28 gauge said
  With so many of the Model 94,64 and 55 rifles being sold in .30 WCF.It shows just how popular and good hunters felt, the cartridge was as a game getter at those times.  

I have a slightly different take.  I think popularity breeds popularity.  I remember the days 60 years ago when the Winchester .30 WCF still reigned supreme as the deer-getter for woods hunters.  The majority of hunters pulled their M94 out of the closet once a year for the deer hunt and of them, the majority had no idea the ’94 was chambered in anything other than the .30 WCF.  It was the .32 Special buyer that gave some thought to what he was buying.

When the earliest smokeless cartridges were introduced they were compared to the BP cartridges they succeeded. There was a dramatic difference for most shooters who felt the need for higher velocity and energy. Over the next few decades new smokeless cartridges made (comparatively) slight improvements over the early smokeless cartridges, but nothing as dramatic as the difference between BP and smokeless. 

Then as now shooters have their reasons (or simply preferences). That’s why Ford no longer paints every car black and some donuts have sprinkles.

Mike