We Get Letters

"Which caliber cartridge do you think will be the next one to become obsolete?"

There was a time when some of the mouse-calibers were dying a slow death, but with the advent of small, polymer pistols such as Kel-Tec, the .32's and 380's have been revived quite well. The one gun and it's caliber that continues to wan in popularity is the 25 ACP. There are lighter, less expensive, plastic guns in 32 caliber that will do everything a 25 will do only better, but Speer still manufactures Gold Dots in 25...believe it or not...so at least there's a somewhat viable defense round for the gun.

.32 pocket guns are selling like hotcakes. Try and find a used one in most gun stores or pawn shops, and they want new in box retail for the bloody things and demand continues to skyrocket. But, since this is the case, a lot of folks are being forced to pick up a .25 while they await the availability of something more formidable, so who really knows.

To be honest, as long as the liberals don't begin grabbing guns again, I feel that there aren't any calibers that are in danger of going the way of the Dodo. Not today. Concealed carry remains on the upswing, and that means handguns of every sort will continue to sell well.

Rifle calibers are another story, and far too lengthy to go into without compiling something akin to a doctoral thesis.

Cartridges that will continue to be marginal sellers?

10 mm. 357 SIG. 45 GAP. The SIG at least is being experimented with by more and more law enforcement agency's, but unless something new & improved comes along made specifically for the 10, I don't see it growing by leaps and bounds.

The .45 GAP? Who knows how many military organizations are giving it the once over, but more than a few police departments are holstering Gaston's brainchild.

Remember; it doesn't have to make much sense. Marketing departments send out the specialists, and they sell far more guns by hype as opposed to performance.

And as a parting shot, to those who scoff at the .25 ACP, I'll ask how many men you've shot with it and how many have went down. Since I can only attest to one such incident I have little expertise from which to form an opinion, but as good fortune would have it, for me, not he, it was one squeeze, one drop, and one 3D.*

*Definitely Done Dancing.