The .22 Short is the oldest American, commercial, self-contained, metallic cartridge. It was introduced in 1857 for the Smith & Wesson First Model revolver and is still loaded and widely used all over the world. Although now popular as a short range gallery or plinking round, the .22 Short was originally intended for serious self-defense. At one time it was also used for formal match shooting and heavy target rifles were built specifically for it. Initial loading was a 29 grain bullet and 4 grains of fine black powder.After 1887 it was available with semi-smokeless powder and within a short time, smokeless powder. Remington introduced non-corrosive (Kleanbore) priming for their rimfire line in 1927 and the first high velocity type in 1930. Practically every company that makes firearms produces at least one model that will handle the .22 rimfire line. The .22 Short can be fired in any arm chambered for the .22 Long Rifle, but all semi-automatic weapons won't handle all rimfires interchangeably. Since the end of World War II, a number of small .22 Short pocket automatic pistols and revolvers have appeared on the market. Most are made in Europe.
Probably more .22 Shorts have been manufactured and fired than any other single cartridge. In high-velocity loading, the .22 Short is quite capable for very small game or bird hunting. However, killing power declines rapidly beyond 50 yards and only head / brain shots are entirely dependable or humane at this range an beyond.
The .22 Long has always been referred to as a combination of the .22 Long Rifle case and the .22 Short bullet. This isn't strictly true, as the .22 Long happens to be 16 years older than the .22 Long Rifle. It is listed in the 1871 Great Western Gun Works catalog as for the seven-shot Standard revolver. Within a few years it was also listed in Remington and Stevens catalogs as a rifle caliber. The .22 Long Rifle wasn't on the market until 1887. The .22 Long was originally a black powder cartridge loaded with a 29 grain bullet and 5 grains of powder. Smokeless powder was available for a time in both standard and high-velocity configurations, but at present, only the high-velocity load is available.
In black powder loading the .22 Long had a slightly higher velocity than the .22 Short or .22 Long Rifle. However, this was not true of the later loads using smokeless powder. The high-velocity .22 Long has a velocity between the .22 short and .22 Long Rifle. The .22 Long is also not as accurate as the .22 Short or .22 Long Rifle, and some say it has outlived its purpose. The .22 Long is stricktly a short-range small game cartridge with ballistics just a notch above the .22 Short.
Historical information indicates that the .22 Long Rifle was developed by the J. Stevens Arms & Tool Company in 1887 and that it was probably first available that year. It is the .22 Long case with a 5 grain black powder charge and a 40 grain bullet instead of the original 29 grain. The Peters Cartridge Company is supposed to have first manufactured it especially for Stevens.
At one time the .22 Long Rifle was available in black, semi-smokeless and smokeless powder loads. Remington introduced the first high-velocity type in 1930. Both the 40 grain solid and 37 grain hollowpoint bullet have been available for many years. The original case was not crimped. This feature did not appear until about 1900. The .22 Long Rifle is considered the most accurate and highly developed of any rimfire cartridge, with a multitude of handguns and rifles that chamber it.
The .22 Long Rifle is not only the most popular match cartridge in existence, but also one of the most widely used of the small game and varmint cartridges. The high-velocity hollowpoint is the best field load, and is effective on rabbit-sized animals out to about 75 yards. The solid high-velocity .22 Long Rifle will penetrate 6 inches of pine at close range, and may travel up to 1.5 miles when fired at the relatively low angle of 25-30 degrees up from the horizon.
.22 Stinger, Spitfire, Yellow Jacket, Viper, Super-Max, Mini-Mag, ...
The .22 Stinger was the first of the series of developments aimed at improving the performance of the .22 Long Rifle. Introduced by CCI early in 1977, the concept was an immediate success and was quickly copied by Winchester with their Xpediter, and later by Remington with their Yellow Jacket. Basically, all of these cartridges are pretty much the same, and are based (except for the Yellow Jacket) on lengthening the .22 Long Rifle case by approximately 0.1", reducing the bullet weight from 36 grains to around 30-32 grains, and loading these bullets into a case full of relatively slow burning powder. The result is a 30 % increase in velocity and a 25 % increase in energy compared to a standard .22 Long Rifle high-velocity hollowpoint load. The overall cartridge length of these rounds is the same as the standard .22 Long Rifle and so are all other dimensions except for case length.
10 June 1999