Author Topic: Medium bore comeback? (Read 1469 times)

Rummer · « **on:** January 07, 2007, 04:18:27 PM »

I have noticed in gunshops that I am seeing more .35 caliber rifles. Remington currently chambers there 700 and new 750 semiauto in .35 whelen. Ruger is offerring their new hawkeye in .358 (and .338 federal).

Do ou guys think that more shoters are realizing that over .30 caliber bullets at moderate velocity are super game killers or are the rifle manufacturers just making another mistake?

I imagine that lack of ammo availability will limit the market for rifles in both the .338 Fed and .358, but it would be great if Hornady, in their partnership with Ruger, would bring out ammo for both of the cartridges.

What do you guys think?

Rummer

Slamfire · « **Reply #1 on:** January 07, 2007, 04:58:09 PM »

Perhaps the new material recoil pads are allowin' some recoil shy folks to try the .33s and .35s that they knew they wouldn't like. I don't think they are gonna take over from the Big Three, .30-06, .308 and .270 but they might do bettern' the .358 did way back when.

fatercat · « **Reply #2 on:** January 08, 2007, 02:35:48 AM »

i have fallen for the new super calibers the gun writers are selling. i believe the gun and ammo people come up with these to increase sales and profit. i tried the 300 wsm in the bar short track and got my ass handed to me. i have a 35 whelen that with hand loads shootes the 225 gn. barns x-bullet over 2800 fps. and does not kick half as bad as the 300 wsm i had. shoots as flat as a 30-06 and will kill better than those super calibers. i buy new trucks and cloths, but i think i will stick with the old and proven as the 35 whelen, 270, or the 30-06 from now on.

Sourdough · « **Reply #3 on:** January 08, 2007, 10:33:57 AM »

America is aging, arthritis is dictating what we now do. People are also discovering that the .35 Whelen is not a bad kicker. Recoil is comperable to a 30-06. 200gr bullet in the .35 and 200gr bullet in 06 are identical. Yet the frontal area is more and impact is greater. I use .35s on bears and Moose, works great, better than a 30cal. Range is good also, 250 yards.

TNrifleman · « **Reply #4 on:** January 08, 2007, 02:33:44 PM »

I am a long time 35 Whelen fan. I think the Whelen is one fine big game cartridge. I have recently began working with the 35 Remington in a great old Remington Model 141 pump action rifle. The medium bores have lots to offer the practical hunter. Hopefully, the current trend will meet with good acceptance with hunters and shooters. The 358 Winchester is simply too good to die. The new 338 Federal is on my "must have" list.

jro45 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 11, 2007, 04:26:53 AM »

I've always looked at the weight of the animal I was hunting as to what caliber rifle I would use. I know deer is real easy to figure. There are some references out also

Lone Star · « **Reply #6 on:** January 11, 2007, 11:17:04 AM »

Quote

i have fallen for the new super calibers the gun writers are selling. i believe the gun and ammo people come up with these to increase sales and profit.

I have to giggle at the notion some folks have that there is something un-American about making a profit. Free enterprise is what this nation was founded upon, and without a profit there is no market growth, no increase in jobs, no America. Are the gunmakers supposed to just suck it up, offer the same old tired firearms and cartridges, and accept mediocrity?

Offering new cartridges to increase sales has been going on since metallic cartridges were first developed. Look at a cartridge chart from the 1880s sometime. What a plethora of different cartridges with similar performance in calibers from .25 to .50! Most offered nothing really new over what had come before, often they were almost identical except for the makers name - the .45-70 Sharps WAS the .45-70 Government with a different bullet. They offered the buyer more choices and increased the sales and profits for the gun makers. Gee, how awful.

Once in awhile a really new cartridge was introduced, that's how we evolve the shooting sports. The popular ones stay, the less popular ones fall by the wayside. It is the same with ANY consumer product, what sells matters, not what is better. (Those who owned them know that BetaMax was better than VHS, but where is BetaMax today?

)

.

SDS-GEN · « **Reply #7 on:** January 11, 2007, 01:12:01 PM »

Lone star said it all. PROFIT isn't a four letter word (I work in retail and many people think it is.)and if there were only 3 different calibers and two different models of guns the industry wouldn't be the huge money maker that it is.

Cecil · « **Reply #8 on:** January 12, 2007, 02:37:34 AM »

Thinking of buying a 358 Winchester or 35 Whelen, Was looking a Midway & Midsouth sites for brass both are out and looks like the brass is only made once a year. Don't know if I will buy a rifle that componets are that hard too find.

Drilling Man · « **Reply #9 on:** January 12, 2007, 08:27:43 AM »

Quote

Don't know if I will buy a rifle that componets are that hard too find.

I always buy at least 100 rounds of brass for any rifle i plan to reload for and that problem is over for a long long time! I only have to find it the first time, and then i'm set for many years... If i really like my new gun i'll buy up even more, and then i'm pretty much set for as long as i live... I guess if you are into makeing poor buying decisions and trade a lot, that wouldn't work, but i don't have that problem..

Whelen brass can be easily made too...

DM

Rummer · « **Reply #10 on:** January 12, 2007, 03:32:27 PM »

I have never made my WHelen brass from 06 brass, is that hard to do?
Is making 358 brass from .308 brass any more difficult?

Rummer

Drilling Man · « **Reply #11 on:** January 12, 2007, 05:13:33 PM »

Quote

I have never made my WHelen brass from 06 brass, is that hard to do?
Is making 358 brass from .308 brass any more difficult?

Exact same procedure.... You shouldn't have any problems at all...

DM

fatercat · « **Reply #12 on:** January 13, 2007, 04:56:08 AM »

cabela's has the 35 whelen brass, and cheap too.

Cecil · « **Reply #13 on:** January 14, 2007, 06:24:19 AM »

I looked on Cabela'a site and they are out of stock

fatercat · « **Reply #14 on:** January 15, 2007, 03:34:49 PM »

cecil, i just got a bag of 100 35 whelen, how many do you need?

daddywpb · « **Reply #15 on:** January 15, 2007, 10:45:06 PM »

How about the .350 Remington Mag reappearing in the Remington 673 and the Ruger M77? It is a great caliber. Recoil is stout, but not uncomfortable. My Ruger .350 has become my favorite rifle. Brass and components are readily available from Midway and others.

Cecil · « **Reply #16 on:** January 16, 2007, 03:15:03 AM »

Fatercat , Thanks for the offer but I do not own a Whelen or 358 winchester yet still in the planning stage. Was simpley looking at availiblity of componets. Kinda seems there are only made once a year. I know both cartridges can be necked up but I would think case mouth would be thinned doing so and would lesson case life. I will probably buy one or the other just trying to work out a few things first.

S.S. · « **Reply #17 on:** January 16, 2007, 05:00:23 AM »

I am seeing it everywhere myself. Several of the Gun Rags are now regularly full of articles
on the old .30-30 now. I believe the comeback of calibers such as this is largely due to the lack of hunting areas where a long range shot is safely possible. Urban sprawl is encroaching everywhere
and hunting areas get smaller and smaller as this happens.

Don Fischer · « **Reply #18 on:** January 16, 2007, 05:29:18 AM »

Stop and think about it. What would really be needed in any remote fashion in cartridges under 338 cal? There's room in 6.5's but americans are not very warm to them in general. Theres room in 25 cal but the only thing americans want there is something that will go 3000+ fps. Theres plenty of room in 24 cal but americans insist on the 243 or nothing. What could you add to the 28 cal's or the 30 cal's? Not much. Only way to go is up and just how much of it is new? Usually, if you wait long enough, you'll once again be in style. Cartridge offerings have mich more to do with marketing than filling any need.

jro45 · « **Reply #19 on:** January 16, 2007, 06:52:51 AM »

I would say that the Ultra's have alot to do with marketing and for long range shooting. The other calibers are to many. It has got so if you don't want to shoot a deer or other animal with a certain size bullet you can use a different rifle shooting a different caliber bullet.

That is America, its all in what ever you want to use so long as it works

TrenchMud · « **Reply #20 on:** January 17, 2007, 05:29:14 AM »

I agree with the above post, the places where a 4 or 500 yard shot is safe are becoming scarce.
People of course still do it. Of all the folks I know who hunt, a .270 is the most powerful cartridge
I know of any of them using regularly. .30-30's, .44 mag and .35 Rem"s are back in popularity around here. Some are even using .357 Mag. Leverguns. One of the guys at camp used a .300 Mag
last year (for Georgia Whitetail !) talk about overkill !, He caught so much grief I doubt he will use it again. One fella hit a doe with a 45-70. it broke the front shoulder and swung the front leg up around the back of its head. dropped in it's tracks. Looked like 'Whitetail Yoga".. I know that
there is really nothing wrong with using these types of shoulder fired artillery, But...Jeez, Why !
Those monster killing cartridges are costly too. With ammo prices going up like they are, I will stick
with my old tried and true .30-30. Already have hundreds of rounds and brass for more, can't see changing to something else, It has never let me down yet.