I would like to add a little background to the discussion on bullets and cartridges, even though I have not shot most calibers I do read and find comments by authors contemporary to the Founding period of cartridge rifle target and hunting shooting.
BP Metallic Cartridges became available to some extent during the American Civil War,or War of Northern Aggression as some call it, and therefore there was some side by side "practical" testing of the ones available at the time. They were less prone to miss-loading in the heat of battle than loose components or paper cartridge loads of the era, but not immune to problems altogether.
Post War things continued to evolve toward more reliable Metallic cartridge and firearm designs because of the ease of caring and using them compared to loose components. In the 1870s Two things began to affect Developments in a more controlled form. The National Rifle Association was Founded in the USA, and Several Manufacturers developed cartridge repeating rifles that were reliable enough for use in the 'Wild West' of the era.
Of course, the Winchester 1873 and its signature cartridge,the 44-40WCF sold large quantities of fire arms and cartridges, their demands also helped along with the Colt SAA design that also fired the same caliber cartridge, this allowing one cartridge to serve both of a "frontiersman's" primary firearm needs. Other similar cartridges were sold and used also but the owner had to carefully order the arms to get matching caliber weapons in them if desired. Cartridges such as the 45 Colt, 38-40, 32-20, 32-40, etc. came out for dual use in pistol and rifle and attained some success. The .22 Rim fire series started in this same period and found use as a "pot Meat" cartridge for small game. Other RF cartridges were tried and some found more useful than others, although the inability to reload them made remote area use a problem. The .25 Stevens RF and the .32 Long RF are two that come to mind that found good use and some recommendations in contemporary literature.
Target shooting separated form strictly Hunting type shooting about this time frame. as Hunting seems to be about relatively short ranges, in the Eastern USA, from 50 to about 150 yards, and in the Western USA, around 100 to 300 yards and using any available rest or position to attain the necessary stability for a successful Hunt. Target shooting on the other hand, quickly focused upon Off Hand shooting at 200 yards and longer, with formal target shooting at ranges up to 1000 yards using regulated targets and shooting positions such as kneeling, siting, prone, or reclining, or Bench Rest with specific firearm characteristics and limitations, under rules of competitions.
In this era the .22 Rim fires were found to be lesser choices at over 200 yards, having too much wind sensitivity compared to larger calibers. The .25 Stevens RF, released in 1890, was noted as good for Off Hand target shooting at 200 yards but somewhat sensitive to wind still. later the .25 Stevens Short, introduces as an economy, was found wanting in power and range, and seemed to be less favored than even the .32 Long and short were as other than use as a pistol loading.
Into the 1900s the separation of uses and designs continued, with hunting evolving into area and game specific capabilities and Target arms a separate group of more specialized types, the 1000 yard muzzle loader or cartridge 'iron' sighted ones typically fired form the reclining position and having barrels long enough to reach past the shooters feet and with the rear sight mounted upon the butt for the longest sighting base. the best shots could get Very Good Results. this gave us our American Riflemen of the First World War, and continued to provide them into the Second world War, men who had learned from their youth to handle firearms and to make economical use of 'scarce' ammunition in hard economic times.
World War 2 caused many cartridge calibers to become obsolete as the War Effort converted production to War needs and the production of 'obsolete' calibers were, to the most part, not resumed upon the closing of hostilities and return to Peacetime production.
We seem to have come to trying to make a limited range of firearm designs do many tasks, with varying levels of success.
So much for the background. Go and enjoy the Hobby with this bit of 'trivia' in mind.
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