Next cartridge to become obsolete?

It is really a little difficult to define when a cartridge becomes obsolete. Is the 8mm Gasser revolver cartridge obsolete? Few have shot or even seen guns chambered for it, but you can still buy new Fiocchi cartridges in this caliber.
I remember a noted gun writer of the time predicting in the 1965 Gun Digest that in civilian circles, a certain cartridge would soon become obsolete due to its many design flaws and inferiority to existing cartridges. That cartridge was the .223 Remington (perhaps you've heard of it?). We have to be careful not to let personal prejudice or preference effect our evaluations of a cartridges fate. When I see wildly sucessful new cartridges, such as the .204 mentioned as headed for the junk pile, I always remember this prophecy of 1965.

gary

.357 sig, yes I agree that's its fading fast and will be all but a memory at some point.

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Better tell the following partial list of agencies that use 357 SIG!

• Alameda County
• Delaware State Police (First to adopt the 357 SIG)
• Dallas, Texas Police
• Federal Air Marshals
• Federal Protective Services (FPS) Special Agents for General Services Administration (GSA) - P229
• Keizer Police Department, Oregon
• La Porte County Indiana Sheriff's Department
• Laurence County Sheriff's Office, Tennessee
• Las Vegas Metro Police (allowed use of)
• Liberty Twp Police Dept, Ohio
• Maine Aroostook County Sheriff's Office
• Maine Game Wardens (P226)
• Maricopa County [Phoenix] Arizona Sheriff's Office/MCSO
• Montcalm County (Michigan) Sheriff's Office
• New Jersey Division of Fish & Game
• New Mexico State Police
• Niles Police Dept, Ohio
• Northwood Police Dept, ND
• NC Highway Patrol
• NC Wake County Sheriff's Department
• NC Wildlife Enforcement Officers
• Nueces County Sheriff Department, Texas (Sigpro)
• Oakland County Sheriff's Dept, Michigan
• Orange Police Dept, CT (sig pro, SP2340 .357)
• Orlando PD (plainclothes officers)
• Oxford, Mississippi
• Richmond, Virginia
• Rocky Mount Police Dept, Rocky Mount, NC
• Springfield, IL
• Tennessee Highway Patrol
• Union County Sheriff's Office, Marysville, Ohio (Glock 31)
• Texas, DPS
• United States (GSA) - Office of Inspector General (OIG) Special Agents - P229
• United States Secret Service
• Virginia State Police

Wssm
6.8 spc
.45 gap

JDoe: "Better tell the following partial list of agencies that use 357 SIG!
Maine Aroostook County Sheriff's Office
Maine Game Wardens (P226)"

Yeah, we Mainers know all too well. Those two agencies came in for a lot of grief over their expensive and exotic cartridge choice, and have been instructed never to do that again on pain of being sent back to six shooters. When their .357Sigs wear out, they will be replaced with another more common and cheaper caliber.

7.5x54 French

As far as I know there is one manufacturer in Serbia and whatever milsurp finds it's way over.

You guys who are saying 6.8SPC are crazy. The sales of that are increasing, not decreasing. Heck, most 6.8SPC AR uppers are backordered. The ammo is sold out all over too. Another crazy notion is that the .17HMR is going. Not gonna happen. 10mm isn't going anywhere either. Neither is .45 GAP. It might not be popular but there's a bunch of those pistols in circulation with a large company backing it. They will never be the most popular but they ain't dead yet, that's for sure!

When I go and look through some catalogs, I sometimes see ammo that I have never even seen a gun for sale that is chambered for it. Heck, there's stuff out there that I've never even heard of, let alone seen. Go to midway's site and click rifle ammunition. Look under "shop our entire line of rifle ammunition". That's only some of the stuff available out there. You're telling me that there's nothing on that list that will be gone before 17HMR or 6.8SPC?

The two I have that are getting harder to find ammo and brass for are .250 Savage and .264 Win Mag. I love them both, maybe because they are odd balls.

I don't see any becoming obsolete in the near future. Guys are still shooting 22 hornets, 25-20's, 45-70's etc etc etc........

There is enough of a market for every cartidge that is currently loaded by a major manufacturer in my belief.

Your thoughts?

Soon to be curios:

32NAA
327Mag
45GAP

Those two agencies came in for a lot of grief over their expensive and exotic cartridge choice, and have been instructed never to do that again on pain of being sent back to six shooters. When their .357Sigs wear out, they will be replaced with another more common and cheaper caliber.

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Same in my neck of the woods. A lot of sheriff's and police depts here are going back to --gasp-- 9mm Luger simply because of cost issues.

My vote is for .45 gap in pistol, 6.8 SPC in rifle, and .17 aguila in the rimfire department.

Quote:
.357 sig, yes I agree that's its fading fast and will be all but a memory at some point.

Better tell the following partial list of agencies that use 357 SIG!

Alameda County
Delaware State Police (First to adopt the 357 SIG)
Dallas, Texas Police
Federal Air Marshals
Federal Protective Services (FPS) Special Agents for General Services Administration (GSA) - P229
Keizer Police Department, Oregon
La Porte County Indiana Sheriff's Department
Laurence County Sheriff's Office, Tennessee
Las Vegas Metro Police (allowed use of)
Liberty Twp Police Dept, Ohio
Maine Aroostook County Sheriff's Office
Maine Game Wardens (P226)
Maricopa County [Phoenix] Arizona Sheriff's Office/MCSO
Montcalm County (Michigan) Sheriff's Office
New Jersey Division of Fish & Game
New Mexico State Police
Niles Police Dept, Ohio
Northwood Police Dept, ND
NC Highway Patrol
NC Wake County Sheriff's Department
NC Wildlife Enforcement Officers
Nueces County Sheriff Department, Texas (Sigpro)
Oakland County Sheriff's Dept, Michigan
Orange Police Dept, CT (sig pro, SP2340 .357)
Orlando PD (plainclothes officers)
Oxford, Mississippi
Richmond, Virginia
Rocky Mount Police Dept, Rocky Mount, NC
Springfield, IL
Tennessee Highway Patrol
Union County Sheriff's Office, Marysville, Ohio (Glock 31)
Texas, DPS
United States (GSA) - Office of Inspector General (OIG) Special Agents - P229
United States Secret Service
Virginia State Police

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It's amazing how the uninformed can be so strong with their opinions. Bet this guy has never shot a .357 sig, which is BTW my EDC.
Wonder what his other 9,778 posts are about???

Glock .50GI

Love the Idea of shooting a .50 through a Glock.

Don't see that one lasting.

Now... A 457 magnum hmmm... or a 45 or .50 necked down like a big wildcat round, or......

I remember a noted gun writer of the time predicting in the 1965 Gun Digest that in civilian circles, a certain cartridge would soon become obsolete due to its many design flaws and inferiority to existing cartridges. That cartridge was the .223 Remington (perhaps you've heard of it?).

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Its primary competitor at the time was the .225 Winchester, released the same year. The .225 also fired a 55-grain bullet, at slightly higher velocities. What killed the .225 was the fact that it was a rimmed cartridge. Rimmed cartridges had been obsolete for decades at that point, and they didn't work as well in autoloaders. Nobody wanted to support a NEW rimmed cartridge at that time, as they were unsuited for autoloaders and rims had been obsolete since the 30-06 came out. So .225 died, .223 remained, and it filled a niche that nothing else did.

I have to disagree. The .22 CF of the day was .222 rem. The 223 was little more than the existing 222 Rem mag,slightly modified. What made it take off was adoption by the military for the same reasons its easier to find a 308 today then a 300 Savage. The 225 was "semi-rimmed" by the way,and I don't think that was the problem. There were almost no semis on the civilian market at that time. I think most people simply disliked the post 64 M70.

There's not a hell of a lot of difference between semi-rimmed and rimmed. It's either rimmed or rimless, really no difference. The .225 cartridge did have a distinctive rim, and no inset whatsoever. There were lots of problems with the round, and being rimmed did make it a throwback to an earlier era rather than a step forwards.

Note: I sold this lot a few months back, for more than $1 a round, after selling my father's rifle for him:

.45GAP

and possibly

5.7x28

I can't help what non-reloaders pay for ammo. Again if the 222,or 222 Rem mag had been adopted by the military,the 223 would be as obscure as as those two are today. The 225 is a high performance .22,no more in the same class as a 223 then a 300 WBY is the same as a .308. As I said, the post 64 was simply disliked,and the finial nail in the coffin was Remington"legitimizing" the old wildcat 22-250 to fill that niche.

I bought a very nice Browning stainless steel laminate stocked varmint 223 WSSM 2-3 years ago. Paid $350.00 off MSRP and thought I got a good deal. And maybe I did as far as the rifle goes...well made and beautiful. The chambering, well....the 223 WSSM is a real screamer. Has a bit more horsepower than either my 22-250 or 220 Swift, particularly when handloaded. But it does not do anything substantially better either of them cannot do at a much cheaper price. If you need more range/power than the 22-250 then you need a bigger cartridge (243/6mm) not 150-200 fps advantage the 223 WSSM offers.

I can't help what non-reloaders pay for ammo.

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The lot also included a bunch of once-fired brass. Either way he got something like 60 new rounds and 40 once-fired brass. So even if he was a reloader he'd be happy. It uses the exact same .224-diameter bullet that .223 uses, so it's not like they'd have any trouble reloading it if they had the dies.

Ultimately, there's rounds that, for whatever reason, don't make it. Today's market can support many more calibers than the market of the 1960's. There's more people buying guns, and improved production methods means it's more economical to produce a niche round to serve the existing market. Back then, such rounds were just discontinued entirely, and if you were one of the unlucky few who bought a gun for it, you were out of luck. You're not likely to see many cartridges completely die off in the near future. Some of the earlier .50 cock compensator (just so someone can say they have a .50) pistol rounds, before they finally got truly powerful .50's out, are likely to die off. A lot of those early .50's were less powerful than existing rounds, and now are barely a footnote. The people who can afford such pistols are also few and far between.

220 Swift, particularly when handloaded. But it does not do anything substantially better either of them cannot do at a much cheaper price.

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Why would a swift be cheaper than a 223 WSSM,to a reloader? Much?

Like it or not the .25,.380, and .357SIG aren't going away any time soon. Just look at more expensive small niche ammo like the .410 shotty. Still a pleasure to shoot. Beretta still makes a nice .25 called the 21a Bobcat. Even Walmart carries .357SIG down here with only the most popular calibers.As long as there are .40S&W cases and 9mm bullets you can make .357SIG brass by simply running it threw a resizing die. The .380 is a little to expensive for its own good right now but it currently dominates the pocket pistol market as concealed carry gets ever popular.

One thing i haven't seen mentioned is the 5mm rimfire. Only a handful of rifles made by one company 30-40 years ago and then they dropped the rifles and ammo shortly after. Just recently has it been revived by Centuron making the only ammo for it right now but with no new rifles being made for it, it is going nowhere fast. It had a chance when CZ said they were going to have a rifle in the works for it in 09 but they have now canceled that probably due to the economy.

I know they aren't popular but i can't believe nearly every .32cal has been mentioned. I have always thought a .327 Federal Magnum would make a good trail gun as u can use the light zippers for expansion/fragmentation or the heavier ones for more penetration than a .38special. Not to mention the .357Magnum energies and that you can shoot 4 cartridges from the same gun including the .32 H&R Mag,.32 S&W Long,and .32 S&W Short. That combined with conservative use of lead and powder would make a nice survival gun if you had a few buckets of brass.

I think the .460 has the .500 beat in energy, practically rifle velocities,and if it ever goes wayward you could always shoot .454 casual and the long lived .45 Long Colt from it.

Since somebody dug up this old classic I just thought it was interesting to see some calling for the demise of the 10mm back in 2006. Colt has brought back their Delta Elites this month.

Oh yea. And everyone was saying Hornady Mach2 was headed for demise 2 years ago but Eley match grade ammo of England has millions of rounds on pallets in the U.S. ready to ship out with no intention of dropping the round any time soon along with Remy,CCI,Hornady,ect. So long as there are CCI Stinger parent cases they will continue to neck them down and stuff them with .17 pills.

.22LR and .45ACP

(happy late April Fools Day)