Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Easiest/Best no-longer-made caliber to load

I'm interested in the idea of loading ammunition for calibers that aren't commercially/readily available. What are the opinions on the best one to try first, based more on ease or simplicity rather than usefulness? Where would .22 HP/5.6×52r rank, especially if i have plenty of .30-30 brass?

Doing this for fun, or do you have something to shoot it through??

Lot's of easy wildcats.....25 "souper", various "JDJ" cartridges, 6.5-06, 7-30 waters is available but not commonly found in stores.......lots of choices.

Remember, if you are thinking about doing this with thoughts of selling it, you must have a federal license to load ammo for resale.

Whatever caliber i pick, i'd buy something to shoot it through. My experience is that wildcat firearms are a bit pricier and hard to find than a those in a commercially discontinued caliber. I have no interest in selling the ammo, just getting an old gun to shoot again.

Lots easier to find the rifle first. Harder to get wildcat dies first and then look for a matching rifle.

Bruce

Agreed. That's where my 22 HP comparison question comes in. The 5.6x52r brass is fairly available and i've seen .22 HP dies around. I assume it'd be straightforward after that. But making .22 HP ammo from .30-30 cases would require some extra work and tools?

So, having a caliber's specific brass and dies would be the simplest route. Having dies and brass that needs a bit of trimming or other adjustment would be more difficult. Calibers with no available brass and/or dies would be the hardest. That's my guess. And i'm curious what caliber(s) would be most recommended from the simplest category, or if someone will recommend one of the harder ones for being easier than expected, or particularly worth the effort.

32-40

Now my search begins for a $1400 Marlin.

I load and shoot a sh*t ton of .22HP. Yes, I've made brass out of .30-30, bought European 5.6x52R brass, and have a huge stash of old domestic .22HP brass- but by far the easiest route to take is to simply run a .25-35 up into the .22HP die. One stroke and you're done. After the brass is in hand it's no different than any other cartridge as far as foibles go (with the obvious hassle of finding .228 bullets not withstanding).

I would have to agree with Shrapnel re: .32-40 cartridges being the epitome of old/obsolete yet straightforward and very forgiving.

The .25-20 Single Shot (and the Lovell wildcats made from it) is another easy oldie but goodie, but you're at the mercy of the brass gods with them. It can't be made from anything currently in production and new brass from specialty suppliers is worse than spotty.

Like others reading this, I gotta ask if you're putting the cart before the horse with this.

Thanks for the .22 HP info. Makes me lean harder toward that one. Do you have a utilitarian/hunting use for the caliber?

As for carts and horses, i figure if i limit myself to old cartridges i'll be limiting myself to old guns, which are one of the few things i'm not picky about. Anyhow, i'm not anywhere close to setting up a loading station. Just curious what type of project to expect.

The easiest, by far, is the 25 Niedner.

It takes 270 brass (resized and trimmed) and 257 bullets. You use the exact same load data as the 25-06.

I've got one. Nevermind the '25-06' marked on the barrel. I tell everyone it's a 25 Niedner, and everyone thinks it's cool.

Another one of my favorites, even easier to load for, is the 7.62X63. That's my favorite for deer. Everyone in camp shoots one.

As good a deer cartridge as the .223. 'Nuff said.