Cartridge that you just don't like

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vincyr

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I'm probably an outlier in this, but for me, it's 9mm. My dislike for it admittedly has nothing to do with performance, but rather stems from when I was an assembler at Dan Wesson. All of the other calibers we built went together no problem. The 9mms were finicky. Failures to feed, extraction problems, recoil springs that were either too strong or not strong enough. You name the issue, we probably saw it. We made sure they functioned flawlessly before they went out the door, but getting them there took more work than anything else we built. To this day, I refuse to own one.

What cartridge(s) can't you guys bring yourself to like?
 
I not big on disliking anything but I will play.

I am also not a big fan of 9mm. The only 9mm handgun I currently own is the 9mm cylinder for my Ruger Blackhawk Convertible and that brings up my current least favorite cartridge, the 357 Magnum. 357 Magnum is a jack of all trades and master of none and its bark is worst than its bite. Love revolvers but I am done with 357 Magnum. I really should sell that blackhawk...
 
Guess it depends on for what, to some degree. I got out of .40 because I shot my 9mm and .45s better and liked shooting them more and didn't feel like keeping another caliber.

I like .30-06 in heavy rifles, but hate it in my mountain rifle, just hate shooting it and develop a flinch quickly with that one, when I could shoot my .300 win mag all day long on a different gun. Though for rifle I mostly like .308
 
I just can't really come around to liking .223 Remington. It's super loud, I can't shoot my steel targets with it unless I'm a looong ways away, and when I'm shooting paper it's just a tiny 22 caliber hole. I can't get very excited about ARs for those reasons, even though they (obviously) can be made to use other cartridges. At least with 22LR I can shoot steel all day from plinking distances. The experience of shooting .223 is just very boring for me...
 
The .308 for no good reason other than when I was shopping for my first rifle in 1977 when I was a young, impressionable serviceman. I was pouring over all the cartridge ballistic data on all common cartridges. When I mentioned that I may get a .308 rifle my supervisor asked why and explained how it was just a mediocre round. So I bought a .270 which is my favorite hunting round. Never mind that it is a near twin to the 7.65x51 NATO round and that I carried one for years in my patrol car. To this day I have no desire to own one because of what I remember my supervisor saying.
 
my current least favorite cartridge, the 357 Magnum. 357 Magnum is a jack of all trades and master of none and its bark is worst than its bite.
MCB echoed my thoughts exactly - the "357 Magnum is a jack of all trades and master of none and its bark is worse than its bite." And also like MCB, I don't really "dislike" the 357 (or any other cartridge for that matter), it's just that the 357 is my "current least favorite."
As far as rifle cartridges go, the 25-06 has been my "least favorite" for a long time. I've always figured the 25-06 as another "jack of all trades and master of none," and it too has a "bark that's worse than its bite." Yeah, yeah, I know - the same could be said for 30 caliber magnums such as my beloved 308 Norma Magnum. But at least I don't hear many folks touting the various 30 caliber magnums as rifle cartridges that work great on everything from varmints to elk. 25-06s are too darned big for varmints, and too darned small for elk except in the hands of very experienced elk hunters. Just my opinion of course.:)
 
I'm likely to get harranged but was never a big fan of the 270 win. 280 rem and 3006 have better bullet selection and tend to retain more energy at longer ranges.

For pistol calibers except 22 lr anything below 9mm, had a star 380 that always bit the web of my hand. Calibers below 9mm just don't have enough energy to be truly useful, better than nothing, but not for my purposes.
 
I am not a huge fan of niche cartridges. One that springs to mind right away is 357Sig. I am sure it could have really taken off more than it did if more makers got on board. For whatever reason, it did not. Otherwise there isn't any cartridge I hate outright for any reason. Not even ballistically inferior rounds that serve no modern purpose.
 
I suppose it might be more insightful to ask people the least favorite cartridge that they actually shoot or load for. Obviously if people have zero interest or use for a cartridge they won’t use it or load for it or have any guns chambered for it. So they would by default be their least favorite.

I don’t like loading .380 but I have several pistols in that chambering so I load for it. It’s a hassle to pick the brass out of the 9mms, the components are too small to comfortably hold and handle when reloading, and I generally almost wish I didn’t have to bother with it.

I also have a .25 ACP but don’t load for it, though I do save my brass in case I ever try. Silly cartridge nowadays and if I had to give up one forever that would probably be it.

For rifle, either 8mm Mauser or .270 Winchester. I have one rifle each and haven’t tried reloading for either. Though I am saving my brass. I kinda don’t see the point of these but I’m not really a rifleman.

Shotgun: definitely .410. Silly. Wish I hadn’t bought it.
 
357 Magnum is a jack of all trades and master of none and its bark is worst than its bite.

the 357 is my "current least favorite."
I will have to agree with these guys.
...that being said, I reload for it and cast for it. I have more .357s than any other centerfire caliber. My latest purchase was a .357.

Not too smot I guess.
 
.380 ACP. I like the .32 ACP, and am always tempted to get a .380, but always hear the blowback guns in .380 are not as much fun to shoot, so - might as well just jump up to a recoil operated 9mm, but I am tormented by the .380 for some reason that it exists.
 
I will have to agree with these guys.
...that being said, I reload for it and cast for it. I have more .357s than any other centerfire caliber. My latest purchase was a .357.

Not too smot I guess.
Every bit as "smot" as me.;)
I too have more 357s than any other centerfire handguns, and I too reload for it, and once upon a time (before I got so lazy) I too cast bullets for it. The only thing is, I've been looking for the "perfect" all-around 357 Magnum load for about 40 years now, and have not found it yet.
After thinking about it, I guess I'll have to back-peddle a little about what I said about the 357 Magnum being my "least favorite." I love handloading. It's probably my favorite leisure-time activity. So looking for the "perfect" 357 Magnum load has given me hundreds of hours of pleasure over the past 40 years or so.:D
 
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