Odd Calibers

I am curious though, for "odd" calibers, do most people find they can dig some up in person if they have to (rather than reload, what with components being hard to come by at times)?
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Pop still has some original '60s vintage 6mm Remington in the box.

But mainly he shoots his own reloads, which sorta contributes to the odd factor in my book.
 
5mm rimfire mag

I received one of these rifles as a Christmas gift in the mid 70's, and shot quite a few groundhogs with it, until ammo was discontinued. I had pretty much retired the little rifle until Centurion came out with their stuff recently.
 
In rifles, I shoot both 7.5x55 Swiss and 6.5x52 Carcano which could both be considered "oddball". Also, while I wouldn't consider it such, apparently many people aren't familiar with .45-70 which I also shoot.

In handguns, the only one I shoot that I'd really consider "oddball" is .38 S&W (handloaded to British .38/200 specs for my Webley) though I suppose some people might consider 10mm Auto and 7.62x25 Tokarev which I also shoot "oddball".

In a shotgun, 10ga seems to be uncommon these days and people seem to get wide-eyed when I shoot mine.
 
I don't consider 7.62x25, 10mm and 45/70 oddball at all, they've been around for years and there are plenty of manufacturers for all of those, plus 45/70 is about the most popular big bore hunting round in the US for large game.

7.5 swiss is right on the edge though, I suppose you could get away with calling it an oddball just because ammo is still hard to find locally.

I consider 6.5 carcano oddball both because of the lack of commercially available ammo, the fact that the carcano family is the only rifle ever chambered in it and it has it's own unique bullet diameter that separates it from all other 6.5s.
 
7.65x53 Argentine Mauser.

I just started a reloading project to turn what is basically a non-scoped 30-30 into a rabbit gun. I got a chamber insert that allows the gun to shoot 32acp and 32HR mag and it is surprisingly accurate. But, one shot, reload teh insert, etc.

So, I got 100 empties off of gunbroker and some 95 grain lead pills. I am using hodgdon.com loading data as they bullets should yield about 1400fps at 24K psi.
 
Hey Creek Henry, Nice call on the 7.65x53 Argie, I want one real bad.
I still want a 9.3x62 mauser, no practical reason, just want it !!:D

According to others my " Oddballs " aren't so odd,

7mm Mauser
8mm Mauser
300 Savage
375 Winchester

the rest are fairly mainstream,

280 Remington
30-30 Winchester
30-06 Springfield
38-55 Winchester
 
.30 Remington for my Remington Model 81 Woodsmaster that was my grandfather's.

6.5 x 55 for my Swedish M96 which is easier to find than it used to be.
 
Odd

Odd calibers? Any that end in 1,3,5,7,9.
Odd or unusual cartridges.....that's a different matter entirely.
My oddest is the old 577-450 Martini Henry cartridge.
Here it is next to another odd cartridge, the .310 Cadet.
 
45-75. Makes the 45-70 look positively mundane.

32-20, 38-40, 300 Whisp'R (300 Whisper / Blackout on a 357 Max case)
 
In no particular order: .30 Mauser, .357 & .44AMP, 38-55, .50BMG, and 25-20. I shoot enough of the 25-20 in my 1894 Marlin, that I bought a Hornady AP just to keep it fed.
 
I think a lot of the "oddball" factor depends on the area you are in. Around here, my .22 Hornet, .41 Mag, and .358 Winchester are considered oddballs or obsolete by most shooters I run across. I don't consider them as oddball, just not popular, not mainstream.

The only cartridge I reload for that I might consider oddball is 8x50R (8mm Lebel).
 
A guy I shoot with has a Colt model 1877 Thunderer in .41 Long Colt he shoots every now and then. He reloads for it since factory ammo (if you can even find it) is about $75 for a box of 50 :eek: . I'd say that qualifies as an oddball.
 
The only true oddball I own is a smith corona chambered in the 308 Norma magnum. And a beautiful sporterized Mauser in 257 Roberts. Its not really an odd ball but definitely not mainstream either.
 
Semi oddball:
22 Savage High Power
455 Webley

Oddball:
256 Winchester Magnum
577/450 Martini Henry
310 Cadet

Truly odd:
310 Cattle Killer
 
i have a destroyer carbine in 9mm largo/bergmann and a Blaser R8 in 7mm Blaser magnum (one hell of a cartridge). And i had a revolver in 6mm Flobert but sold it years ago.
 
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