Your loyalties in a hunting rifle?

I agree stubble, there are lots of fad cartridges out there and the STW was no different. I'm sure lots of those we see today will likely fade off into obscurity tomorrow...I'm okay with owning and likely selling them with the desire to try something else that comes along. You seem to be confusing my pragmatism with not liking the STW. I think it was a fine cartridge but it lacked mainstream appeal and with the advent of long-range optics and high BC bullets lost any advantage it may have had over the 7RM, so it's all but gone. I'm sure most recent purchase, the Creemoor will be the same like its predecessor the 30TC. I just find it humorous how the owners of some of these fad cartridges can't accept them for what they are but rather need to believe they are the best at everything they do. Meh, they are fun to shoot and I'm okay with owning an average cartridge......it appears others aren't :)

Whether someone can or can't shoot long range or whether it's a fad or not really has little to do with the fact that it was these long range products that made the uber magnums all but obsolete. Long range scopes are here to stay as are high BC bullets...you better get used to them.
 
Long range scopes are here to stay as are high BC bullets...you better get used to them.
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What I won't get used to, is the people that watch the long range hunting shows, and then go out and buy a Huskemaw scope, and Berger bullets, thinking that these products will instantly turn them into long range shooters. It's entertaining to see the looks on their faces, as they miss targets at 500 yards at the range, but the sad part is that those same people are likely going to wound animals in the field, because of the false confidence that this equipment has given them. For the person that shoots hundreds or thousands of rounds per year, and has the shooting skills to actually use these products to their potential, they are a useful tool, but unfortunately the manufacturers and television hosts are doing the entire sport a disservice, by making it look so simple to shoot precisely at long range. If these shows would show the misses, and wounded animals, and would be more realistic about what this equipment can, and can't do, for a novice shooter, the entire shooting sport, would all be a lot better off.
 
Likely would have meant a longer life span for the STW too....lol..... but it is what it is....

It's too bad that these products came along because no one ever shot beyond their ability before them....lol....the world was such a Utopia then.

Rather than derail this thread any further, all I was trying to do was explain what happened to the STW and similar uber magnums......and that folks is what happened. Glad you enjoy shooting yours...I quite liked mine too.
 
Current industry follows what sells, there are far too many fans of Chinese built crap sold at Walmart, and people purchasing cheap firearms. That's why we have the axis, American, 770, etc....

It has nothing to do with the product being superior or inferior, the makers are building low cost, and in most cases low quality products because that is what sells the most and has the highest profit margin. The uber short fat cartridges of late were all marketed like mad to make money, and sadly they were trying to replace ones that did the job as well, or better.

Having said that, I do own one WSM, the only one that made much sense to me, a 325.




This is just my opinion, which when combined with $2.00 will get you a Tim Hortons coffee.
 
Whether the short mags will stand the test of time or not certainly is wide open to speculation. If I were a betting man I'd say the 270 will but the others will be relegated to the same fate as the STW. The 270 makes the most marketing sense because the Americans already had a love affair with the 270 and in the marketing, this was everything the 270 was and a whole lot more. The 325 was some interesting marketing in the fact that if they called it what it truly was, an 8mm, Americans would have never bought it. I doubt the 7mm will last just because the RM is one of the few metric cartridges that the Americans have ever embraced and it really does nothing the 7RM can't and same with the 300. While many people seem to believe that marketing and television and writing can make or break a cartridge, the truth is that the fickle American consumer has the final say.
 
While many people seem to believe that marketing and television and writing can make or break a cartridge, the truth is that the fickle American consumer has the final say.
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The consumer most certainly has the final say, but I think that we all know that marketing, and the media, greatly influence what the consumer decides to purchase.
 
stubblejumper said:
The consumer most certainly has the final say, but I think that we all know that marketing, and the media, greatly influence what the consumer decides to purchase.
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In the short term agreed but I was referring to the longevity of a cartridge.....the consumer has the final word there. Certainly been a few success stories but lots more flash in the pans.
 
I have a 26 year old Brno 2E that is real dear to me.
I also have an old Spanish SxS 20ga that I call my magic wand. I wave it in the air and birds fall out of the sky.
I did have a thing for Remington 700's. Now I prefer my 6.5x55AI built on a CZ550 action.
 
My interest lies mostly in shooting, and to that end, tuning rifles and their cartridges to consistently and reliably perform at a level that meets my personal standards - no small task IMO. After wringing out my fair share, it appears that I favour the 7mm's - a 7mm-08, my old reliable in .280 Rem, and a proven, do-all 7mmRemMag, though my .308 Win is just too good to give up. These have earned their keep, and therefore I suppose some loyalty from me. But if they didn't do what I ask of them, I would have sent them on their way without a second thought...
 
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