Is there typically a lag in popularity for a newly introduced cartridge?

[Cannibul]

This is just patently false. I have no issues with the 10mm but sometimes its fans get a little carried away. The 10mm comes nowhere near the .41Mag, let alone the .44Mag.

He cites a Double Tap load in 10mm for those numbers. Looking at DT ammo for the .44 mag shows the .44 has a huge edge.

One can play with numbers all they want. I can show loading data for the .40 Short and Weak where it's pushing a 200 gr bullet faster than a .44 Mag load pushes the same bullet weight. That makes the .40 Short and Weak equal to the .44 Mag.

Of course I have to carefully cherry pick each load.

 

[Blkhrt13]

I'm sure there is some cause for pause. Some folks will jump to have the newest thing. It's like any new thing.

 

[Danoobie]

Calibers are like many other things. New Soda,(anybody remember "Pepsi Clear"?) cars,
types of beer, etc. Somebody "runs up the flag" then sees if anybody salutes. Many
cartridges have gone extinct, over the years. I agree with those who pointed out that
the successful calibers are the rounds which fill a niche.

 

[Tallball]

Somewhat OT, I wish that 327 magnum and 32 H&R magnum were more popular.

 

[Jim K]

It seems to me that the opposite is the case. A cartridge is introduced to great fanfare from the gunzines, touted as the answer to all questions, including ones no one ever thought of asking; Then come the articles by the gunwriters clique, each using the new round to kill a bigger bear (elephant/lion/whatever). Then guns chambered for the new round get into circulation and the realization dawns that the new round really isn't any better than a half a hundred old ones. Sales drop, the gunzine articles stop, and the new caliber goes to its final resting place, the arguments on web sites.

Jim

 

[CraigC]

I don't see new offerings being greeted with such fanfare. More often, the shooting public reacts as if stung by a bee and that there was a law, punishable by death, requiring them to replace Ole Betsy with this newfangled contraption. Therefore, if it's new, it must be crap. What the gun/cartridge does or does not do in the real world doesn't even enter in the equation. Case in point, the .327Federal.

 

[Madcap_Magician]

Somewhat OT, I wish that 327 magnum and 32 H&R magnum were more popular.

I think part of the .327's limited resurgence is that when it was introduced, it was only sold as a concealed-carry caliber. Its recent comeback is due in no small part to the realization that while yes, it has its pros from the CCW side, it also makes a good woods and field caliber in SA and DA revolvers and lever rifles.

 

[reddog81]

Each new cartridge would have to be evaluated individually. Some cartridges take off while most get ignored. Look at 10MM which quickly led to .40 S&W. 10MM floundered for quite a while and .40 took off. Now .40 is losing favor because many agencies are reverting to 9MM. However 10MM is more popular than ever and there are new guns coming out on a regular basis chambered for this round.

I wouldn’t be surprised if .327 Federal takes off but I also wouldn’t be surprised if it remains a niche caliber or dies off. The caliber fills a void between .22 lr and .38/.357, however one could make the argument that between high velocity .22’s, target .38 loads, or up to full strength .357’s there’s not a lot of room for a new caliber to make headway. A couple dozen people on firearm forums can be all for a new caliber and debate how wonderful it will be but that doesn’t necessarily translate into many firearms being sold.


The problem that any new caliber runs into is that we’ve pretty much got the full spectrum of power well covered at this point. People experiment and come up with more powerful versions of existing rounds regularly but the general public typically ignores them i.e. 9x21, 9x23, 9x25, etc.


Then you got the big boys i.e 454 Casull, 460 and 500 S&W, 480 Ruger which are basically limited in appeal to a few small niches. I’d like to pick up a 460 S&W but realistically my .44 Mag 29-2 can do anything I would ever need a big bore handgun to do.

 

[Madcap_Magician]

I wouldn’t be surprised if .327 Federal takes off but I also wouldn’t be surprised if it remains a niche caliber or dies off.

There's also a stage for niche calibers where they've carved out a big enough niche that I suspect they'll hang around for the long run, even if they never exactly turn into Wal-Mart bulk sale material.

 

[Cannibul]

If I had the funds I'd get a .327 Fed Mag SA revolver and a Henry LA carbine right now.