5 Best Old-School Cartridges You Don’t Already Own

You don’t want me to sing the praises of these old-school cartridges. They’ve been hammering large sport for many years, and the world doesn’t want one other “10 Finest” checklist that features the 7mm Rem. Magazine.

As an alternative, I need to level your consideration to a couple choices off the overwhelmed path. These cartridges aren’t obscure or out of date like these you’ll discover within the Forgotten Cartridges sequence. However though they’ve been round for many years, they’re far much less common than the heavy hitters I discussed on the prime. That makes them a great selection for anybody who’s trying to boost their gun cupboard with out making the leap to the ultra-modern.

The 35 Remington was first launched all the way in which again in 1906, which can make it a whopping 120 years previous subsequent yr. It makes use of a rimless bottleneck case designed to simply accept a .358-caliber bullet weighing wherever from 150 to 200 grains (although lately the 200-grain is the preferred). Hornady’s LEVERevolution masses can push a 200-grain bullet 2225 fps on the muzzle, which leads to 2198 foot-pounds (ft.-lbs.) of power. It’s most well-known for being chambered in lever motion rifles, and it’s a superb large woods cartridge for deer and bear in areas the place a protracted shot isn’t mandatory.

It could be getting ready to obscurity now, however there was a time when its predominant rival was the still-popular .30-30 Winchester. Some most well-liked the bigger diameter and better power of the 35 Remington whereas others most well-liked the quicker velocity and flatter trajectory of the .30-30. However each had been chambered in well-known lever weapons just like the Marlin 336 and had been utilized in related capacities within the subject. Why the 35 Remington pale and the .30-30 Win. remained within the highlight is a subject for an additional day. However if you happen to get an opportunity to get your palms on a 35 Remington rifle, you’ll nonetheless have the ability to discover ammunition and also you gained’t be disenchanted in the way it performs.

Availability: 6 choices at Scheels

This 6.5mm cartridge was developed by Norway and Sweden all the way in which again in 1894, and it’s typically used as proof that the present 6.5mm craze is nothing new. It’s not a foul level. European hunters and sport shooters have been utilizing the 6.5mm Swedish Mauser for over 100 years, and it stays common to this present day. North American hunters didn’t catch on till the inflow of Swedish Mauser rifles after World Warfare II. Frank Barnes studies in “Cartridges of the World” that the Canadians had been the primary to understand the advantages of the cartridge within the Fifties and Sixties, and People finally got here to the identical conclusion within the Nineteen Seventies and Nineteen Eighties.

However the lack of American-made manufacturing unit rifles stored it from actually taking off, which is a disgrace. It boasts wonderful accuracy, particularly with 140-grain bullets, and just like the 6.5 Creedmoor, is a implausible deer cartridge. It could actually’t fairly sustain with the Creedmoor from a velocity perspective, because it begins at 2,600 fps with a 140-grain bullet and dips below 2,000 fps round 400 yards. However that average velocity produces an equally average recoil, which makes the Swedish Mauser nice to shoot and promotes in-the-field accuracy.

6.5×55 Swedish Mauser 140g BTHP

Availability: 33 choices at Halfway USA

As I identified on this comparability between previous and new cartridges, the .260 Remington is almost equivalent to the 6.5 Creedmoor out to about 600 yards. It launches a 140-grain bullet 2735 fps on the muzzle and maintains a pace of over 2,000 fps out to 500 yards. Just like the Creedmoor, it drops about 50 inches at 500 yards and has drifted about 15 in a 10mph crosswind. What’s extra, as a result of it makes use of the ultra-popular 6.5mm diameter bullet, there are many high-BC choices for handloaders seeking to squeeze a bit extra out of this less-common cartridge.

Its launch in 1997 makes it a bit much less “old-school” than most of the different choices on this checklist, however at almost 30 years previous, it’s had sufficient journeys across the solar that its again hurts for no cause. It was additionally loaded as a wildcat cartridge for a few years previous to its official launch, so I feel it qualifies as not less than middle-aged.

Availability: 10 choices at Scheels

The .280 Ackley Improved was the one Ackley Improved cartridge to make the leap from the wildcatter’s reloading bench to the ammunition manufacturing unit. As such, I feel it deserves a point out as one of the crucial attention-grabbing–and efficient–7mm cartridges in the marketplace. It does certainly outperform the .280 Remington: all issues being equal, it will increase muzzle velocity by about 100 feet-per-second (fps), clocking in at almost 2,900 fps with a 162-grain bullet and over 3,000 fps with a 150-grain bullet. It’s good for every little thing in North America as much as and together with elk and moose, and it has a fame for wonderful accuracy.

Nosler launched the primary manufacturing unit choices in 2007, however the cartridge’s inventor, P.O. Ackley, invented the .280 AI many years prior.

.280 Ackley Improved 162g ELD-X

Availability: 9 choices at Scheels

Thirty-five caliber cartridges is perhaps on their final legs (the .357 Magazine. excepted, after all), however very like the 35 Remington, the 35 Whelen continues to be chugging alongside. The 35 Whelen is just a 30-06 Springfield necked as much as settle for a 35-caliber bullet. It could actually hearth a 200-grain tablet 2,800 fps on the muzzle, which produces a whopping 3,481 ft-lbs. of power. Its comparatively low BC bullets lose extra power than extra trendy choices, and it’s dipped under 1,200 ft-lbs. by 500 yards. However devastating velocity and power at close-to-medium ranges give it sufficient juice to take all North American large sport and most African sport as effectively. Legendary cartridge designer and writer Frank Barnes has referred to as it “among the finest balanced and most versatile medium bores for North American large sport,” and it hasn’t misplaced all of its sheen regardless of developments in trendy cartridge growth. It’s nonetheless available on-line, with seven choices at Scheels and 14 at Halfway USA.

Even higher, Barnes studies that P.O. Ackley’s Improved model of the 35 Whelen will increase the rate of the unique and fixes a poor headspacing drawback. If you wish to pull the set off on the 35-caliber large sport cartridge, getting a rifle chambered in .35 Whelen AI is perhaps a very good place to begin.

35 Whelen 200g Fusion Gentle Level

Availability: 7 choices at Scheels

This checklist is on no account exhaustive, and I’m trying ahead to listening to about different choices within the feedback. You may also scoff at the concept the 35 Remington or 35 Whelen could be included in a listing of obscure cartridges. However in 2025 and amongst hunters below 40, none of those 5 would win a recognition contest–and that’s a disgrace.

The excellent news is that it’s not too late to undertake these old-school choices. You’ll find rifles chambered in all 5, although you would possibly have to resort to the used gun counter. It’s additionally simple to order factory-loaded cartridges, so that you don’t want to fireplace up the reloading bench to fireplace rounds downrange. Most significantly, whether or not you wish to hunt deer within the large woods or elk within the Rocky Mountains, you will discover one thing on this checklist that may ship wonderful efficiency within the subject.

It’s comforting to make use of the identical rifle yr after yr. However selection is the spice of life (or so I’ve heard), so possibly that is the yr you attempt one thing new–or, not less than, new to you.