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

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Shaq said:
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.
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That is very true now, but wasn't so much the case 100+ years ago when these cartridges were introduced.

As stated - the .25 ACP had it's time, place and purpose.

I actually kind of admire the way the "lowly" .380 has been re-purposed to the unofficially preferred semi-auto mouse gun caliber of today. Don't get me wrong, I like .38 Special more and I always will, but the .380 will now live on as relevant at least as long due to this.

While I'm at it, i also want to add that although I am not an AR person I think the .223 is a good varmint round that fills in the gap nicely between .22LR and most other centerifre cartridges. I like it in a bolt gun.



This is why I kind of stopped contributing to "what calibers are you not too crazy about" threads. Most things serve some purpose well, or at least did. And maybe it's just not MY purpose, at least not right now. And that's fine.
 
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.454 Casull only because my middle finger knuckle will never be the same and shooting it feels like hitting a brick wall with an aluminum bat. Never again. Ow.

sent from my commodore 64
 
Walkalong said:
Not fun? .30 Carbine in a pistol.
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An acquaintance of mine is convinced that he needs a Blackhawk in every cambering made. The .30 carbine is his fave. :confused:

For me
300 Win mag. It seems like a lot of people hunt with them that would be better off with a .308 and more practice
40 S&W; The consummate answer to a question not worth asking.
 
I like all the cartridges I have guns for. The calibers I don't shoot, I might like them too, if I had the guns.
 
I have little use for the WSSM series of loadings as they basically were an attempt to sell something that already existed in a longer cartridge. These and other "designer" loadings are already in short supply and headed to obsolescence. I have a 300 WSM that I got for a screaming deal and already see the brass/ammo is less abundant than it was 5 years ago. Good thing I reload and have brass/dies for it already.
 
Oooooh... an invitation to offend so many people. :)

There are cartridges that must fill a niche for someone, but not for me:

25 ACP, for all the reasons mentioned.

22 WMR. If 22LR isn't going to get it done, I can switch to 223 and load a few grains of pistol powder for 1800 FPS, and still be under the price of commercial 22WMR ammo. Yeah, I do have stock of 22 WMR for my Single Six. :(

7mm Mag. Truly a mis-designed round. With standard cup and core bullets, you can expect a high failure rate with shots within 100-150 yards from excess impact velocity. For good performance, it requires expensive premium bullets.

22-250. Shoot, rebarrel, shoot, rebarrel. Gear down to a 223, move in closer, and enjoy your rifle for a long time.

40 cal. I just never warmed to that round. I know a lot of people shoot it and like it, but I like 9mm and 45 ACP. Just my personal idiosyncratic view.
 
jmr40 said:
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.
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A 338-06 will send a 225 grain bullet 250 ft/s faster, and with a much better BC, than a 30-06 will send a 220 grain bullet. Or, it will send about 30-50 grains more of bullet at the same speed. How is that exactly a step down in performance?

And the 35 Whelen's performance on large game is widely considered by Alaskan hunting guides to be essentially similar to a 375 H&H. I'd say these are extremely useful, just by opening up the bore on the same case.
 
.22 lr. The ongoing scarcity and high relative pricing upset me. I haven't fired my 10/22 in years. A .22 lr pistol purchase has been sidelined indefinitely. I don't think I could sell my 10/22, but I'd sure be happy to find a suitable 9mm carbine.

7.62x25 It's tremendously fun to shoot. But there's literally only a couple pistols chambered in that caliber, and I can't shoot it unless I buy ammo online.

.25 ACP These days, it's only purpose seems to be to feed antiques and cast zinc drop pistols. Also way too expensive.

.40 S&W I don't find the ballistic gains compelling and 9mm is much cheaper.

.41 Magnum The bastard magnum. Perhaps rightfully so.
 
Haxby said:
I like all the cartridges I have guns for. The calibers I don't shoot, I might like them too, if I had the guns.
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That's a good answer.

There are many cartridges that I do not care to own at the moment, but if the need arose, I'm sure I'd get one of those and have fun with it.

I do not buy cheap military surplus ammunition. I feel they are like a box of chocolates, you never know what your going get but with a dose of heartburn thrown in.:)
 
It's not a matter of "not fond of." I just have no interest in.

40 Smith & Wesson. I've got a 9mm. I've got a 45. I don't see any need for anything in between.

10 mm. Another "big deal" cartridge in my book.

357 and 44 Magnum really. I love the guns chambered for them, but almost never actually use the cartridge. 38 and 44 Special take care anything I'm going to shoot with either, which is 99.9% paper targets. I suppose I might shoot a tin can somewhere along the way.

Almost all centerfire rifle cartridges. I've never had much use or desire for a centerfire rifle.

To tell the truth I could get by with just the 22 LR, 9mm, and the 38 Special. And 12 gauge for a shotgun. I keep a few others around for grins and giggles.
 
Pokajabba said:
.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 have a love/hate relationship with .300 BLK. I don't think it competes directly with com-bloc ammo though.

Love: It fills two spots for me, subsonic shooting fun, and legal whitetail hunting with an AR in Virginia. All without anything different on the gun than the barrel.

Hate: It's really expensive if you don't reload. It's a pain converting the brass.
 
It would be easier to ask, what do you consider a useful cartridge:

Handguns:
.22 LR -- everyone needs a .22 pistol
.45 ACP for defense and concealed carry
.45 Colt for hunting, woods carry and so on. It'll do anything the .44 Mag will do.

Rifles:
.22 LR -- everyone needs a .22 rifle.
.223 Rem -- just about the best all-around varmint cartridge
.30-06. As Townsend Whelen said, the .30-06 is never a mistake.
.375 H*H -- who knows, maybe some day you'll get to Africa.

Shotguns:
12 ga, 3"
 
Tinpig said:
.25 ACP.

I liked my little Colt as a curiosity and as the baby member of a family:
IMG_1855.jpg

But after a few boxes of ammo I realized it was sort of pointless and traded it for something I wanted more.

Coincidentally, I ran across this article by Oleg Volk on All Outdoor yesterday:



I'm still not persuaded. There are better alternatives today.

Tinpig
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Is that a .38 ACP I see in the middle?
 
At least you didn't attack my beloved 35 Whelen!
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Of course not! There are a lot of reasons to like that cartridge, not the least of which is that is not a belted cartridge.

Now I do have to speak up in defense of the 41 Magnum. It's big enough to hunt elk, and with target loads, gentle enough to shoot all afternoon and still be enjoying it. But if you have to rely on commercial ammunition then it's not an economically feasible firearm. The problem with it is that it arrived on the scene at the wrong time and directed toward the wrong market.
 
denton said:
Of course not! There are a lot of reasons to like that cartridge, not the least of which is that is not a belted cartridge.

Now I do have to speak up in defense of the 41 Magnum. It's big enough to hunt elk, and with target loads, gentle enough to shoot all afternoon and still be enjoying it. But if you have to rely on commercial ammunition then it's not an economically feasible firearm. The problem with it is that it arrived on the scene at the wrong time and directed toward the wrong market.
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I will continue to hate the 41 until I find and can afford an original 4 in Smith 41 with adjustable sights...at that point, I promise I will profess my love publicly!
 
This has already been brought up but I will add my plus one to the .40. I have a 9mm and. a 45acp and just don't have any use for one.

I have no use for a 25acp either.

Having said that, I had no use for .44 or .223 until I bought one. it's funny how my Opinions seem to change with experience. Plus, every caliber opens a whole new door.
 
tubeshooter said:
That is very true now, but wasn't so much the case 100+ years ago when these cartridges were introduced.

As stated - the .25 ACP had it's time, place and purpose.

I actually kind of admire the way the "lowly" .380 has been re-purposed to the unofficially preferred semi-auto mouse gun caliber of today. Don't get me wrong, I like .38 Special more and I always will, but the .380 will now live on as relevant at least as long due to this.

While I'm at it, i also want to add that although I am not an AR person I think the .223 is a good varmint round that fills in the gap nicely between .22LR and most other centerifre cartridges. I like it in a bolt gun.



This is why I kind of stopped contributing to "what calibers are you not too crazy about" threads. Most things serve some purpose well, or at least did. And maybe it's just not MY purpose, at least not right now. And that's fine.
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Good post. It's too bad other people don't think as logically.
 
Now I do have to speak up in defense of the 41 Magnum. It's big enough to hunt elk, and with target loads, gentle enough to shoot all afternoon and still be enjoying it. But if you have to rely on commercial ammunition then it's not an economically feasible firearm.
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Yeah I wish someone would have whispered that in my ear back in 1982 ;) but I guess I had to go through the magnum phase in order to find my big bore bliss, a Ruger.45 convertible Blackhawk.
 
300 BLK. It's the hipster brother of 7.62x39
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This lead-in by the OP tickled me. Yeah, got to admit, I bought a 300 BLK upper because it was trendy and worked in standard AR lower mags.

And, as noted in another thread, I just sold all my 7.62X39 firearms and ammo. Not really into the cheap Russian stuff and Berdan-primed cases.

But the caliber I'm really not excited about is 40S&W. I don't find it any big advantage over 9 or 45ACP, and it seems like the used 40's are crowding all the good used guns off the shelves. It's new enough that most of it's platforms are plastic too.
 
Not "fond." ok, I'll take that was "feeling lukewarm to" rather than "abomination and ought be seen as a sign of deviancy" sense of it

To that end:
Rimmed rifle cartridges.
That rim just complicates things has not stopped me from shooting .303 of 7.62x54R, just was not 'fond" of it.

Odd European calibers.
There is nothing really "wrong" with 7.5 Swiss; but, it's not .30-06 nor .308, only with weird Swiss rules about exporting it, so it's ludicrously expensive. Ditto anything labeled "Lebel" or "Carcano." Nothing (much) wrong with those, they just don't rub me the right way.

Almost and "Not Quite" calibers
I know "why" the .280 was introduced, but, the differences between it and .270 are mostly on paper. Ditto .222--it came first, ok, but, really?

For pistols, I'm under fond of European calibers, like 9mm longo or the "not military" 9s. I'm underwhelmed by 9x18, too Nothing wrong with the Maks or those who own them, but, I'd rather have either a 9x17 or a 9x19

But this is but my 2¢ and is subject to change.
 
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