Cartridges That Didn't Take

[usmc 89]

22 hornet didnt take? I think they still offer that 100 plus years after the fact???
.222 which was the go to benchrest round until the ppc and is still offered.
30-338, having owned this and the 300 win I would pick the 30-338 everytime.

 

[tjen]

Depends on what you call popular. Some are going strong after close to 100 years I would say they took (22hornet, 35whelen) The 222rem was highly popular and spawned the 222rem mag, 223rem, 221rem, 6x47, 6.5x47, 20vartrag. The savage line was highly popular but built around their 99 rifle and its limitation. The 308win class of cartridges put them out of the short action business.

Trends in rifle types make or break cartridges even popular ones.

A few cartridges that should / should have taken do to actual performance and you will see some tweeks.
20/22 badger
20 Vartrag
221 Rem Some super Eastern varmit stuff

6 & 6.5x47 Excellent varmit and deer sized game Low recoiling too.

338Federal
358win good for over 90% of all North American Game at actual ranges their taken

 

[Elkman]

This thread is for cartridges that didn’t succeed in the market place for whatever reason (marketing, didn’t fill a void, etc.).

I looked at it this way. There are of course many of the cartridges listed here that were very popular at the time they started being commercially produced. As an example the 44-40 or 25-20, there were thousands if not millions (in the case of the 30-30), of guns made for them, and sold. But ask around today how many are purchased or available. My grandpa like many used a 30-30, my uncle a 250-3000 (which I forgot to list) they may have been the best of their time, At one time the 30:06 was listed as the most popular elk caliber, now the 7mm Mag, and 300 WM are in contention for that spot. For many technology has caught up and passed them, or there were other more efficient cartridges available. How many here today would head to the high country for Elk, or Grizzly with a 44-40? How many have owned a .405 or a .350, or a .300 HH? Not many here I will bet and fewer own one now. Why? because there are several cartridges that will do the same job a little better than the HH. If I still owned one I would not hesitate to use if for hunting. But I wouldn't trade my WM, or WB for the HH. Just my .02 on a neat discussion.

 

[Rem Jim]

Wheres this coming from - i need a REASONING ! :shock:

Cheers :grin: RJ

We don't get much of that around here.... :lol:

LMAO ! :lol:

Cheers RJ

 

[Grundy53]

I think there is a huge difference between "didn't take" and "obsolete".

sent from my typewriter

 

[ScreaminEagle]

I'd say the 22LR didn't take, cause I can't find shells anywhere!

 

[DrMike]

I'd say the 22LR didn't take, cause I can't find shells anywhere!

Very funny! :mrgreen: However, people are still making rifles chambered in 22LR/ :grin:

 

[truck driver]

I'd say the 22LR didn't take, cause I can't find shells anywhere!

A little off topic but there's a big write up in the January NRA American Rifleman on the subject of ammo shortage.

 

[Oldtrader3]

This thread is for cartridges that didn’t succeed in the market place for whatever reason (marketing, didn’t fill a void, etc.).

How many have owned a .405 or a .350, or a .300 HH? Not many here I will bet and fewer own one now. Why? because there are several cartridges that will do the same job a little better than the HH. If I still owned one I would not hesitate to use if for hunting. But I wouldn't trade my WM, or WB for the HH. Just my .02 on a neat discussion.

The heck you say Bill!? Several of the younger men on this forum own .300 H&H's. :mrgreen: If you want a .30 magnum that is slicker feeding then "snot on glass" get a .300 H&H. With mine, I have killed a couple of elk and maybe a dozen deer which died just as fast as animals killed with my .300 WSM, or .308 Norma, plus, the H&H was easier to load for, fed better and has the same powder capacity as a .300 WSM. I would bet that several custom makers chamber as many H&H's as they do .300 Win Mag's :?:

 

[Dwh7271]

This is kind of fun. :grin:
Maybe we should consider it cartridges that the public at large didn't embrace?
No offense intended to any, but the folks on this forum have an eclectic view of cartridges as a whole. We (including me) tend to experiment with many and embrace many that others either neglect (which I think makes them neater) or that without hand loading may not have been able to see in their best light. (?)
While the new new thing is always intriguing sometimes the history or cachet of a cartridges past deserves respect and perhaps, research?
Just my thoughts for what that's worth.
Dewey

 

[Elkman]

OT3
The heck you say Bill!? Several of the younger men on this forum own .300 H&H's. :mrgreen: If you want a .30 magnum that is slicker feeding then "snot on glass" get a .300 H&H. With mine, I have killed a couple of elk and maybe a dozen deer which died just as fast as animals killed with my .300 WSM, or .308 Norma, plus, the H&H was easier to load for, fed better and has the same powder capacity as a .300 WSM. I would bet that several custom makers chamber as many H&H's as they do .300 Win Mag's :?:

"Sorry Charlie" (I had to do that). The statistics are against you !!!!!

 

[Oldtrader3]

All the way, Bill, with a .204 Ruger, .257 Roberts, .32 Win Spec, .338 Federal and a 9.3x74R, plus the .270 Win and the .30-06 in my arsenal, the 7mm Rem Mag at 51 years old, is the most modern game cartridge that I presently own. However, I have yet to have an elk or deer moon me when I shoot them with my obsolete rifles.

 

[cloverleaf]

Where do I go to file a 'hurt feelings' report. Several of those have a great following! Not everything can be a 30-06 or a 308. :mrgreen:

257 Roberts? 220 Swift?? 338-06??? 35 Whelen????

+1 Think Im gonna have to shoot a deer with my obsolete 16Ga smooth bore ithica. Or do those big hunks a lead just bounce off "modern armor plated deer....?

 

[Elkman]

Charlie
As you know that I have in the past owned or shot many of the same. But the fickle finger of fate has caused many good cartridges to go south, they still work, they will always work, but for some unknown reason, they were never blessed with a tremendous following. Two examples of this come to mind the 338/06 and the 35 Whelen. Both are tremendously efficient cartridges, moderate recoil, tremendous down range energy and while the 35 has a very study following the 338/06 is nearly extinct. Who would have thought ?

 

[Oldtrader3]

Bill, just he number of guys on this forum who have a .35 Whelen, or .257 Roberts, or a 7mm Mauser tells me that a lot of people recognize the fact that obsolete cartridges should be judged on their ballistic merit not just what year that they were commercialized. I hope that this continues to be the case.

 

[Elkman]

Bill, just he number of guys on this forum who have a .35 Whelen, or .257 Roberts, or a 7mm Mauser tells me that a lot of people recognize the fact that obsolete cartridges should be judged on their ballistic merit not just what year that they were commercialized. I hope that this continues to be the case.

I think the same Charlie, those that recognize the value and performance that can be had, with these cartridges will keep many of those listed going for many years to come.

 

[DrMike]

Apparently, I'm living in an obscure zone of my life. I'm shooting such obsolete and obscure cartridges as the .358 Win, the .356 Win, the .307 Win, the .375 Win, the 7X57, the .284, the 9.3X64, the 8X68S, the .280 Rem., the 7WSM, the .280 Ross... Animals just keep accepting my invitations to join me for a meal, however. Well, you get the idea.

 

[RiverRider]

Isn't it easier to list the cartridges that did succeed than to list the ones that didn't? Take the top 20 (based on ammo sales) or so rifle cartridges and the top 10 handgun cartridges. An argument can be made that the rest have flopped.

That won't stop me from enjoying the .222 Remington, .280 Remington, and .35 Whelen, though.

 

[Oldtrader3]

I do, I do, DrMike and have observed the same with my obsolete rifles. Especially those that have been around since before 1905! :mrgreen:

 

[SJB358]

I'm more fascinated with the older cartridges these days than the older. Some of those old German rounds are pretty interesting.