Poll: How readily do you add a new cartridge to the line-up?

[RVTECH]

I liked working with many different firearms and chamberings, it was fun. Now, the simplicity of working with relative few has its satisfactions.

Ditto this ! It follows my reloading 'evolution' exactly!

 

[3006shooter]

I already load for 10 different center fire rifle calibers and 4 revolver calibers.

It was the reason I never bought a 6.5CM. Liked the looks of the ballistics but just didn't feel like taking on another caliber. Already have enough rifles that don't get used near like they should.

Having said that, I may still get a 338-06.

 

[billdeserthills]

One of the AR-15 retailers was selling 224 Valkyrie uppers assembled for $165 apiece--seemed like a decent price at the time so I got a couple. That was the last new caliber I added. Fortunately that was before prices of everything skyrocketed

 

[pharmseller]

If I don't already load for it, I don't buy it.

 

[Ruger Rich]

The folks in the fire arm industry have to keep the momentum going, churning.
There are just too many newer ones that are close to equal the established ones.
And some dont pan out. It's difficult to initially tell which will make it and which
wont. Additionally, research and load data abounds on established older
rounds. A 270 Win kills a deer equal to a 6.5 Creed. Dont need to mess with it.

 

[oremike]

The correct number of calibers and the guns that shoot them is just one more. Most recently that is a S&W Model 1905 Hand ejector in 32-20. To be honest I was asked to start makeing this caliber by a Winchester collector.

 

[nehalemguy]

If I don't already load for it, I don't buy it.

I'm generally with you on that. However I made an exception. I added .30 Nosler to the stable earlier this year, but it was a turn-key package that I bought off the forum we shall not name.... Christensen Arms Traverse rifle, Nightforce scope, brass, hundreds of bullets, competition dies, pounds of powder, etc., etc. The price was a deal and I was wanting another elk rifle, so it came home.

-E-

 

[arrowshooter]

I'm a solid no right now. I load for a pretty good mish-mash right now and have a good handle on my resources, so adding something new would just muck me all up.

 

[Ura-Ki]

In years past when things were a lot cheaper to load for, I was always messing about with new cartridges, usually a wildcat of some sort, always in the quest for faster, further, more precise! After many thousands spent on custom barrels and tuned actions, and custom fit stocks I came to the conclusion that while it was all fun and a learning experience, some times the tried and true won out! Now days, unless a cartridge actually offers a real and measureable advantage over what's been around and proven, I tend to avoid the hassles of building around a cartridge! That said, my 6.5/06 and 6.5/.300 Short Mag, and .375 Weatherby are my only non normal (Standard) cartridges! And even then the 6.5s both need new barrels!

 

[RVTECH]

The folks in the fire arm industry have to keep the momentum going, churning.There are just too many newer ones that are close to equal the established ones.

Yea - but the names sound so much 'cooler' than the established ones they are close to, and are chambered in the 'cooler' guns so the masses jump on them like white on rice.

 

[No_Regerts]

I've been known to dabble in all sorts of rifle cartridges. Pistol, not so much.

Right now, shooting 22 LR, 17 HMR, 223, 243, Creedtard, 270, 7mm-08, 7x57, 7mm Rem Mag, 30-30, 308, 30-06, 300 Win Mag, 8x57, 45-70, 20 GA, 12 GA, 9mm, 45 ACP.

 

[CLT65]

I reload a LOT of different calibers, and have accumulated die sets over the years in calibers I don't even shoot.

I see some rounds as practical, in that I'll probably load and shoot a lot of them, and others as less than practical, in that I have a neat old surplus gun in that chambering and just need a few rounds for it now and then.

9mm, .45acp, .45 Colt, .40S&W, .44 Magnum, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, all get loaded in quantity because at one time or another I shoot a fair amount of all of them (and maybe a couple others). Same with rifles and rounds like 30-06, .223, .30 Carbine, etc..

Rounds like .32acp, 7.62x38R, 6.5mm Arisaka, 8x56R, etc., are in a different class. I'll load some up on rare occasion just to tinker with because I enjoy the old historical guns.

To be honest, my only progressive press is a Dillon 550, and it doesn't even get used much since I'm not much of a high volume shooter. Every once in a while I'll run a thousand rounds of 9mm or something through it.

All the rest of my loading is done on the old Rock Chucker single stage, as I'm not set up for very many calibers on the Dillon.

 

[L84Cabo]

When I started this journey and was thinking of buying my second handgun, I promised myself that aside from .22, I would keep my pistol cartridges to two. I chose 9mm and 45acp. I think it was a good decision and particularly in light of the declining popularity of .40. However, I don't even have all 9's/45's I want and I have a hard time keeping what I do have fed. I couldn't imagine trying to build a stable of .40's, .38's/357's, etc., and keep them all fed on top of this.

Rifles are a bit different. I don't place any restrictions on rifle cartridges but I also don't maintain a large ammo supply for the rifles, beyond a healthy supply for the defensive ones.

 

[GripItAndRipIt]

Kind of a generalized question: Circa mid-2021, how readily do you add a new cartridge to the battery? Reasons why or why not?

If it goes bang, I'll try it.

 

[slimmer13]

If it goes bang, I'll try it.

That's how you get the herp

 

[The Heretic]

Think about it long and hard - what is it that this cartridge does that what I currently have, does not do?

Buy ammo.

If it is a hunting cartridge, at least 100 rounds, if it is a self-defense cartridge, at least 1000 rounds (per gun).

Then, and only then, buy the gun(s).

 

[daved20319]

I've been pretty reluctant to add new cartridges, especially handgun. I've been pretty happy with 9mm, .45 ACP, and .223/5.56 for the last 5 years or so, only others have been 6.5 Grendel, then Creedmoor. But I'm in a "shake things up" mood right now, so I'm trading my .45 for a 10mm, and am also considering selling my last .223, although I don't have anything in mind to replace it. Since I'll be eliminating 2 cartridges from the line-up, maybe it's time for something else new to go with the 10mm . Stay tuned!

Dave

 

[jordanka16]

Once you load your own ammo and especially cast bullets it's not a big deal. I just bought a .38 s&w the other day, all I need to shoot it is brass and dies, once you have the components it's no different than anything else.

I load and shoot several obsolete cartridges already, basically if I like the gun I dont care what it's chambered in, somewhere somehow I can make some ammo!

 

[Capn Jack]

If I don't already load for it, I don't buy it.

That goes for my muzzle loaders too. That's why they are all, .45 or .63 caliber.
My only exceptions are .22 rimfire and shotgun. I cast all of my bullets

 

[CLT65]

Once you load your own ammo and especially cast bullets it's not a big deal. I just bought a .38 s&w the other day, all I need to shoot it is brass and dies, once you have the components it's no different than anything else.

I load and shoot several obsolete cartridges already, basically if I like the gun I dont care what it's chambered in, somewhere somehow I can make some ammo!

I recently bought a WWII Enfield revolver, chambered in .38/200 (the British variation of .38 S&W). I didn't even buy dies. Turns out, 9mm Makarov dies work pretty well. I use a .380 expander, and some unsized Lee 158gr bullets. After powder coating but before sizing, they measure .361", just right for the Enfield.

It's an obsolete, under-powered round, but it sure is fun to shoot!

Sooner or later I'll probably pick up a correct set of dies and bullet molds and sizer, but for now it works just fine. It's not a real practical gun, and I definitely don't need a thousand rounds for it.

If it is a hunting cartridge, at least 100 rounds, if it is a self-defense cartridge, at least 1000 rounds (per gun).

I had a former coworker who took that concept to a bit of an extreme. He HAD to have a thousand rounds for every gun he owned. If he went to the range and shot 40 rounds, he had to stop on the way home and buy another 40 rounds. This was back when you could just stop at the store and buy ammo.

The extreme part was when he inherited an old Luger in .30 Luger. He was searching all over for a thousand rounds of .30 Luger ammo at a price he could afford to buy.