Why no modern rimfire > 22?

[kcub]

Once there were many, no longer.

Did the old obsolete rimfire calibers survive life after smokeless powder?

 

[dahermit]

Why no modern rim-fires bigger than .22? Because the brass case is the most expensive component of a cartridge and large rim fires would be too expensive. Also, I am sure sales of large rim fire would not be all that great inasmuch as many shooters (the smarter ones), are hand loaders and would have no interest. Furthermore, considering that a rim fire would have to be primed all the way around inside the rim, tooling would have to be made just for that purpose...manufacturers would not use the existing tooling. Also, consider that the rim would have to be soft enough for reliable ignition, limiting the cartridge to low pressure. In short, the reason there are no modern rim fires is that it is just a dumb idea... unless of course, there suddenly was a renewed interest in a modern crank-stated automobile.

 

[Doyle]

Rimfire has died in all but the smallest configurations because they were simply unreliable when compared with a centerfire primer. In a small, straight-walled cartridge like a .22 a rimfire primer makes sense. In a cartridge large enough to hold a true primer, you get much better (and reliable) ignition from that true primer.

 

[T. O'Heir]

"...survive life after smokeless powder?..." Yep, but not for long. CF cartridges can be reloaded and tend to be larger calibres. Demand isn't there for other rimfires.

 

[Tony Z]

Well, don't that tear the rag off the bush! Guess I'll just put out in the trash the Stevens Favorites I have in .25 and .32 rimfire, as I guess those cartridges ain't coming back.

 

[g.willikers]

A friend of a friend got a bargain lever action rifle from a local pawnshop.
A .32, unfortunately it was a rimfire, not a center fire.
Like a lot of folks he didn't know there were rimfire calibers other than .22s.
And he couldn't find ammo for it.
He thought he got rooked, until he found out it was a very collectible rifle and worth way more than he paid.

 

[Buzzard Bait]

It would seem

To me it would seem that a rim fire case has to be thin walled in order for the rimfire primer to work and that that thin wall would not allow much more pressure than is currently loaded so there is no place to go with that type case from where it is at now
bb

 

[gyvel]

Even if someone found a reloading method that was remotely plausible, you still have problem of making sure your cartridge is in a different position than when it was fired the first time.

 

[WV_gunner]

I've always wanted a .44 rifle and a .44 Colt.

 

[Creek Henry]

27

I was hoping the 17wsm parent case, a nailgun load actually, was going to have a straight walled version also in 27 mag. That would be a thumper and the cases are already being made... So why not?

 

[Pathfinder45]

I believe that one of the early successful rimfires that achieved widespread popularity in its day was the 44 Henry that was chambered not only in that rifle, but also the 1866 Winchester as well as the Colt, "open-top", revolver. If I'm not mistaken, in the Winchester, the ignition reliability issue was address by using a dual firing pin that struck the rim in two places. The Spencer also, was a successful large-caliber rimfire. But by 1873, the writing was on the wall as centerfires became the better way to go and rapidly began to dominate the market. Because the early Winchester rimfires were quite successful, ammunition remained available for quite some time.

 

[BoogieMan]

Same reason there is no pin fire, matchlock, etc... Better technology and value has prevailed.
Are there companies that still make ammo for some of the old oddball rimfire cartridges like 38rf ?

 

[Mike Irwin]

Any number of rimfire rounds survived right up to when US ammo companies started to convert for World War II production.

There were huge numbers of rimfire guns still in use at the time and, while certainly not setting the world on fire, many of those rounds still sold fairly well.

Rounds like the .41 Short, .32 Long, and .38 Short all survived right to about 1940.

After the war there was even calls to bring some of the old rimfires back into production.

There have been limited runs over the years, but nothing significant.

 

[James K]

Dahermit wrote, "... the rim would have to be soft enough for reliable ignition, limiting the cartridge to low pressure."

And that is about the only reason. Rimfire ammo is cheaper to make than CF; no primer, no solid head, etc., but the advantages of CF outweigh the lower cost of RF.

Jim

 

[Jim Watson]

Elmer Keith said he would have rather seen a return of the .25 Stevens Long HV than the then-new .22 Magnum.

Remington did some work with a 6.5mm rimfire before WWII.

And, as Creek Henry said, if WW can bottleneck a .27 industrial blank to .17, they could as easily leave it straight.

 

[Gunplummer]

I see there is a guy on here from WV. I hunt there every year, and unless they changed the regulations recently, "A rimfire cartridge of .25 caliber or larger" is legal to hunt deer down there. There has to be some around yet.

 

[Mike Irwin]

"Remington did some work with a 6.5mm rimfire before WWII."

Yep, .267 Remington. Was intended to be a modernized, magnumized version of the .25 Stevens Long.

Couple of things conspired to kill the project.... cost, accuracy issues, and World War II.

 

[johnwilliamson062]

And that is about the only reason. Rimfire ammo is cheaper to make than CF; no primer, no solid head, etc., but the advantages of CF outweigh the lower cost of RF.

I have my doubts. I think a 30 cal rimfire pushing the pressure limit might sell well if a few big companies supported it. Ruger seems to be catching on in the 'how to develop a cartridge' game after several failures.

Most people don't reload. Most throw their brass in the trash. There has to be a market out there for a single large bore rimfire cartridge.

 

[Jim Watson]

I think you will see a plastic cased centerfire on the market before a large rimfire turns up.