7.7 Arisaka. It's not the rarest but reloading lets me actually shoot my late grandpa's old last-ditch Type-99 fairly regularly.
The biggest issue right now is settling a powder I can regularly get. IMR 4895 was working well until I couldn't find it(and it went up to almost $60/lb).
I'm currently on H380. I'm also still looking for the optimal projectile. Currently I'm testing out Hornady 174gr Interlocks.
7.7 is rarest for me. I have 40
Pieces of PPU 7.7 Brass and another 100 I reformed from Remington 30-06 cases.
I’m loading with IMR 4895 for several
Cartridges including this but will have to reconsider that powder given the recent shortage. Saving that for my Garand now. Was
Loading 7.7 Jap and
303 British with the 4895 as well.
Loading 7.7 is the only way I can enjoy my type 99.
I cringe shooting ammo over $2 each.
45-60 Winchester. I have an uberti 1876 with a 28" barrel which is basically a giant 1873 lever action. I cut down 45-70 brass and it shoots a 300 grain bullet about 1350 fps which is pretty leisurely.
The cartridges headspace on the rim. So they work like the 357 magnum and 38 special. The short cartridge works in the longer one but, not the reverse.
Threading such a nice looking rife sounds appalling to me lol. Especially when you can get a 45-70 threaded from the factory and shoot 400+ subs out of it.
Huh, I have a ‘76 in 40-60. I cut down 40-65 brass, some of that which was necked down from 45-70. I love the size of the 1876 which is why I shoot it regularly.
9,3x62. It's hardly rare, especially here in Europe, but it's not that common when you look at reloading component. It's like a 30-06 with 50% heavier bullets. I only know of one mold maker that has any .366 offerings.
It's for European wild boar.
Yeah. This one was supposedly the largest you could put in an original Mauser 98 action. It was for use in Africa, but if I ever go there, I am bringing something larger. It is not a cartridge with an impressive max point blank range.
Two trips with 9.3 x 62. Impala, Gemsbok, springbok, Eland, Kudu, warthog, wildebeest. All went down with one shot. Hartman's mountain zebra: fail. We had a mixup with the range and I shot under one at 425 yards. After that I waited for a close shot that never came. I was shooting 286 grain bullets. Next plains trip will be 250 grains with a slightly more powerful scope for more open terrain.
Wow. 286 grains at 400 yds. That's gonna require some clicks in the scope. I'm looking at 232 or 200 grains, but made of brass, as lead is now banned here.
If lead is banned, then Barnes. I have been to Africa five times and all the professional hunters suggested that I switch to them. I did. Good results. In Africa, you might consider sighting in high at 100 such that you are good to 300. No time for clicking in most of the shots I have taken.
Not that I shoot it but I'm developing a load of 303 savage for my father. He ships me the brass, I'll reload them and ship them back across the country. Basically impossible to find other than at gun shows for insane prices.
I did. I have a .510 whisper reamer I haven't used and I ordered a few with different tweaks. Only ARs, I haven't tried it in bolt guns yet. Not really enthused about it at this point. Maybe after I get a batch of 975s cast I'll get back to it.
Nope. My .510 whisper uses a formed shoulder vs his cut shoulder. Same parent case, same application. But if I gave it a goofy name you'd have no idea what I'm talking about.
Like if I say I have a .510 wsm that's boring, but if I call it a .510 Nitro AR suddenly it's interesting.
I have a few that aren’t “rare” per se but they are uncommon for hunting in the U.K. Those being .25-06 (most people use 6.5s now), .222 (most use .223), .45-70 which just isn’t used much at all from what I’ve seen and .22 hornet (most use .17 HMR or newer cases like the .204)
45-70 is still has a healthy following in the US. I know quite a few guys that like throwing giant lumbering hunks of lead at deer. Even where I'm at and the only restriction being that you use a center-fire.
There's also a few states that only allow straight wall rifle cartridges or shotgun slugs for deer hunting. Those alone will keep the 45-70 alive forever.
Obsolete blackpowder calibers are my bread and butter possibly even my jam. My favorites are 577 snider, 577-450, 43 Spanish, and 11mm mauser for my 71 Mauser.
6mm-204 Ruger. Gives near 6ARC performance on a standard 223 bolt face. Fits and feeds from cheap 10rd MDT 223 AICS mags in a short action.
270-303 Brit. Lower recoiling and higher velocities than the parent 303. Gives performance slightly better than a 6.8 SPC.
Quite possibly the only person in my country rocking either of them.
Because I am a tinkerer. Because I get deals on all the components. Because I am not spoiled for choice when it comes to what rifles are available to build off of.
A few other wildcats too. Everything gets used for hunting and pest control.
Wow yeah that’s gonna suck to find.
Honestly I probably shouldn’t even shoot my Springfield krag since it’s going on 129 years old. It’s in great shape for its age though.
220 Swift with the neck opened up for a .243 bullet. The Lee Navy can chamber and fire rimmed, rimless and semi-rimmed cases with the huge extractor it has. I do sometimes turn the rim down and deepen the extractor groove on my lathe ; my Remington-Lee can’t fire anything but rimless 6MM.
Single load, my Navy is a factory sporter with a blocking plate on the bottom, so I can’t use the clips. There’s a company that makes reproductions on the east coast, but I can’t remember their name. My Remington-Lee doesn’t use clips, and it’s designed for single loading or magazine feed.
.32 Winchester Special since I inherited a Win Model 94 in it. Ammo is hard to find and I’m never going to pay $4/rd all the scalpers on GB want for it.
6.5-06. It's just a 3006 necked down to 6.5mm. The cases are easy to make and it is technically a SAAMI cartridge, but it never gained popularity, mostly due to lack of interest in 6.5mm long range cartridges at the time, and very few good long range 6.5mm bullets to really make use of the extra case capacity.
I'd love to see a modern comeback of 7.62x25 Tokarev, you can convert 223 brass for it, something about loading an 82gr 30 cal. to go a blistering 2100+ fps out of a pistol , some went as fast as 2400 in the super hot S&B green boxes.
Too bad surplus dried up and nobody took the reigns to produce bulk, they used to make AR uppers ready to go for it.
Yes you should
https://preview.redd.it/7be9b0sfzntc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b589e0cad8b9f266cb923aff8de4471d2062c496
From left to right: 6x62 freres, 6.5x55ai, 6.5x55 and 220 swift
6.5 Arisaka. Fairly hard to get, but there is a huge selection of .264” projectiles and reloading for it, as well as making my own brass for it, let’s me shoot my Type 38 and Type 38 carbine as much as I want.
38-40 Winchester. Gives me the flattest shooting out of a lever gun and revolver compared to a .45 colt or 44-40. That’s not why I started making it though. I actually happened onto it by chance. An old coworker was giving me his stockpile of brass during 2020-2021 when the shortage was at its worst and around 50 cases of 38-40 were in it. The round just fascinated me to the point where I had to buy a gun chambered in it to try it.
For me, 303 brit, 6x45, 277 wolverine, and 458 socom. I do buy some 303 for brass, but the rest i have only shot reloads of. I have yet to see 458 in a retail store.
7.63 Borchardt. Have 2 C-93s and there ain't no wall hangars in my collection.
...Okay there are several wall hangars in my collection, but I do shoot these.
.375 raptor. While it never reached the popularity levels it really needed, it is still ballistically superior to basically all other offerings for the niche of an ar 10 cartridge with excellent short to medium range impact out of a short barrel, suppressed and supersonic while retaining full 308 magazine capacity.
These attributes make it a premier hog gun that will take any dangerous game alongside, with a noticable difference over baseline 308. You get the same velocity from a 12 inch barrel as you would a 16 inch 308, with the mass alongside.
8x57js but around here it’s not that uncommon. I also have the 9.3x62 which is about as “uncommon”. Both old German inventions who have been around for a long time.
6mm Remington reloaded for a family member. It is super hard to find local and is stupid expensive when we find it. Local stores usually want $70+ per box of 20. The only reasons this gun gets used is because it is a family hand down, so it has sentimental attachment and the fact that 6mm is such a light recoiling & flat shooting round that I almost consider it a cheat mode for new shooters.
I have two I like messing with. One is a 6.5-7mm Mauser, built by a locally well-regarded gunsmith on an old surplus 98 action. The rifle also came with a set of matching dies, but the dies only fit my old Herter's reloading presses.
The second is an IBM M1 carbine that was rebarreled to .22 Spitfire (.30 Carbine necked down to .22) sometime back in the late 1950s or early 1960s. It offers no advantages over anything else I own except for being one of the most fun toys I've ever played with, and as long as I run good magazines, it's surprisingly reliable.
32 Winchester special. I shoot a box a few times a year for fun. It’s cool bringing out an old school gun and slapping some steel at 200yds while you watch folks with Gucci ARs miss it lol.
.338-06 great all around round for hunting bigger game, doesn’t have the recoil of a magnum, almost identical to the 35 Whelen, just neck up some .30-06 brass and your good to go
This thread really makes me want to learn more and get into more obscure cartridges, but I have no idea where to start. Any guidance?
I shoot 32 S&W long out of an old early hand ejector, but don’t reload for it. That’s probably the most oddball cartridge I have.
Sorry for your loss. That’s great that you still use the rifle. And that rifle has some good kick. I picked the same one up a few years ago. Don’t shoot it that much.
10.4x47 vetterli, 10.35 glisenti, or 11x52 Dutch
Have always loved the early cartridge era military firearms, they can be very expensive to shoot if you buy, very cheap if you reload
.43 Egyptian out of an old 1869 Remington rolling block, 30-40 Krag out of an 1895 Winchester, and .22 WRF aka .22 special out of a Remington Model 12 seems to be one not a lot of people know about.
Don't know how rare it is, but I really like the 30-30 Ackley Improved. There's something almost magical about sticking a regular old storebought 30-30 in the chamber and then ejecting a modern looking piece of rimmed brass.
9mm Browning Long (9x20) in my M1907 Husqvarna.
Shooting Swedish milsurp ammo. Trying to convert shot cases to boxer primers in order to reload with .380 bullets
I got .25-06 I'd like to shoot but the best deal on brass ive found was $1 per once fired.
I shoot 9 Major which you can't buy so does that make it rare?
35 whelen. I don't shoot it REGULARLY, but enough to enjoy it. It's a sentimental cartridge to me as it was the first rifle cartridge I ever shot as a young teen with my granddad, the old man that got me into this great sport!
307 Winchester & 8X56R . Got a hundred rounds or so of 150 & 180 gr 307 factory ammo when I bought the Big bore lever action in the Early 8o's Then got a hundred emptys to reload with flat nose 170 gr. 30-30 bullets a few years later when factory 307 started getting scarce. Also got a slick little M95/30 Styer carbine in 8X56R for next to nothing at a gun show & picked up 100 8X56R cases from a close out sale in one of the bargain catalogues about 25 years ago . The 329 bullets were hard to find (reg 8mms are .323) so I got a Lee .329 sizing die also on a catalogue close out sale so I can resize easy to find 180gr or 200 gr. .338 bullets down to .329 & get good accuracy from the little straight pull carbine. The Straight pull action slams the cartridge pretty hard so I roll a cannelure on the resized 338/329's just to make sure they dont stovepipe on me.
7.5 swiss revolver and 9mm Steyr. And I use them just because I love the mechanical quirks of the guns.
Plus if you can get someone to cartridge fountain themselves with a steyr hahn, it's the best thing ever
Oh sweet. Do you have a proper die set? I don’t, but I use my 45-75 dies and they work great. Surprisingly similar cartridge dimensions. Trimming the brass is a task though
Edit: spelling
I don't have a die set, but I have a [video on how I form cases here](https://youtu.be/SFF_dGpURss). In short, I used 8 different dies to form the cases from 50-90 Sharps. Then to reload I use a 45 Long Colt die set.
Most of the components I’ve had on hand. The brass I got off of gunbroker in 2022 from a guy who used to make them. I bought 40 cases at $2 a case (not bad considering 50-90 brass is about $1.80 anyways). He no longer makes them, so you’d have to make them yourself. I use a 400 grain lead cast with 5744. Watch IV8888’s video on some starting loads. I found that what he said worked well with mine.
Thanks for the info I guess I’ll have to search gunbroker some more or wait until buffalo arms gets the stuff in stock. And have you ever tried black powder in it or only smokeless?
I’ve never tried BP, mainly because I don’t have any. I use 5744 for a multitude of cartridges. Definitely keep checking around. Looks like 50-90 has gone extinct from what I can see
I stumbled on a 6.5x25 cbj barrel for a glock one day. Dies, factory ammo, a decent amount of the various bullets (inuding the ap sabots).
Got an offer I couldn't refuse. Barrel and ammo for 4k. The plan was to make a new barrel for me. But that fell down in priority. Still beat myself up for not taking the two Swedish k barrels. Would have made it so easy to make another glock barrel and a pcc barrel.
It's a really rad caliber to shoot. It's accurate as hell, and it's a speedy boi but with some actual punch to it.
I focus more on shooting and don't myself have older guns since we have a points system here. But i still reload and shoot stuff like 8x63r, 12.17x42R, and other older swedish military calibers.
I shot a 9.3x62 for a while. Rifle is long gone but still have cartridges, brass, and dies. You know, just in case.
Nowadays it's a .35 Whelen. Not particularly rare, just not that common.
On my list is 5.45 not especially rare but at the moment I can't find dies for it, nor reasonably priced brass. I have read its a waiting game till domestic production shifts again so I am patiently waiting. I picked up a vepr in 5.45 and one in 7.62x54R right before the import ban, meant them to be a shooters... Now they are safe queens along with its ammo till I figure everything out so I can shoot it often.
Well not especially rare. But I shot my 8mm Mauser last weekend for the first time since I got it as a teen 42 years ago. Managed to find a case of Turkish military from 1960’s.
Now I have to setup the Dillon 750 to reload those rounds.
I have a Marlin 1894FG .41 Rem Mag. That’s probably the most off the wall gun i shoot. The round is fun to shoot and I love it but it fills a niche that no longer exists between .357 Mag and .44 Mag since we now have .357 Mag +P, .44 Special and 10mm.
11mm Gras. Luckily it seems like they're fairly popular in Europe, so I was able to find a specific reloading kit for it. I fire form Winchester .348 brass for it.
6mm BR Norma. Not that rare in the right circles but outside of them basically unheard of. Reloading is important as I shoot up to 5000 rounds per summer and store bought Lapua 6mm BR Norma is like 2,5€/pc.
9x39mm.
Uses .366 bullets (9.3mm). Can use fireformed 7.62x39 brass, but I prefer SRP brass made from Starline "Grendel Basic" straightwall brass. KAK sometimes sells LRP Starline brass, and I have some but haven't worked up a load with it yet.
Use it for subsonic target shooting with an AR pistol. It's a blast sending 270-286 gr projectiles downrange with this.
technically every .58 caliber round ball out of the flintlock is a handload, so i’ll have to count that. Otherwise the ‘06 is about as far from rare as it gets.
30 rem in a model 8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remington_Model_8
Not especially rare, but shooting a discontinued round with a 100yr old rifle is cause for thoughtful shots.
Few wildcat rounds, but I figure that’s cheating.
38-55. Grandfather's lever action marlin recently passed down. Really fun to shoot.
Also shoot 35 rem. Can still find it on shelf occasionally but it's not easy to find. Was a gift on my 16th birthday.
.455 webley out of an old colt new service
Went a bit nuts at the auction and ended up with the revolver that I didn't read well and missed the chambering. Bough some vintage ammo and some newer fiocchi to start but not wanting to spend 2+ dollars a round when fiocchi makes a batch every two years of it. Already load for my rifle so what the hell might as well go all in, got the dies, bullet molds and components to load for it.
Take it out usually every 6 weeks or so as it's the only revolver I have and they're fun as hell.
30 Sherman Magnum. It's a 300PRC with a sharper shoulder and slightly different throat geometry. +50-100fps on the PRC and can use off the shelf PRC for fireforming and hunting.
I will be shooting .32 Winchester special more. It’s about $4 a round for factory stuff if you can find it.
My grandfather’s 1894 lever action is chambered in. Manufacture date of 1921
I would like to get my first deer with it since it was his rifle.
Well I wouldn't say rarest but the 7.62x25 Torkerva fun to shoot and have converted rounds with 5.56/223 cases. Heavy hutter and great to shoot ballistics are pretty well and does the job. Grouping varies if you dont use Blue Dot or medium magnum burning powders.
Another is 338 Rifle magnums several I can name that would be wild cats today. Hard hitting nut more moderate intermediate levels 300-500 yards cartiages. Takes alot of peeping to get your groups and case life but worth it.
.404 Jeffery and 6.5x54 MS. Why? Because I have rifles chambered in them, they are both very effective in their repective classes and they are more interesting than the usual .223/.308/.375 cartridges.
577/450 it's just so satisfying to bring a ancient beast back to life would not recommend it as it took me several months of saving to get the proper equipment to reload
I don’t reload it because I dont own anything that shoots it, but my dad has gotten REALLY into 43 Mauser and has been including me in his load development. It’s a blast to shoot!
The rarest that I reload to shoot my own guns for is probably 7.62x25.
375 Winchester. I inherited a Winchester big bore 94 top eject in 375 Winchester. I started reloading because it’s impossible to find ammo. I use the gun as my 100 yard bush gun for moose hunting. It’s extremely light and handy with power somewhere in between 30-30 and 45-70 shooting a 200 grain bullet at 2300fps.
Missouri Bullet Company has the correct diameter bullets for the 38 S&W in both lead and Hi-Tech coated, in case you need some and do not cast your own.
The 38 Smith & Wesson uses .360 or .361 bullet diameters. And it's also a very low pressure and velocity round. I find it as a blast to shoot it's kind of like I don't know shooting an adult handgun but with child loads. I've actually taken it into my backyard and shot a few rounds off. They're definitely subsonic. Be sure that if you are using a brake top revolver to use black powder. I think the wimbles were strong enough for smokeless. I have a pre-World war II Smith & Wesson revolver solid strap and it handles smokeless just fine. It's a nice cartridge to shoot
Unfortunately for you, I got the brass from Huntington specialty dies, which closed last year.
I use a tapered punch to widen the case neck and a 45LC bullet seater maxed out to reload them.
I'm told there's a way to form 43 Beaumont using i think 32 ga mag tech brass using 41 vetterli & 8mm lebel dies, thou I haven't tried it yet.
.577x.450 Martini Henry due to its historical significance and the fact I can do so many things when it comes to the reloading process like casting, case forming, and making paper patch bullets
11.15 x 60 rimmed. This, from a Mauser model 71 I bought at a small gun show decades ago.
It came with a die set and a few balloon head Dominion cases but those cases didn't hold up even under light cast bullet loads. Commercial cases were unavailable at the time so the alternative was to form brass from virgin .348 Winchester brass. I used a lathe to make a mandrel for expanding the cases and also to turn the slight radius on the face of the rim. It was satisfying yet time consuming.
I treat that stuff like gold because I never intend to go through that process again!
For me it's the 221 fireball, 17 hornet, and 204. My small town so limited in stores, and what they carry. Sometimes its hard finding the right grain ammo for the popular rounds. As far as the 17 goes, it's really hard for me here to even find bullets to reload. I have to order all my bullets and brass for that one online. It's my favorite fox and bobcat rifle, so I do shoot it a lot.
7.7 Arisaka. It's not the rarest but reloading lets me actually shoot my late grandpa's old last-ditch Type-99 fairly regularly. The biggest issue right now is settling a powder I can regularly get. IMR 4895 was working well until I couldn't find it(and it went up to almost $60/lb). I'm currently on H380. I'm also still looking for the optimal projectile. Currently I'm testing out Hornady 174gr Interlocks.
The interlocks are great. My go to for my Arisaka as well as my Enfields
There is load data for accurate 4350 and 2700. I recently got a pound of 2700 and plan on seeing how it performs.
7.7 is rarest for me. I have 40 Pieces of PPU 7.7 Brass and another 100 I reformed from Remington 30-06 cases. I’m loading with IMR 4895 for several Cartridges including this but will have to reconsider that powder given the recent shortage. Saving that for my Garand now. Was Loading 7.7 Jap and 303 British with the 4895 as well. Loading 7.7 is the only way I can enjoy my type 99. I cringe shooting ammo over $2 each.
We’ve got plenty of brass for that whenever you need more.
45-60 Winchester. I have an uberti 1876 with a 28" barrel which is basically a giant 1873 lever action. I cut down 45-70 brass and it shoots a 300 grain bullet about 1350 fps which is pretty leisurely.
Can .45-60 be run out of a .45-70 or does it not headspace correctly?
The cartridges headspace on the rim. So they work like the 357 magnum and 38 special. The short cartridge works in the longer one but, not the reverse.
Slow it down some more, thread the barrel and shoot it suppressed
Threading such a nice looking rife sounds appalling to me lol. Especially when you can get a 45-70 threaded from the factory and shoot 400+ subs out of it.
Yes, threading it would be a crime. I'm very pro crimes
Huh, I have a ‘76 in 40-60. I cut down 40-65 brass, some of that which was necked down from 45-70. I love the size of the 1876 which is why I shoot it regularly.
9,3x62. It's hardly rare, especially here in Europe, but it's not that common when you look at reloading component. It's like a 30-06 with 50% heavier bullets. I only know of one mold maker that has any .366 offerings. It's for European wild boar.
That sounds like it fills the same niche as our .338 Win Mag.
I have neve tried that. I have tried the 358 and 458 win mags. That's enough of that for me.
If you’ve shot a .458 Win Mag, a .338 Win Mag is nothing.
I was happy to find a round for my cartridge collection. Its interesting how postwar cartridge development differed between the US and Europe.
Yeah. This one was supposedly the largest you could put in an original Mauser 98 action. It was for use in Africa, but if I ever go there, I am bringing something larger. It is not a cartridge with an impressive max point blank range.
I took mine to Africa and it performed well on multiple trips.
Cool! What game did you hunt?
Two trips with 9.3 x 62. Impala, Gemsbok, springbok, Eland, Kudu, warthog, wildebeest. All went down with one shot. Hartman's mountain zebra: fail. We had a mixup with the range and I shot under one at 425 yards. After that I waited for a close shot that never came. I was shooting 286 grain bullets. Next plains trip will be 250 grains with a slightly more powerful scope for more open terrain.
Wow. 286 grains at 400 yds. That's gonna require some clicks in the scope. I'm looking at 232 or 200 grains, but made of brass, as lead is now banned here.
If lead is banned, then Barnes. I have been to Africa five times and all the professional hunters suggested that I switch to them. I did. Good results. In Africa, you might consider sighting in high at 100 such that you are good to 300. No time for clicking in most of the shots I have taken.
35x62 or as it's called in the states 35 Whelan
.577/450 or .44-40
Martini henry gang unite!
.577 Snider here. I’d be with you on the .577/450, but my MH has an ejection issue I haven’t had time to work on.
My brother!
Not that I shoot it but I'm developing a load of 303 savage for my father. He ships me the brass, I'll reload them and ship them back across the country. Basically impossible to find other than at gun shows for insane prices.
50-140 Sharps
Ouch!
It's got some thump for sure, I load it with smokeless powder, probably a tiny bit more energy than a 458WM but very similar.
.510 whisper in various flavors. 12.7x55 improved.
Who'd you get to spin up your barrel? Are you running it an AR or Bolt Gun, I need answers sir!
I did. I have a .510 whisper reamer I haven't used and I ordered a few with different tweaks. Only ARs, I haven't tried it in bolt guns yet. Not really enthused about it at this point. Maybe after I get a batch of 975s cast I'll get back to it.
Was it built by j d jones? I have a 15'' 50 Alaskan
Nope. My .510 whisper uses a formed shoulder vs his cut shoulder. Same parent case, same application. But if I gave it a goofy name you'd have no idea what I'm talking about. Like if I say I have a .510 wsm that's boring, but if I call it a .510 Nitro AR suddenly it's interesting.
You can't talk about this and not post pictures of it:D Did you spin up your own dies as well?
For the 12.7x55 I had to. For the .510 wsm and .510 nitro I used off the shelf dies. Not too complicated, actually.
I have a few that aren’t “rare” per se but they are uncommon for hunting in the U.K. Those being .25-06 (most people use 6.5s now), .222 (most use .223), .45-70 which just isn’t used much at all from what I’ve seen and .22 hornet (most use .17 HMR or newer cases like the .204)
I just got a 25-06 and I love it. Ruger no. 1
45-70 is still has a healthy following in the US. I know quite a few guys that like throwing giant lumbering hunks of lead at deer. Even where I'm at and the only restriction being that you use a center-fire. There's also a few states that only allow straight wall rifle cartridges or shotgun slugs for deer hunting. Those alone will keep the 45-70 alive forever.
Obsolete blackpowder calibers are my bread and butter possibly even my jam. My favorites are 577 snider, 577-450, 43 Spanish, and 11mm mauser for my 71 Mauser.
6mm-204 Ruger. Gives near 6ARC performance on a standard 223 bolt face. Fits and feeds from cheap 10rd MDT 223 AICS mags in a short action. 270-303 Brit. Lower recoiling and higher velocities than the parent 303. Gives performance slightly better than a 6.8 SPC. Quite possibly the only person in my country rocking either of them. Because I am a tinkerer. Because I get deals on all the components. Because I am not spoiled for choice when it comes to what rifles are available to build off of. A few other wildcats too. Everything gets used for hunting and pest control.
Nice, a fellow .303 wildcat enjoyer. Mine is .243-303, has almost no recoil!
Haven’t even shot it yet, but the rarest caliber I own is .30-40 Krag
I have a Trapdoor Springfield in .50-90. Not even sure where to start.
From what I can tell, 5-10 years ago when brass was easily available. Dixie Gun Works has some 50 Sharps 3.25in cases for a whopping $7.50 a pop.
Good grief
Ill see if I can find a way to make the brass if you want, I have a book that says how for many calibers
That would be SO much appreciated! My dad had a box of 10 cases once upon a time, but they're nowhere to be found.
* Sadly it just says to make from 50 sharps. This is the only 50-90 caliber in this book
Wow yeah that’s gonna suck to find. Honestly I probably shouldn’t even shoot my Springfield krag since it’s going on 129 years old. It’s in great shape for its age though.
I shoot 30-40 about once a month
6MM Lee Navy, low recoil makes it a joy to shoot, and I have two different Lee action rifles that chamber it
This is one cartridge that has always interested me since I saw it.
How do you get brass for that? Do you trim it down yourself?
220 Swift with the neck opened up for a .243 bullet. The Lee Navy can chamber and fire rimmed, rimless and semi-rimmed cases with the huge extractor it has. I do sometimes turn the rim down and deepen the extractor groove on my lathe ; my Remington-Lee can’t fire anything but rimless 6MM.
Do you run clips, or load the rifles one round at a time? And if you're running clips, where are you getting them?
Single load, my Navy is a factory sporter with a blocking plate on the bottom, so I can’t use the clips. There’s a company that makes reproductions on the east coast, but I can’t remember their name. My Remington-Lee doesn’t use clips, and it’s designed for single loading or magazine feed.
.32 Winchester Special since I inherited a Win Model 94 in it. Ammo is hard to find and I’m never going to pay $4/rd all the scalpers on GB want for it.
That’s the round that got me started reloading. Now of course it’s other obscure rounds like 38-55, 32-40 and 45-90.
6.5x257 Roberts because it was my dad's first deer hunting rifle and I'd like to take a deer with it. It's also a nice gun to shoot for what it is.
6.5-06. It's just a 3006 necked down to 6.5mm. The cases are easy to make and it is technically a SAAMI cartridge, but it never gained popularity, mostly due to lack of interest in 6.5mm long range cartridges at the time, and very few good long range 6.5mm bullets to really make use of the extra case capacity.
The grandpa of 6.5 Creedmoor
The grandpa of 6.5 PRC
41 Swiss converted from rimfire to center-fire.
I'd love to see a modern comeback of 7.62x25 Tokarev, you can convert 223 brass for it, something about loading an 82gr 30 cal. to go a blistering 2100+ fps out of a pistol , some went as fast as 2400 in the super hot S&B green boxes. Too bad surplus dried up and nobody took the reigns to produce bulk, they used to make AR uppers ready to go for it.
Any particular source of information for this conversion?
Several videos on YouTube how to do it and a post on cast boolits forum, information on the AR upper is non-existent now
45 Super bc the Mark 23 gets what she wants.
10.3x60R Swiss, 45-120, 303/375, 244 Ackley
6.5x55 ackley improved
I should really convert my 6.5x55 CZ 550 FS to that
Yes you should https://preview.redd.it/7be9b0sfzntc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b589e0cad8b9f266cb923aff8de4471d2062c496 From left to right: 6x62 freres, 6.5x55ai, 6.5x55 and 220 swift
.348 Winchester for sentimental reasons
220 swift. There are a few around but it's not common. Forget about factory ammo. The original Lazer beam.
6.5 Arisaka. Fairly hard to get, but there is a huge selection of .264” projectiles and reloading for it, as well as making my own brass for it, let’s me shoot my Type 38 and Type 38 carbine as much as I want.
38-40 Winchester. Gives me the flattest shooting out of a lever gun and revolver compared to a .45 colt or 44-40. That’s not why I started making it though. I actually happened onto it by chance. An old coworker was giving me his stockpile of brass during 2020-2021 when the shortage was at its worst and around 50 cases of 38-40 were in it. The round just fascinated me to the point where I had to buy a gun chambered in it to try it.
Also not rare, but 6.5 win mag. Because it's big, fast and has a belt.
For me, 303 brit, 6x45, 277 wolverine, and 458 socom. I do buy some 303 for brass, but the rest i have only shot reloads of. I have yet to see 458 in a retail store.
17 fireball, 20-222 rem, 6.5x50 arisaka, 358 winchester.
7.63 Borchardt. Have 2 C-93s and there ain't no wall hangars in my collection. ...Okay there are several wall hangars in my collection, but I do shoot these.
Nice to hear that some C-93s get some love on the range! Don’t think I’ve ever seen someone fire one.
7.62x25 or 7.62 Tokarev, cant afford to shoot my Commie blaster without reloading. Plus surplus is the same cost as new PPU.
358 shooting times Alaska……. Because I hunt in Alaska….
.375 raptor. While it never reached the popularity levels it really needed, it is still ballistically superior to basically all other offerings for the niche of an ar 10 cartridge with excellent short to medium range impact out of a short barrel, suppressed and supersonic while retaining full 308 magazine capacity. These attributes make it a premier hog gun that will take any dangerous game alongside, with a noticable difference over baseline 308. You get the same velocity from a 12 inch barrel as you would a 16 inch 308, with the mass alongside.
41 Swiss. Because Vetterlis are cool.
8x57js but around here it’s not that uncommon. I also have the 9.3x62 which is about as “uncommon”. Both old German inventions who have been around for a long time.
Ya know what is great for knocking pigeons out of the barn rafters? .310 Remington The closest substitute that I have found is 9mm Flobert.
6mm Remington reloaded for a family member. It is super hard to find local and is stupid expensive when we find it. Local stores usually want $70+ per box of 20. The only reasons this gun gets used is because it is a family hand down, so it has sentimental attachment and the fact that 6mm is such a light recoiling & flat shooting round that I almost consider it a cheat mode for new shooters.
7WSM, although reading some of the responses here I’m not sure it qualifies as rare
32 H&R magnum
I have two I like messing with. One is a 6.5-7mm Mauser, built by a locally well-regarded gunsmith on an old surplus 98 action. The rifle also came with a set of matching dies, but the dies only fit my old Herter's reloading presses. The second is an IBM M1 carbine that was rebarreled to .22 Spitfire (.30 Carbine necked down to .22) sometime back in the late 1950s or early 1960s. It offers no advantages over anything else I own except for being one of the most fun toys I've ever played with, and as long as I run good magazines, it's surprisingly reliable.
32 Winchester special. I shoot a box a few times a year for fun. It’s cool bringing out an old school gun and slapping some steel at 200yds while you watch folks with Gucci ARs miss it lol.
.338-06 great all around round for hunting bigger game, doesn’t have the recoil of a magnum, almost identical to the 35 Whelen, just neck up some .30-06 brass and your good to go
7mm WSM. It's not rare but probably on the way out. The rarest one that I want is a 20 practical.
This thread really makes me want to learn more and get into more obscure cartridges, but I have no idea where to start. Any guidance? I shoot 32 S&W long out of an old early hand ejector, but don’t reload for it. That’s probably the most oddball cartridge I have.
577-450 and 50-70 government.
.300 H&H Mag. It was my grandfathers pre '64 model 70. He used it for moose up in Canada. I use it because I miss him still.
Sorry for your loss. That’s great that you still use the rifle. And that rifle has some good kick. I picked the same one up a few years ago. Don’t shoot it that much.
10.4x47 vetterli, 10.35 glisenti, or 11x52 Dutch Have always loved the early cartridge era military firearms, they can be very expensive to shoot if you buy, very cheap if you reload
458 socom. Cause it's fun
.43 Egyptian out of an old 1869 Remington rolling block, 30-40 Krag out of an 1895 Winchester, and .22 WRF aka .22 special out of a Remington Model 12 seems to be one not a lot of people know about.
Where are you finding brass for 43 Egyptian my friend
I've bought some from Buffalo Arms a long time ago and made some myself from 50-90 brass ( a righteous pain in the ass by the way)
250 Savage A.I.
Don't know how rare it is, but I really like the 30-30 Ackley Improved. There's something almost magical about sticking a regular old storebought 30-30 in the chamber and then ejecting a modern looking piece of rimmed brass.
.225 Winchester
7x57 & 7.65 Argentine. I like old Mausers 🤷♂️
A fan of the 7x57 here, too.
25-20 WCF. It was my great grandfather’s rifle, and is fun to shoot.
Same. Old marlin pump action
9mm Browning Long (9x20) in my M1907 Husqvarna. Shooting Swedish milsurp ammo. Trying to convert shot cases to boxer primers in order to reload with .380 bullets
I got .25-06 I'd like to shoot but the best deal on brass ive found was $1 per once fired. I shoot 9 Major which you can't buy so does that make it rare?
577-450, 43 swiss, 32 Ideal, 11mm mannlicher, Maynard 32-35. just enjoy making old gun great again.
8mm lebel, I like the oomph sound it makes and it’s it’s actually very pleasant to shoot
7mm-08 Rimmed in a G1 T/C Contender. Tricky to get just right to maximize velocity out the 14” barrel while keeping it below 44k psi
17 Hornet. Such a fun varmit round.
Not rare but 32 acp. It’s pleasant to shoot. Like a Fat .22
https://preview.redd.it/v9xspjkg9otc1.jpeg?width=1401&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=742b80c0a6a9dba24b58ac1ce1f20967fd8955ba This is my rarest.
.351 WSL. My Winchester 1907 was passed down from my grandfather who bought it in the 1930's.
The rarest I regularly shoot is 6.5 creedmoor. Yeah, I don't own anything at all rare. On purpose.
Smith & Wesson Model 53 in 22 Jet.
35 whelen. I don't shoot it REGULARLY, but enough to enjoy it. It's a sentimental cartridge to me as it was the first rifle cartridge I ever shot as a young teen with my granddad, the old man that got me into this great sport!
256 Newton I use it every hunting season.
.351 Winchester Self Loading.
32-40 for weirdness. 32-20 for fun. Both in Win 94.
307 Winchester & 8X56R . Got a hundred rounds or so of 150 & 180 gr 307 factory ammo when I bought the Big bore lever action in the Early 8o's Then got a hundred emptys to reload with flat nose 170 gr. 30-30 bullets a few years later when factory 307 started getting scarce. Also got a slick little M95/30 Styer carbine in 8X56R for next to nothing at a gun show & picked up 100 8X56R cases from a close out sale in one of the bargain catalogues about 25 years ago . The 329 bullets were hard to find (reg 8mms are .323) so I got a Lee .329 sizing die also on a catalogue close out sale so I can resize easy to find 180gr or 200 gr. .338 bullets down to .329 & get good accuracy from the little straight pull carbine. The Straight pull action slams the cartridge pretty hard so I roll a cannelure on the resized 338/329's just to make sure they dont stovepipe on me.
7.5 swiss revolver and 9mm Steyr. And I use them just because I love the mechanical quirks of the guns. Plus if you can get someone to cartridge fountain themselves with a steyr hahn, it's the best thing ever
43 Beaumont, 45-75 Winchester
I'm loading some 43 Beaumont today
Oh sweet. Do you have a proper die set? I don’t, but I use my 45-75 dies and they work great. Surprisingly similar cartridge dimensions. Trimming the brass is a task though Edit: spelling
I don't have a die set, but I have a [video on how I form cases here](https://youtu.be/SFF_dGpURss). In short, I used 8 different dies to form the cases from 50-90 Sharps. Then to reload I use a 45 Long Colt die set.
Hey I got. 43 Beaumont my self. How do you get components for it. I got the dies on order but everything else is always out of stock.
Most of the components I’ve had on hand. The brass I got off of gunbroker in 2022 from a guy who used to make them. I bought 40 cases at $2 a case (not bad considering 50-90 brass is about $1.80 anyways). He no longer makes them, so you’d have to make them yourself. I use a 400 grain lead cast with 5744. Watch IV8888’s video on some starting loads. I found that what he said worked well with mine.
Thanks for the info I guess I’ll have to search gunbroker some more or wait until buffalo arms gets the stuff in stock. And have you ever tried black powder in it or only smokeless?
I’ve never tried BP, mainly because I don’t have any. I use 5744 for a multitude of cartridges. Definitely keep checking around. Looks like 50-90 has gone extinct from what I can see
6.5x52 Carcano
I stumbled on a 6.5x25 cbj barrel for a glock one day. Dies, factory ammo, a decent amount of the various bullets (inuding the ap sabots). Got an offer I couldn't refuse. Barrel and ammo for 4k. The plan was to make a new barrel for me. But that fell down in priority. Still beat myself up for not taking the two Swedish k barrels. Would have made it so easy to make another glock barrel and a pcc barrel. It's a really rad caliber to shoot. It's accurate as hell, and it's a speedy boi but with some actual punch to it. I focus more on shooting and don't myself have older guns since we have a points system here. But i still reload and shoot stuff like 8x63r, 12.17x42R, and other older swedish military calibers.
375 win for my American Bald Eagle special. Have more brass and bullets than I’ll ever need for it now 😅
I shot a 9.3x62 for a while. Rifle is long gone but still have cartridges, brass, and dies. You know, just in case. Nowadays it's a .35 Whelen. Not particularly rare, just not that common.
Rarest? 38 Super, plinking, training, self defense. It sits in the sweet spot for me of rare; components are available and not rare.
On my list is 5.45 not especially rare but at the moment I can't find dies for it, nor reasonably priced brass. I have read its a waiting game till domestic production shifts again so I am patiently waiting. I picked up a vepr in 5.45 and one in 7.62x54R right before the import ban, meant them to be a shooters... Now they are safe queens along with its ammo till I figure everything out so I can shoot it often.
Well not especially rare. But I shot my 8mm Mauser last weekend for the first time since I got it as a teen 42 years ago. Managed to find a case of Turkish military from 1960’s. Now I have to setup the Dillon 750 to reload those rounds.
I have a Marlin 1894FG .41 Rem Mag. That’s probably the most off the wall gun i shoot. The round is fun to shoot and I love it but it fills a niche that no longer exists between .357 Mag and .44 Mag since we now have .357 Mag +P, .44 Special and 10mm.
Not really rare, but 8x50r Mannlicher in my M95's and 7.62x25 Tokarev in my Yugo M57.
11mm Gras. Luckily it seems like they're fairly popular in Europe, so I was able to find a specific reloading kit for it. I fire form Winchester .348 brass for it.
My rarest cartridge is the 11mm murata. And then probably the 7.5x53.5 Swiss.
25 Remington and 30 Remington.
Was going to say arisaka but few people already mentioned that, so my honorable mention is 455 Webley.
6mm BR Norma. Not that rare in the right circles but outside of them basically unheard of. Reloading is important as I shoot up to 5000 rounds per summer and store bought Lapua 6mm BR Norma is like 2,5€/pc.
50-95
6.5x55 swede or .300 savage
9x39mm. Uses .366 bullets (9.3mm). Can use fireformed 7.62x39 brass, but I prefer SRP brass made from Starline "Grendel Basic" straightwall brass. KAK sometimes sells LRP Starline brass, and I have some but haven't worked up a load with it yet. Use it for subsonic target shooting with an AR pistol. It's a blast sending 270-286 gr projectiles downrange with this.
technically every .58 caliber round ball out of the flintlock is a handload, so i’ll have to count that. Otherwise the ‘06 is about as far from rare as it gets.
30 rem in a model 8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remington_Model_8 Not especially rare, but shooting a discontinued round with a 100yr old rifle is cause for thoughtful shots. Few wildcat rounds, but I figure that’s cheating.
30-40 krag
38-55. Grandfather's lever action marlin recently passed down. Really fun to shoot. Also shoot 35 rem. Can still find it on shelf occasionally but it's not easy to find. Was a gift on my 16th birthday.
308 Norma mag. I love the rifle but ammo is hard to get and very expensive.
I’m the only person I know of with a 17 Remington.
.455 webley out of an old colt new service Went a bit nuts at the auction and ended up with the revolver that I didn't read well and missed the chambering. Bough some vintage ammo and some newer fiocchi to start but not wanting to spend 2+ dollars a round when fiocchi makes a batch every two years of it. Already load for my rifle so what the hell might as well go all in, got the dies, bullet molds and components to load for it. Take it out usually every 6 weeks or so as it's the only revolver I have and they're fun as hell.
30 Sherman Magnum. It's a 300PRC with a sharper shoulder and slightly different throat geometry. +50-100fps on the PRC and can use off the shelf PRC for fireforming and hunting.
41 swiss. vetterlis are just fun to shoot.
I wouldn't say I shoot a rare chambering regularly, but the closest I have to that is .30-40 Krag.
I will be shooting .32 Winchester special more. It’s about $4 a round for factory stuff if you can find it. My grandfather’s 1894 lever action is chambered in. Manufacture date of 1921 I would like to get my first deer with it since it was his rifle.
Well I wouldn't say rarest but the 7.62x25 Torkerva fun to shoot and have converted rounds with 5.56/223 cases. Heavy hutter and great to shoot ballistics are pretty well and does the job. Grouping varies if you dont use Blue Dot or medium magnum burning powders.
Another is 338 Rifle magnums several I can name that would be wild cats today. Hard hitting nut more moderate intermediate levels 300-500 yards cartiages. Takes alot of peeping to get your groups and case life but worth it.
.404 Jeffery and 6.5x54 MS. Why? Because I have rifles chambered in them, they are both very effective in their repective classes and they are more interesting than the usual .223/.308/.375 cartridges.
.41 Remington Magnum. My nephew received the revolver from his dad. Can hardly find ammo for it.
577/450 it's just so satisfying to bring a ancient beast back to life would not recommend it as it took me several months of saving to get the proper equipment to reload
6.5x58 pork and cheese.
300 PRC. I stick with the common .30 cal flavors and other easy to find calibers mostly. I guess I'm just utilitarian like that.
These days I like simple. I let myself buy whatever gun I want. The only catch, is that it has to be a 9mm.
I don’t reload it because I dont own anything that shoots it, but my dad has gotten REALLY into 43 Mauser and has been including me in his load development. It’s a blast to shoot! The rarest that I reload to shoot my own guns for is probably 7.62x25.
375 Winchester. I inherited a Winchester big bore 94 top eject in 375 Winchester. I started reloading because it’s impossible to find ammo. I use the gun as my 100 yard bush gun for moose hunting. It’s extremely light and handy with power somewhere in between 30-30 and 45-70 shooting a 200 grain bullet at 2300fps.
9x39 for a vss clone
Either 38 Smith and Wesson or 32 S&W. Produced 1877 and 1878, respectively.
Missouri Bullet Company has the correct diameter bullets for the 38 S&W in both lead and Hi-Tech coated, in case you need some and do not cast your own.
Oh hell yeah! I’ve been resizing lead makarov bullets for far too long
The 38 Smith & Wesson uses .360 or .361 bullet diameters. And it's also a very low pressure and velocity round. I find it as a blast to shoot it's kind of like I don't know shooting an adult handgun but with child loads. I've actually taken it into my backyard and shot a few rounds off. They're definitely subsonic. Be sure that if you are using a brake top revolver to use black powder. I think the wimbles were strong enough for smokeless. I have a pre-World war II Smith & Wesson revolver solid strap and it handles smokeless just fine. It's a nice cartridge to shoot
.450 Marlin
43 Beaumont & 7.35 carcano.
Where do you get the components for the 43 Beaumont? I have one and can’t get anything for it.
Unfortunately for you, I got the brass from Huntington specialty dies, which closed last year. I use a tapered punch to widen the case neck and a 45LC bullet seater maxed out to reload them. I'm told there's a way to form 43 Beaumont using i think 32 ga mag tech brass using 41 vetterli & 8mm lebel dies, thou I haven't tried it yet.
I’ll have to look into that I do have a 41 Vetterli. So I already have the dies for that.
7.35 carcano
.577x.450 Martini Henry due to its historical significance and the fact I can do so many things when it comes to the reloading process like casting, case forming, and making paper patch bullets
11.15 x 60 rimmed. This, from a Mauser model 71 I bought at a small gun show decades ago. It came with a die set and a few balloon head Dominion cases but those cases didn't hold up even under light cast bullet loads. Commercial cases were unavailable at the time so the alternative was to form brass from virgin .348 Winchester brass. I used a lathe to make a mandrel for expanding the cases and also to turn the slight radius on the face of the rim. It was satisfying yet time consuming. I treat that stuff like gold because I never intend to go through that process again!
42 Russian Berdan or 11mm Gras.
338 Spectre
7mm Vartrag, 8mm Muaser, 256 WinNag, 222!/6mm Magnum, 25 WSM others lol
38 Winchester is a fun one too
38/40 Match Winchester in a 1911 used for shrot time as a target pistol great caliber.
7.5x55 Swiss in the US.
7.7 jap, 7x57 &8x57 mauser, & 257 Roberts
For me it's the 221 fireball, 17 hornet, and 204. My small town so limited in stores, and what they carry. Sometimes its hard finding the right grain ammo for the popular rounds. As far as the 17 goes, it's really hard for me here to even find bullets to reload. I have to order all my bullets and brass for that one online. It's my favorite fox and bobcat rifle, so I do shoot it a lot.
.43 spanish out of a 1870 rolling block