Hunting Blogs

25 Latest Articles Current Articles | Archives | Search
Winchester Will Unveil Game-Changing Rimfire Cartridge

By: Ron Spomer
11 comments Muzzle Break with Spomer and Mann

Dec 11

If you think the 300 Win. Mag. is a significant improvement over the .30-06, wait until you shoot the new ground-breaking rimfire cartridge from Winchester. I'm not allowed to disclose its name or caliber yet, but it's scheduled to storm the market in 2013, beginning as soon as early or mid-March. Its performance exceeds current cartridges in its class by a wider margin than the 300 Win. Mag. over the .30-06.

I don't say this based merely on rumor or manufacturer hype. I've shot the new round. It does everything Winchester says it will. The bullets fly from the muzzle 500 fps faster than any other rimfire cartridge I'm aware of. At 250 yards, they retain nearly double the energy of the next-best round in their class. During my testing off sand bags from a portable bench, five bullets clustered just over 1 inch at 100 yards in light but variable winds. A single four-shot group went into a .39-inch spread, and one 300-yard four-shot group fell inside of 2.5 inches. All this was accomplished with a prototype bolt-action rifle so unrefined that cartridges had to be hand fed and extracted from the chamber with a knife blade.  

Ballistic coefficient and velocity of the bullets are so high that this new round should hold a Maximum Point Blank Range of 250 yards on an 8-inch target. This means you aim at the center of the 8-inch target and hit it at any and all distances out to 250 yards. Last but not least, the new rounds should cost within 10 percent of currently available rimfire rounds in their class, or about a third less than some centerfire rounds with similar ballistic performance.

Because dimensions of the round are significantly different from any others currently made, at least one gun maker is reportedly building newly designed bolt-action rifles to fire it. Two more are reportedly working on additional models. Whether those are bolt actions, break actions, levers, semiautos or something else remains to be revealed.

“New” cartridges are a tried and sometimes true method for ramping up sales in the shooting industry, but most of them provide only incremental improvements over existing rounds. This new cartridge from Winchester is more than that. Much more. It should be a game changer.

11 comments

# Dlittle89
Tuesday, December 11, 2012 4:32 PM
this definitely has my interest because I'm a huge fan of .17HMR so this should be a very interesting new round. But at the same time why cant anyone build a reliable affordable action that can tame the 17hmr round? So I highly doubt we will see this new round in any semi autos either :(
# dcarter11
Tuesday, December 11, 2012 8:50 PM
I don't know why their should be any development of a new rim fire round when all you have to do is make it center fire and all problems are solved for the .22 and the .17HMR one flaw. one fix. I don't know if you can tell but I don't like rim fire any thing. The only reason I would buy any if because they don't make a .22 in center fire. In stead of trying make a better rim fire round why not make a better rim fire riffle with a multi pointed firing pen that will engage more than one point of impact on the rim. never mind just make the .17hmr and the .22 center fire. makes more sense.
# cvollbrecht
Wednesday, December 12, 2012 2:13 AM
I believe this is a scam by Winchester just to get hip on a rimfire. With the price of ammo such as the 300 win and the 338win or fact of the matter 375 h&h anyone who put's a lot of lead down range hand loads these round's. why in the hell would I buy a rimfire round unless it will coast the same as a 22 or 17 hrm when I can make my own ammo and taler them to my gun for less then what I can buy it.
# alderdog
Wednesday, December 12, 2012 10:22 AM
Well dcarter11, they don't make a 22 center fire? How about we start with the 22 hornet and work our way up through the 22-250? That enough 22 center fire for you?
# cvollbrecht
Wednesday, December 12, 2012 11:31 AM
I am just saying if they are rating this bullet as the power of a 30 cal round I am just to cheep to buy it but I would like to add I get my kicks at work with the 5.56 NATO or AKA the 223 it's a good flate shooter but I would like to make my own so when I get home I can shoot more with the family
# dcarter11
Wednesday, December 12, 2012 3:18 PM
adlerdog, I know that the .22 does not come in center fire. but your comment did point out a typo to me. In the sentence the only reason I buy any (if) is they don't make the .22 in center fire. Now allow me to elaborate. Rim Fire rounds are not inefficient, however center fire rounds are by far more efficient. I use a .22 to hunter squirrels. I don't like using a shot gun because I don't like picking little pellets out of my squirrel meat. All ammo can be dangerous, however rim fire rounds are by far more like likely to go off and send the brass end flying off and into who knows what if they are dropped onto a hard surface. That flying brass, while I have not heard of any one being killed by getting hit by it, can cause irreparable damage to eyes ears and the throat if it hits just right. while it is possible for this kind of thing to happen with center fire rounds, it almost has to be done on purpose. I have also seen mishaps and just plane mishandling lead to serious accidents that would have been far less likely to happen with center fire rounds. So adlerdog have I been clear enough now. I do not want to make enemies with any one. just keep in mind we all have our reasons for what we say or should say. By the way, the .22 hornet and 22-250 is just to big for squirrels.
# dcarter11
Wednesday, December 12, 2012 3:26 PM
oops another typo hunter squirrels . I mean hunt squirrels. and I just got back into hunting the little bushy tailed things after years of lack of interest. Now I have a grandson that I hope to teach how to hunt so I have to get back into practice. He is 19 months old. I hope buy the time he is 5 I can start him out with a good air rifle hunting paper squirrels and depending how well he does I want to get him in the deer woods by age 7.
# Dlittle89
Wednesday, December 12, 2012 7:02 PM
I think what they are trying to say is that the new round will be as big of an improvement on the existing rimfire options as the .300 win mag did over the 30-06
# SDP
Thursday, December 13, 2012 5:20 PM
I wonder how it will compare to the 5mm rem mag?
# charles e spencer
Thursday, December 13, 2012 10:14 PM
We do not need a new rimfire cartridge!It goingto be short lived like the 5mm rem mag.DEAD IN THE WATER!
# fisherus
Friday, December 14, 2012 1:00 PM
Quite frankly I'm always amazed at some of the comments I read in these forums. When one says "We" it most generally means "I" and you really can't speak for all shooters. Personally, I welcome any new innovation that companies come out with. They are putting their financial investment at risk aqyiring the public's acceptance.
I have really enjoyed my .17 HMR so much I haven't shot any of my .22 rimfires since I purchased my first .17HMR. Show me one with another 500fps for a fairly close price to the .17HMR and I will really show some interest. Folks, that's getting a rimfire that shoots over 3000fps!Watch out Yotes and prairie dogs!

Post Comment

Only registered users may post comments.

NAHC Staff &
Contributor Blogs