 different options. Same for 7mm Remington, 30-06, etc... I saw brands that I never thought I'd see on a local store shelf. Fiocchi, Sig, Sierra, Ammo Inc... stuff I'd expect to see at a Cabeleas or Scheels.
 
The 224 valkyrie died off pretty quick, the 7 WSM got abandoned by winchester( it was probably the best of the wsm's). The great old 25-20 has been abandoned by ammo producers, despite there being a lot of great old rifles out there. It's all driven by the sales department. Push the latest thing, hype it up, see what catches traction. If it doesn't meet sales targets, abandon it, screw the guy that bought one. New cartridges can be great, but if the numbers aren't big enough, they get pushed aside. The great old cartridges get subject to forced obsolescence, so new iron gets sold. This has been the way of the gun world in an increasing fashion since the 60s.
 
The .17 caliber centerfire cartridge market has been pretty much abandoned. I was sort of hoping for a
.17 PRC or at least a .17 Creedmoor. My .17 Fireball shooting 20 grainers at 4000+FPS just isn't getting it anymore. The groundhogs are ducking before the bullet gets there. I need something faster, a LOT faster.
Maybe Nosler will step up to the plate?
 
My vote goes to the time tested and true 300 Savage. no doubt it is still being used. The days of seeing guys carrying around their model 99’s I believe is gone. even here in the tickets of Venango county in northwestern Pennsylvania where a long shot is 100 yards. My work takes me to all the back roads through Venango, Crawford, and Warren County‘s here in Pennsylvania. Even Amish hunters carry big scoped, bolt action rifles. I do occasionally still see a model 94 or a Remington 760 machine gun. I have entertained thoughts of building a Krieger barreled 300 savage but just never did it.
 
When I first started hunting, in Canada, every store had stacks of 303 British ammunition; most of it made in Canada. Today, few people still hunt with one and ammunition is hard to find. The 30/40 Krag has long been a favorite of mine. Now, ammunition is never seen and brass is difficult to find. One of my favorite 6.5's is the 256 Newton. It's an excellent design and a good performer but has been obsolete for years. Happily, brass is easily formed, and I can even buy it occasionally. My 300 savage has become a handload only proposition. Ammunition is rarely seen. My 257 Roberts was obsolete when I built it. My 308 Norma was on the brink and is pretty well there now. My 7x57, one of the finest cartridges ever, is rarely stocked.
The 30/06, still capable of doing most anything, is still available. The 308 is still recognized as the very capable all rounder that it is. I've not even thought of buying a reamer for anything newer than the 6.5 CM, and probably won't. If I can't do it with one of the chest full of reamers I have, it just won't get done! WH
 
It seems as though the marketers of years past have been the culprits of some of this demise, or at least added to it. Some of the following are rhetorical examples.
For instance, why was the 257 Roberts loaded to a lower pressure standard?
Why was a 1:12 twist chosen for the .244 Rem?
Why were both of these Mauser based cartridges chambered in short actions?
What became of the 6.5 Rem mag?

I know there are answers to each of these, but the decisions or choices have lead to their limited acceptance or decline.

I think the reluctance to the ‘06 series is the concussion, big boom noise, and the healthy shoulder punch. People with less upper body mass will suffer more so.

Any of the Mauser cartridges in a modern action have significant potential. Perhaps not for 400 yards, but not all hunting situations allow for this range. Ken Waters talked about action length a bit in his Pet Loads book. His .257, and later 257 28* used an Enfield action, chosen because of its length.

If the recoil doesn’t bother you, it’s hard to beat the ‘06 series. Similarly, it’s hard to beat any of the x57 Mauser cartridges unless you’re varmint hunting. If a .222 Rem could drop an Elk at 400 yards, I predict we all would be shooting it!
 
The cartridge that should have caught on was the 264 - clear back in the late 70s one of my classmates in 8th grade was shooting elk with his dads rifle - should have been as or more popular than the 270.
 
I think the african magnum calibers like .375 HH, .416 rigby and similar calibers from the golden era of colonialism.

Currently people hunt in Africa with modern magnum. So these cartridges are pretty much collector items.

Many of the cartridges you mentioned like 222 rem,30-06 are popular with senior hunters in Europe.
 
marchx said:
I think the african magnum calibers like .375 HH, .416 rigby and similar calibers from the golden era of colonialism.

Currently people hunt in Africa with modern magnum. So these cartridges are pretty much collector items.

Many of the cartridges you mentioned like 222 rem,30-06 are popular with senior hunters in Europe.
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The big magnums (375HH and up) are still very popular over here in Africa
 
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