Next cartridge to become obsolete?

[tinygnat219]

Possum,

Have to agree with you on the 45 GAP. Still trying to figure out why it was made.

 

[No_Brakes23]

You guys are hurting my feelings talking lowly about my sweetheart round-the venerated 30-06 or 06 as most say. Cannot imagine it ever leaving the scene.

As stated I think the '06 is an excellent example of an obsolete round that has NOT outlived it usefulness. It's old, but it ain't going anywhere.

 

[JAMES77257]

Have to agree with you on the 45 GAP. Still trying to figure out why it was made.

I've been compromising with a G23 for years, wishing that Glock made a mid-sized .45, then presto, there it is. It's small enough to conceal, but has a 4" bbl which makes it faster to aquire the front sight ( longer sight plane ).

It works great for me.

 

[Neo-Luddite]

whatever that thing was

What was that electrically fired thing called? You know.

It was going to be everywhere. We would love the lock time, etc.
No offense if you bought one--I'd love to try it out, too.

AND would LOVE to fire a damn
GyroJet (carbine or pistol).

A round more instantly obsolete than even the GAP.

 

[peacemaker45]

.25,.32acp,32 Long, and .380, .22 shorts, 222 Remington and Sweet Sixteen shotgun shells I have tucked away.

Is it sad that I own firearms in four of the calibers mentioned above? Btw, the Triple Deuce is still lingering on. Benchrest guys love it, and ground hogs in my neck of the woods hate it.

~~~Mat

 

[MinnMooney]

I exhumed this 2 1/2 year old thread - Hindsight 20/20

Hindsight may be 20/20 but guessing the future leaves something to be desired.

These cartridges were mentioned as about to become obsolete (I've highlighted a few that may not go obsolete in the near future) :

.204 Ruger This is my favorite! Many people thought this wouldn't catch on or might be a flash-in-the-pan. Fantastic Prairie Dog cartridge!!! It ain't a-goin' anywhere but UP in sales for many years to come.
.22 long
.22 shorts
.222 Remington
.223Rem. !!
.224
.225 Winchester
.22mag
.25 ACP
.250 Savage
.250-3000
.257 Roberts
.25ACP
.260Rem.
.270Win. !!
.30 carbine
.30 Luger
.300 Norma Mag
.300 Savage
.30-06 - Huh!?
.303 savage
.30-40 Krag
.307 Win
.32 Long
.32 Magnum
.32 NAA
.32-20
.32ACP Not with all of the new pistols coming out!
.35 Remington
.35 WSM
.356 TSW
.357 Maximum
.376 Steyr
.38 Casull
.38 S&W
.38 Super
.380 ACP Not with all of the new pistols coming out!
.400 CorBon
.41 Long Colt
.41 Magnum
.44 Auto-mag
.44 Special
.444 Marlin
.45 Bushmaster
.45 GAP
.45 Super
.45 WinMag
.450 Marlin
.45-60
.460 Roland
.460 XVR
.475 Wildey
.480 Ruger
.480 Ruger
.50 AE
.50 GI
.50 Special
10mm
11.3x50
16ga
4.6x30
5.5mm Velo Dog
5.7X28mm
6.6 grendel
6.5 Carcano
6.8mm
6.8SPC
7.62 x 25
7.62x54R
7mm STW
8mm Mauser
8mm Nambu
8mm Rem Mag
9mm Luger Who in their right mind thinks this will go away?
9x18 Makarov
Remington Ultra mags
Winchester Super Short Magnums Too many rifles and too accurate to die.

 

[Duke of Doubt]

.45gap

 

[Kind of Blued]

Wow, this IS an old thread. I still LOVE this type of conspiracy though. I'm most interested in handgun cartridges. Why? Because when a handgun cartridge DOES become obsolete, all of the guns chambered for that cartridge eventually go up for sale to the public as "police buybacks", and that's one of the most American things ever.

My thoughts:

.45 GAP could stay around if Glock wants it to. The company may be stubborn, but assuming they stay up-to-date with PD demands and needs, which is likely considering PDs are born and raised on Glocks these days, the cartridge should be fine. One has to acknowledge that LEOs come in all different sizes (*cough* cause they have to) and it already has PD contracts. If Glock was by chance getting cuts on .45 GAP ammo sales, they'd be golden.

The .357 Sig will stay. The numbers really look best with 115gr. bullets, but those numbers look really good. Of course, "the numbers" are the only thing to look at if you don't already own a gun chambered for this round. Brass is made easily from the already accepted and available .40 S&W and there are so many 9mm/.357 bullets that you can't go anywhere without tripping over them. The .357 Sig also has potential for the types of folks who like to "hot-rod" pistols, which is to say, the guys that like 10mm but not the recoil. As a matter of fact, I'm suprised I haven't seen a 5" 1911 chambered for this round for competition. True, .38 Super probably makes more sense.

Of interest to me are the bottlenecked rimless cartridges (.357 Sig, .38 NAA, .32 NAA), and smaller-caliber rimmed cartridges (.327 Mag). You're more likely to get a CNS hit with penetration than with expansion, and all of these cartridges serve that purpose, as well as putting more ft/lbs. of energy in the gun to begin with.

With concealed carry increasing in popularity daily, I think handgun cartridges will see a bigger percentage of increase in cartridge options than rifles. I emphasized percentage because folks will always be more interested in tinkering with rifle cartridges than with handgun cartridges, but relatively, I think handgun cartridges will see a considerable focus.

 

[Duke of Doubt]

Kind of Blued: "which is likely considering PDs are born and raised on Glocks these days"

Huh? Not a single state or local police or other agency in my entire state (Maine) to my knowledge is authorized or permitted to carry Glocks. Sigs and H&Ks rule the roost around here; even the State Police switched over from the Beretta to the H&K for the .45 caliber.

 

[Kind of Blued]

Of the ~15 municipal police departments and county sheriff departments I've "asked" (seen), only two of them didn't issue Glocks, although some allow for other sidearms under certain circumstances. It may be a Midwestern/Western thing... I have no way of knowing immediately.

 

[natman]

The definition of obsolete is pretty well established. A cartridge is obsolescent when no one is producing guns for it anymore. So the 32 Winchester Special and the 250 Savage are obsolescent. A cartridge is obsolete when no one produces ammunition any more. So the 303 Savage is obsolete.

This assumes production in significant numbers, not commemoratives, custom runs by a gunsmith in Montana nor boutique ammo from Navy Arms.

So it's interesting to look back on some of the predictions. The WSM cartridges are doing well, with the exception of the 7mm WSM. Having both a 7mm and 270 version of the same cartridge introduced at the same time was just too much. However the SUPER short magnums are obsolescent, although not obsolete yet. The 17 HMR is a big hit, while the 17 HM2 hovers on the brink. I don't understand all the predictions that the 357 Sig is on the way out; Glock is still making pistols for it.

 

[CSA 357]

ALL OF THEM IF WE CANT FIND PRIMERS?

 

[servantofinari]

this one already is, the 25-35. i hate that round.

 

[gbran]

Kimber trying to make a comeback with the 257 Roberts in one of their new rifles.

 

[AnthonyC.]

Who thinks .38 s&w is going anywhere? I think there are still alot of people that like to shoot .38's........and if not a .38 there are some people that shoot .38's out of .357's....

 

[Redneck with a 40]

I'd say the Winchester SSM's are going to fade, as well as 45 GAP, its on its death bed. The 45 GAP was doomed from the beginning, with the explosion of the 40 S&W popularity.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

Who thinks .38 s&w is going anywhere? I think there are still alot of people that like to shoot .38's........and if not a .38 there are some people that shoot .38's out of .357's....

You're thinking of .38 S&W Special. The obsolescent one is the .38 S&W. Completely different cartridges, and not cross-compatible. To the best of my knowledge new guns in .38 S&W haven't been made since 1980 or so, and even then only by smaller companies. I think S&W stopped making the Model 32 in 1970 or so, and I don't think Ruger ever made any for the U.S. market.

It's somewhere between a .380 and 9mm, so really has no advantage over .38 Spl except maybe being able to fit into smaller/weaker frames. But yeah, it's obsolescent and fading fast. The only reason ammo is still made for is there are tons of cheap little break-top revolvers (Iver Johnson, H&R) floating around for it, and a few S&W.


EDIT: Looked into it, Ruger made .38 S&W models for Northern Ireland and India, and they're very rare collector's items in the U.S.

 

[AKElroy]

What was Glock thinking? If I wanted a .45 short-I think I'd buy a .40

Careful, now...Don't make me paste in muzzle energy comparisons for the .40.

 

[kd7nqb]

So 4-5 yrs ago I would have said .380 but then the LCP happened which in turn reignited love for the P3AT and other .380's so that is one to stay. But more importantly I assume many of these cartriges are just one GOOD gun away from coming back.

The one that I think is on its way out is .45gap, it just does not fit.

I dont think 10mm or .357sig are going anywhere. In fact I expect to see 10mm adopted by more LEO agencies. My reason is that admins who actually make the decision rarely know anything about guns so going from a 9mm glock to a 10mm glock does not sound like a major change. But if they asked to go to .45 then the admins may have heard things that make them think this is some sort of super killer. The same goes for .357sig since too many would confuse it with .357mag. Its REALLY sad that these situations are even possible but I dont think they are that far off.

As far as the last obsolete round I had the wonder of dealing with, a buddy of mine found an old Iver Johnson revolver in his grandpa's attic it was chambered in .38 something or other that was most certainly NOT .38spl

 

[Dookie]

I believe that the .17 rimfire series will go obsolete.

Hows this working out?

I could see the 50 GI leaving as it is basically proprietary round.

 

[woof]

.35 Rem is going nowhere. Too many fans, too great a round for thick woods.

.250/3000 and .300 Savage are ripe for someone to make a shorter than .308 action, bolt, lever or pump (!). Both are excellent performers.

I agree .260 stays, in fact it is a great round.

I think the 6.8spc has a place too. A short action .270 lite sounds good to me. Let's get it in a bolt or maybe in my dream pump carbine along with .250 and .300 Savage.

.450 Marlin is what I'd want if a grizzly was after me.

I say kill the 7x57. Simply no need, the 7-08 is just better.

 

[metallic]

.45ACP Just kidding, but I would give a certain sensitive part of my anatomy for some WWB right now.

 

[earlthegoat2]

327 Federal

 

[Nero_Atrum]

.45 gap

 

[Mainer2009]

I wouldn't be shocked if the 500 mag went to the way side. The handguns themselves cost an arm and a leg, ($1000+ for a new one) and you can't get your hands on any ammo for less than 50 bucks a box...Midway has some for over $100 per box.