Shawnee
member
An interesting bit of trivia worth noting ....
If all hunting cartridge development had stopped cold in 1935 (and calibers designed for the military are excluded)... would today's North American hunter be hurting for decent calibers to use ?
After all, we would be limited to...
.22 Hornet introduced in 1930
.220 Swift 1935
.250 Savage (.250/3000) 1915
.257 Roberts 1934
.270 Winchester 1925
.30/30 1895
.300 Savage 1921
.300 H&H magnum 1925
.32 Winchester 1895
.35 Rem. 1908
.35 Whelen 1921
.375 H&H magnum 1912
.404 Jeffries 1909
.416 Rigby 1911
.44-40 1873
The interesting thing (to me) is that - when you take a close look at that list - all of those "old-timers" were/are emminently suited for the types of hunting being done - and usually still being done here.
That (to me) underscores the fact that when hunting cartridge development was largely in the hands of hunters looking to answer the needs of hunters - rather than slipstick engineers being paid to dream up something "new" for the purpose of generating profit - they came up with very good stuff.
Personally, I would suggest that the only really valuable hunting calibers developed since 1935 - the only calibers that have brought truly valuable performance improvements - have been the .22/250 and those calibers based on the .308 case - namely the .243 Winchester, the .260 Remington, and the 7mm/08 Remington.
If all hunting cartridge development had stopped cold in 1935 (and calibers designed for the military are excluded)... would today's North American hunter be hurting for decent calibers to use ?
After all, we would be limited to...
.22 Hornet introduced in 1930
.220 Swift 1935
.250 Savage (.250/3000) 1915
.257 Roberts 1934
.270 Winchester 1925
.30/30 1895
.300 Savage 1921
.300 H&H magnum 1925
.32 Winchester 1895
.35 Rem. 1908
.35 Whelen 1921
.375 H&H magnum 1912
.404 Jeffries 1909
.416 Rigby 1911
.44-40 1873
The interesting thing (to me) is that - when you take a close look at that list - all of those "old-timers" were/are emminently suited for the types of hunting being done - and usually still being done here.
That (to me) underscores the fact that when hunting cartridge development was largely in the hands of hunters looking to answer the needs of hunters - rather than slipstick engineers being paid to dream up something "new" for the purpose of generating profit - they came up with very good stuff.
Personally, I would suggest that the only really valuable hunting calibers developed since 1935 - the only calibers that have brought truly valuable performance improvements - have been the .22/250 and those calibers based on the .308 case - namely the .243 Winchester, the .260 Remington, and the 7mm/08 Remington.