Rounds that make you wonder, "what's all the fuss about?"

[Merle1]

I just about guarantee a better price online than any gun shop. In which case you have to factor in sales tax. Versus how much time are you spending driving around to gun shops looking for a box? How much gas are you burning? I have four boxes of ammo in my cart at Midway right now, for one of those unpopular chamberings, totaling $144. Shipping is $14. Even if the local shop could match their price, which they can't because they don't carry it, it'd be $14 just in sales tax. Buy online and there are no wasted trips.

If I gauged my purchases according to the ammo and components I could source locally, I'd have to cut my collection by 3/4's and would be able to do virtually no cast bullet shooting. I sure as hell wouldn't be looking at 9.3's!

I have done all that; a typical MINIMUM shipping of $12 ~ 16 eats up your savings pretty fast.
I don't drive all over - I call - much cheaper than gas.
And I won't make a large purchase the first time - found too many loads my gun didn't care for.
However, once I find a good load, then I'll stock up

 

[ATLDave]

I guess that's why I subscribe to Handloader and not G&A.

After I realized all the articles said pretty much the same thing and could have been copied-and-pasted from the manufacturer's website and prior reviews of broadly similar products, I quit buying G&A.

If they are getting the readership they want, that's fine.

 

[Jason_W]

Rifle and Handloader are the two best, IMO. Rifle features articles on a wide variety of firearms which keeps it interesting. A lot of historical stuff too.

 

[rskent]

I'm pretty sure what Glock wanted to accomplish was getting a lot of additional LE contracts for 45-GAP based guns.

You know it.

Someone in the sales department said “ If we could only fit a 45 into a 9mm package, We’ll sell a million of them”. Oops.

 

[FL-NC]

Most people who shoot guns in unusual calibers in any kind of volume become reloaders. Once you're a reloader, the "easy availability" of ammo makes no difference at all.

That is absolutely true. But again, MOST gun owners don't reload. This brings us full circle, since the common denominator is the GUNS being bought and sold, re-bought and re-sold, etc. Go to a gun show and compare the amount of 45 GAP pistols available to the G17, 19, 26, etc. Go to a gun shop that deals in used firearms and you will often see handguns in 357 SIG, 45 GAP, and yes- even 40 S&W- languishing and at low prices, while the 9mm and 45 ACP handguns move through there like water downhill. Yes, those trendy caliber handguns are a bargain to a handloader or someone who is looking for something for defensive use who "won't shoot it that much". The opposite effect being that people who "roll their own ammo" will always be in the minority, and the ones who "won't shoot it too much" will often gravitate to the more popular calibers once they see the price of the "boutique" ammo if the shop even stocks any.

 

[ATLDave]

Ok, so what?

 

[Paul7]

Every round has a fan base and variety is the spice of life, but every now and then there's a lot of fervor surrounding a round that honestly baffles me.

This isn't to denigrate what anyone else is into (for example, I have no problem with people who like a lot of cilantro in their Mexican food, even though it tastes like soap to me), but I just don't get it.

For me, the round I'm baffled by is the .300 Blackout. In terms of energy, it's anemic even by the standards of other specialty rounds for the AR-15 platform. With supersonic ammo it doesn't even break 2400 f/s with a very light for caliber 110 grain bullet, and subsonic, the energy figures are on par with a .357 mag fired from a handgun. I get that the velocity is suppressor friendly, but at such low speeds, wouldn't a heavier bullet with a larger frontal area be more effective than a skinny .30 cal bullet that probably won't expand?

Again, not to knock anyone's personal preference, I just don't get all the fuss around this rising star of the cartridge world.

From the owner of a hog hunting outfit I go to with real world observation of the .300 blackout, it is a very ineffective hunting round.

 

[CoalTrain49]

There's LOTS of cartridges that make me wonder. The .300 Blackout is on that list, There's also lots of shooters that make me wonder. Guys who think they need a .300 Win Mag to shoot these dog sized deer here in Texas.

You don't know the whole story. Those guys all hunt in Alaska every year also so that rifle is dual purpose like the 300 BLK.

 

[FL-NC]

Ok, so what?

My only point was to illustrate the cycle of rising and waning popularity of newer calibers, and the effects it has in the industry- from the manufacturer, to retailers, then down to the consumer.. Due to the amount of choices available- newer, older, good, bad, indifferent- I think its pure folly for manufacturers to invest so much effort and $ developing them, and even more foolish for people to jump on the bandwagon as soon as they become available- as in, before said round has been "firmly established", or achieved "staying power". But different strokes for different folks.

 

[BearBrimstone]

Like others have said, the 45 GAP is the one that sticks out as odd and not needed to me. Thats not to say that I wouldn't own one though.

 

[FL-NC]

From the owner of a hog hunting outfit I go to with real world observation of the .300 blackout, it is a very ineffective hunting round.

I'd like to hear more about that. I don't have a 300 B-O (yet) but I have been considering the Ruger American 300 B-O. I would use it suppressed for deer and hogs. FWIW, I normally hunt hogs (and sometimes deer) with 75 grain 223. People I know who have used 300 B-O for either have reported good results inside 100 yards, and a friend killed a nice black bear in Maine with one last year.

 

[Paul7]

I'd like to hear more about that. I don't have a 300 B-O (yet) but I have been considering the Ruger American 300 B-O. I would use it suppressed for deer and hogs. FWIW, I normally hunt hogs (and sometimes deer) with 75 grain 223. People I know who have used 300 B-O for either have reported good results inside 100 yards, and a friend killed a nice black bear in Maine with one last year.

I don't know what the load was, but from what he said hogs (100-200 lbs.) were shot with no visible effect. Not to say they wouldn't have eventually died. My 6.5x55 puts 200 lbs. hogs on the ground right now.

 

[CraigC]

I don't know what the load was, but from what he said hogs (100-200 lbs.) were shot with no visible effect. Not to say they wouldn't have eventually died. My 6.5x55 puts 200 lbs. hogs on the ground right now.

That's critical information. Use the right bullet, dead critter. Use the wrong bullet, which seems to be fairly common, wounded critter. If they were using 200-220gr bullets designed for the .300 magnums at subsonic velocity, they do not expand at all. In other words, it's not the cartridge's fault they used the wrong bullet. These two bullets came from factory subsonic loads and were fired into SIMTEST. No expansion whatsoever. The V-Max didn't even lose its plastic tip. You could reload them and fire them again. Two examples of the wrong bullet.

 

[Hokkmike]

Every round has a fan base and variety is the spice of life, but every now and then there's a lot of fervor surrounding a round that honestly baffles me.

This isn't to denigrate what anyone else is into (for example, I have no problem with people who like a lot of cilantro in their Mexican food, even though it tastes like soap to me), but I just don't get it.

For me, the round I'm baffled by is the .300 Blackout. In terms of energy, it's anemic even by the standards of other specialty rounds for the AR-15 platform. With supersonic ammo it doesn't even break 2400 f/s with a very light for caliber 110 grain bullet, and subsonic, the energy figures are on par with a .357 mag fired from a handgun. I get that the velocity is suppressor friendly, but at such low speeds, wouldn't a heavier bullet with a larger frontal area be more effective than a skinny .30 cal bullet that probably won't expand?

Again, not to knock anyone's personal preference, I just don't get all the fuss around this rising star of the cartridge world.

Fired just this caliber at a range once using a friend's gun. I had never shot it before. I hit an orange clay bird laying on a bank at 250 yards. (at our club range) The rifle DID have a suppressor and shot very quietly. The rifle and caliber did it all - I am NOT bragging. So, isn't that the kind of results you want from a firearm?

 

[CoalTrain49]

My only point was to illustrate the cycle of rising and waning popularity of newer calibers, and the effects it has in the industry- from the manufacturer, to retailers, then down to the consumer.. Due to the amount of choices available- newer, older, good, bad, indifferent- I think its pure folly for manufacturers to invest so much effort and $ developing them, and even more foolish for people to jump on the bandwagon as soon as they become available- as in, before said round has been "firmly established", or achieved "staying power". But different strokes for different folks.

There are a lot of new products that hit the market with the idea that marketing alone will make them popular. Companies spend hundreds of thousands dollars to market those products. People just coming into the sport follow that marketing and make their purchases based on that and something they read in a review.

Old timers like myself have a knowledge base to compare these new products with established products that we know deliver. New cartridges are just new products. I stick to things that I know have a track record that have been around awhile. I want lots of support and lots of companies competing for my dollar. That drives prices down and allows me to shoot more on the same dollar.

If one has the disposable income to try new cartridges that can be a lot of fun and it can actually be marginally better for a certain job. But the old rules still apply and we all know what they are, or should. Would I shoot a 200 lb hog with 300 BLK, probably not. Way short on velocity for medium game.