View Full Version : Your favorite caliber that just "never made it"
ramairthree
02-07-15, 02:03
What is the one that you love,
but just never became a major player?
For rifle, for me it is .225 Winchester. The first rifle I bought, 50$ of birthday money, 52$ of my 1$ a week pay for feeding the coon dogs, and the rest a birthday present got me a used Savage with a mount and scope when I turned 12.
Basically a 30-30 necked down to .224.
Good for a few hundred FPS more than .223 with the same 55 grain round.
Supposedly created because 220 Swift was too hot, it was basically not up to competing with 22.250 which I did not know about and has ballistics in between .225 Winchester and .220 Swift.
Frankly, the rimmed cartridge rarely fed all three in the mag without a jam, and I did get a couple of extra mags to see if that was the issue. With better ballistics, and no rim, 22-250 had a couple of edges. Plus as .223s gained popularity, the cost and reliability etc. sure was convenient at the loss of a few hundred FPS.
My father died in an accident a few months later, and that rifle is tied with my 1890 .22 WRF (yep, another fallen by the wayside round that can kicked 22lr's butt, but gave way to 22 magnum, that was his Dad's that he taught me to shoot with) for the most personally valuable rifles to me I own.
For pistol, for me it is 10mm. She came on strong, but was blind sided by the rise of the .40, and could not over come the staying power of the .45. It may not have been the uber failure the .225 Winchester turned out to be, but just never became a main stay. I have a couple of 3rd gen S&Ws I don't think I could get rid off in it.
EDIT: Adding rimfire and shotgun
Rimfire- the already mentioned 22 WRF. I was longer and stronger than 22lr and the even more defunct 22xl. Powders got better, and everyone that had a regular 22 could get near the performance in a 22lr. Already on its deathbed, 22 magnum came along and it is rarely heard of since. Special place for me as it was the first rifle I shot and was cooler than 22lr.
Shotgun-10 Gauge
One of my father's best friends has a single shot break action 10 gauge as his brush gun. I was in awe of it compared to our 12 gauge. Turkey hunting started in my home state decades ago and it was getting some renewed interested, but the advances in 12 seemed to never give it a chance as a contender. I think it makes up maybe 2% of shotgun sales. Shotguns are easy to find a "lost" or "under appreciated" gauge.
For nostalgia it would be the .22 WRF simply because I have my grandfathers Winchester 1890 that was given to him as a boy by my great grandfather. Every now and then Winchester does a special production run, but the caliber mostly died after WWII.
For fun it would be the .41 AE simply because the .40 existed in 1986 and was virtually ignored by everyone and now .40 S&W is considered some kind of "ultimate" round. Besides how can you go wrong with anything that was chambered for the Uzi.
For the practical it would be either the 10mm or my personal favorite .357 SIG. I wonder how available they will be in 20 years. I have the HK USPC I gave my father and it's chambered in .357 SIG, he was always a fan a ballistic performance over availability in a SHTF situation. My dad took a liking to the USP I bought in 9mm back in 94 and when a compact appeared in .357 SIG he read about the caliber and went head over heels for it. The idea of .357 magnum performance in a compact auto loader just sang to him.
love the 357 sig :) my main carry hope it never goes away
10mm great round to carry on your side out camping IMHO
For nostalgia it would be the .22 WRF simply because I have my grandfathers Winchester 1890 that was given to him as a boy by my great grandfather. Every now and then Winchester does a special production run, but the caliber mostly died after WWII.
For fun it would be the .41 AE simply because the .40 existed in 1986 and was virtually ignored by everyone and now .40 S&W is considered some kind of "ultimate" round. Besides how can you go wrong with anything that was chambered for the Uzi.
For the practical it would be either the 10mm or my personal favorite .357 SIG. I wonder how available they will be in 20 years. I have the HK USPC I gave my father and it's chambered in .357 SIG, he was always a fan a ballistic performance over availability in a SHTF situation. My dad took a liking to the USP I bought in 9mm back in 94 and when a compact appeared in .357 SIG he read about the caliber and went head over heels for it. The idea of .357 magnum performance in a compact auto loader just sang to him.
41 mag and .280 remington
With 10mm special mention, though it's having a bit of a comeback.
.41ae was close, but lack of auto type projectiles doomed it. Had a drop in commander kit by imi
Sent from my PRC-104 using phonetics
356win or 375win. Never owned either, but I'd love to.
ramairthree
02-07-15, 11:36
45 GAP. Really.
I snorted some beverage. No need to explain your preference. Some love New Coke and Windows 8 as well.
crusader377
02-07-15, 14:30
I would say the 9x23 Winchester which essentially mimics the full power .357 magnum loads unlike the .38 super and .357 Sig. A double stack M1911 with this round would carry between 17-19 rounds of ammo and would be pretty neat.
crusader377
02-07-15, 14:55
16 gauge shotgun.
16 Gauge at one time was one of the most common gauges up until the 1960s I believe. Would love to see a comeback of the 16 gauge because of its versatility.
BoringGuy45
02-07-15, 15:06
6.5 Grendel. I love the concept and the good external ballistics. How it would be as a general assault rifle cartridge will probably remain a mystery.
The 10ga shotgun is a great turkey hunting gun, ammo around me can be hard to find.
Reagans Rascals
02-07-15, 16:52
4 bore.... maybe a nice cartridge developed with smokeless instead of black power... perhaps evolve into semi-auto with a 2 or 4 round DBM...
TriviaMonster
02-07-15, 17:29
30-30 ackley. I mean it should have just become the new 30- 30.
The .260 Remington, it's just about perfect for everything lower 48, but you're hard pressed to find something chambered in it.
The .260 Remington, it's just about perfect for everything lower 48, but you're hard pressed to find something chambered in it.
Remington, Savage, Tikka, Ruger, DPMS are a few.
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?164008-XLR-Element-chassis-and-Tikka-CTR**pics
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?161711-Tikka-T3-CTR-260-Remington
I'm very interested in the Tikka after checking these threads out.
Another one here for the .41 magnum.
As far as calibers I actually currently own, 10mm, though there does seem to be a bit of a resurgence with the release of the new optic ready Glock longslide for example.
458 SOCOM and 338 Federal
The factory 338 Federal loads basically mimic factory loads of 7mm Rem Mag -- but in a 308Win form factor.
steyrman13
02-07-15, 19:14
Remington, Savage, Tikka, Ruger, DPMS are a few.
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?164008-XLR-Element-chassis-and-Tikka-CTR**pics
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?161711-Tikka-T3-CTR-260-Remington
I'm very interested in the Tikka after checking these threads out.
Also Steyr.
Also Steyr.
Very fitting recommendation :)
Don't hear much about the 410 shotgun anymore either.
steyrman13
02-07-15, 20:14
Very fitting recommendation :)
Haha. It's true though. They are one tough rifle to beat for the money for a factory assembled rifle. Typically sub-moa 5 shot groups.
The rest of my post got deleted.
25-06 is another. I wish there was better bullet selection for it. I typically use the 117gr for it.
Not a fan of the .357sig.
Haha. It's true though. They are one tough rifle to beat for the money for a factory assembled rifle. Typically sub-moa 5 shot groups.
The rest of my post got deleted.
25-06 is another. I wish there was better bullet selection for it. I typically use the 117gr for it.
Not a fan of the .357sig.
The Steyr ProHunter in 260 looks like real nice rifle for the money.
steyrman13
02-07-15, 21:07
The Steyr ProHunter in 260 looks like real nice rifle for the money.
If I wasn't invested with components, ammo, and memories from hunts with my .25-06, I would probably sell it and go after the .260. I love the pro hunter mountain series with the shorter barrel, but not sure if .260 prefers a longer or shorter barrel. I think the difference is 20" vs 23.6"
For a shotgun, 16 gauge. Not to big not to small
For rifle, 348 Win Mag. In the Model 71 Winchester lever action, it can take any N American big game.
For revolver (and T/C rifles) 357 Remington Maximum.
I snorted some beverage. No need to explain your preference. Some love New Coke and Windows 8 as well.
GAP had a lot of potential - the ability to replicate ACP exterior ballistics in a shorter case was appealing to a lot of us.
Business_Casual
02-08-15, 13:28
Caseless
Ditch the case and the cost + weight
wild_wild_wes
02-08-15, 15:59
6.5 Grendel. I love the concept and the good external ballistics. How it would be as a general assault rifle cartridge will probably remain a mystery.
I was going to post the Grendel, but out of sarcasm. I would never expect to become a military round, but it should have slayed the 6.8 from the get go, if people were more intelligent.
Don't hear much about the 410 shotgun anymore either.
My fave anti-snake shotty for the property.
I was going to post the Grendel, but out of sarcasm. I would never expect to become a military round, but it should have slayed the 6.8 from the get go, if people were more intelligent.
I think its supporters would be surprised to hear it never "made it".
If the measure of success is the military has to adopt the cartridge we won't see many successful ones. I believe the organizational inertia to replace either 7.62 or 5.56 in the US is insurmountable. Except for some very narrow cases who can do what they want, anyway.
Caseless
Ditch the case and the cost + weight
Problem was trapped heat and cookoffs. You almost need an extraction cycle to cool the weapon. The G11 had lots of problems in this area.
Don Robison
02-08-15, 22:50
Another .41mag here. I love my model 58.
My fave anti-snake shotty for the property.
My Uncles swore by the 410 for small game hunting. That's what I learned on. I'm sure it works on snakes too, fangs and venom... blast away ... chills... heeby jeebies... (and I had a ball python for 16 years) no thanks on the deadly ones:fie:
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