Calibers going away?

[jim243]

This might be a hard call on which will go away. Sales of ammo will depend greatly on the sales of rifles in each cartridge and caliber and the more popular ones seem to be in no way going away. However, the decline in availability of obtaining ammo and reloading supplies will have an effect on future choices when looking for a new rifle.

I think we shall see a 20% to 40 % drop in the availability of certain speciality ammo and a likewise decline in rifles in those calibers/cartridges.

It is easier to say which are safe than not.

Those that will be around for a while: (high demand)

7.62 Nato / 308
30-06 (declining)
270 Winchester
260 Winchester
7.62X39 Russian
22 LR
45-70
6.8 SPC
243 Winchester
223 Remington
12 Gauge Shotgun
20 Gauge Shotgun
410 Gauge Shotgun

Questionable availability:
8 MM
7.62 X 54
338 Lapua Mag
300 Winchester Mag
6.5 Grendel
257 Roberts
30 Caliber Carbine
22 Magnum
10 Gauge Shotgun
16 Gauge Shotgun
28 Gauge Shotgun

When a rifle caliber/cartridge is no longer on the shelves of your big box store, ammo for that will also dry up. Simple supply and demand is at work here.

Jim

 

[CraigC]

Questionable availability:
8 MM
7.62 X 54
338 Lapua Mag
300 Winchester Mag
6.5 Grendel
257 Roberts
30 Caliber Carbine
22 Magnum
10 Gauge Shotgun
16 Gauge Shotgun
28 Gauge Shotgun

I don't see half of those being an issue within our lifetimes. The .22Mag has been in constant production for 50yrs with a plethora of guns made to chamber it. It will never go away. Same for the .300WM and .30Carbine, although to a lesser extent. The 10 and 16ga are withering but the 28ga has enjoyed a resurgence as of late and Walmart always has shells for it. Too many people with milsurp Mosins for the 7.62x54 to go away and even the 8x57 is not difficult to procure. Even the .338 Lapua has a strong following.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

I sure don't worry about it. As others mentioned as long as you reload you're alright. My .218 bee, .223 WSSM, 25-20 and 32-40 would be worthless if I didn't load for them. Come to think of it so would my .32 H&R mag.

 

[CraigC]

Yep, handloaders just don't look at it the same way. Some cartridges are just easier to load and procure components for than others.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

Harder is a infinite distance from impossible. I notice .25-25 brass is available from Midway!

 

[itsa pain]

22 rf

 

[improperlyaged]

7.62 Nato / 308
30-06 (declining)
270 Winchester
260 Winchester
7.62X39 Russian
22 LR
45-70
6.8 SPC
243 Winchester
223 Remington
12 Gauge Shotgun
20 Gauge Shotgun
410 Gauge Shotgun

Questionable availability:
8 MM
7.62 X 54
338 Lapua Mag
300 Winchester Mag
6.5 Grendel
257 Roberts
30 Caliber Carbine
22 Magnum
10 Gauge Shotgun
16 Gauge Shotgun
28 Gauge Shotgun

I think your list is skewed by personal preference. The .260 Winchester here to stay? I don't think I have even seen a box of ammo for that stuff. 6.8 SPC? Again, in my area that stuff is pretty uncommon, (and I believe it answers a question that needed not asking). 7.62x54 disapearing? There are enough Mosins in this country now that cartridge is going nowhere, it will be similar to the 7.62x39. Once surplus dries up the big ammo companies will sell it to pick up that market

 

[redneck2]

If you wanna see cartridges that have evaporated, pick up a copy of Cartridges of the World. There are hundreds that most guys have never heard of. Makes your list look quite small.

 

[DanTheFarmer]

I'm joining this thread rather late. I was too busy reloading for my bolt gun in 30TC.

(It is going away and probably deserves to go away. I can't think of anything it does differently than a 308. And since the 308 is a great cartridge so is my 30TC! Because it is an obscure caliber I got it cheap. Hmm...cheap, good, effective, available components for handloading, works for me!).

Dan

 

[Saleen322]

I remember back in the middle 60s,the 225 Winchester was the latest and greatest.Then the 22-250 was introducted as a factory cartridge and the 225 was dead in the water.

Funny you mention that. I still have a 225. Brass is available but it is seasonal runs. That is no problem as 100-200 cases are all I ever need anyway. I have 38/55, 22 Varminter, 308 Norma, 30-338 (which never had factory ammo), 7mm IHMSA International, 327 mag, 22 & 6 PPC, etc and none are a real problem to load ammo for. I think most folks who buy things like this load or they wouldn't be playing with them anyway. YMMV

 

[atomd]

Questionable availability:
8 MM
7.62 X 54
338 Lapua Mag
300 Winchester Mag
6.5 Grendel
257 Roberts
30 Caliber Carbine
22 Magnum
10 Gauge Shotgun
16 Gauge Shotgun
28 Gauge Shotgun

More than half of those will be around for a LONG time.

 

[HGM22]

Keep in mind that Russia still uses 7.62x54R so surplus should still be available (although in more limited quantities). I'd be willing to bet other countries still make it too.

 

[fiddleharp]

Quote: "Once surplus dries up the big ammo companies will sell it to pick up that market"
I sure hope you're right!
The CZ-52 and 7.62x25 ammo have provided me tons of plinking fun over the years. It's beginning to look like that cheap East Bloc surplus ammo is now a thing of the past.

 

[ROW]

I just bought a Remington 700 300 RUM. Don't know a lot about them. Do you think the will be here to stay? I know it finding ammo in the big box stores is hard, but I do see them for sale on line. I always keep the brass just Incas.

 

[hq]

Keep in mind that Russia still uses 7.62x54R so surplus should still be available (although in more limited quantities). I'd be willing to bet other countries still make it too.

On this side of the pond, 7.62x54R is very, very common. Russia and baltic countries have saturated the market with cheap surplus ammo and a while ago I counted at least 15 different hunting loads on the shelf in a LCS alone. There are lots of new rifles chambered for it, not to mention all the Mosins, Winchester 1895:s, SVD:s etc. on second-hand market. It's safe to say it's not going away anytime soon.

On the other hand, many calibers that are common in the US are more or less obsolete in Europe; for example, it's virtually impossible to find .358Win or .35Whelen in stock anywhere.

 

[WVRJ]

I think what's even spookier than some of the older rounds going into obscurity is the large number of newer rounds that aren't exactly setting sales records.We are blessed with something new coming out all the time.It's marketing at its finest.Everybody knows it's always more fun to take a bath with a new rubber duck.Put out something new and better than anything else and it'll sell...for a while.I can think of several cartridges that aren't so old and are already fading away.

 

[Skyshot]

Seems we're at a point where there are more choices than ever before with specific calibers. Have we hit the apex yet? You can still find components for most or make them to some extent. But with gun legislation and public opinions and with manufacturers reinventing the wheel, seems like some of the great ones are doomed. I sure hate to see the .222 rem and .257 Roberts, .22hornet, several of the .35's fade into obscurity. Lot's of rifle calibers doomed(to many choices I guess) but pistols are going strong it seems.

 

[torqem]

I just don't think it would be a real loss if all we had was .22lr, 9mm carbines like the HiPoint, 223, and 06. you can always wussy load the 06, but you can't get 220 grs to 2200 fps in a 7x57. Nor 165 grs at 2900, nor 125 grs at over 3000 fps.

The 25-20 was nothing but a WEAK 9mm, 85 grs at 1450 from a RIFLE barrel, yet many liked it. Well,use the 9mm carbine instead. Ditto the 32-20, a whoopee 100 grs at 1600 fps. again, just 9mm carbine performance. So you have to get 50 yds closer to a crow or a prairie dog with an AR in 223 (or miss a few more of them) than is true with your 22-250. So what? So you have to use 125 gr 06's on coyotes, so what? It's no big deal, guys. Men have been "filling gaps" in the rifle caliber field by the 100's, and it's just a waste of everybody's time and money.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

32 Winchester Special .
I got a few factory loads, brass and dies when I got the 94 Winchester carbine but havn't seen anything since.

 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

My personal collection has been boiled down to:
.30-06
.223/5.56
9mm
.45acp
.22LR
12ga
20ga

I can see myself acquiring or reacquiring:
.22mag
.243
.308
.30 WSM/.300 Win mag
.338 Win mag
.45-70
.357 mag
.44 mag
.410 shell

I don't really see a use or need for anything else----and willing to bet that 90% of all shooters would agree with that.

 

[MI2600]

The .256 Win Mag won't go away for me as long as they still make .357 brass.

 

[Saleen322]

Since I have about 40, that would put in that 10%.

...and I ain't done yet!

 

[3212]

In my neighborhood in the 50's and 60's it was 30-06's for the richer guys and 32 specials,30-30's and milsurps for the rest of us.I knew one guy who had a .257 Roberts.In shotguns it was 12 and 16 gauge.

 

[Elkins45]

I'm joining this thread rather late. I was too busy reloading for my bolt gun in 30TC.

(It is going away and probably deserves to go away. I can't think of anything it does differently than a 308. And since the 308 is a great cartridge so is my 30TC! Because it is an obscure caliber I got it cheap. Hmm...cheap, good, effective, available components for handloading, works for me!).

Dan

Can you make the brass from 308?

 

[788Ham]

I know when I inherited my Pop's .300 Savage, and his .250 Savage, the brass for both of them was a little hard to find. Seasonal brass from Win. for the .250 and the .300, but i bought enough from Midway that I think I'm safe… for now. I don't need 5K of each caliber, but just knowing what I have, will keep me shooting for awhile. Plus, I'd bought enough bullets before things in the reloading arena went South, and have found more .30 cal bullets at gun shows since then also. No, I haven't seen a box of .250's on Wally Worlds shelf either, but I quit going in there except to buy Dial soap anyway.