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The .22 rimfire round got its start in 1857, being used in a small S&W "pocket revolver," something it is still used in today. Pictured from top to bottom are the Freedom Arms "Boot Gun" mini-revolver, the North American Arms "Black Widow" mini-revolver, and a Beretta "Bobcat" semi-automatic pistol.

McKenna Lounsbury at age 9 with her first fox squirrel that she bagged using a (built for kids) Henry Mini-Bolt .22 rifle loaded with a mild-reporting CB Long.

There is little doubt that the most popular rifle and handgun cartridge in this country is the .22 rimfire round. Annual ammunition sales also show that it is the most fired round in America and is extremely versatile for being used from target shooting and simple plinking, to small-game hunting and even home and personal defense.

The fact that it isn’t overly loud with its report and lacks any noticeable recoil causes the .22 rimfire to be the perfect round to introduce new and young beginners into the shooting pastimes. Having shot the .22 rimfire in competitive shooting, I can also state that it is an inherently accurate round.

The fact that the .22 rimfire remains economical doesn’t hurt its case any, either. I shoot enough .22 rounds on a regular basis that I usually buy the ammunition by the (500-round) “brick.” I learned a long time ago that continual practice with my .22 rifles and handguns keeps me right in tune with using the centerfire and bigger-bore versions, and at a much lower cost. Many of my “twenty-twos” (both rifles and handguns) feature similar actions, sights and handling characteristics to my bigger-bore firearms to maintain absolute familiarity.

The .22 rimfire cartridge has a long and quite colorful history. Its early roots began in Europe near the middle of the 19th century, and this self-contained cartridge was called a “BB” Cap and used a round-ball projectile that was powered only by the priming compound in the rolled rim. Its primary role was for indoor target shooting in what were described as “parlor guns” (most likely a party-time favorite of the rich and elite).

The BB Cap would be followed by the “CB” Cap (CB meaning conical bullet), which contains a very small amount of powder for a little more energy. I actually still shoot CB .22 rounds today as they are very quiet in rifles for plinking, and when fired in my short-barreled mini-revolvers, they only make a report similar to that made by toy cap pistols. This, however, doesn’t mean they are harmless, because I have used the CB .22 rounds (in both handguns and rifles) to eliminate barn rats wishing to settle near my stable and kennels.

Despite its mellow nature, the CB .22 round is quite lethal for pest control with a minimum of noise. This is the round my granddaughter McKenna used to bag her first fox squirrel, and the bushy-tail never knew what hit it.

The .22 Short is the oldest self-contained cartridge in America still in use today, having been created by Smith and Wesson in 1856 for use in its new “pocket” revolver. (I was able to handle one of these historical S&W revolvers recently that was an heirloom of a friend.)

The .22 Short would become the parent of a long line of large-bore rimfire rounds to come, most notably the .44-caliber lever-action Henry Rifle that saw use during the Civil War.

Although centerfire rounds would quickly start displacing the rimfires in this country starting in the 1870s, the .22 rimfire round maintained a strong following that lasts still today. In 1887, the much more powerful (and still most popular) .22 Long Rifle cartridge was created by Stevens Arms. During this black-powder cartridge era, FFFFg black powder was used for its fast combustion rate in the small .22 case.

With the advent of smokeless powder, a very fast-burning version was developed specifically for the .22 rimfire, and this is a very “hot” propellant, to say the least, as it takes a very minute amount to achieve the desired result. For a fact, it doesn’t take a very long rifle barrel to fully utilize these small, hot-powder charges.

Black-powder .22 rimfire rounds were notorious for fouling up bores after just a few shots. Smokeless powder changed that, but firearms still had to be cleaned after being fired due to the corrosive priming compound being used. Remington remedied this when it came out with its “Kleanbore” priming in 1927, and other ammunition manufacturers followed suit.

The .22 rimfire high-speed ammunition we are familiar with today became possible when brass instead of copper was used for the shell casing. The brass allowed for higher pressures and just a very tad (not much at all) more powder. Lubricated bullets also allowed for pretty clean bores, shot after shot, which meant a lot less fuss with cleaning a ”twenty-two” after every use.

Over its long history, the .22 rimfire has taken just about every game animal in North America, including big bears. I can remember the late legendary gun writer Jack O’Connor writing about a Native American woman who killed a record-sized grizzly bear with a single-shot .22 rimfire. This no-doubt was a very close-range incident brought about by absolute necessity, as a well-placed .22 round beat the alternative.

The youngest .22 rimfire cartridge is the .22 Winchester Rimfire (WRF) Magnum round that was developed shortly after World War II. Thus, it is the only member of this old family not to have been originally used with black powder. The first rifle to be chambered for it was a Stevens over/under combination gun, which featured the rifle barrel stacked on top of either a 20-gauge or .410 shotgun barrel. Soon, other firearms manufacturers started producing rifles for this hot little rimfire round, which could be found in single-shot, bolt-action, lever-action, pump-action or semi-automatic versions.

The development of the .22 WRF Magnum was possible due to progress in metallurgy, because if the brass shell casing was too soft, the shell would burst at the rim, and if the casing was too hard, it would misfire. The end result was a very versatile .22 rimfire round that had more reach and a bit more wallop.

In my experience, the typical .22 Long Rifle rimfire round is efficient for point-of-aim work up to about 75 yards (although I have successfully made hits at 100 yards and slightly beyond). The .22 WRF Magnum, on the other hand, is double that (150 yards), with a little more oomph when it gets there. It is actually my favorite cartridge for local woodchucks, fox and coyote, because it does the job with a bit less noise and expense than a centerfire .22. While I look upon it as a minimum for handling tough coyotes, when properly placed with the right bullet (I prefer jacketed hollow-points), it will anchor them with definite authority.

Wintertime predator hunting is a passion of mine, and my favorite calling times entail a half hour before and a half hour after typical daylight shooting hours. This timeframe is the cup of tea for my scoped .22 WRF Magnum rifle.

Although many of the .22 rimfire rifles in my collection feature typical iron or peep sights, my .22 WRF Magnum rifles beg to have a scope installed for achieving optimum performance (actually, good optics up the ante on performance levels for all .22’s). My favorite .22 WRF Magnum rifle is an old Ithaca lever-action, 10-shot (butter-smooth) repeater that I have topped with a 1.5 – 5 X Weaver scope, which can keep its rounds placed inside one inch at 100 yards which works for me.

I also have a couple revolvers which feature interchangeable cylinders that allow using either typical .22 rimfire fodder or the more potent .22 WRF Magnum rounds, causing them to be very versatile handguns.

The .22 rimfire round has had a noticeable shooting presence in this country in its various forms for more than 165 years, and there is very little doubt it will be around for quite some time yet. While other rimfire rounds have fallen by the wayside, the dependable and versatile “Double Deuce” keeps trudging faithfully along at its own pace and covering a wide range of shooting applications for generations of satisfied target shooters, plinking and small game hunters.

It certainly works for me!

Email freelance outdoors writer Tom Lounsbury at tlounsburyoutdoors@gmail.com