Yep, Remington has introduced quite a few very successful cartridges. Those that were initially successful and remained so for many years include the .222, which would probably be popular if it hadn't been modified into a military round which took the .222's place, and the 7mm Remington Magnum awas major triumph. They were also smart about "civilizing" so many popular wildcats, including the .22-250, .257 Roberts, .25-06, 7mm-08, .7mm STW, .35 Whelen and .416 Magnum (which had been around as an almost identical wildcat for a while). Some of those faded due to other factors, but they were very successful for several years after introduction.
The .350 Magnum also did reasonably well, and still appears now and then, but eventually had to compete with the .35 Whelen.
But they screwed up in various ways on other rounds, including the 5mm Magnum rimfire, .244/6mm, .260, 6.5 Magnum, and 8mm Magnum. The SAUMs are pretty good rounds, but Remington had the misfortune of introducing them a little after the WSMs. The story I have heard through the industry is that Winchester got wind of the impending SAUMs, so rushed the WSMs into production,, and since the SAUMS weren't quite as zippy, the WSMs won. Remington gets blamed a lot for their handling of the .280, but they never intended it to be a bolt-action round--though the 7mm Express was a major screw-up.
However, Winchester has had their share of screw-ups as well, the WSSMs being a prime example. But there were also the .219 Zipper, .225, .256, .307, .356 and .375 Winchesters. I doubt if any of those ever recouped Winchester's R&D costs.
Do you think that the WSSMs would have been more successful if the Browning and Winchester rifles chambered in 223 WSSM had been made with a 1-8" ROT
rather than the 1-10" ROT that they got and if Winchester/USRA hadn't closed shop in New Haven so soon after the WSSMs were introduced?
I have been told that the Winchester/USRA factory needed a big infusion of capital to do major equipment upgrades and that there were quite a few QC issues during the last couple of years that they were operating due to a lot of worn equipment and a few disgruntled/indifferent employees.
EDIT: There is a long list of cartridges that were introduced since the end of WW2, the following are just a few that have failed to become standards in their market niche;
17HM2
17 REM FB
5MM REM MAG
22 REM JET
221 REM FB
222 REM MAG
225 WIN
244/6MM REM
256 WIN MAG
260 REM
6.5 REM MAG
264 WIN MAG
7-30 WATERS
280 REM
284 WIN
7MM REM UM
307 WIN
8MM REM MAG
338 FED
338 REM UM
350 REM MAG
356 WIN
358 WIN
375 WIN
2x REM SAUMs
3x WIN WSSMs
4x WIN WSMs
Consumers aren't always right, but most of the time the cream still rises to the top.
