ORPHAN CALIBERS

Rudi

Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2018
Messages
8,377
Reaction score
19,747
Was at the range today for a class. Ended up sitting next one of the owners of one of the largest LGSs in the area. Ammo was a hot topic of conversation. He has contacts at the major ammo makers. He said that certain calibers are just not being made. Classic calibers, 30/30 Win, 30.06, .38spl. .357mag. etc. are not high on the list for production. Only 2 days per month are dedicated to the production of such calibers. Just blows my mind. He gets a few cases and they are gone in 2 days. But he has 9mm, .223/5.56, 308 by the pallet. Did not ask about prices. If you are looking for such calibers, call the stores often and be ready to jump in the truck with some $$$$.
 

Attachments

  • canned goods.jpg
    canned goods.jpg
    38.1 KB · Views: 98
Register to hide this ad
I’ve got a couple Marlin 1894 Classics (in .218 Bee & .25-20) that I’ll never wear out due to lack of ammo. At least they’re pretty to look at...
 
Last edited:
I feel our sport gets controlled too much by marketing. Heck. You can't even find 38 Special anymore. My last CC class had about 30 people in it. I had a 38 and another guy had an NAA 22 mag.

We were the only ones with revolvers. :(
 
Last edited:
Was at the range today for a class. Ended up sitting next one of the owners of one of the largest LGSs in the area. Ammo was a hot topic of conversation. He has contacts at the major ammo makers. He said that certain calibers are just not being made. Classic calibers, 30/30 Win, 30.06, .38spl. .357mag. etc. are not high on the list for production. Only 2 days per month are dedicated to the production of such calibers. Just blows my mind. He gets a few cases and they are gone in 2 days. But he has 9mm, .223/5.56, 308 by the pallet. Did not ask about prices. If you are looking for such calibers, call the stores often and be ready to jump in the truck with some $$$$.

Left me shaking my head. Those are some of the most common calibers out there. I personally have at least one each of the rifle calibers mentioned and multiple weapons of the pistol rounds mentioned Just a quick review of my friends guns and what I see on the range makes me want to start walking in circles. :D Not being able to find 32.40 ammo does not surprise me.!
 
Think those are bad...take a look at the auction prices of .35 Remington....

Two of my friends got drawn for a moose hunt in Maine last fall. On a website forum they belong to there were hunters who had also drawn moose permits who were looking for ammo for their hunting rifles.

I feel sorry for the new gun owners who can't buy reasonably priced ammo or maybe none at all... For people who have had guns for sometimes decades and are out of ammo after living through the past shortages and didn't bother to stock up while there was ammo through the end of 2019...not at all...

Bob
 
While those are common calibers, they may not be high-volume calibers for an ammunition factory. My local ammunition purveyor's shelves reflect much the same.

They had .30-30 yesterday (foreign). They had .38 Spl. for a while. They got one carton. Of course at $35 a box/50 for Remington 130gr RN FMJ it lasted a while....about three days. But glad to see Remington is back.

Thankfully, I reload for that. Even at today's inflated component prices it's $10 a box for reloads ($40 powder, $80 primers).

Have no fear, the market will work. Once the factories stop getting so many orders for the 9/223/308 and it starts accumulating in their warehouses they shall turn their attention to other things.
 
WOW ! That's something .
In 1967 I asked my Dad for $10.00 to buy a Lee (whack-a-mole) Loader because I wanted to start reloading ammo ... He looked at me like he just realized I might need to be tested ... and replied " Why would you want to do that ...you can buy all the loaded ammo you want at the store !"
I gave him a bunch of good sounding reasons and he gave me a $20.00 "for the extras" . Who would have thought that move to get into reloading and bullet casting would be one of the Smartest Things I ever did.
I saw the writing on the wall and in 2012 stockpiled a lifetime supply of primes , powders , cases and bullet moulds and everything I need to make my own ammo ...what I don't shoot ...the kids inherit !
And what do I shoot most ...30-30 , 30-06 , 7.5 Swiss , 38 special , 41 magnum and 45 acp ... not exactly high on their lists that's for sure .
Gary
 
Last edited:
A popular caliber doesn't always mean that those that have guns in those calibers buy factory ammo in large quantitys.

Hunting rifle ammo if you use OTC ammo is a couple boxes likely. Not a case of each caliber.

It's simply marketing,,they look at what sells the most and make that to supply the demand. Make Money.
No sense in the view of the big profit mfg'rs in making what won't sell when there are lots of customers standing in line to buy certain caliber ammo that flys off the shelves.

It's difficult for someone else to fill those smaller niche demands in the ammo supply unless it's with reloaded ammo.
Most don't like to use anything even if sold with fancy packaging and pronounced as 'Factory Reloaded'.

Lot's of the lesser demand calibers are going away. Just not enough overall demand to make setting up the cartridge case drawing & forming line.
Some mfg'rs will do a few calibers once a yr (or less often) and make a run of this or that caliber. But that's it.
Sometimes it's just unprimed brass. Sometimes loaded ammo as well.

When those are sold, wait till the next time.
30-40 Krag is getting like that, so is 300Savage and 35 Remington.
30Remington has been on that list for a while and getting further to the bottom of importance.
You can make most any case from something else, but finding some of them OTC is getting scarce and expensive when you do.

Reload, you'll never be without as long as you plan ahead. Way ahead.
 
If you do not reload a lot of the "odd" calibers are unobtanium. I reload for most "normal" calibers in handgun. The one "odd" caliber that I reload for is .38 ACP, also .32 magnum if you want to count that. Have a friend that reloads for his rifles and he does a lot of "odd " stuff, .219 Zipper and .220 Swift come to mind.
 
I shoot a 7mm, Remington Short Action Ultra Magnum. Talk about orphan calibers! I load of course and have lots of brass so I'm in good shape.

I have read that the reason there is so much 9mm and 223 is because there is a 2 year backlog on NATO military orders. It makes sense that the ammo companies are going to set up for the millions of rounds to supply the military s of the world and that is what gets produced first. Manufacturers are not going to prioritize producing ammo that is going to sit in inventory while there are unfilled government contracts.
 
I am wondering how many of the obscure orphans will not reappear after this crisis ends whenever that is. Some that come to mind are most of the Winchester WSM and WSSM calibers. They were on life support prior to this panic. The Remington short magnums were never very successful either. I also think a lot of once popular old timers may be history such as 7mm Mauser, 257 Roberts, 300 Savage. Try finding some 25/35 Winchester or 32 Special. Even before it was tough in the future I bet they quietly die.
Just guessing here but we will see.
 
I am wondering how many of the obscure orphans will not reappear after this crisis ends whenever that is. Some that come to mind are most of the Winchester WSM and WSSM calibers. They were on life support prior to this panic. The Remington short magnums were never very successful either. I also think a lot of once popular old timers may be history such as 7mm Mauser, 257 Roberts, 300 Savage. Try finding some 25/35 Winchester or 32 Special. Even before it was tough in the future I bet they quietly die.
Just guessing here but we will see.

There's still a lot of guns out there for those "orphans". In normal times, it's not such a big deal for a manufacturer to make a run of most ammo, especially the ones that are based on the same case head size. There are die hard nostalgia fans that catch the ear of a gun maker and the next thing you know, you get a run of guns in some odd chambering. Some gun writer latches on and suddenly there is a demand. One of Remington's most in demand guns were the classic series, 700's. They were chambered in all kinds of odd ball calibers over the years. It happens over and over. Of course it's going to take some time for the economy to get back on track from the last two years of nonsense, but it will. I wouldn't re chamber that 257 just yet.
 
Was at the range today for a class. Ended up sitting next one of the owners of one of the largest LGSs in the area. Ammo was a hot topic of conversation. He has contacts at the major ammo makers. He said that certain calibers are just not being made. Classic calibers, 30/30 Win, 30.06, .38spl. .357mag. etc. are not high on the list for production. Only 2 days per month are dedicated to the production of such calibers. Just blows my mind. He gets a few cases and they are gone in 2 days. But he has 9mm, .223/5.56, 308 by the pallet. Did not ask about prices. If you are looking for such calibers, call the stores often and be ready to jump in the truck with some $$$$.

I think you mean cartridges. Caliber is the measurement of the bore. Look in a reloading manual sometime and see how many 30 ''caliber'' (.308) cartridges there are. It's more or less the bible for people who want to talk about such things.

I'm not trying to cause dissention because I know some gun writers that should know better use the same term.



Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine. Like calling a donkey a mule.
 
Last edited:
I'm a push over for the odd balls.

.41 Magnum, 32 S&W long, 16 ga, 6.8 spc and 8mm Remington magnum.

I load for most of them and have large stocks of the others. In the cases of the 6.8 spc, .41 magnum and 16 ga they have actually become more available locally because some stores that used to carry only more common stuff now have open orders for ANY ammo they can get.
 
350

in 1985 i bought a remington 700 custom classic in remimington 350 magnum. they use to make the custom classic in a different caliber every year.

remington was the only company that loaded said round and they have since discontinued it. they loaded a 250 gr in the 60s but only the 200 in the 80s.

i have enough to hunt with forever. even picked up a box of the 250s at a gun show years ago. i don't hunt it anymore and have been thinking about letting it go.

if you find any for sale it's gonna go $100 and up. don't know what i'm going to do with it. kenny :(
 
If history tells us anything it is that ammo manufacturers come out most traumatic societal events with fewer cartridges than they went into such events with. As in WWII. This covid thing has flipped the whole world upside down and it does not appear over yet.
I am thinking that manufacturers are going to just let the small sellers pass a quietly as they can.
And yet they continue to offer new stuff that seem to answer questions no one asked as in the new 30 super or whatever it is called handgun round. Last year it was the 6.8 Western.
 
Back
Top