Thread: Cartridge and Rifle Camberings Availability.

Greetings All,
There have been a couple of threads lately on the possible demise of cartridges due to manufacturer disinterest or government edict. I thought I would do an not very scientific survey of chamberings available in NZ (or would be if there was still supply available). Clearly there are stacks of rifles chambered for the current two wonder 6.5mm cartridges while the .260 Rem is scarce. A lot of rifles these days have short or semi short actions which will not chamber any of the 06 cartridges but the old standards 30-06 and its spawn, the .270 and .25-06 are still available. Interestingly the .30-06 rifles are often have wood stocks which betrays the age group of its devotees.
For ammo who would know under current circumstances but generally if there is adequate demand and people are prepared to pay the price for the less common stuff then it will be produced. Cartridges which have been popular for a significant period of time should remain in production for a very long time after the production of rifles ceases eg the .303. The cartridges that would concern me are recent introductions for which popularity is low. If the cases can not easily be formed from anything else. 7mm-08 cases can easily be made from .308 cases. They are a little short but work fine. There are rifles currently available for the .350 Legend which is an orphan case. Yes I know that it is similar in head size to the .223 but it is just enough bigger to cause a problem.
Recent supposed rumours about the demise of .300 Mag cartridges by government edict had me baffled for a bit until I realised where it may have come from. All public rifle ranges will need to be certified in the future. To do this a safety template has to be calculated. The inputs for this include the type and power of the ammo in use. Some current rifle ranges have a maximum muzzle energy measured in Joules for the cartridges that can be used. This is not determined by government but by the range owner based on what template he can fit on the land available. A srambled version of this may be the scource.
Regards Grandpamac.