Obsolete?

[Doug627]

Do you shoot or hunt with an "obsolete" cartridge? I like the 300 Savage for whitetail deer in West Virginia. My father used a Savage Model 99 in 300 Savage and it has always been the "deer cartridge" to me. It does everything I need and doesn't have much recoil. You don't really need the newest whiz-bang round to get the job done. I bought my daughter a Remington Model 700 CDL in this cartridge and I just found a 700 BDL for me. I'll retire my father's Model 99 and just get it out to think of him. I miss him terribly and will think of him everytime I fire a round of 300 Savage. What is your favorite obsolete round and why?

 

[imjin138]

My buddy and I both have 99 in 300 savage love the caliber. I like to shoot 30/40 Krag I like the caliber and I like to think it brings back in time when it was a simpler country

 

[mkk41]

The .300 Savage isn't obsolete , yet. They still make factory ammo for it. Maybe only seasonally , like before deer season , but it's still on the shelves at most gun shops. I've read where some new rifles are still being chambered for it. It's a great cartridge and it's actually the father of the 7.62x51 NATO , aka .308 Win.

I still shoot my 30-40 Krags. Again , ammo/brass is usually only a seasonal run. But I load my own anyhow. No cartridge is obsolete to a handloader. Not even my .401 Herters PowerMag.

Now the .303 Savage , THAT is obsolete! New ammo or brass hasn't been made for many years. I've seen a box of 20 old fired brass bring $100.

 

[DeadAye]

I've read that the 38 Special and .357 Magnum are obsolete, so I guess I do.
I also really like the 7-30 Waters. I don't know if it is obsolete, but no one else that I know shoots it.
My first deer rifle was a Mannlicher 6.5 Carcano (made famous by Oswald) - I really liked that rifle but traded it for a Winchester '94 made in the '70s - Worst trade I've EVER made
But that 94 sure LOOKED great. Looked just like a real American rifle.

Is the 6.5 obsolete? I'd really like to have that rifle back - I could drive tacks with it @ 100 yards with open sites (of course I didn't NEED glasses back then either).

 

[Cocked & Locked]

.303 Savage

I've shot and killed deer DRT with the .303 Savage cartridge. The rifle was a model 1899 (not 99) rifle made in 1912. I sold that rifle, brass, and dies a couple of years ago.

 

[brucev]

I'm told the .44 Special is obsolete. I grew up reading stories from Keith, Skelton, etc. about the .44 Special. Last year I found and bought a 24-4 NIB. Wonderful revolver. At least from my perspective, the .44 Special is no where near obsolete! I like the way it shoots! Once I get enough brass together and some dies, I'll be reloading for it!

 

[getoff]

i shot my first deer with a model99 in 300 savage. loved that gun/cartrige combo. i also shoot a little 38-40 krag when i can get some loaded up. still have a fondness for 45-70 too... not sure if it qualifies as outdated, but it don't grab many headlines or garner many articles.

 

[Maximumbob54]

I told some guys I wanted to start deer hunting this year and I have been trying to handload my own .30-30 for a Marlin 336 to take out. You should have seen some of the looks I got. One guy got a real searious look on his face and told me I should really save up and buy a better gun and one chambered for a decent magnum like 7mm... I live in North Florida... 7mm mag for our dog sized deer at 100 to 200 yards??? I had no idea I was going so "under gunned"... :/

I thought for sure he maybe meant 7mm-08 but no... He said magnum...

 

[walnutred]

7mm mag for our dog sized deer at 100 to 200 yards??? I had no idea I was going so "under gunned"... :/

I thought for sure he maybe meant 7mm-08 but no... He said magnum...

Last year a cousins son was going to buy his first deer rifle for hunting in West Virgina. A LGS had Remington 308s listed on sale and he asked what we though. As he had been borrowing his Grandfathers (my uncle) 308 we told him it made sense. He came back with a 300 Winchester Mag because the clerk told him it would be more effective.

We about died laughing, and then the laughter started again watching his expression when he fired his first few shots.

The borrowed 308 rifle that he was tired of using, an early Browning BLR in 308.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

.45-70 (Springfield, Winchester), .45-90 (Winchester, Sharps), .38-40 (Winchester), .44-40 (Winchester), .30-40 Krag (Springfield), all in original rifles made before 1900.

20th Century stuff: .300 Savage, .250 Savage, .218 Bee, .351 Winchester, and a couple of others. .30-06 Garands (1941 to 1945) and Springfields (1928 to 1943), and .30 M1 Carbines (1943 and 1944).

I also use an original .41 caliber percussion rifle, pre-Civil War. Great for rabbits, grouse, and turkeys, but a little light for western mule deer (90 grain ball @ 1700 FPS or so).

Much more fun than anything made these days.

 

[35Rem]

My beloved 35 Remington is in the same boat as the 300 Savage. I stumbled on a Remington Model 8 autoloader at a great price, then a 141 pump shortly after that. The Marlin 336 came a couple of years later. It's a real shooter.
The round is a GREAT Eastern round where shots are under 150 yards, typically. It kills way better than what 'the paper' says it should.

 

[jag312]

.25-20, .45-70. .44-40, .44 Special, .44 Russian - Not obsolete, just under appreciated.

 

[hatt]

I'm wanting a .358 Winchester. Not really obsolete, but obscure.

 

[Alpo]

Hadn't really thought about how many, until reading this thread.

32 S&W, 32 S&W Long, 32/20, 38 S&W, 38/40, 44/40, 44 Russian, 44 Special, 45 Auto Rim.

22 Hornet, 7x57, 30/40, 8x57, 9.3x57, 38/55, 45/70.

16 gauge.

Each and every one considered obsolete by many, and that includes the ammo companies on a couple of them.

 

[Onomea]

What? Nobody shootin' .348 WCF? (Well, me neither, but I have the rifle factory chambered for it and mean to get to it one of these days when I have the opportunity ..)

 

[feralmerril]

I have guns and reload for .256, .22 jet, .22 K-hornet, 7X57, 30-40, 300 H&H, .32 H&R mag

 

[mtelkhntr]

22 Sav Hi-Power
300 Sav
250 Sav
338 RUM

 

[Frank237]

Other than my .257 Roberts AI , .280 AI and my .338-06 my probably least mainstream hunting rifle would be my .300 H&H's.

Have a 1955 M-70 thats 99% , has been shot 10-12 times, never been on a hunt. Why I even mounted a scope on it escapes me. It IS sighted in though.

And a Sako action, 24" HART bbl, in a Mc Millian stock, 3.5-10X Leupold...one of my main hunting rifles for several years.

FN in MT

 

[Cracker American]

Winchester Model 94 in 38-55. Love that carbine. Barrel is in terrible shape but it will maintain minute of deer neck out to about 75 yards. That's about all my old eyes will allow anyway.

 

[35Rem]

The 45-70 DOES NOT belong on this list.
It was one of the HOTTEST cartidges just a few years ago. Marlin couldn't make enough. Winchester/Browning was making 1885's & 1886's because the demand was so high. All kinds of ammo being made by everyone.

 

[John Eilertson]

I think the .300 Savage is a better round than the .30-30, and the latter has killed more deer than any other. People have killed deer with .22s, so a well placed .300 will more than do the job. It, along with loads of other shells is determined to be "obsolete by folks who must not use them. Put in the proper place they will certainly work, and well.

 

[monet61]

One of my very favorite plinking rounds is the 32-20. I guess it's obsolete, but I reload it for my old Colt Army Special and like the heck out of it.

 

[redlevel]

I have killed more deer with a Savage Model 99A in .250-3000 than with anything else.

 

[2152hq]

Now I really feel old,,,the 300 Savage obsolete!
I better dump mine,,right after I finish it.

I like the odd & so called obsolete cartridges in the older rifles.
30 & 32 Remington in Model 8 autos.
6.5mm, 8mm & 9.5mm Mannlicher Schoenauers,,
35Remington in a Model 14 deluxe,though I thought this was a well accepted cartridge yet.
6.5x54R Steyr
9.3x72R and 9.3x74R,,they sound close but are far apart in ballistics and performance. The x74R is really quite a popular cartridge in other parts of the world.
32 Winchester Special, one you don't see at the range often.
500 x 3in BPE,,fun for a box or so, but it's always a good time when the Rigby comes to the range.
30-40 Krag,,very pleasent round to shoot in the original Military rifle.
This one kind of surprised me that it's been relegated to the 'once in a while' run of brass from the mfg'rs.

One I'm going to make ammo for next is a Winchester 1910 .401 S/Loader. Should be fun.
Glad I didn't sell my 41mag dies and lead bullets. Need to make a sizer die for the bullets though. Lots of work to shoot at a dirt bank with a target in front of it, but that's what we do.

 

[Smith357]

Seems like everything I shoot is over well over 100 years old. The most obsolete would be my .54 PRB.

 

[gregintenn]

I have 3 rifles in 300 Savage, and three in 257 Roberts. They are among my favorites. I also love my 218 Bee, 22 Hornet, 7x57, 8x57, 280 Remington, etc. I guess my 30-30s also qualify as obsolete cartridges. Dang I feel old!!!

 

[David LaPell]

I have hunted with the following rounds over the years-

.38-40
.38-55
.303 Savage
.32-20
16 gauge

Last year I took two whitetails, one with the 16 gauge slug and another with a .577 Minie Ball in a repro 1853 Enfield Musketoon. If I can I think you will see me in the woods with my .38-44 Outdoorsman during deer season.

 

[Maximumbob54]

My beloved 35 Remington is in the same boat as the 300 Savage. I stumbled on a Remington Model 8 autoloader at a great price, then a 141 pump shortly after that. The Marlin 336 came a couple of years later. It's a real shooter.
The round is a GREAT Eastern round where shots are under 150 yards, typically. It kills way better than what 'the paper' says it should.

I came very close to buying a 336 in .35 Remmy. The only reason I didn't was I wanted to load my own and figured that .30-30 was more of a known thing at this point. I might just buy one someday just to have a great pair of lever guns.

 

[Cooter Brown]

No obsolete rifle or handgun cartridges, but for the last 11 seasons I've hunted birds almost exclusively with 16 ga. If not that a 28.

When I first got a 16 you didn't see a lot of other hunters with them. And you could pick up nice used 16 ga guns cheaper than any other gauge. But it wasn't too long before the old girl started to make a comeback among hardcore bird hunters.

The deals on old 16 gauge guns went away but ammo is a little easier to find.

 

[Muddyboot]

I collect Army Specials in .41 Long Colt. After I purchased and shot my first one I was hooked. I have 10 now and reload the .41 LC. It's what got me into reloading.