Winners & Losers

[270man]

Fellow Prophets:

I just read that Remington has dropped its SAUM (Short Action Ultra Magnum) line of cartridges. Seems that Winchester won out with its short magnums (300WSM, etc.). The news prompted me to dig out a 2001 article by gun writer Jon Sundra in which he predicted that the market would not support both of these manufacturer's products. He was correct. Sundra also made some dire predictions about such cartridges as the 376 Steyr, the 338-06, the 7mm STW and the 338RUM.

I only have limited experience with the 7mmSTW and none with the others. Sundra says the 7mmRUM is better than the STW and the latter will eventually die out. I haven't followed any of these to find out how well they are selling but Sundra was right about the short action cartridges that were available in 2001.

All this causes me to consider my own predictions about the "whiz-bang" cartridges that have been introduced in recent years. Seems to me that the Winchester line of SSM (Super Short Magnum) cartridges haven't done very well. There are probably others. I am currently shooting and reloading for the 260Rem and wonder if it will last.

I'm too lazy to generate a poll on this subject but if someone has the energy, it would be interesting to see which cartridges get the most votes for lasting power and those that are predicted to fail.

270man