Why the Myriad of "Stuff"

[GypsmJim]

I was looking for something in my volume of "Cartridges of the World" and I had a crazy thought.

OK..... .22, 38, 9mm, 357, 45, 44.

Or..... .223, 270, 308, 30-30, 30-06, 458.

And of course......foreign and military cartridges...7mm, 8mm, 303, 7.62, etc.

Anywhoot, is there an application that any of these flavors can't accomplish? Why do we "need" to have a multitude of others that simply seem to complicate everything.

Just a rant....

 

[cgt4570]

I would add the .32/.327 range to handguns, and a .243 and 6.5mm to the rifles. After that, I agree.

 

[jjrr]

Variety is the spice of life. If you only had a couple the forum would be VERY boring.

 

[alwslate]

If your copy of the book is the same as mine you will see that many of the cartridges included are old, obsolete, obscure and we don't actually 'have them". The author seems to have made an attempt to include just about anything that has ever existed. Very interesting reading really.

 

[Rubone]

I'm really glad there are more than 10 basic women in the world, ten kinds of dogs, ten car designs, ten kinds of motorcycles, or any other limiting factor on anything......

 

[RobertJ.]

Variety is the spice of life. If you only had a couple the forum would be VERY boring.

I can't think of one single thing that the cartridges listed in the OP couldn't take care of.

But the above post nailed it!

 

[ReloadforFun]

Marketing theory says, "expand or die", so the various marketing departments are always seeking to offer "new" stuff. It does not matter that the performance may already be covered - got to offer something new.

 

[dwh]

Because newer is better, I don’t have one of those and mine is better than yours. Why would you buy a 6.5 creedmore when the 100+ year old 6.5x55 Swede does the same thing.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Way back- had a Boss who researched then headed out, Metal detector in hand.
He found some funky looking large rimmed rim fire rifle cases.
Up in middle Nevada.
So he asked me, do you have a cartridge reference book?
Yes Sir I do.
When he saw it, it looked at Frank Barnes pic on the back cover.
Frank Barnes! I went to Graduate School at Univ NM with him!
I think we decided it was most likely he found some of the 56 cal Spencer’s.

 

[Alk8944]

I was looking for something in my volume of "Cartridges of the World" and I had a crazy thought.

Anywhoot, is there an application that any of these flavors can't accomplish? Why do we "need" to have a multitude of others that simply seem to complicate everything.

Just a rant....

Because it isn't a matter of NEED, but simply WANT! Notice both are four-letter words People want variety for whatever reason that appeals to them and gun/ammunition manufacturers are more than willing to cater to that desire of the shooting public, as long as they will pay for it.

 

[STORMINORMAN]

Let's not forget the ol' .40 while we are at it...?

Cheers!

 

[30-30remchester]

To further the scope of the post. Why so many different vehicles. A Dodge minivan for family, a Ford F-250 pickup for work and a Polaris 4-wheeler for off road. Why not eliminate the extras? I mean who really needs a turbo Hummer? And why so many paint colors. Aint black, white, enough for everything. Just saying.

 

[Nevada Ed]

You could actually shorten you list a little if you wanted to;

since the 30-06 has bullet weights from the little 55gr , up to the huge, 220gr bullet;

for use in the states.

 

[dave1918a2]

Answer to Your question. Why do golfers have so many different clubs??

 

[glenwolde]

Why? Marketing departments dream up "new" stuff to sell. God Bless them one and all.

 

[Rule3]

Glocks were made "Perfect" Why are there so many "Generations? The all look like a Glock

 

[Miracle Man]

You could get a 30-06 bolt action rifle and a 357 magnum revolver and do just about any hunting/killing/shooting in the world. But then as has been said it would be pretty boring with only those two calibers and guns.

But I get what you're saying. When I started reloading in early 80's I could name to you a lot of the common calibers in both rifle and handgun. Today? haha haha, couldn't even come close.

On a fairly regular basis I'll see an article or post on a new 6.5X51.3 crazylegs hummdinger valkerie smokinghot round and be like hmmmm, never heard of it.

 

[Miracle Man]

You could actually shorten you list a little if you wanted to;

since the 30-06 has bullet weights from the little 55gr , up to the huge, 220gr bullet;

for use in the states.

Dang you just sparked a memory, I had forgotten all about. 55gr 30-06 with sabots geeezzz what was that late 80's early 90's? Seems I bought a box of em Remington IIRC? I forget the stated velocity? 3,500 FPS or something in there?

Long time ago. Again if memory serves I couldn't hit the side of a barn with them standing in it.

 

[Kinman]

Im still spending most of my shooting time fooling around with a muzzle loader of some kind. I still like messing around with the early wildcats that were just figured out by some gunsmith or machinist with that insatiable need to "mess" with something in their spare time. All most of them did was neck down, shorten or blow out a shoulder, shortening the case was a little more drastic. I shoot a .321 Bullshutzen that is a 32-40 case shortened .75 inch, it uses a bullet seater to install the true .321 bullet against the lands after which the case is chambered then fired. Its a pistol capable of 1" groups at 100yds and was developed for pistol benchrest. Its all about folks that can't leave well enough alone, the inveterate tinkerer that lives in some folks. Henry Ford thought all we needed was the Model T, it took a bunch of talking from Edsel to upgrade to the Model A in order to compete with Chevrolet.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Variety is a good thing especially because of the different guns you get to shoot.