Thanks to technological advancements in ammunition, the 20-gauge is now nearly as capable as a 12-gauge. It wasn’t always that way, however, nor was it always viewed in a positive light.
Hornady’s dive into a .17-caliber rimfire was met with fanfare, as it truly was—and still is—a decided improvement over the long-range ballistics of any of the .22 rimfire cartridges.
Mike Roux takes his readers through the ins and outs of the most popular modern rimfire ammunition, and how it applies to small-game and squirrel hunting.
A lot has changed in the .22 market since the mid-20th century. The blowback action Winchester debuted has been refined to near-perfection. If the Wildcat is going to compete with the likes of the vaunted Ruger 10/22, it has to bring a lot to the table. Fortunately, it does.
The Savage Arms A17 was a bit of a hit in 2015, and for good reason. It featured a unique, delayed-blowback action that allowed the typically "too hot" .17 HMR cartridge to cycle reliably in a semi-automatic rifle. In the wake of the A17's success, Savage announced the A22 Mag. Now, for 2017, the company is appealing to diehard fans of .22 rimfire with the announcement of the A22 LR.
It was 150 years ago that the name “Winchester” was first stamped on a rifle. But Winchester’s narrative began well before that, and it is a tale tied to the American West, to the wars of the 20th century, to big personalities such as John Browning and John Olin, and to the manufacture of billions of cartridges and millions of rifles and shotguns beloved by generations of Americans.