Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Why did the SAUMs fail?

I was getting out of the service in the late 1990s when we had that burst of magnum cartridges. Like the cranks we were, we sat around discussing where equipment technology would go for snipers and hunters. We were about to take delivery of TAC-50s, for LR sniping. The 338 was still a few years away. I mention this because civilian cartridges were getting bigger and more powerful too. We were about to see the new Short Mags and Ultra Mags.

One of the things that we all agreed upon was that most, if not all of these cartridges would not last long. They were too powerful for the user to fire comfortably, the rifles and cartridges would be too expensive, and few game animals required this level of power. My boss went farther, predicting that we would see lightly used magnum rifles at gun shops for cheap in short order. He was right.

Innovation and new products keep businesses profitable, so this flurry of magnums fed the industry for a few years, but quickly disappeared. They had to move on to something else. Some of the cartridges survived, but most (mercifully) have gone. I couldn't see how the WSSMs could survive. You gotta figure that if you have 8 or 10 new magnum cartridges on the market, only one or two might hold on. The companies know this as well. It is all part of their business plan.

Add Lazzeronis, Ruger's Compact Magnums to the list, and we went from a few magnums in the mid 90s to a hockey sock full 10 or 12 years later. Too many for varmint hunting anyway.

The closest to a magnum cartridge that I have ever owned is my 45-70. It's a Ruger No.1, so I can almost sneak up to 458 levels, but I am not that crazy. If I need magnum performance, I load 200 or 220 grain cup and core bullets into my 30-06.