Useless Calibers

[jonp]

yup my wife shakes her head at me. Weve gone to a few brew pubs (not to try the beer) and i always order a bud. That to me is beer not some peach flavored yuppy beverage.

Bless your heart, Lloyd.

[country gent]

when butchering we never went thru the skull. An imaginary line from behind the ear to the opposite eye.

Some of those old rounds were very effective because they dumped all the energy right where it needed to be.

[Cast10]

All the new hype on cartridges with the catch names…….Funny how they still compare the to 30/06 or 45ACP.

Seems everyone is seeking a 1,000yd cartridge these days. Useless? You decide.

[FergusonTO35]

7mm Remington Mag. Short case life, guzzles powder, nasty recoil for bore size, and won't do anything that a smart '06 or .280 can't do.

[44MAG#1]

USELESS is in the eye of the beholder just like beauty and ugliness.
Many think I am USELESS due to various reasons

[dverna]

I useless caliber is one I do not currently reload for...it is useless to me...but might be your favorite!!!

In rifles and carbines I have 9mm, .357, 5.56, .30/30, .308 and .300 Win Mag. I do not need a caliber for hunting in restricted zones, so there is nothing those calibers cannot do that I need doing. Therefore, adding another caliber would be useless...fun maybe...but useless.

[Hickok]

45 GAP, 223 WSSM, and possibly the 350 Legend.

The entire WSSM line of cartridges, .223/243/25 are freaking ugly looking to me...just my "not worth nothing" opinion.

[zarrinvz24]

I don't think any of the WSL cartridges are useless. They were designed at a time when rimmed cartridges were still at the top of their game, and the WSL was a step into a new direction. Personally the only calibers I believe are completely useless are the WSSM series of short and very fat cases. I hate everything about them.

I enjoyed reading that you and your family put some old horses back into the race, the WSL is still quite good.

[country gent]

The short fat rounds PPC WSM WSSM are some pretty efficient cartridges and consistant when chronographed.

[rbuck351]

I don't think any cartridge is useless even if the only reason it exists is to make you happy. If it does that, it is useful. If there is a useless round it my be the 25 auto. But then again, it probably makes somebody happy.

[Plate plinker]

I would rather have a 25 auto than a stick or rock.
Although I did dispatch TWO groundhogs this years with a thrown rock.

[FLINTNFIRE]

A long time ago I bought a cheap Raven 25acp , it did work on a packrat in the attic , but it was the most useless I can think of a 22 long rifle is much nicer .

As to some of the calibers people have thrown out in this thread , I do not see as useless , there are some things some are good for or like the 45gap when I bought a couple they were cheap , stocked up on cheap once fired brass and watched the prices go up on the caliber and on the fired brass .

7mm rem mag , 264 win mag , 300 win mag 308 norma mag and a ton of others could be lumped in the same boat as some have placed them , but I get good case life and find that with the old surplus powders they are cheap as a 30-06 , and I expect kick from a rifle made for reaching out there .

A lot of calibers can be called by one person or another as useless , but if you have one and the ability to load for it , the question would be why not? I like some for close in , some for the woods , some for wide open areas , some for the historic value or sentimental value , and others just for fun or because I wanted it .

Or because I thought it was a good buy and might have a purpose .

[John Boy]

Useless calibers … not too long ago, any rimfire firearm other than 22’s were dust collectors at the gun shops. Within the last year or so, making or buying 25 caliber & Up RF reloads, the guns are desirable and being turned into shooters.
I reload 22rf smokeless & black powder, 25 Stevens rf, and the 32 & 38rf’s for rifles I have ‘brought back to life’

[Tokarev]

I wouldn't say it's "useless", but I still enjoy calling the .45 GAP "Gaston's Asinine Project"

I was going to write something along these lines. Only saw 45GAP once at the range. The fellow who shot it never brought that gun again.

[Bent Ramrod]

Some chamberings are simply marketing ploys to pick up on trends and fashion. If they succeed in the marketplace, fine; if not, try, try again.

I get a sense from reading Shooting and Fishing reprints that the rich dudes out of Boston, who were always looking for the latest&greatest, would go up to Maine for their annual deer hunts. They would engage a “Maine Guide,” who knew the lay of the land, and could find them the 10 or 20 deer that the “true sportsman” of the era limited himself to in the course of his vacation time spent in the woods.

These people would notice that the Guide was armed with something on the order of an 1880’s lever-action .32-40, with which he shot all the trophies mounted in his lodge, and all the other game he lived off in the course of the year. After the hunting trip, the dudes would go home, thinking that something like that would be “just the thing,” if only it came in a more modernized form. This was the era of “Progress” (as opposed to “Progressivism”), and everybody wanted to be “up to the minute”; nobody wanted to be a “back number.”

And there would be the ads for the latest Winchester offering: a .32-40 equivalent, only in a rifle based on the latest autoloading principle! Must Have! Unfortunately, the dudes didn’t realize the difference between a “woods loafer,” who went out there every day, knew where everything lived, and could take his time and pick his shots and ranges, and an office worker, who had a limited amount of time, an even more limited amount of practice, and an almost nonexistent level of woodcraft, which, after all, is the most important part of successful hunting. The Guide could do only so much to counter the last deficiency, and could do little or nothing to help the first two. The Guide might have been gifted his lever gun years earlier by a client who saw that he was using a muzzle loader and pitied him in his primitive lifestyle. The Guide probably could have done as well with a bow or a spear, but was happy to get the gift, anyway. The dude had none of this background training, and was, as a result, badly disadvantaged with his new purchase. Of course, he could fire a lot of shots very quickly, but it took some time to realize this didn’t help him much.

So, in order to keep selling rifles, the Winchester company had to up the power levels so that marginal shooters firing at fleeting brown spots in dense forest would at least have a chance for an incapacitating shot rather than merely a wounding one. Sort of like the Magnum craze nowadays. Unfortunately, with that model rifle, the recoil and ejection were almost as violent as the effect ahead of the muzzle.

As mentioned, what is useful for one specialist in his circumstance, might be totally useless for most people in others. James Bond did fine with his .25 caliber Beretta, after all; fitting him out with a .380 PPK was Management’s idea.

[FergusonTO35]

Some chamberings are simply marketing ploys to pick up on trends and fashion. If they succeed in the marketplace, fine; if not, try, try again.

I get a sense from reading Shooting and Fishing reprints that the rich dudes out of Boston, who were always looking for the latest&greatest, would go up to Maine for their annual deer hunts. They would engage a “Maine Guide,” who knew the lay of the land, and could find them the 10 or 20 deer that the “true sportsman” of the era limited himself to in the course of his vacation time spent in the woods.

These people would notice that the Guide was armed with something on the order of an 1880’s lever-action .32-40, with which he shot all the trophies mounted in his lodge, and all the other game he lived off in the course of the year. After the hunting trip, the dudes would go home, thinking that something like that would be “just the thing,” if only it came in a more modernized form. This was the era of “Progress” (as opposed to “Progressivism”), and everybody wanted to be “up to the minute”; nobody wanted to be a “back number.”

And there would be the ads for the latest Winchester offering: a .32-40 equivalent, only in a rifle based on the latest autoloading principle! Must Have! Unfortunately, the dudes didn’t realize the difference between a “woods loafer,” who went out there every day, knew where everything lived, and could take his time and pick his shots and ranges, and an office worker, who had a limited amount of time, an even more limited amount of practice, and an almost nonexistent level of woodcraft, which, after all, is the most important part of successful hunting. The Guide could do only so much to counter the last deficiency, and could do little or nothing to help the first two. The Guide might have been gifted his lever gun years earlier by a client who saw that he was using a muzzle loader and pitied him in his primitive lifestyle. The Guide probably could have done as well with a bow or a spear, but was happy to get the gift, anyway. The dude had none of this background training, and was, as a result, badly disadvantaged with his new purchase. Of course, he could fire a lot of shots very quickly, but it took some time to realize this didn’t help him much.

So, in order to keep selling rifles, the Winchester company had to up the power levels so that marginal shooters firing at fleeting brown spots in dense forest would at least have a chance for an incapacitating shot rather than merely a wounding one. Sort of like the Magnum craze nowadays. Unfortunately, with that model rifle, the recoil and ejection were almost as violent as the effect ahead of the muzzle.

As mentioned, what is useful for one specialist in his circumstance, might be totally useless for most people in others. James Bond did fine with his .25 caliber Beretta, after all; fitting him out with a .380 PPK was Management’s idea.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. One thing that amazes me is how it is blasphemy to alot of hunters these days if you don't wear a $500.00 scent control camo outfit and set up more cameras than the White House in your little patch of woods. Things like noting the direction of the wind, looking for tracks and other signs, and just plain being patient are Gnostic gospels to them.

[Loudenboomer]

To the OP. I too like the 1905 Win 35 SL. I own the 35 that was called Gramma's rifle in my family.
It was about 1910 when the men and farm hands were out in the field with the horse team and wagon bringing in the last of the fall hay. Much to their surprise. When the guys arrived home for dinner My Great Grandmother had shot a deer out of the kitchen door with the then "new fangled self loader" and had it hanging on the meat pole. At that place and time it was a useful cartridge.

[cwtebay]

To the OP. I too like the 1905 Win 35 SL. I own the 35 that was called Gramma's rifle in my family.
It was about 1910 when the men and farm hands were out in the field with the horse team and wagon bringing in the last of the fall hay. Much to their surprise. When the guys arrived home for dinner My Great Grandmother had shot a deer out of the kitchen door with the then "new fangled self loader" and had it hanging on the meat pole. At that place and time it was a useful cartridge.

That's a great memory! Such a treasure that rifle is - I hope it stays in your family for generations to come!!

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[JohnH]

They make useless ones? Don't tell my wife.

[Loudenboomer]

Many people call the 45 GAP a solution for a problem not invented. I like mine very much.