The Rimfire Report: Do .22LR Bullet Coatings Matter?

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.

Read more
Savage Revel: A Return To Lever-Actions With New Rimfire Rifle

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.

Read more
The Rimfire Report: 21 SHARP Ammunition and Rifles Now Available

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.

Read more
The Rimfire Report: Did the U.S. Military Sleep on the American-180?

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.

Read more
The Rimfire Report: A Quick Look at CCI CB 22 Short

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.

Read more
Desert Tech Releases Trek-22 Rifle As a Complete Firearm

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.

Read more
New Small-Bore Semi: Volquartsen Mini Scorpion-X Pistol

The rimfireologists at Volquartsen have just unveiled a smaller version of one of their rimfire pistol platforms. The new Mini Scorpion-X follows a familiar design, but comes with a scaled-down form factor, thanks to an all-new upper.

Read more
The Rimfire Report: The Legendary Ruger Standard .22 Pistol

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world! Last time we talked about the AMT Automag II .22 Magnum pistol. As I assumed would be the case in the comments, most of you guys love the idea, and the looks of the sizeable silver handgun but absolutely loathed the size of the grip, and the lack of consistent reliability across all models with most types of ammo. However, as with any discontinued handgun, not every example is a negative and at least a handful of you mentioned that the pistol was not only stylish but was entertaining as heck to shoot due to the gigantic fireballs the handgun produced. I think we all share the sentiment that it’d be pretty cool to have a modern, decently functioning replica of the Automag II around. This week we’re going further back to a legend within the rimfire pistol scene. Born out of the “Standard” series released in 1949, the eventual Ruger Mark or MK series of pistols would completely change the rimfire pistol scene forever. Today we’ll check out a very nicely preserved sample of the Ruger Standard model sent over to us by our friends at FirearmLand. FirearmLand has been helping us get a closer look at some of these rare and discontinued historical pieces so be sure to check out their website if you’re interested in collecting or even selling some of your rare firearms!

Read more
SILENCER SATURDAY #332: Quiet Summer – M&P 15-22 And Gemtech Integra

Good evening everyone and welcome back to TFB’s Silencer Saturday brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the brand new YHM 338 Bad Larry Suppressor. Last week we discussed some sound science and the reasons that breaking the sound barrier isn’t tamed with even the best performing suppressors. This week we spend a beautiful Saturday afternoon with the Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22 and the Gemtech INTEGRA integrally suppressed upper receiver. This is one of those combinations that captures the pure summer fun of plinking or target shooting. Let’s take a look.

Read more
The Rimfire Report: The Hilariously Huge AMT Automag II .22 Magnum

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and its many different types of guns, ammo, and history. Last time we talked about the concept of a gas-operated 22LR rifle or pistol. While the concept is a neat exercise in “can we do it” the reality of the situation is that the 22LR cartridge is not meant for nor would it be suitable for anything other than a manual or standard blowback semi-automatic action. This week I want to talk a bit about an obscure pistol I’ve been trying to get my hands on for years – the elusive and massive AMT Automag II .22 Magnum rimfire pistol. Born out of the technological revolution of the 80s, the Automag II is equal parts hand cannon and target pistol. This is one rimfire gun I’d love to see make a comeback and hopefully today I can show you why.

Read more
The Rimfire Report: Why You Don't See Gas-Operated 22LR Guns

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and its many different types of firearms, ammunition, and bits of history. Last week we talked about the fondly remembered Winchester 250 lever action 22LR rifle. A lot of you seemed to indeed have fond memories of the rifle and a few of you even commented that you still owned and shot yours which is something we always love to see (safe queens are boring). I was going over some recent show footage from SHOT 2024 and I came across the Rock River Arms 17HMR Gas Operated Blowback 17HMR Rifle. If you can’t watch the video, the rifle basically uses a hybrid of a bearing-locked breech, with a direct impingement system in order to give the 17HMR cartridge to properly build pressure before cycling. A lot of commenters on that video asked the question “Why can’t you do a gas-operated 22LR gun?” Today we’re going to try and at least partially answer this question. I’m not a firearms engineer, but I’ve learned a few things over the years about this tiny little cartridge that I think you’ll agree make it a poor choice to build a true gas-operated firearm around, which is why you don’t see them often.

Read more
[NRAAM 2024] World's Lightest Semi-Auto 22LR? MBGL GOAT-15

For day 2 of the NRA 2024 Annual Meetings and Expo, Luke C is back on the showroom floor with Mountain Billy Gun Labs (formerly Wee 1 Tactical) to talk about their ultra tiny and ultra-light 80% scale AR-15 the GOAT-15. Intended for plinkers and smaller individuals, the GOAT-15 features the same familiar controls of the AR-15, with enhanced safety features that make it great for younger shooters.

Read more
TFB Review: The Finnish Jaki 22LR Suppressor

Since 1996 Jaki Ltd. of Finland have been manufacturing suppressors. The company was founded by Jussi and Aki Nyyssönen, and they initially began by designing and crafting suppressors for their own personal competitive firearms. With time, almost four decades, the company and the products have evolved. To my knowledge, Jaki’s products cannot be found in the USA, but since TFB stretches on a global level with lots of international readers, it can sometimes be of interest to study various products even if they’re not available.

Read more
The Rimfire Report: The Fondly Remembered Winchester 250 Lever Action

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 types of guns, ammo, and history you can imagine surrounding it! Last week we talked about the odd and often ill-remembered Intratec TEC-22 pistol. A lot of you shared that your own pistols tended not to work well and even confirmed the reports that the gun would often go full-auto occasionally! I always find it very interesting to hear from you guys when it comes to some of the more unsavory reports about rare or discontinued firearms. This week we’re talking about another firearm that has been discontinued, but one that usually brings back fond memories rather than sour ones. This week we’re talking about the discontinued and fondly remembered Winchester 250 22LR lever action rifle.

Read more
The Rimfire Report: George Kellgren's 22LR Scorpion – The Intratec TEC-22

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is entirely focused on rimfire firearms and their related fields. Last week we had a really nice discussion about two of my favorite rimfire handguns, the Ruger MK IV and the SIG P322. While I correctly guessed that most of you would much prefer the MK IV 22/45, I was actually quite surprised just how many of you like the P322 for what it is and what it does. I had the preconceived notion that a majority of people who have owned them actually don’t like them based on online feedback. However, based on everything you guys said in the comments last week, it seems to me that the P322 is indeed a fun plinker… at least when it works! This week we’re going to talk about a pistol that most of you guys either haven’t even heard of or have scrubbed from your memory entirely due to the litany of problems the poor rimfire pistol had over its brief 10-year lifespan. Today we’ll be talking about the George Kellgren-designed Interatec TEC-22 22LR semi-automatic pistol. While it might look like a boring plastic polymer 22LR pistol, the TEC-22 has a lot of interesting features that make it worth looking over or maybe even owning as a collector’s item.

Read more