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Winchester has been producing 22LR rimfire ammunition for quite a long time. I would consider Winchester to be one of the leaders in rimfire ammunition production along with giants such as CCI and Remington. They have just released their new Wildcat Super Speed 22LR cartridge aimed at semi-auto rimfire shooters.
Winchester Debuts the Wildcat Super Speed 22LR Semi-Auto Optimized Cartridge
So why the new cartridge? Its really anyone’s guess but if I had to come up with a theory it would be that many people consider rimfire to be unreliable in semi-auto guns. Personally, I find that most semi-autos will cycle bulk ammunition with good reliability – especially semi-auto rimfire rifles.
However, I have encountered some problems with other rimfire ammo including some of Winchester’s own bulk ammo when shooting semi-auto pistols. The idea being that the higher velocity and heavier bullet provides the necessary blowback to cycled semi-auto firearms.
Photo Credit: Winchester
The new ammunition uses a 40-grain copper-plated Dynapoint hollow-point bullet. In tandem with the heavier bullet (compared to common bulk 36 grain) the cartridge also claims to be rated at 1,300 fps. I would assume that this velocity was measured out of a 16-inch barrel but the increased velocity out of a longer barrel would translate somewhat similarily to shorter barrels albeit with a much lower muzzle velocity.
With a 40-grain, fast-moving bullet specifically designed to work well in semi-autos I could see this as a welcome addition to the ammo stocks of plinkers, varmint hunters, and target shooters alike. One has to wonder whether or not this ammunition was simply willed into existence due to the recent release of the Winchester Wildcat 22lr rifle which is compatible with Ruger 10/22 magazines.
At the time of writing, I was unable to get pricing information for the new cartridge but I would assume it would be slightly more expensive than standard bulk .22LR ammunition. For more information about the Winchester Wildcat Super Speed 22LR ammunition, you can visit the Winchester website. If you’d like to learn more about the Winchester Wildcat 22LR Rifle go and visit us on TFBTV where Hop reviews the sporty little rifle.
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