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.

for the hundreth time...there is NO SHORTAGE if folks stop blasting away at paper or hoarding ammunition...... if a fella fired 3 to check zero,3 to confirm zero that leaves 14 in a box...even if he fires that same 6 rounds on range and 1 round to kill a deer he gets just about 3 deer per box of ammunition which is piss poor going really... makes firing 2 to check zero a bit more attractive...and punching paper with the rimfire or centrefire and cast loads just that much more so.
the days of mag dumping for the hell of it may be gone for the time being (pretty hard without a semi anyway) but with a LITTLE prudence there is more than enough to go around.....heck you fellas took the piss out of toilet paper hoarders....... for good reason.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

for the hundreth time...there is NO SHORTAGE if folks stop blasting away at paper or hoarding ammunition...... if a fella fired 3 to check zero,3 to confirm zero that leaves 14 in a box...even if he fires that same 6 rounds on range and 1 round to kill a deer he gets just about 3 deer per box of ammunition which is piss poor going really... makes firing 2 to check zero a bit more attractive...and punching paper with the rimfire or centrefire and cast loads just that much more so.
the days of mag dumping for the hell of it may be gone for the time being (pretty hard without a semi anyway) but with a LITTLE prudence there is more than enough to go around.....heck you fellas took the piss out of toilet paper hoarders....... for good reason.

Greetings @Micky Duck,
Thanks for your reply. I was trying to deal with a couple of specific unfounded rumours in the thread so rather glossed over the panic buying that drives temporary shortages. Due partly to nature and nurture I am particlarly prudent with ammo expentiture having never carried out the endless strings of test loads that some feel are neccesary. If a rifle needs that sort of work to get it to shoot well I would rather it belonged to someone else.
Regards Grandpamac.
PS. I mentioned the .264 Win Mag recently in a post so looked it up. New factory loaded cartridges are available from Remington (the cartridge section) at $100.00US for a packet of 20. .264 cases can be made from 7mm Rem Mag cases with one stroke of the press. We shold all be handloaders.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

for the hundreth time...there is NO SHORTAGE if folks stop blasting away at paper or hoarding ammunition...... if a fella fired 3 to check zero,3 to confirm zero that leaves 14 in a box...even if he fires that same 6 rounds on range and 1 round to kill a deer he gets just about 3 deer per box of ammunition which is piss poor going really... makes firing 2 to check zero a bit more attractive...and punching paper with the rimfire or centrefire and cast loads just that much more so.
the days of mag dumping for the hell of it may be gone for the time being (pretty hard without a semi anyway) but with a LITTLE prudence there is more than enough to go around.....heck you fellas took the piss out of toilet paper hoarders....... for good reason.

I find it interesting that people on this forum should be taking paper punchers to task for wasting ammunition as if range shooting is not a legitimate hobby As for mag dumping anybody who has fired a mad minute or speed comp or even cowboy shooting is gaining experience and having fun shooting at there own expense. Each to his own but I try to get to the range two or three times a week so try to have an adequate supply of ammo for my needs. There is so much 223 and 7.62x39 ammo laying around after the big confiscation that much of it will be around for years to come, as the amount of 303 and 3006 still turning up proves. If not for hoarders it would not be around today.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

for the hundreth time...there is NO SHORTAGE if folks stop blasting away at paper or hoarding ammunition...... if a fella fired 3 to check zero,3 to confirm zero that leaves 14 in a box...even if he fires that same 6 rounds on range and 1 round to kill a deer he gets just about 3 deer per box of ammunition which is piss poor going really... makes firing 2 to check zero a bit more attractive...and punching paper with the rimfire or centrefire and cast loads just that much more so.
the days of mag dumping for the hell of it may be gone for the time being (pretty hard without a semi anyway) but with a LITTLE prudence there is more than enough to go around.....heck you fellas took the piss out of toilet paper hoarders....... for good reason.

If you don’t have it, can’t buy it, and there’s very small amounts on the way, I’d call that a shortage mate.
How people use a box is meaningless if you can’t get it on the first place

Originally Posted by Sakoswarosorted

If you don’t have it, can’t buy it, and there’s very small amounts on the way, I’d call that a shortage mate.
How people use a box is meaningless if you can’t get it on the first place

but I HAVE IT...and can still buy it..... there is still some ammunition on the shelves...... I guess it comes back to having lived through harder times.
our grandparents shot pigs with a .12ga and #4 shot as thats all that was around....as a teenager I would get mum to buy (remember those easy times?)a single box of rounds...and when I was down to last 3-4 get another.... using a single barrel break open shotgun for a lot of those formative years taught me to get in close and make the shot count. I recall a driven shoot up in mackenzie basin 50-60 shooters with all sorts of shotguns,including 3 professional rabbiters..at the end of the day a tally up was had....I came out on top and my buddy a close 2nd and we were both using single barrel guns,our round usage was less too...the professional guys werent overly happy about being shown up by a couple of rookies (previous 3 months I had been shooting rabbits full time) it comes down to this,and ONLY THIS.
There is more than enough ammunition and components for zeroing rifle and hunting....... if you want to shoot a couple of hundred rounds into paper,maybe you might need to take up casting projectiles and look at lighter charges of powder to eak out what you can get...or not.
its like anything,supply and demand,reduce the supply and you up the demand...reduce the demand and supply keeps up if not slows down as no market for it.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

but I HAVE IT...and can still buy it..... there is still some ammunition on the shelves...... I guess it comes back to having lived through harder times.
our grandparents shot pigs with a .12ga and #4 shot as thats all that was around....as a teenager I would get mum to buy (remember those easy times?)a single box of rounds...and when I was down to last 3-4 get another.... using a single barrel break open shotgun for a lot of those formative years taught me to get in close and make the shot count. I recall a driven shoot up in mackenzie basin 50-60 shooters with all sorts of shotguns,including 3 professional rabbiters..at the end of the day a tally up was had....I came out on top and my buddy a close 2nd and we were both using single barrel guns,our round usage was less too...the professional guys werent overly happy about being shown up by a couple of rookies (previous 3 months I had been shooting rabbits full time) it comes down to this,and ONLY THIS.
There is more than enough ammunition and components for zeroing rifle and hunting....... if you want to shoot a couple of hundred rounds into paper,maybe you might need to take up casting projectiles and look at lighter charges of powder to eak out what you can get...or not.
its like anything,supply and demand,reduce the supply and you up the demand...reduce the demand and supply keeps up if not slows down as no market for it.

I do not know what parallel universe you grew up in but in my youth we used semi-auto shotguns and bought CAC ammo by the case,22 and 22mag by the brick.I never saw a single barrel shotgun in a duck blind and we had a bach at Lake Ellesmere for 50 years. Pig shooters would use 303's 308's and 44/40's and if a 12 gauge slugs or buckshot. 303 ammo was every where and had little value and traded or given away to younger shooters.

Originally Posted by Tedz50

Attachment 203755
I do not know what parallel universe you grew up in but in my youth we used semi-auto shotguns and bought CAC ammo by the case,22 and 22mag by the brick.I never saw a single barrel shotgun in a duck blind and we had a bach at Lake Ellesmere for 50 years. Pig shooters would use 303's 308's and 44/40's and if a 12 gauge slugs or buckshot. 303 ammo was every where and had little value and traded or given away to younger shooters.

parralel universe of kingcountry in the 80s before/during and after sharemarket crash..so interest rates up to 30% on one mortguage....mortguagee sales all around including our own farm,so yes money was tighter than a fishes arse.
Tokoroa pines were shotgun only so brought up with single barrel shotgun being "the norm" ....it was my possum skin money that bought my ammunition and anything else a teen needed...no silver spoon in my mouth,wooden spoon around my arse forsure.

Originally Posted by Tedz50

Attachment 203755
I do not know what parallel universe you grew up in but in my youth we used semi-auto shotguns and bought CAC ammo by the case,22 and 22mag by the brick.I never saw a single barrel shotgun in a duck blind and we had a bach at Lake Ellesmere for 50 years. Pig shooters would use 303's 308's and 44/40's and if a 12 gauge slugs or buckshot. 303 ammo was every where and had little value and traded or given away to younger shooters.

Like that model 57 Marlin. Nice.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

for the hundreth time...there is NO SHORTAGE if folks stop blasting away at paper or hoarding ammunition...... if a fella fired 3 to check zero,3 to confirm zero that leaves 14 in a box...even if he fires that same 6 rounds on range and 1 round to kill a deer he gets just about 3 deer per box of ammunition which is piss poor going really... makes firing 2 to check zero a bit more attractive...and punching paper with the rimfire or centrefire and cast loads just that much more so.
the days of mag dumping for the hell of it may be gone for the time being (pretty hard without a semi anyway) but with a LITTLE prudence there is more than enough to go around.....heck you fellas took the piss out of toilet paper hoarders....... for good reason.

so theres no shortage for me as a pistol shooter ideally shooting 2-300 rounds a week? or a long range dude training before a big comp? i shoot multiple times a week, but id only hunt half a dozen times a year

Originally Posted by Howa1500

so theres no shortage for me as a pistol shooter ideally shooting 2-300 rounds a week? or a long range dude training before a big comp? i shoot multiple times a week, but id only hunt half a dozen times a year

yes I do understand that side of it......my bad.am talking from a hunting point of view so guess I SHALL JUST SHUT UP..... and the range shooting folks should stay out of any discussion to do with taking of game or filling freezer too???

pistol rounds...hmm lets see,3-4-5 grns of ???blue dot and cast projectiles still around in droves,so its really only primers that will knee cap you. good luck,be frugal and hope for the best.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

yes I do understand that side of it......my bad.am talking from a hunting point of view so guess I SHALL JUST SHUT UP..... and the range shooting folks should stay out of any discussion to do with taking of game or filling freezer too???

pistol rounds...hmm lets see,3-4-5 grns of ???blue dot and cast projectiles still around in droves,so its really only primers that will knee cap you. good luck,be frugal and hope for the best.

No, no, and no. There will be no shutting up!!! I love a good lively discussion As long as there is no personal attacks/abuse, a robust debate always brings insight. Continue to have at it.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

A srambled version of this may be the scource.

The first rumours of it were heard back in 2019 after the chch shooting. The concern was that the police were going to try and ban everything they thought they could get away with banning, including everything over a certain amount of power. That bit obviously didn't happen but in the same way we still get recently resurfaced rock dwellers wondering where all the ammo has gone, it takes a long time for rumours to filter their way down to some people. I don't think it's a new rumour - just a very old one that popped back up.

well actually if you re read what I wrote....... actually just the bit after the brackets will do..... you cant have it both ways...complain about shortages and in same breath use like ther eis no tomorrow...with a little prudence there is plenty to go around...heck I was giving dannyb shit about using up components in his load developement...Im a tight wad and hate wasteage..... my problem child rifle is parked up for now till I can bring myslef to use up more components on paper to sort it... thats just me..I wont run out in a hurry as have been careful and have small supply on hand.... small being operative word.

So, in conclusion ... there's no real shortage until we hear gunfire slowing down.