Hot, New Winchester Mystery Cartridge Appears Soon
Ron Spomer Outdoors Winchester Mystery Cartridge
One of our largest, oldest ammo makers is about to release an entirely new cartridge that will set a performance benchmark, besting the previous "top speed" in its class by 500 fps, but with virtually no additional cost. The mystery cartridge is a rimfire that will push bullets fast enough to more than double the 200-yard energy of the 22 Win. Mag. and shoot twice as flat as the 17 HMR at 200 yards. The new round even betters the trajectory curve of a 22 Hornet and nearly matches its energy at 250 yards. Really, it delivers 22 Hornet performance in a rimfire case, yet it is derived from no other rifle cartridge ever manufactured. I can verify this claim because I have a box of the cartridges sitting right here. I shot and chronographed a bunch of these prototypes in a rough, pre-pre-production rifle last August. The gun was so unrefined that I had to insert each round into the chamber with my fingertips and remove most with a knife. Measured velocities actually beat Winchester's advertised speed. Five-shot groups clustered around MOA, some slightly more, some less. And those were recorded outdoors in gusting breezes off a portable bench. Just how closely the finished ammo will match those test rounds remains to be seen, but I see no reason to think Winchester will change them much. The performance I saw was just too good and too consistent. But speed, consistency and accuracy are just part of what I think will appeal to shooters. I'm betting an equally big reason the round will be a winner is its cost-to-performance ratio. Figure 26- to 30-cents for each pop, give or take a few pennies. That's on par with 22 Win. Mag. and 17 HMR ammo, but three times LESS than 22 Hornet fodder. As our Vice President would say, that's a big freaky deal. The 22 Hornet, around commercially since introduced by Winchester in 1930, remains one of the most useful, versatile cartridges in our arsenal. It's not too fast, not too powerful, and not too loud, making it better than noisier options like 22-250 Rem. for potting marauding crows, woodchucks, foxes and ground squirrels in crowded areas. Winchester's new rimfire round ignites even more quietly than the Hornet, recoil less and because its bullets fly faster, should be even less prone to ricochet. And if you have no need to shoot varmints, you'll still find the new cartridge perfect for mimicking many big-game loads at mid-range (100-250 yards) for practice without recoil. Over the years shooters have shown unending interest in new cartridges, yet most have merely duplicated or only narrowly improved on existing rounds. This new Winchester goes way beyond that. You should be able to see for yourself soon. Very soon. Stay tuned. I'll update this blog with complete details, photos and a video as soon as I'm cleared to do so. # # #
