Rimfire

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! As part of this ongoing series of entirely rimfire-focused topics, I’ve been going through as many different types of .22LR ammunition as I can get my hands on, and running them through a series of standardized accuracy and velocity tests using a Bergara B14R rifle and Garmin’s extremely handy Xero C1 Pro chronograph. In the past, we’ve had the opportunity to check out everything from CCI’s very much loved Standard Velocity ammo, to some of Europe’s best budget offerings like last week’s S&B Club 40 grain. This week we’re checking out another rather odd ammo I picked up while browsing a local outfitter - Browning PRO-22 40 grain. This ammo is marketed as a varmint hunting/recreational shooting cartridge and today we’ll run it through our normal series of tests so I can give you my thoughts on the ammo.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. is proud to announce the release of a new lightweight 10/22 rifle, chambered in .22 LR. This rifle is the lightest in Ruger’s 10/22 lineup, weighing only 3.5 lbs. It features a 16.1" cold hammer-forged barrel with a carbon fiber sleeve. The tensioned stainless steel barrel is designed to reduce weight and vibration while providing increased rigidity. The barrel is threaded 1/2"-28 to accommodate muzzle devices - great for suppressors, you know!

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! I’ve been getting some fresh new batches of different ammo for testing, so this week we’ll be checking out a rarity over here in the States - Sellier & Bellot Club 40 Grain 22LR.

Rimfire shooting has always been the go-to starting point for anyone curious about marksmanship. Whether you’re plinking cans in the backyard, working on precision shots at the range, or dipping your toes into competition shooting, the long-lived and affordable .22LR is easy to shoot, and just plain fun. Now, the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP), in partnership with Lake Erie Arms in Ohio, is looking to bring that same energy indoors with their new CMP Rimfire Rifle League. From what I can gather from the press release below, the new CMP Rimfire League will be perfect for beginners looking for a no-pressure way to try competitive shooting, or seasoned shooters itching for some winter practice. In that case, this new league might just hit the mark for you, and it's one that I hope we get to see spread rapidly to more shooting clubs across the nation.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! We’ve been talking a lot about firearms and trends from the past lately and today I thought it might be fun to talk about something a bit more modern and a bit more fun in my opinion - precision rimfire competitions. The National Rimfire League or NRL22 is one of the fastest-growing competitions out there. I recently had a chance to chat with a few friends who’ve been competing in NRL22, and after listening to their stories, I thought it might be good to condense and break down some of that info with you here in the hopes that some of you might take up the sport yourself. Whether you’re looking to take the leap from casual backyard plinking or just want a fresh challenge that won’t blow through your wallet, NRL22 might be exactly what you’re looking for.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and all of its different types of shooting sports, guns, ammunition, and history! This week we’re talking about a subject that I think we’ll be hearing a lot more about in the coming weeks and months in the lead-up to SHOT Show 2025. I’m of course talking about the new .21 Sharp rimfire cartridge.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and all of the different types of ammo, firearms, shooting sports, and history that it involves. Last week we talked about the extremely antique Hamilton Model 11 rifle often referred to as the “boy’s rifle.” Boy’s rifles were a subcategory of firearms back in the late 1800s and early 1900s that were intended to be extremely lightweight and inexpensive to serve as introductory firearms for youngsters - something I think we should bring back into vogue in today’s modern firearm industry. Throughout the years of writing this series on really old firearms like the Model 11, I’ve come to realize that boy’s rifles were far more prominent than I’d ever imagined during their height. In addition to the Hamilton rifle we talked about last week, companies like Stevens, Winchester, Marlin, and even Remington all made boy's rifles virtually all single-shot and all chambered in rimfire cartridges. This week we’re going to check out the last of Henry M. Quackenbush’s designs, the single shot Bicycle Rifle.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world. Most of us remember shooting a gun for the first time. As I’ve talked about a bunch of times before, mine was the Ruger 10/22 and for a lot of other shooters my age it was their first gun too. One gun I’ve come across recently on Gunbroker might just be the early 1900s equivalent of that - The Hamilton Model 11 otherwise fondly known as the “Boys Rifle.” Simple, rugged, safe, and affordable, the Model 11 was probably the first rifle many boys shot throughout the first half of the 20th century, and today I wanted to take a closer look at this strange collection of tubes to see what it offered the back yard plinkers of the early 1900s.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and all of its different types of guns, ammo, shooting sports, and history! Over the last 5 years working with TFB I’ve had the honor and privilege to be able to review some of the latest products that come out in both the broader firearm world, as well as the niche market of rimfire firearms. I was recently invited to test out one of the new TANDEMKROSS “Spitfire” Lightweight 10/22 barrels that were just released less than two weeks ago. One thing I’ve been struggling with when it comes to my ragged assortment of 10/22 pattern parts is that most of the parts from my original 10/22s have been sacrificed for various other rimfire projects. To that end, I just decided to go ahead and use as few of my factory Ruger parts as possible and go all in on a new build to see what a full aftermarket 10/22 build can do. So today on The Rimfire Report, I’m going to give you guys an overview of what I’ve been up to with this almost 100% aftermarket part 10/22 build.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and all of its different types of firearms, ammo, shooting sports, history, and more! One benefit that the .22LR has being one of the oldest self-contained cartridges in the world is that there is an extensive list of ammo types available to the end user. Whether you want hollow points, round noses, copper projectiles, fancy fracturing ammunition, tracer ammo, or even shotshell ammo - .22LR has just about everything. Depending on what you’re doing, different ammo types could prove to be a better overall choice than just opting for either the most expensive or the cheapest ammunition. One often overlooked feature that can drive the price and performance of ammo either up or down is the type of coating (if any) that is used during the manufacturing process. Today we’re going to take a look at the different types of coatings currently available and see what each offers the shooter and what ammo companies offer that type of coating on their ammo.

Rossi: Not a firearms manufacturer you associate with the Wild West, but they’re one of the busiest lever gun manufacturers out there these days. And now, they’re paying tribute to a legendary lawman of the frontier with their new Rio Bravo Wyatt Earp rifle.

Hello everyone and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and its many types of guns, ammo, shooting sports, and history! On a recent trip out to Texas, I had the pleasure of meeting with the good guys from the 9 Hole Reviews YouTube channel. Henry of 9 Hole was kind enough to bring out not just one, but two Beretta Model 71 pistols that I had been curious about for quite a while from my work with the Beretta 21A Bobcat. While at the range, I had a chance to get a close look at the guns, and also shoot them in various suppressed and unsuppressed configurations. The Model 71 is essentially Beretta’s larger variant of the 21A Bobcat but unlike the Bobcat, the Model 71 actually has a fairly lethal history, specifically with the Israeli Mossad. Today we’ll talk a bit about the pistol, and some of its uses throughout the years.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is about the rimfire firearm world and its different types of guns, ammo, shooting sports and history! A couple of weeks ago we discussed one of my favorite firearms - the American 180. Some of you had mentioned in the comments that the AM-180 might have been even cooler if it was chambered in something like 22 Magnum. 22 Magnum has seen a bit more attention from ammunition companies and firearm companies alike with Federal Punch 22WMR being an entirely defensive-oriented rimfire load, and the new North American Arms Sentinel being a much more convenient version of their already pocket-friendly Sidewinder 22 Magnum revolver. Since these two items seem like they’d make a great match, I thought It’d be great to take both to the range and get some real-world shooting data, as well as some velocity data to see how these two fairly unique rimfire offerings pair together in the real world.

In case you’ve been living under a rock and have missed the news, 2024 is a presidential election year in the United States—and to celebrate the right to vote, we now have a new special-edition rifle from Ruger. This entry into Ruger’s Seventh Edition Collector’s Series is officially known as the Vote 2024 10/22 Carbine.

More than 25 years after they shut down production of their last lever-action, Savage Arms is back in the cowboy rifle business again. The new Savage Revel has finally broke cover after years of rumors, bringing an all-new lever-action platform to market in .22 LR, .22 Magnum or .17 HMR.

Welcome back to The Rimfire Report, our weekly article series where we discuss everything related to rimfire ammunition. Last week, Luke talked about the possible military applications of the American-180 rimfire submachine gun. In today's installment, we are reporting rimfire news - Winchester Ammunition's new 21 Sharp cartridge, which was standardized by SAAMI over a year ago, is now available. Shortly after the release of this new rimfire cartridge, Savage Arms announced the availability of a number of their rimfire rifles chambered in 21 Sharp. Let’s take a closer look at the new cartridge and rifles.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and all of the different types of guns, ammo, history, and shooting sports that this niche corner of the industry entails. A couple of years back I had the extremely rare opportunity to shoot one of my “grail guns” the American-180 .22LR submachine gun. This is a firearm I’ve been fascinated with for a long time, and it’s also one that’s always generated a lot of discussion in the firearm world for its extremely narrow focus on marketing directly to police agencies. Wouldn’t this relatively inexpensive, lightweight, small-caliber, machine gun, make the perfect weapon for the American soldier? Today we’re going to go through a bit of that discussion and take a look at both sides of the argument to see why perhaps the American-180 and other rimfire submachine guns like it just might not ever make practical sense on the battlefield.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire world, including guns, gear, shooting sports, history, and of course weird projects like we’re going to talk about today. I’m sure you’ve seen the idea floating around the internet, or within your circle of friends for a long time - “How much ammo can I stuff in this empty Altoids tin?” 

Want to buy a classy rimfire target pistol and help out your fellow outdoorsmen at the same time? Lipsey’s, one of the largest firearms distributors in the U.S., has the answer with an exclusive version of the Ruger Mark IV.

It’s the firearms manufacturers’ equivalent of The Quest For The Holy Grail—a reliable, safe semi-auto rifle chambered in .22 Magnum. Now, Bear Creek Arsenal has a new take on this idea, with the just-released 202.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and all of the different types of guns, shooting sports, history lessons, and ammunition you can think of! Last week we talked about a neat little aftermarket Ruger BX-1 mod I was able to pick up that allowed you to reliably feed CCI CB 22 Shorts out of a 10/22 rifle. While it’s not everyone’s first choice for a garden gun, it’s a lot cheaper than purchasing an entirely new firearm just to shoot shorts. This week we’re getting back into some more potent ammo - a lot more potent. This week’s rimfire ammo specimen is none other than Federal’s 22 WMR 45 grain Punch ammo.

Hello and welcome to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and all of the different types of guns, shooting sports, history, and ammo! We’ve recently been talking a lot about different types of 22LR ammunition and one of my favorites so far has to have been the CCI CB 22 Shorts. These tiny little “garden gun” loads are fairly handy for several reasons. They’re fairly quiet, don’t cost an arm and a leg, and they’re also just barely powerful enough to take out small pests like rats, mice, and pest birds, but not so powerful as to over-penetrate.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and all of its different types of guns, gear, shooting sports, history, and ammunition. Over the last few months, we’ve been slowly digging and rigorously testing various types of rimfire ammo. My primary mission with this entire series is to provide readers and shooters with a good set of starting data for the types of ammunition they’d likely be buying for their various guns. While everything thus far has been chambered for a .22 Long Rifle, today, we’ll be getting into our first of many .22 WMR tests. First, we’ll be starting with a favorite of mine for years, CCI’s Maxi-Mag 40 gr JHP .22 WMR load.

Photo Of The Day with some images of what shooters should do a lot more often - shoot rimfire suppressed. It’s very fun and (used to be) an inexpensive way to get a lot of training, without creating too much noise. In many ways, rimfire can be a great way to try out and perfect new shooting styles, like shooting on the move - which is very difficult as the rifle keeps on moving and bumping into your shoulder and other body parts.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and all of its different types of guns, shooting sports, ammunition, and history! Last week we took a look at CCI’s 22 CB 22-Shorts. These quiet little varmint-hunting cartridges were pretty popular centuries ago but today it seems that most people have adopted modern loads that can provide more power and better accuracy at more economical pricing. However, many of you in the comments noted that the Shorts are perfect for helping new shooters get acclimated to firearms, or great for some quiet and casual backyard plinking with something like a lever gun or single-shot rifle. This week we’re looking at a rifle that’s closer in age to the original 22 CB - the Savage/Stevens Model 87A also fondly known as a “Gill Gun.” Gill guns are a slightly broader category of firearm like you’ll see today, but we’ll primarily be focused on the Model 87A 22LR Semiautomatic rifle and its variants.

Everyone likes free stuff, and it’s even better if it’s stuff that goes bang—like a new Ruger 10/22. And it’s even better if it’s a special, limited-edition rifle with an Olympics tie-in.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and all of its different types of guns, shooting sports, history, and ammunition. In our ongoing series of ammunition tests we’ve encountered many different cartridges so far, but I promise they’ll only get more interesting from here on out! I figured this week we’d take a break from the typical type of 22 caliber rimfire cartridge, into something a bit more strange - CCI’s CS 22 Shorts.

At SHOT Show 2022, Desert Tech introduced a unique-looking bullpup stock for the Ruger 10/22, the Trek-22. This polymer stock encases the donor rifle action, offering a relatively traditional layout in a really compact package. Now Desert Tech has opted to offer this option in a complete firearm, the Trek-22 Rifle.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is about the rimfire firearm world and its different types of guns, shooting sports, history, and ammo! Last week we took a look at the new North American Arms Sentinel swing-out pocket revolver. So far I have to say I am pretty impressed with the tiny little revolver. While the recoil is pretty stout, the shooting experience overall is enjoyable and I’m looking forward to sharing my full review with you guys shortly right here on The Rimfire Report. This week I wanted to get back into our ongoing series of ammunition tests by going back to a classic - CCI Standard Velocity 40-grain. I put the tried and true CCI Standard through the same set of tests I’ve been putting all of the other ammunition through, in the hopes it might provide an anchor point for us to compare CCI’s other offerings to. What does boring, plain ole CCI Standard 40 grain bring to the table? Let’s find out!

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is about the rimfire firearm world and its many different types of firearms, ammunition, shooting sports, and history. We’re taking a break this week from our ongoing series of ammunition tests to take a look at a new revolver I’ve recently had the pleasure of picking up from the FFL - The new North American Arms Sentinel (NAA-SNT) 22WMR pocket revolver.