If you love old .22 rifles (and who doesn’t?), and would like to know more about them, this book is a must-have. It is the only book of its kind, covering 20 classic and vintage rifles from five different manufacturers. The rifles covered are among the most-used and best-loved rifles of all time. In these pages you will find a wealth of information about each rifle and each manufacturer including: history and development, physical measurements and handling characteristics, accuracy testing, and current value. Plus, there are chapters on finding your own classic rifle, hunting with the .22, improving accuracy, and proper care and maintenance, and much more. So, if you’d like to know more about that old .22 that you’ve inherited or you need some good information to help you find your own, this is the book for you. WALNUT AND STEEL VINTAGE .22 RIFLES By Bill Ward AuthorHouse Copyright © 2014 Bill Ward All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4918-6320-6 CHAPTER 1 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE .22 RIMFIRE CARTRIDGE The .22 short is the oldest self-contained metallic cartridge in the U.S. and one of the oldest in the world. The European pinfire preceded it by several years, but it was an evolutionary dead end, since it could not be readily adapted to function in repeating mechanisms. Somewhat ironically, the .22 rimfire is also far and away the most popular cartridge in the world, with billions of rounds produced and fired every year. We can thank the partners, Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson for having the foresight to see the potential of the Frenchman Louis Flobert's BB cap, in essence a slightly modified percussion cap with a small lead ball seated atop its mouth. First, the partners added a true rim to the cartridge's base (Flobert had already tried a sort of rim, but he evidently did not foresee any further progress. He was probably quite content making and selling his extremely popular single shot parlor rifles and the ammo to fire in them). Next, the guys added a few grains of black powder and seated a 25 grain conical lead bullet. Voila! The .22 short was born. At first, it wasn't called the .22 short, but was known as the Smith and Wesson Number One for their First Model revolver. Believe it or not, its primary purpose was as a defensive round for this very small, easily concealed 10 ounce revolver. It was fairly popular with soldiers on both sides during the Civil War. The metallic cartridge had been something of a pipe dream to gun designers for a pretty long time. Although there had been limited success throughout the first half of the 19th century in making repeating firearms using muzzleloading technology, most notably the Colt revolving rifles and handguns, most designers realized that further advances would have to wait on improvements in ammunition. Early efforts such as Hunt's Rocket Ball and the later Volcanic met with very limited success, mainly due to their lack of power and relatively fragile nature. While the Flobert BB cap was, for the most part, just considered a novelty to be used only in "parlor" or "saloon" rifles, Smith and Wesson believed they could develop it into something worthwhile. In the mid 1850's they began experimenting with the little cartridge, and by 1857, they were ready with their brand new revolver and its revolutionary new round. Soon many other makers were chambering rifles and handguns for it, and its place in history was secure. Of course, the .22 short itself was, and is, pretty puny, but its basic design was sound enough that it could be adapted to some fairly stout cartridges, such as the famous .44 Henry and .56 Spencer, both of which had important roles in the Civil War and on the American frontier. Virtually all of the larger rimfires would be hopelessly eclipsed when the more powerful centerfires came along in the 1870's and 80's, but the little .22 rimfire soldiers along with ever-increasing popularity. The .22 short is nowhere near as popular now as it was 50 to 150 years ago, and, as far as I know no new rifles have been chambered for it for 30 or 40 years. Nevertheless, it is still a very useful little cartridge, and in rifles specifically chambered for it, it can be plenty accurate out to 50 or 60 yards. With hollow point bullets, it's a fairly reliable small game getter. Unfortunately, short ammo is getting harder to find. When I was a kid, you could buy shorts for less money than longs or long rifles, another reason for its popularity. But now, shorts generally cost more than long rifles due to limited supply and demand (I think they call this "economy of scale"). In 1871, the .22 long came along with a longer case than the .22 short, but with the same 29 grain bullet and slightly higher velocity. When high speed shorts were introduced back in the 1930, there really wasn't much need for the long anymore, so it's been on life support for a number of years now, and I really can't see it holding out much longer. It never was all that accurate anywa