What cartridges/calibers are you not fond of and why?

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Pokajabba

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.25 ACP. Tiny, weak, and inaccurate because of the small pistols it's designed to be shot from. There's nothing good about this cartridge.

.44 caliber. It's not as big as a .45 and it's not even .44, it's really .429! They should call it a .429 Magnum, not a .44 Magnum. Call me silly, but the .45 Colt can be loaded hot and with the Ruger Blackhawk, you can get the .45 ACP cylinder and have a blast shooting that too. .44 can't do that.

.300 BLK. It's the hipster brother of 7.62x39 and it needs everything to be fancy and sleek while the 7.62 is the blue collar worker that doesn't give a damn what you shoot it from, it's going to work, just not going to go as far down range or in life because it didn't go to college.
 
.25 ACP. Tiny, weak, and inaccurate because of the small pistols it's designed to be shot from. There's nothing good about this cartridge.
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This round had it's place in the 20th century, when metallurgy, composites and manufacturing techniques didn't allow for mouse guns chambered in more major cartridges. The .25 ACP is more reliable and slightly more powerful than .22 Long Rifle, making it the superior choice for a defensive pocket gun.

.44 caliber. It's not as big as a .45 and it's not even .44, it's really .429! They should call it a .429 Magnum, not a .44 Magnum. Call me silly, but the .45 Colt can be loaded hot and with the Ruger Blackhawk, you can get the .45 ACP cylinder and have a blast shooting that too. .44 can't do that.
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I will call that silly, because aside from some very heavily built .45 Colt firearms, loading to .44 Rem Mag pressures is dancing with the devil. Also, getting hung up on specific nomenclature is rather pedantic. Very few cartridges accurately denote specific bullet diameter. Do you have such an aversion to the .38 special? How about the .380 Auto?

.300 BLK. It's the hipster brother of 7.62x39 and it needs everything to be fancy and sleek while the 7.62 is the blue collar worker that doesn't give a damn what you shoot it from, it's going to work, just not going to go as far down range or in life because it didn't go to college.
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You need to research the how and why of the .300 Blackout (.300 Whisper) development. It was never meant to compete with the commie round; it has a very different purpose, and cheap plinking with crude steel and birch guns ain't it.
 
.50 BMG, because it makes me want one, but a) I don't have anywhere around to use it to its potential, and b) $4/round is out of my budget.
 
22LR - affordable
44RM - penetrates bear bone or most ballistic vests with 310 grain super hard cast +p loads
308 NATO - more accurately penetrates bear bone or most ballistic vests, at a distance.
 
243 Winchester. Too big for varmits and inferior to its parent 308 for deer.

Anything with the word "short" in its name, with the possible exception of 22 rimfire.

7mm Remington magnum. The very worst of the magnum cartridges: the size and powder burn of a 30 caliber magnum but only marginally more velocity than the standard length 280.

.204 Ruger. Did we really need this? Why not just buy a .223?

BTW I disagree about 300 Blackout. If you want to shoot cast bullets from an AR platform with minimal expense the Blackout fills a real niche.
 
My dislikable cartridge would be the French 7.65 Longue, found primarily in the French service pistols M35A and M35S. Nothing against the cartridge itself (though it is a bit underpowered compared to the more prevalent 9mm. service pistols in use), but why did the French have to come up with such an oddball cartridge for the nicely designed and built M35A when they could have made it in .32 or .380 and kept it more mainstream for the rest of the world?
 
I don't care for the 25 Auto or the 380. No cost savings over larger, more-effective calibers & there are pistols that are only slightly larger in 9mm.
 
I don't like the 7-08 Rem. The only reasoning I have, which is 100% biased and subjective I know, is the way in which reloading and ammo companies downgrade the 7x57 to lower velocities making it ballistically inferior to the 7-08 even though the mauser has more case capacity. Same traffic with SAAMI and their pressure data.

The argument in favor of downloading the 7x57 was for user in older and weaker military rifles (pre-98). I get that and I'm all for safety, but why not create modern ammo for the 7x57 and add the +P to the nomenclature.

This has bothered me for over 20 years now.
 
40 S&W IMO it is often put in guns that are lighter than they should be for that high of pressure cartridge. It makes follow up shots slower than they need to be for very little if any ballistics difference over 9mm or 45.

22lr I guess I'm just a recoil junkie, because 22 just doesn't excite me much.

223 I don't much care about ARs and I don't hunt varmints, so it has little appeal to me.
 
.40 for me. Never found anything it couldn't do that 9 or 45 could.

but I suspect most of my issue with that caliber is that I've never found a gun I could shoot well chambered in it.
 
300 BA as well. It's only purpose is to shoot suppressed. The 223 with bullets in the 70+ gr bullet weights do everything the 300 does and does it better.

25-06. Of all the 30-06 offspring it is the least useful. At close ranges a 25-06 looks OK on paper, but a 243 loaded with 100-105's will beat 25-06 in both energy and trajectory beyond 200-250 yards. No one buys a 25-06 for close range work. A 270, 6.5 or 243/6mm all outperform it.

338/06 and 35 Whelen. The 30-06 case has been the basis for many new cartridges. Some are useful, some may have been useful at one time, but in 2016 the options above 30 cal can't shoot bullets heavy enough and fast enough to be of any help. These 2 have potential, but 30-06 can be loaded with 220-230 gr bullets and still get enough speed to be useful. The 338/06 and 35 Whelen, if loaded with bullets heavier than 250 gr, offer a very slight advantage at close range. The problem is that almost no one chooses those bullets. Any 250 gr or lighter bullet from either the 338-06 or 35 Whelen is actually a step down in performance compared to a 30-06 loaded with 220-230 gr bullets.

The 9.3X62 is the exception. It is commonly loaded with 286 gr bullets. I still don't see it having a significant advantage over 30-06, but certainly more than the other 2.
 
.223 & 9mm because I'd have a couple extra zeros on my bank statement if I didn't shoot so much of them. :D
 
32 S&W long. Could be me or the gun but it has never been accurate for me. Plus wadcutters look funny.


I've never liked .40 the recoil doesn't feel good.
 
375 Ruger and 338 Fed. Both are great in theory and on my want list...but are being turned into reload only rounds.
 
.460 Weatherby Magnum

Got to shoot one about 25 years ago, think my shoulder still hurts.
 
Any 12 ga round longer than 2 3/4" because I don't hunt.

45/70 approaching and surpassing 1800 fps.... because I just can't help myself and keep getting it out after I forget about the last time.
 
Pokajabba said:
.25 ACP. Tiny, weak, and inaccurate because of the small pistols it's designed to be shot from. There's nothing good about this cartridge.

.44 caliber. It's not as big as a .45 and it's not even .44, it's really .429! They should call it a .429 Magnum, not a .44 Magnum. Call me silly, but the .45 Colt can be loaded hot and with the Ruger Blackhawk, you can get the .45 ACP cylinder and have a blast shooting that too. .44 can't do that.

.300 BLK. It's the hipster brother of 7.62x39 and it needs everything to be fancy and sleek while the 7.62 is the blue collar worker that doesn't give a damn what you shoot it from, it's going to work, just not going to go as far down range or in life because it didn't go to college.
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I agree, but admit I am fond of .44 caliber guns in general. Some sweet shooters use those funny .429 bullets. :)

But I totally agree with .25 ACP and .300 BLK.
 
It's a love hate relationship, but my 6 1/2 lb. 35 Whelen, Kills on both ends:mad:
 
Never had a .25 ACP, .32 Long is very accurate, I love both my 300 BLK and my .44 Spl, and shooting the .458 Winchester Magnum is fun.

Not fun? .30 Carbine in a pistol.
 
.458 Winchester Magnum. Under powered for what it's intended for. The .458 Lott is what the .458 WM should have been from the very beginning.
 
otrman said:
.460 Weatherby Magnum

Got to shoot one about 25 years ago, think my shoulder still hurts.
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I have a MK V chambered in 460 WM. I got it ridiculously cheap from my dentist (he shot it once) who decided to take cameras and not firearms on his safaris to the African Continent.

It's a silly looking firearm as it's laser etched and has that weird looking shiny Wby stock but I can't wait to take it on a trip to Africa.
 
Out of my personal experience; .38spl .41mag .410 .44mag, .357mag. I've owned and shot them don't own them, will never own them again.
 
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