Rimfire calibers

[PonchoTA]

Is .22(LR) caliber the largest caliber that rimfire comes in?
Isn't there any larger (read: more powerful) round available in rimfire?

If not, why not?


Paul

[Fjold]

There used to be 38 and 41 rimfire cartridges (as well as others) but they pretty much fell out of favor after smokeless powder came into common use.

[paintballergb]

.17 HMR, .22WMR

[gunboat]

Occaisionaly they make a batch of 25 stevens --

[50BMGBOB]

I have an old 32 rimfire that I even got new ammo for a few years back. I think the big reason you don't see bigger rim fire rounds has to do with a limit to the pressure that the cases can handle without rupturing. The rim has to be thin enough so you can set of the primer and this limits what they can handle.

[kermit315]

that is what I have heard as well.

[22popnsplat]

A part that i belive really came into play on killing the big rimfires was the fact that when you get past 22s it cost as much to make a rimfire as it does a center fire but its not practical to reload rimfire , In the early days they wanted to reload them or it took a trip to a store to buy more and ended up costing more.

[Travis8128]

.17 HMR, .22WMR

this.

[goober]

.17 HMR, .22WMR

well, in the sense of the OP's 2nd question, yes. both are considerably more powerful than .22LR.
but as for the 1st Q, neither one of these is a larger caliber than .22LR...

[ojisan]

I have an old 32 rimfire that I even got new ammo for a few years back. I think the big reason you don't see bigger rim fire rounds has to do with a limit to the pressure that the cases can handle without rupturing. The rim has to be thin enough so you can set of the primer and this limits what they can handle.

There was also the Henry repeating carbine in .44 rimfire in the civil war days but it was only as powerful as today's 40 / 45 pistol ammo out of the carbines long barrel.
Also,the ability to reload was very important back then as well.

[JBird33]

well, in the sense of the OP's 2nd question, yes. both are considerably more powerful than .22LR.
but as for the 1st Q, neither one of these is a larger caliber than .22LR...

The actual diameter of the bullet on a .22 WMR is very slightly larger than .22 LR I believe.

[PonchoTA]

Excellent gentlemen! I'm learning a lot!

Please continue if there is more info!



ETA: Here's a good list of all the rimfire cartridges today, I guess I should have checked here!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rimfire_cartridges

* .17 Mach 2
* .17 Hornady Magnum
* 5 mm Remington Rimfire Magnum
* .22 Short
* .22 Long
* .22 Extra Long
* .22 LR
* .22 WMR
* .22WRF
* .22 ILARCO
* .22 CB
* .22 CB cap
* .22 BB
* .22 Remington Automatic
* .22 Winchester Automatic
* .25 Stevens Short & Long
* .267 Remington
* .30 rimfire
* .30 R Blaser
* .310 Remington Skeet
* .31 Eley
* .32 Rimfire short ,extra short ,long ,& extra long
* .340 rimfire revolver
* .35 Allen
* 9 mm Rimfire Shotgun Shell
* .38 Short, Long, & Extra Long
* .41 Rimfire
* .41 Swiss
* .42 Allen
* .44 Short & Long
* .440
* .442 Eley
* .44 Henry
* .45 Danish
* .46 Extra Short, Short, Long, & Extra Long
* .50 Remington Navy
* .50 Government
* .56-46, 56-50, 56-52 Spencer
* .58 Gatling
* .58 Joslyn carbine
* .58 Mont Storm
* .58 Miller

WOW!!! I'm a lookin for cool guns now!

.

[JBird33]

Of all those you listed, you'll only find about 6 in stores anymore. Most of those are wayyyy dead calibers.

Excellent gentlemen! I'm learning a lot!

Please continue if there is more info!



ETA: Here's a good list of all the rimfire cartridges today, I guess I should have checked here!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rimfire_cartridges

* .17 Mach 2
* .17 Hornady Magnum
* 5 mm Remington Rimfire Magnum
* .22 Short
* .22 Long
* .22 Extra Long
* .22 LR
* .22 WMR
* .22WRF
* .22 ILARCO
* .22 CB
* .22 CB cap
* .22 BB
* .22 Remington Automatic
* .22 Winchester Automatic
* .25 Stevens Short & Long
* .267 Remington
* .30 rimfire
* .30 R Blaser
* .310 Remington Skeet
* .31 Eley
* .32 Rimfire short ,extra short ,long ,& extra long
* .340 rimfire revolver
* .35 Allen
* 9 mm Rimfire Shotgun Shell
* .38 Short, Long, & Extra Long
* .41 Rimfire
* .41 Swiss
* .42 Allen
* .44 Short & Long
* .440
* .442 Eley
* .44 Henry
* .45 Danish
* .46 Extra Short, Short, Long, & Extra Long
* .50 Remington Navy
* .50 Government
* .56-46, 56-50, 56-52 Spencer
* .58 Gatling
* .58 Joslyn carbine
* .58 Mont Storm
* .58 Miller

WOW!!! I'm a lookin for cool guns now!

.

[HK Dave]

There are or were larger calibers... but 17hmr is much more powerful then 22lr. If you mean are there more powerful calibers... yes there are.

[brian01tj]

I recently read up on the 5mm Rem. Rimfire...

It resembled a .22 WMR case necked-down to accept 5mm/.20 caliber bullets, but was dimensionally unique. Factory ballistics called for a 38 grain JHP bullet at 2100 fps from a rifle barrel, making it the fastest rimfire cartridge in the world at the time. For those that own 5mm Rem. Rimfire Mag. rifles, Centurion Ordinance has recently announced a new factory load for the 5mm. This uses a 30 grain JHP varmint bullet at a MV of 2300 fps with 352 ft. lbs. of muzzle energy.