Rifling Through Rimfire Ammunition Comparing Cartridges and Barrel Lengths Dr. George E. Dvorchak, Jr.
varmint and small game hunters is the rimfi re. Here we will look at fi rearms so chambered and the various ammunitions. What has greatly contributed to this awareness, especially over the last few years, is the rising cost of all ammunition. Concerning the cost factor, a friend of mine who owns a local gun store told me that he has noticed a renewed interest in rimfi re guns and ammo. He, his employees, and I assume that has a lot to do with the economy … and that only makes sense. On looking back to when we were young shooters and
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hunters, such buying habits were the norm because back then few had a lot of money to spend. But even with money being tight, we still wanted and needed to shoot. We realized frequently fi ring rimfi re cartridges provides practice that has always helped hunters keep in touch with shooting equip- ment. Basically, equipment is the same for when we “move up” to fi rearms that can handle centerfi re rounds. The logic here is that when we get the basics down pat, shooting any fi rearms will just fall into place. Individuals who follow such logic usually can hit what they aim at with most centerfi res once the basics of fi ring any rimfi re are instilled, and that is what it is all about. Although none of these rimfi re cartridges is new, as of
the 2011 Las Vegas SHOT Show there are some new loads that varmint hunters may fi nd of interest. Especially today with the high cost of ammunition, many varmint hunters, when appropriate, are using rimfi re ammunition to control small varmints such as prairie dogs and ground squirrels. They continue to do this because these rounds are accurate, effective within their ranges, do not recoil or produce a “centerfi re” blast, and round for round are cost effective when compared to the excellent 223 or 22-250 rounds. To do a review comparing “apples to apples,” when
I started this project I had problems locating 14" and 23" 22 WMR barrels. These lengths were necessary because they were the barrel dimensions used for the other rimfi re cartridg- es reviewed. The problem was that currently, Thompson/ Center Arms does not offer standard barrels for handguns or rifl es chambered in 22 WMR. In such circumstances, the only option was a custom shop barrel or obtaining one from a friend. Concerning friends, our editor, John Anderson, loaned me his 14-inch barrel. For the 23-inch barrel, I ordered one from a custom shop. Over the years I have had excellent luck in terms of quality with Bullberry Barrel Works in Utah, having bought both Contender and Encore barrels. FOLLOWING IS A SUMMARY
OF THE CARTRIDGES COVERED IN THIS REVIEW. 22 LR: This is the oldest of the four rimfi re cartridges
being compared, dating from the late 1880s. It’s an extremely popular round, the world’s best-selling pistol and rifl e car- tridge. Today, it is chambered in a variety of fi rearms for
Cartridge illustration of the parent cartridges for the newer 17 calibers. From left to right, the 22 WMR, 17 HMR, 22 LR, and its offspring, the 17 Mach 2.
www.varminthunter.org Page 59
This ammunition was used by the author to sight-in each of the four rifl es at 50 yards. Once sighted in, they were fi red with these rounds at 100 and 200 yards to see how much the groups would drop.
ver the past few years, the one group of cartridges that continues to generate a lot of interest among
To obtain velocity comparisons, these cartridges were all fi red through an Oehler 35-P chronograph.
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