The love of the odd balls

leeelmer

leeelmer

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Leslieville Alberta
It sounds like some of you guys are in the same boat as me, loving the odd ball calibers.
I am not a huge fan of the common calibers. Although I own a 308, it is in a Kimber Adronidak and is a dedicated sheep gun.
All my other guns are odd balls, maybe not as obscure as some. But not that you can find ammo at every corner store.
I have a custom in 280AI and it was built before it was cool. A 8mm Rem Mag as a long distance gun.
My newest is a custom 358 Norma Mag that a good friend of mine gave me.
Why oh why do we like the odd balls?
I will never own a 7mm mag, not because it is a bad cal, or a 270, something about them turns me off.
Thoughts? Or am I just the Odd Ball?
 
I assume you are talking about "cartridges" and not "calibers..."

There is an attraction to things that have more flavour than vanilla... but with true "oddballs" the attraction wears thin when seeking components, or buying ammo or building brass and constructing fireforming loads etc... when I downsized, most of the oddballs hit the road, and FYI, I lost more money on flipping the oddball rifles than any of the rifles chambered for commonly accepted cartridges.
 
I would have to guess that I'm firmly in the oddball camp........23 cals, 22-284, 6mm-284, 378 and 375 Wby, 350 Rem Mag X 2, 8x57 X 2, 8X68 Imp (almost done), 308 Norma, 416 Rigby, 450 Ruger Imp, 470 NE. Then there is the not so oddball but certainly not your corner store availability.........257, 7mm, 300, 340 Wby, 7mm and 300 RUM, couple 6.5X55s...........and on...and on...and on....
Yep, I guess I'd have to say that I'm a bit of an oddball fan too.........
 
My deer rig is as vanilla as they come, 308 Win...

But...

I do have a 35 Whelen for bear & moose AND a 375 H&H that I plan on taking to Africa. Both of these rifles are not 'common' calibers in the sense that I have never seen another one out in the deer woods... I carried the 375H&H last week when I sat for deer...

Cheers
Jay
 
Superbrad said:
What defines "oddball"?...... I guess my 257 Roberts and 35 Whelen may be considered oddballs?.....
Click to expand...

Good question! IMHO it's a caliber you can't get at your local small gun shop or Crappy Tire... 257 Roberts & 35 Whelen fit that bill...

Cheers
Jay
 
Jay said:
Good question! IMHO it's a caliber you can't get at your local small gun shop or Crappy Tire... 257 Roberts & 35 Whelen fit that bill...

Cheers
Jay
Click to expand...

Lol.... judging by that criteria and my local Canadian tire, my 7-08, 338 win mag, and 375 H&H are oddballs too...... lol.... heck, my CT doesn't even stock 20 gauge shotgun shells...... lol
 
I'm in the oddball camp . I've always enjoyed finding orphan rifles that shoot hard to come by cartridges . I bought my first 9.3X57 twenty years ago , long before 9.3 bullets became available . It took about 6 months to find bullets and realistic load data . It was all worth it when I finally took a smallish White-Tail buck that fall . I'm in the process of putting a 358W together , not a rare chambering , but not your average off the shelf chambering either . I've owned , or currently own , quite a few oddballs over the years . One in particular I should've kept , it was a Brno ZKK 602 in 8X68S . It was one of the most consistently accurate rifles I've owned , and it dropped big things at long distances like a hammer . A fellow Nutter owns it now and won't sell it back , selfish b*****d . That'll teach me ............ probably not , I'm a rifle slut . And HC is right , you'll always lose money on the odd ones .
 
c-fbmi said:
I would have to guess that I'm firmly in the oddball camp........23 cals, 22-284, 6mm-284, 378 and 375 Wby, 350 Rem Mag X 2, 8x57 X 2, 8X68 Imp (almost done), 308 Norma, 416 Rigby, 450 Ruger Imp, 470 NE. Then there is the not so oddball but certainly not your corner store availability.........257, 7mm, 300, 340 Wby, 7mm and 300 RUM, couple 6.5X55s...........and on...and on...and on....
Yep, I guess I'd have to say that I'm a bit of an oddball fan too.........
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity , and envy , what velocities are you expecting out of the 8X68 Imp ?
 
Hunters who are into it .... (not the Axis, cheapest box of ammo at CT, shoot a couple rounds a years type) ..... have a certain luxury to mess with odd ball cartridges in the quest for that perfect laser shooter.

It's all cool & fun, I enjoy reading about it/learning from it, and enjoyed being around it A LOT with my father and his circle of friends when I was younger.

But i'm firmly in the Nato/Com-bloc/.22 lr crowd.

300wm, .308, 223, 9mm, 12 ga., 7.62 x 39, .22 lr. and am of the firm opinion if you can't get it done with those ....

.... and if things ever got dicey out there I wouldn't want to be in the 458 Lott or .257 camp. (although I'm sure most of those guys have a .308 laying around)

The rest is just a lot of fun and interesting as hell imo.
 
7x64 Brenneke (Zastava M70)
7mm STW (Rem 700)
Bunch of 7x57's
8x68S (BRNO ZKK 602, and no I'm not the guy who wont sell it back)
358 Norma Mag (CZ 550 custom build)
9.3x62 (CZ 550 FS)
416 Rigby (CZ 550 Safari)
404 Jeffery (Win M70 Custom build)
450 Rigby (CZ 550 Safari Classic)
458 Lott (BRNO ZKK 602)
As Yul Brynner said
etc
etc
etc
 
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SuperCub said:
My short list of odd ones include ......

- 257 Roberts
- 7x57 Rimmed
- 280 Remington
- 35 Whelen
Click to expand...

I don't consider those "oddballs," well maybe the 7X57R... but only because the rim is on there.

I don't feel that I have any true oddballs and I have; .257 Roberts, 7-30 Waters, 7X57, 7X64, .358 Win, .350 Rem Mag and 9.3X74R, in addition to the ones you can buy ammo for at CT.
 
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I've loaded and formed brass for some oddballs, wildcats and Ackleys, but don't presently own any nor do I see it in my future again. I would rather experiment with loads for more common cartridges and spend time shooting than going the oddball route.

I like the idea of oddballs, and like many of us I like to tinker and build things... but for me the only valid reason to get into an oddball these days is if I somehow acquired a firearm in a rare or obsolete chambering. Since I would never buy such a thing, the chances are slim. :)

The really best part of oddballs is reading about them, where some misguided fool spends a boatload of time and money on a custom rifle, custom dies, brass that is rare or has to be formed and possibly even creating custom bullets- all to achieve something that is available with over the counter brass and dies. :)
 
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