New cartridges.

[Bazoo]

I'm out of the loop on new cartridges. Met a guy in he gun store a few weeks back and he was telling me about the 224 Valkyrie. I had no idea. Then there is this 350 legend I hear about here on the forum. No idea again, other than what I've seen here.

I don't keep up with new cartridges or guns for that matter. I do read about old cartridges a lot though. Anyone else with me?

[Winger Ed.]

Do a search engine on it. It's interesting.

Sort of a hot rod version of the 5.56 with 90 grain boolits, that can be done with a AR style upper, but can still take GI magazines.

If somebody enjoys or makes a few bucks on the creature, I'm all for it.
Personally, at this stage of the game, I'll always a 7.62, 5.56, .45ACP, .30-30, .45-70, .357, & .22LR guy.

[rancher1913]

most are a flash in the pan, I like the tried and true like my 357 mag and a good old 30-30

[dverna]

The newest rifle cartridge I have is the .300 Win Mag. The newest pistol cartridge is the .40 S&W.

Highly unlikely they can come up with anything I need that is not already covered.

[Tom W.]

My rifles are both 30 caliber, and I can use my cast boolits in either one. They're both A.I. chambered, but I can still use standard cases in them. H
My handguns are common calibers, should I ever need to fire a factory load from them.
If I can't kill what I'm shooting at with what I'm shooting, it's time to just stay at the range.

[Valornor]

I always wait to see if they last for more then a couple years before I decide to give the new stuff a try. It sucks to invest in a new rifle, brass, reloading supplies and time into a cartridge that doesn’t stick around.

Lately it seems that all the new cartridges are taking old cartridges or old ideas and trying to make them work in an AR platform. 350 Legend appeals to those guys who are stuck hunting in areas that requires a straight wall cartridge.

The 22 Valkyrie is basically maximizing the amount of powder you can stick behind a 22 cal bullet and still chamber and feed it in an AR 15.


As for me I like to stick to the legacy cartridges unless I come across an odd ball cartridges. I like stuff that is just really different or niche. Usually they are complete wildcats.

Right now 338 Spectre is one that I kind of enjoy playing with.




Check out my website www.theballisticassistant.com

[M-Tecs]

The 224 Valkyrie was designed specifically for the PRS rifle competition. It allows for 90 and 100 grain bullets to mag feed out of standard AR mags.

The 350 legend was designed for states that only allow straight walled cases for deer hunting. Again it is designed to function out of a standard AR mag.

[Walks]

I think I can say that the newest cartridges I have are 40S&W and .32H&R in Hand Guns and 7mmTCU. In Hand Rifles.
The .223Rem in Long Guns.

Guess I don't really care for anything new and untested.

Did try the .300Whisper in a T/C bbl for a while. Too much trouble to make cases.

[Slugster]

I'm a retro kind of guy. Other than a couple of .223 & .308 "black scary guns" all of my rifles would be classed as oldies. The short & fat magnum craze passed me by. Never owned a .40 or a 10mm. Have no wondernines. My oldest is an 1873 Springfield that someone butchered, still a great shooter. Bought a Super Redhawk in .44 magnum when they first came out. Last handgun I bought was a S&W 686 .357 in 4". Modern guns don't really blow my skirt up. I like "experienced" firearms better. They tell a story and have history. Just my .02

[chaos]

I always wait to see if they last for more then a couple years before I decide to give the new stuff a try. It sucks to invest in a new rifle, brass, reloading supplies and time into a cartridge that doesn’t stick around.

Lately it seems that all the new cartridges are taking old cartridges or old ideas and trying to make them work in an AR platform. 350 Legend appeals to those guys who are stuck hunting in areas that requires a straight wall cartridge.

The 22 Valkyrie is basically maximizing the amount of powder you can stick behind a 22 cal bullet and still chamber and feed it in an AR 15.


As for me I like to stick to the legacy cartridges unless I come across an odd ball cartridges. I like stuff that is just really different or niche. Usually they are complete wildcats.

Right now 338 Spectre is one that I kind of enjoy playing with.




Check out my website www.theballisticassistant.com

I dont have much use for all the Whiz bang cartridges either. I have hunted big game with nothing but the .44 Mag for the last 13 or so years. 300 WM before that since I was 15.

I did pick up a .350 legend for the wife who is super recoil sensitive. That round stuffed in an AR pattern rifle has virtually zero recoil. Brass is plentiful and cheap. I'll stack it deep enough that I dont care if it goes by the wayside. Worse comes to worst, and I'll barrel swap it back to .223.

[MrHarmless]

The last fifteen years have been accented by boutique calibers build to diversify the performance envelope of the AR platform. The most successful ones seem to be those that avoid mismatching too many parts, e.g. barrel, bolt, magazine, as well as how quickly and effectively they're able maintain supply of their product. .224 Valk is exactly what other people have mentioned, trying to maximize the long range potential of the .224 projectile.

The .350 Legend hit the straight wall niche, the cheap brass box, and the minimum component change box, but I personally think they really screwed the pooch on bullet diameter, which, unless I'm mistaken, is .356 cal, instead of .357/8 cal, which has caused some hubub with certain states DNR set caliber requirements. They also had a particularly rough go with factory ammo in the first few months, a lot of which was inconsistent and over crimped, which caused head space issues.

.50 Beowulf tried to fill that niche quite a while ago, but primarily marketed itself to military and law enforcement, has a few component change requirements, such as the bolt head, and has an odd rebated rim. As a consequence, coupled with more expensive and less plentiful reloading component availability (boolits and bullets, as well as brass), .450 Bushmaster has kicked it's butt in pretty much every department in terms of public adoption.

[trapper9260]

I went with the 327 mag because of all the rounds you can shoot in that same gun for what I was looking for and work for me .

[lightman]

I'm a little slow to jump on anything thats the newest and greatest. I find myself watching with interest on how long some of the new cartridges last. A few surprise me but quite a few don't.

[buckwheatpaul]

I am with you....most of the new better than ice cream cartridges don't last.....the most successful cartridges started life as military rounds.....and most are still used and produced.....30-06, 308, 223, 45 acp, 9mm......I will stay with the old reliable rounds that you can walk into virtually any hardware store in some small town and buy a box of the standard old yet reliable cartridges.....IMHO

[nun2kute]

The newest rifle cartridge I have is the .300 Win Mag. The newest pistol cartridge is the .40 S&W.

Highly unlikely they can come up with anything I need that is not already covered.

What has "Need" to do with it ? If your not Liberal or Democrat guns are "Fun" ! Their ALL on my list if I live long enough. I'm just working from the top down.

[Rich/WIS]

Same camp here, like the classic calibers. With rounds like the 243, 30/06, 45 ACP and such they are proven performers with cast or jacketed, and brass is plentiful and cheap (if not free). Still recall years ago when the Winchester short magnums came out and within a few years the brass and ammo was scarce to non-existent. Seemed whenever some new winder blew into town the range would have a bunch of users, but within a short time they would all but disappear while the old standards would soldier on. There is nothing wrong with new and exotic but was surprised how few of the owners reloaded and were totally dependent on factory ammo.

[Froogal]

Before I bought my first semi-auto handgun, I really thought that the .40 caliber was the way to go. Then I noticed that no matter which store I walked into that sold ammo, the 9mm stuff was in abundance, so I bought a tried and true 9mm. I've never regretted that decision.

[Valornor]

Before I bought my first semi-auto handgun, I really thought that the .40 caliber was the way to go. Then I noticed that no matter which store I walked into that sold ammo, the 9mm stuff was in abundance, so I bought a tried and true 9mm. I've never regretted that decision.

I did the same thing, except I went the other way. I got a 45 ACP, and have loved shooting shooting 45 that I never looked back at the 40 S&W. Sold the 40 S&W.


Check out my website www.theballisticassistant.com

[Tracy]

I don't chase the latest and greatest, but I also don't discount a cartridge just because it is "new." Case in point: .300 Blackout, which is just a commercialized version of the overly hyped and super protected .300 Whisper, which is just an adaptation of the wildcat .300 Fireball that had been with us for awhile. The .300 Whisper is just a .300 Fireball with a fast-twist barrel so it can stabilize heavy bullets at subsonic velocities.

Before, a .300 Fireball barrel was an expensive custom barrel. Dies were available but expensive. It was a worthwhile cartridge, though. I've always called it a rimless .32-20. Now with the popularity of .300 Blackout, everything about it is cheap if you don't mind the fast twist. You don't even have to form your own brass if you don't want to. And even a barrel with the original 1:12 twist is less expensive than it used to be.

Sometimes ya gotta just look past the hype.

[dverna]

Just a follow up...

I did buy M70 in .243 WSSM and regretted it. I was lucky to be able to sell the gun and brass for almost what I paid for them. It taught me a lesson.

Last spring my buddy wanted to replace his .270 deer rifle with the 6.5 CM. He had read too many gun rags. Showed him the ballistics and asked him if it was really worth it or was he a sucker...obvious answer...NO!

BTW, went through a process of thinning the herd and got rid of a lot of guns that met my wants at some point in my life. I still have too many...just last week "found" a gun a thought I had sold...now that is bad!!!

Just for giggles...here is the list of calibers I narrowed it down to:

Rifles:
.22LR (3 bolt actions, 2 lever actions, and 1 Semi-auto)
.223 (2 bolt actions and 4 AR's)
.30/30 (3 lever actions...not currently used much but like having AAR's (Appalachian Assault Rifles) if/when AR's are banned)
.308 (3 bolt actions)
.300 Win Mag (bolt action...not current,y needed but may someday hunt elk and large bear)
.38/.357 (3 lever actions)

Pistols:
.22 LR (revolver and 3 SA)
.38/.357 (4 revolvers)
9mm (4 SA)
.40 S&W (2 SA)...looking at dropping it
.45 ACP (2 SA)...looking at dropping it

Gone are .222, .243, .25/06, .270, .30/06, .38/55, .380 and .44 Mag. Not because they are bad cartridges, but because in my quest to KISS, they did not offer much to fit my needs. The cash allowed me to invest in....redundancy, better quality guns, better optics and a sizeable inventory of components. Simplifying my inventory of components encouraged buying in bulk and I had the cash to do it.

Six powders cover my needs for rifle, pistol and shotgun (the numbers in brackets are my minimums):

Varget (24 lbs)
H4895 (8 lbs)
H4831 (3 lbs)
Promo (32 lbs)
Unique (8 lbs)
HP38 (16 lbs)

Adding a "new and improved" cartridge is highly unlikely. Thought about selling the .300 Mag and getting a .375 H&H but that cartridge is over 100 years old...LOL