Viable "gaps" in the market that a new caliber could meaningfully fill in today's factory ammo selection

[HankBuck]

After making my latest post on what missing gaps my current ammo lineup had, it got me thinking to the market as a whole, and if there are any missing gaps where a new caliber could fill?

I know the general answer is no, all bases have been covered.

But with the tremendous amount of marketing ammo produces spend on introducing "new and improved" calibers each year (think the PRC's, 6.8 Western, Creedmoor's, 21 sharps etc.) where is that next gap to be filled? What new purpose would it serve? what hunting niche would it fill?

Can you think of anything in the realm of dangerous game cartridge innovation? Short action .423 cal? Long action 0.577 cal for a bolt gun? Short action 0.50c al?

Or will it continue to follow the trend of introducing more efficient long-range cartridges like Hornady has been pumping out? Latest I heard they were considering the 338 PRC for their next release.

Curious as to what you can come up with.

@Northern Shooter - I think that if YOU could find a “meaningful gap” between existing calibers ——-they should Name that Caliber after YOU ! The market seems saturated with too many calibers as it is and ALL are designed to Sell-MORE-New-Guns. Wouldn’t three calibers span the World: .22lr, .30-06, .375 H&H? Of course there’s room for a few more but 50 MORE??? And I am a victim of being “over stocked myself” - it’s like the firearm version of COVID….keeps spreading and No Vaccine is effective !!

 

[PerH]

There was a .41 on the .404 case Levin Robertson wrote an article about

And 10,3x68 Blaser which is in fact very close to an American wildcat .

Asquare made a such .40 cal also


And Ganyana took the .404, cut down to 2.5 inch and put either a .41 or .44 rifle and revolver bullet in it also . I think that one may be the most
Balanced of them outside the H&H case world .

 

[HWL]

Which cartridge was that?

.470 Capstick

HWL

 

[PerH]

425 FOSSDAL BRASS MONOLITHIC QUAL-CART 425 FOSSDAL – CollectibleAmmunition.com – Your source for Collectible Ammunition

Here we have one from Norway and now sadly the defunct Sluttstykket forum .
I had a .404 then and I supplied him with some bullets

Bent Fossdal developed it on the .240 Wby brass , and a .404 bullet on 2150 fps . He was gunsmith then , now offshore worker in Oil industry .

Nice little version , not many built as I know . Would been a little fine one to try . Perhaps a jungle gun @Hunter-Habib .

(And I really miss Sluttstykket forum very much now and then )

 

[Riflecrank]

Test, to see if this will even post.

This web site is very slow to load for me.
Everything else works well on my 'puter.

I have done a .458/.416 Ruger with same throat as on the SAAMI .458 WinMag.
I call it the .458 WinRuger.
Simple neck-up of the .416 Ruger.
No problems.
Better shoulder than on a .400 Whelen.
Pick your COL, either 3.4" for Short H&H Magnum or 3.6" for Long H&H Magnum.

If this site ever becomes more functional for me, I might add more.
Have I been "slow-banned" like a conservative in the lame-stream media ?

 

[Riflecrank]

It worked, I am dangerous again:

 

[Riflecrank]

Here is the picture that should have preceeded the one above:

This web site is bonkers on my end, everything is hit or miss on the upload of images and even plain typing in a reply.

 

[Riflecrank]

Here is the picture that should have preceeded the one above:

 

[Riflecrank]

 

[cmk]

A .400 cal rimless bolt action would seem to fill a hole. Not recessed. Perhaps belted case though to avoid the headspace issues sometimes occurring when reloading 404J. Or at least some shoulder. Might be able to use the 404 case and just neck it down? Keep the same case length so it could be built on standard length action. Or maybe someone has already attempted this? I like the idea of a bullet with a bit more punch than 375 and a bit more range than 404 and a lot less recoil than 416 Rigby.

This reminds me of listening to an interview with Dr Kevin Robertson where he was trying to describe the perfect dangerous game cartridge for Big 5 hunting.

His opinion was it should fit in-between the 375HH and 416 Rigby, more punch and sectional density than the 375, less recoil than the 416 Rigby.

I believe he settled on either a 0.400 cal or 0.411 cal 400-450 grain bullet loaded to 2,150-2,250 fps producing less than 50 ft-lbs of recoil while still producing over 5,000 ft-lbs. of energy.

Basically a 3.6" bolt action version of the 450/400 NE that would produce an additional 200 fps.

That could well be the 400 Tembo, which was conceived by Kevin Robertson and Edd Woslum. It's a slightly shortened 404 Jeff case, necked down to .400. No belt, and I don't recall if the shoulder angle was altered.

 

[WI-2021]

View attachment 655088

Very interesting project! What velocities did you see?

 

[Ontario Hunter]

That could well be the 400 Tembo, which was conceived by Kevin Robertson and Edd Woslum. It's a slightly shortened 404 Jeff case, necked down to .400. No belt, and I don't recall if the shoulder angle was altered.

It had a shoulder. Good looking cartridge. I'm surprised it didn't catch on. I see Hammer and Cutting Edge both make bullets for 400 Tembo. I'm sure I could find someone to make the dies. Hmmm. Might be a project gun worth considering.

 

[Lumaberpat]

It’s a solution asking for a problem, but I think a gap may be a 9.3
Magnum/Ruger/Weatherby.

 

[Rem280]

I wish the 35 Rem would come back in bolt guns

 

[Safari Dave]

IMO, there is no longer a gap.

In fact, there are probably at least 25 cartridges that won't even exist in factory loadings 20 years from now.


The recent craze in new cartridges is all about "long-range" shooting, that 90% of "hunters" can't even do, even though they think they can.

It's one to to kill an animal at 1,000 yards.

It's quite another thing to pack an animal out at that range.


Gun manufacturers just want to sell guns, and they need to, to stay in business.



The ridiculously long range shots that are being made on big game now, to me, are disgusting.

 

[Grumpy gumpy]

It had a shoulder. Good looking cartridge. I'm surprised it didn't catch on. I see Hammer and Cutting Edge both make bullets for 400 Tembo. I'm sure I could find someone to make the dies. Hmmm. Might be a project gun worth considering.
View attachment 655099

Go on….you know you want to ….
Gumpy

 

[odonata]

Very interesting project! What velocities did you see?

It looks like @Riflecrank was having some technical difficulties posting yesterday so I’ll share some more of his photos from an earlier discussion about wildcatting a 458 bullet in a 416 Ruger case for you to peruse. Basically he took a 458 Win rifle & used a 375 Ruger reamer on the chamber. He stamped the word “Ruger” after “458 Win” to create the “458 WinRuger”. He labeled his best load as a 400gr GS Custom bullet @ 2,501 fps.

 

[Challer]

We are stalled in conventional firearms development until something completely different comes along, be it electric launch rails (on our latest carriers) laser beams or field effects whatever. Combustion based fire arms are about as far as they can go, soon to be viewed as archeological relics

 

[WI-2021]

Thank you for the info @odonata! I did a quick search and the only 400 grain factory load I found for the .458 WM is a Buffalo Bore advertised at 2250 fps. Not sure if that's a max load or not. Just looking for a comparison. The ability to gain 250 fps would have some value. I'm curious how it would do with a 500 grain bullet.

 

[odonata]

Thank you for the info @odonata! I did a quick search and the only 400 grain factory load I found for the .458 WM is a Buffalo Bore advertised at 2250 fps. Not sure if that's a max load or not. Just looking for a comparison. The ability to gain 250 fps would have some value. I'm curious how it would do with a 500 grain bullet.

The Federal Safari Trophy Bonded Bear Claw in 400gr also claims 2250 fps. I tried the 404gr Shock Hammer from Aria Ballistic Engineering but was only able to get 2250 out of my 23” McGowen barrel even though they listed 2500 fps as their rating.

If the two Ruger offerings had been more widely successful, then I think necking up the 416 to a 458 & necking down the 375 to something a bit smaller could have produced a useful series of chamberings for standard sized actions.