With the shortages and backlog, will ammo/component manufacturers even bother supporting some of the more obscure or “obsolete” cartridges? Some stuff seemed to be hanging on by a thread before this lunacy took place. I should have bought more 7x57 brass!

Funny, but Graf & Sons shows 7x57 in stock. Its PPU, never used it before, but better than nothing.

In some cases it might do the opposite and convert folks to semi-obsolete cartridges. If I was really hard up for a do-all rifle with $22/box factory ammo that never went away during the panic, 7x64 is the ticket.

I’ve used PPU brass in several cartridges. Works just fine.

Far better than nothing. I've used it in a number of sorta obscure cartridges with very good results. Their 22 hornet is a favorite for my k-hornet. It fireforms well.

I noticed that. The local SW had 20 boxes of 7x64 on the shelf and it’s all still there!

Local Cabelas has about 8 boxes of Federal 175gr blue box 7x57. $55 plus tax though. I’ve seen it come through Sportsman’s Warehouse lately too. They got a box of Nosler 257 Roberts that was like $70 or something crazy like that.

I noticed they both have Hornady 6mm Remington brass in stock at $50 for a 50 count bag.

So I guess there will be runs of it but the price isn’t going to be great.

As long as you have dies and parent brass, you can make a lot of obsolete cartridges.

I load for the 256 Newton that hasn't been factory loaded since at least 1942 and the 219 Zipper that hasn't been factory loaded since at least 1970.

I just paid $37 a bag of 50 for 7x57. Got 3 bags. Some jerkoff opened a bag of 270 brass at the local GS so the store sold it to me for $10. There wasn’t any missing oddly enough.

I am not certain if the shortages will "kill" obsolete cartridges. However, the shortages have definitely put a crimp in the availability of less common cartridge brass. I recently purchased a rifle chambered .300 Win Mag with intention to rebarrel it to .300 H&H Mag. I sold most of my .300 H&H kit over the last two years to pay hospital bills. Now, trying to find large lots of .300 H&H brass is like pulling teeth. And when you do find a nice lot of quality brass, it is priced above what loaded ammunition was selling for just a few years ago.

At this point, I have decided to stick with the .300 WM barrel until I am able to put together a reasonable stash of .300 H&H component brass. So, to the original question, "Will it kill the cartridges?", probably not. Will the seldom used reamers see even less use, definitely...

Depends on your timing. At the beginning of a shortage, often the only ammo you can buy is the weird/rare/uncommmon stuff. Once you're a few years into it, you gotta wait.

If obsolete cartridges were going to be killed, they would have died that death years ago.

100% this.

I got a bunch of 303 Savage brass dirt cheap about a year ago, but I didn't snag enough 300, and I imagine I will be waiting a while. I did finally score some 250 brass last week, so I'm hoping 300 follows in stock soon.

I'm glad I stocked up on 7mm saum

Yep. One good thing is that folks like us can look at old-stock we're not using and sell it to buy stuff we need. I needed .35Rem ammo but found brass and bullets here, through some of the members. Good to have nice folks to buy/sell from or even to help you find items.

I don't know what the end result will be once all of the supply channels have been cleaned out and then refilled. However, during the height of the panic or supply crisis one thing I did note. The stores that had ammo had a ton of it for what I deem "more obscure" or maybe even obsolete cartridges/chamberings. In my own mind I chalked it up to people at storage facilities getting down to the bottom of the stack or the back of the room and coming across stuff that just wasn't being pushed hard into the supply chain prior to the shortage.

Interesting question.

I could hardly believe it when I made my weekly trip into town and stopped by the local SW. Their supply of 50 BMG had actually increased!

Stacked right next to the I-get-no-respect 7mm Brenneke

I wonder if the SW corporate ammo buyer is imbibing on the job...

Not likely, they’re already obsolete.

Obsolete brass will die out when parent brass dies out. And maybe not even then.

I load for of solute rounds such as 401 WSL, 351WSL, 25/30/32 Remington, 45/60 Win, 6mm Lee/Navy, 219 Zipper, 22 Savage High Power, and 303 Savage and the 303 is the only one I would have any concerns about as it is its own size. Everything else can be formed from a different, common case so I don't see any problem there.

Of those mentioned in previous posts, the 7x57 is a simple fix. 8x57, 257 Roberts, and 6mm Rem could all be easily formed to it. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised there wasn't a forming die or die set that one could use to form 30/06 , 270, or some such case into the 7x57.

I recently saw pictures of a 30/06 case being formed into a 300 Savage so that base is covered. The same process would work to make 250 Savage cases or one could run 22/250 cases through the 250 sizer as I have done more than once by mistake. I suspect 6 and 6.5 Creedmore cases would work too.

The only cartridges I own that I have any long term concerns about would be the 300 H&H, 35 Rem, 7.62x54R, 6mm Lee/Navy and maybe the 303 Brit and 30/40 Krag as they are all kind of unique regarding their cases and supply of brass has been limited for them. I have plenty of Brit brass but not much 30/40 though the Brit can be used for the Krag. Same for the 35 Rem though some of that is meant to make 401 WSL brass. Or, was.

I have had 32-20 brass on back-order from Dillon for over a year. Star-line shows it out of stock and says "no backorder"

S Zihn saw some 32-20 ww stuff last night at a local fleet and farm. What's the going rate on it?...mb

I'd guess 70-90 bucks. I picked up a box of either WW or Rem for a buddy quite a few years back, and it was $50-ish back then.

Just to throw it out there, I think ammo manufactures have a set production schedule based on previous demand. They have lines pumping out 9mm, 223/5.56, & 308 etc. Then newer stuff lines like 450B, 350L, 300 aac,6 C and 6.5 C. Then they have lines that run popular carts 3-4 time a year like 270, 30'06, 7mm mag 300 mag etc. Which of course got bought up in a flash, quite a few times in the last year or so production runs of low demand stuff like 35 rem, 300 sav , 7x57 etc showed up in case amounts here locally. It was fresh stuff not something that got forgot in a warehouse somewhere. More than a few guys in the business told me they had ordered everything that was in a manufacturers lineup hoping to get something. I might be wrong but that was what I saw...mb

I bought several boxes of PPU 7x57 ammo at a cheap price at Cabela’s a couple of years ago when I could not find brass. The cases weigh about what the several WW empties that I have and a little lighter than the Rem cases that I bought since. I’ve reloaded a box of PPU cases multiple times with no failures while working up loads. Seems to be good brass.

Not for me.

I use PPU 7x57 brass. It's fine.

It's far worse up here for 300H&H brass and a long list of components that are impossible to find. I have a good supply of the H&H but I wouldn't have one built if I didn't have brass on hand already.

I think this is "yeah, just send me whatever you have on hand..."

Winchester must have made a run of them several months ago as the half dozen or so Fleet Farm stores I've been in have had at least 2-3 bags on the shelf. Unfortunately, they sell reloading components in store only. At least that was the policy up to Christmas. I've considered buying a bag or two just because it's available and I've been tempted more than once to pick up a 32/20 or 25/20 firearm. The lack of brass and ammo was a factor against at least one purchase.

That was the case at the store I worked at. When the ammo shelves were completely bare out buyers told the wholesaler to sent us anything he had whether ammo or guns. We got a lot of 50 BMG ammo plus several cases of 50 caliber primers. A year later I got some buddies with 50 cal rifles great deals when those items were clearanced out.

Yep. We got 35 rem and 220 swift and all kinds of weird stuff as they scraped the bottom of their inventory

sgammo has 32-20 brass, 303 british, 6mm Rem and 30-40 krag brass in stock. All Hornady brand

The odd and obsolete have been a plesent surprise when it comes to availability over the last couple of years. 32spl ,38-55 and a few other older cartridges have been over looked in the mad dash.

Ymmv

Some of the obsolete things seem to be more readily available these days.

The obscure cartridges are another matter, most of those were scarce before the current situation and remain so now.

Id say inflation and its effect on daily living will be the real decider. People still think we are walking away from 2 years of covid shutdowns and small business buyouts like it was nothing. The damage hasnt even hit yet. We could be in for taste of olden day scarcity before this is done. Still enough to eat but not all the affluent waste and luxury we are used to. Like back in the day you had a small car, dirt cheap mongrel dog , 3-4 guns( not a safe full), didnt go blasting ammo for fun at ranges or bottles. Obsolete or expensive to feed calibres will still exist but go back to being the province of wealthy folk or extreme enthusiasts.

A really good old friend, who worked the old Time LGS, who cared more about filling your cup with Coffee, and taking care of the Customer, and good conversation,
than really anything else, told me years ago, when all the Different Ultra short, and super short and the likes, Calibers Came out, that "watch they won't be around long"!
I seemed to tend to agree with Chuck at the Time, and still do now! They're are so many close to each other Calibers, splitting hairs, that with all the Current Conditions going on out there,
it makes sense to me that some will fall by the way side as Supply and Demand usually win out!

I miss The Old Gun Store, and The Owner who Hired Chuck, as they were Life Long Friends, their Son who also Passed, Ran the Store until he got Sick,
and Everything Changed as things always do. I still check in on the Owners wife whose close to 90, and has her wits, but her health is starting to Fail.

I guess if you really like your not so common cartridge, then keep trying to load up on ammo, and re loading supplies while you can, like most are doing!

Have two brothers that swallowed the short mag hype hook line and sinker. Both bought Remington's in 300 rem short mag when it first came out. Neither one can shoot worth a crap and they worry about wasting ammo every time they come up hunting.

Yeah I hear Ya. As a gift My Brother in Law bought me a Ruger Model 77 in .300 wsm yrs back as we've always been close and have done such things for each other.
I don't regret it at all as a matter of fact I embraced it at the time and now. I've taken a few white tails with it at our Hunt camp in PA and really enjoy shooting, and Hunting with it!
Because it's from my close Brother in Law, I wouldn't trade it for the World. We we're smart enough to stock up on ammo yrs ago, and occasionally add to it when a deal comes up.
We've just always done that. His Dad, my Father in Law used to always say, when you go to the store, grab a couple boxes of ammo, and we always did.

Yes and no. You still see a lot of these "obsolete" cartridges on the shelf in local stores, I've found all kinds of interesting stuff since the panic hit. That being said, its kept me from getting into a lot of these rounds (even though rifles can be found reasonably priced). Its not so much that ammo is difficult to find, I reload most everything I shoot...its just that brass has become too expensive to bother with. I'm just not to the point where I am going to spend $1/rd for a piece of brass...except *maybe* 7mm BR (or unless its Lapua, etc).

The price of 17 Rem brass and ammo is the one I have a problem understanding.

Absolute truth. Eventually the obscure stuff on the shelf will sell, but the ammo companies won’t be doing those small runs any more. Instead they will concentrate on the high volume sellers.

not really hard to cut down brass to 7 x 57 there Gooch.... I've made some out of Winchester, 280 Remington nickel brass..

I don't shoot a 280 and just run it thru an 8 x 57 die ( with spindle removed ) and trim... then run it thru a 7 x 57 die, and lightly trim again...

When at the range, people see me shooting one of my 7 x 57s and then notice the nickel brass and want to know where I got it from....

LGS had many boxes of .307 Winchester and 7x57. They had so much .307s I thought it was time to get one if one could be found at a decent price. Both looked like new production, or they stuffed old into new boxes

Outfits like Quality Cartridge, Bertram, and Starline, plus some foreign outfits like Privi, will get around to making brass and in some cases ammo, in time, but you have to be persistent and patient. I do suspect that the current problems around the world, if they don’t get resolved soon, may start to be felt in the market, making the stuff ammo is made from even more expensive. I certainly don’t expect prices to come down anytime soon, if ever.

Since posting this, I now have 300 pieces of brand new 7x57 brass. So much for that!