What's the most strange/uncommon caliber you've owned/fired?

[Officers'Wife]

That would be the rifle my uncle made in a fit of obsessive machine building. He started with a rolling block action then chambered it to accept a 45-70 cartridge necked down to .17 caliber. I shot it twice- the first time and the last time but it only took one cartridge.

 

[clg114]

Not really rare ,but rather uncommon is the 7.62 x 25 Tokarev. They are a blast to shoot in my CZ-52 & Zastava M-57.

 

[P5 Guy]

I was given a Marlin in .32 rimfire and a partial box of ammo back in the late 1990s. Nice little vest pocket pistol. Now that I think back on it the partial box of ammo was possibly worth more the the little gun, which I sold when I found the price of cartridges for the dang thing.

 

[Piratesailor]

7.65 Mauser.

 

[Chuck R.]

My “odd” calibers that I load/shoot:

8.15 x46R Swiss Schuetzen Rifle Based on a Martini action
6.5x57 Steyr Mannlicher
8x68S Steyr Mannlicher
7.65Luger 1918 Commercial P08
.40-70Win Ballard made High-Wall Special Sporting
.45-90 (2.4”) Ballard made High-Wall Special Sporting
.45-100 (2.6”) Shiloh Sharps #1 Sporting

Chuck

 

[WardenWolf]

7.7 JAP out of the Arisaka bringback my grandfather got in WW2.

 

[brickeyee]

1866 Trapdoor Springfield (2nd Allin Conversion) in .50-70 Government.

I limit is to actual BP only.

The rifling looks like the day it was made from an 1864? muzzle loader.

.22-250 AI (4300 ft/s with 40 grain bullets, 25 inch barrel),
6mm Rem AI (just touches 4,000 ft/s with 60 grain bullets, 26 inch barrel).

It is on a Panda action (right bolt, left port) jewel BR trigger (set at about 1.5 ounces), FG stock with switch barrels, whole thing built by Kelbly and VERY accurate).

Longest shots are 440 yards for a groundhog with the 6mm Rem AI, and 250 yards with the .22-250 AI barrel (both measured with rangefinder).


I have a 7-30 Water barrel for a TC Contender (and a few other 30 caliber ones I just do not recall at the moment).

An original .221 fireball XP-100 (case, half the box of sample cartridges)

 

[Odd Job]

Nothing rare:

.222
.54 (black powder rifle)

This was unusual:

88mm Ordnance QF 25-pounder fired on a school artillery weekend. The target was a bus parked a few miles down range. There were 6 guns, each fired 76 shells and we had only one direct hit and two partials. It was harder to work out the bearings than the movies would have you believe!

 

[Turismo9999]

AMT Automag in .45 Win Mag
Ruger Super Redhawk in .480 Ruger

 

[Twmaster]

7.62x45
ONLY one gun built to take this caliber, the Vz. 52

Not exactly true. The ZB530 machine gun also fired that round.

For many of my guns are considered oddball. So what others consider odd I feel is kinda normal.

I shoot 9MM Largo, .32-20, 7.65 Argentine, 7.62x38R (Nagant Revolver) and others. I also shoot the little .17HM2

The most odd cartridge I shoot is 6.5x257 Roberts chambered Japanese Type 38 Arisaka.

I also load/reload for all of the above and all the other centerfire cartridges I shoot.

 

[ridgerunner1965]

32-40 in a orig win hi wall. i saw another poster shot this.its like poooooft when it goes off.

 

[tactikel]

.54 Burnside, out of an original Civil War Carbine.

 

[tjs45d]

Strangest owned and shot is the Daisy 22VL. No primer or firing pin needed, compressed hot air ignites the caseless cartridge. Sort of the diesel engine of .22 caliber rifles.

I would love to hear more about this "air" rifle..? I have never heard of a rifle of this type? Thanks in advance for any info you can offer?

 

[fanchisimo]

I've fired .223/5.56 and 22 LR. Those aren't that common any more.

 

[RON in PA]

In the pre-1968 era I had a Remington Rolling Block chambered in .43 Spanish typical of rifles common in South America in the late 19th century. I had some original late 19th century/early 20th century black powder factory loads (UMC I think) in original boxes. About 50% still fired.

Today my most unusual caliber is 7.62 X 38R Nagant.

 

[FROGO207]

That.s easy. 33 Winchester, 351 WSL, 25-20 single shot, 500 NE, and 44 Automag. I loaded and shot many different calibers over the years but I think that these are the most unavailable off the shelf that I load now.

 

[fineredmist]

I fired a reproduction Sharps in .50-140-700 once and that was enough. The "soft" steel curved rifle butt plate didn't do near enough to reduce the recoil to suit me so it was one shot and go home.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

I had a very sweet .404 Jeffrey (10.75x73) one-off custom in a mid-heavy weight safari rifle. What a fool I was to sell that one on.

Handled great, hit hard and had manageable recoil. Beautiful round too.

Dumb, dumb, dumb!

 

[phonesysphonesys]

9mm Largo in a Star pistol

 

[Magnuumpwr]

I guess uncommon due to price per round. Rifle = 338 Lapua Magnum. Pistol= 500 S&W.

 

[e3mrk]

30-40 Krag.

 

[guntha45]

wildcats

My first wildcat was a 35 Whelen, before Remington legitimized it. I've had a 6mm/06. Currently have 6mm/284 and 8mm/06, but the oddest is one I developed myself, for a top eject M94 Winchester. It's based on 303 British brass, necked up to .416, and shortened to the same OAL as 30/30. It closely resembles the 40/60 Maynard.

 

[guntha45]

Forgot, also loaded for the .22 Jet.

 

[Coop45]

6.5 Carcano
.22 WRF

 

[jolly roger]

20MM Lahti Anti Tank rifle is the fired one. Owned probably a 309 JDJ Contender and a Ruger #1 Tropical in 405 Winchester.