Biggest cartridge flops ...

Remington's
6mm Remington, poor timing with the 243
the entire BR series - 22, 6mm, 25, 6.5, 7 - lack of factory ammo and initially, brass

Just for starters, I'll think of more

When Remington re-named the 280 Remington as the 7mm Express Remington. Guess the same thing would apply to the .244 Remington and 6 mm Remington.

280 Remington -- not a complete flop but sales were slow. Then renamed to 7mm Remington Express and then back to 280 Rem.

Not much improvement over the 270, but it has its devotees

The .244 Remington, predecessor to the 6mm Remington (technically, there is a difference but it is with the guns, not the cartridges). It was with the .244 that Remington made the mistake that pretty much killed both cartridges in the market.

I'm seeing a trend here. Did anyone other than Remington make mistakes?

.41 Action Express

.45 GAP

9x23 Winchester

I think the .17 Mach2 was pretty much a flop

.45GAP wasnt a huge hit either...the only reason it still exists is because of LE contracts with Glock, ala Florida Highway Patrol

.300 Whisper had the makings of being a star, but SSK had too tight a grip on the rights to things like reloading dies and such, and lost the game to AAC with the .300 Blackout (and its SAAMI designation). However, they are similar enough that Hornady has stated that any gun chambered in .300BLK can safely fire their .300 Whisper ammo

.327 Magnum may be headed that way. ~2010 was not a good time to be pitching fast-and-light, as the CW on handgun ballistics had turned to penetration-first thinking.

9mm Rimmed Federal

The whole line of Winchester Super-Short Magnums has to be up there pretty near the. top.

They were DOA.

rc

5MM Rimfire.


38/45
Though it was a wild cat.

450 Marlin

41 AE agreed to also.

.357 Maximum in a revolver.

9MM caseless

Well since we're on the topic, what about 30 Remington AR?

I would have to go with the 10MM. Those who know it tend to love it but so few ever get to know it.

Remington electronic primer guns/ammo. They never even got started before they were dead

How about the .22WRF. When I was a kid my dad bought some of those to shoot in his .22 magnum Savage. They were sort of like .22 magnum shorts. I believe the .22WRF predated the .22 Magnum.

Let's face it: .30 Carbine. Basically only one platform ever built to use it (the original and it's various derivitives) plus the Ruger Blackhawk. As far as number of guns produced and rounds sent down range it might seem quite a success. But given that the M1 Carbine, for all intents and purposes, was the be all and end all for the cartridge, it was in a sense a bit of a flop I guess. Maybe the most popular flop ever!

I should think also the various .25 Remington, .30 Remington, .32 Remington...all the cartridges the Remington Model 8 was built for. Pretty good cartridges that never caught on across the industry. I guess the .30 Remington is what they based the 10mm off of...not a big success as well as the 6.8 SPC...a cartridge hanging on so far but not yet taking off I don't think.

Nobody has mentioned Remington's .30 AR yet.

Remington electronic primer guns/ammo.

Click to expand...

If you allowing ammo that requires non-traditional gun mechanisms, I'd add the Gyrojet and Dardick Trounds.

wally said:

Nobody has mentioned Remington's .30 AR yet.

Click to expand...

Well, except me.

What about those Remington and Winchester short and ultra short magnums?

Anyone remember the Norma magnums? I think they died so long ago no one remembers them anymore.

And, all of the Ackley Improved Cartridges except the 280. Seems that one worked well enough that it stayed around.

.30 Carbine. Basically only one platform ever built to use it (the original and it's various derivitives) plus the Ruger Blackhawk

Click to expand...

And the AMT AutoMag III. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMT_AutoMag_III
And the X-30R. http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2012/01/20/excel-arms-x-30r-rifle-in-30-carbine/
And a few others.


BTW: .22 WRF is still available and serves one useful purpose: I was able to buy some last week, when I hadn't seen .22 magnum in a long time.

HisStigness said:

Well, except me.

Click to expand...

Sorry yours came in while I was composing mine, got called away for a bit before hitting "post" and you beat me to it

Edit: What is the difference between .30 AR and .30 RAR?

Don't rule out the 30 RAR just yet! (I think there's still a pulse, however weak). I say this because I want one to play with!

wally said:

If you allowing ammo that requires non-traditional gun mechanisms, I'd add the Gyrojet and Dardick Trounds.

Click to expand...

In terms of the number of rounds ever produced, the Gyrojet may be the hands down winner. The round was virtually dead before the first one ever left a barrel. The "ammo" required extreme precision to manufacture, had no chance of being handloaded at home, and any "bullet" that can be stopped by placing your hand in front of the barrel just doesn't have a chance.

It was fairly inaccurate and pricey, too. IIRC, the rounds that came with the gun were the only ones you could ever get, so when they were gone, that cheap piece of stamped metal they called a gun was done.

It sure was cool looking to a young boy interested in guns, though. I've seen a few of the guns at gunshow, and there's typically four or five rounds left. I'm guessing they occasionally change hands so someone can say they have fired one before passing it on to the next person who just has to try one out.

.327 Fed Mag was an utter failure in all regards IMHO.

It takes the cake.

wally said:

Sorry yours came in while I was composing mine, got called away for a bit before hitting "post" and you beat me to it

Edit: What is the difference between .30 AR and .30 RAR?

Click to expand...

Haha no worries. I'm sure somebody knows what the difference is, but the ballistic tables looked the same to me.