The new Winchester 21 Sharp incorporates a jacketed bullet into a rimfire round.
This report covers:
- Old Man River
- What’s good about the 21 Sharp?
- .14 caliber pellets
- Real ammo
- What is possible
- Summary
Today we look at a new rimfire cartridge Winchester has just launched—the 21 Sharp. It incorporates a jacketed bullet into a rimfire case.
Old Man River
Because I’m a dinosaur I’ll start the discussion as Old Man River. When I was a kid in the 1950s three rimfire cartridges thwarted me—the .22 Winchester Automatic (small world, no?) the .22 Remington Automatic and the .22 Winchester Rim Fire (.22 WRF).
The .22 Winchester Automatic was created for the 1903 Winchester Semiautomatic Rifle. It was sized differently than the .22 Long Rifle cartridge AND would not chamber or work in any other rifle—not even in the Remington model 16 rifle that was chambered for the .22 Remington Automatic cartridge and nothing else!
Guys, I’m not making this up! Both companies actually made a .22 rimfire cartridge that would only work in a single model rifle and, though they were dimensionally similar, neither cartridge worked in their competitor’s rifle!
Oh they gave lots of reasons for doing this—like safety from chambering them in firearms made for black powder cartridges, but both companies also sold millions of .22 Long Rifle cartridges they had filled with smokeless powder, and they would chamber in all firearms made for that cartridge—black powder or not.
The .22 WRF shot a bullet that was 5 grains heavier than a long rifle bullet. It was also a thousandth of an inch wider so a .22 WRF rifle could not be re-chambered to .22 Long Rifle with any success. That thousandth of an inch made a huge difference when it came to accuracy.
Lest we forget, there was the 5MM Remington Magnum Rimfire of 1969. Remington stopped making it in the 1970s but Aguila still produces it. A box of 50 is selling for $65 on Gun Broker. Hey—let’s buy ten!
This cartridge was/is slightly more powerful than the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire, but who cares?
Then there are my favorite two rimfires—the .17 Mach 2 (.17 HM2) and the .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire (.17 HMR). The HM2 is the only rimfire cartridge that ever blew up on me during a test! I got a piece of the case lodged in my trigger-finger. It turns out that blow-ups were common with these cartridges. My late friend Otho Henderson had two blow-ups from .17 HM2s in two different rifles.
What’s good about the 21 Sharp?
The dinosaur will be quiet now. Why does the 21 Sharp exist? Here’s what Winchester has to say, “Ammo manufacturers have tried with little success to incorporate lead free projectiles into use in the venerable 22 Long Rifle (LR) cartridge. While those products are available, none have ever met the accuracy and on-target performance that a lead projectile can provide due to the original 22 LR design. The new 21 Sharp rimfire cartridge from Winchester was purposefully designed by Winchester to provide top performance with lead-free projectiles rather than accommodating them later.”
I can’t tell you a price for this cartridge yet. An online search turns up lots of toner cartridges for Sharp printers, but I haven’t yet found a source that sells the firearm cartridges. That doesn’t matter though because today’s report isn’t really about this new cartridge or the others I have mentioned. It’s about buying what’s new just because it’s new.
.14 caliber pellets
Several years ago there was a push for a new caliber lead pellet—the .14 caliber. If someone had started making them the gun manufacturers would have had to climb onboard and make airguns in that caliber. No doubt it sounds easy to those who don’t have to do it.
Just for starters, if the pellet is as small or even smaller than the air transfer port in a spring-piston airgun, what are the chances pellets could fall backwards into the compression chamber or get sucked in when the gun is cocked?
Real ammo
So the .14-caliber pellet was never produced but ten years ago people started going crazy over airgun slugs. If you joined the party recently you may not know that we had solid pellets or slugs some time ago. They weren’t very well engineered when they first came to market, but that has changed dramatically. Today the slugs extend the range at which an air rifle is accurate, but in 2010 all they did was shoot substandard at all distances.
What is possible
I always look for things others in the world of airguns have overlooked. In my opinion the Sheridan 190B pistol that Crosman made for Pneu Dart and the 178B rifle from the same company are affordable big bore airguns that I think would be received well in the marketplace. Nothing about them is new except for the use. If used as it comes the 190 is a big bore air pistol that costs less that $300. A lot less! The rifle version sells for just over $400.
Ian McKee has shown us that the pistol works as a big bore pistol and a variety of ammunition might be used. No—it’s not for hunting deer but believe it or not I know of big bore air rifles that have never taken big game—yes, I do! Maybe all some shooters want with a big bore airgun is to shoot it. And a lower-powered one would be much safer to shoot.
Summary
My point today is that something doesn’t have to be brand new to be exciting to airgunners. It could just be a new way to use something that’s been around. Instead of investing hundreds of thousands of dollars and betting the company on a new design an airgun manufacturer can take an existing idea and rework it to do something else. Thus spake the arrow-shooter, excuse me—arrow shooter(s)!
For powder burners new rounds make a lot of sense. Think 6.5 CM, 300BLK, 8.6 CM, For some recent developments in the last decade. Readily available parent cases to make cartridges that fit a niche.
For airguns….perhaps bring back the .20
Edw,
I have a .20 AirForce Condor. They do still exist and good quality ammunition is still available. The manufacturers are not wasting time and money on the oddball stuff in this caliber though.
For the sproinger fans, Weihrauch is still building airguns in this caliber also.
You think calibers get complicated. Much easier than knowing all the different tires sizes.
Sure a specific tool for a specific task. Pretty soon the tool box runneth over. No one size fits all.
-Y
B.B.,
“…but believe it or not I know of big bore air rifles that have never taken big game—yes, I do!”
And then again some folks still don’t believe you can hunt ETHICALLY with Big Bore airguns:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJX-BAdIaGk
Or shoot a Big Bore pistol into 2 or so MOA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz1i7C6Mj38
Erratum:
Check your caliber above it is a 21 Sharp not 17:
“What’s good about the .17 Sharp?
The dinosaur will be quiet now. Why does the 17 Sharp exist?”
shootski
shootski,
Fixed. Thanks,
BB
Tom,
Looks like they let the Marketeers loose in the medicine cabinet again. Nothing in the Winchester blurb makes sense to me. The new cartridge sure looks shiny and pretty though. Can’t imagine it actually working though.
Siraniko
With centerfire cartridges, there are already so many cartridges out there already, I don’t think there’s much to be gained by simply changing case dimensions and caliber. The bimetal cartridges used for the new 6.8x51mm cartridges are interesting though and allow for much higher chamber pressures, so that might turn out to be worthwhile.
I think there might be a market for tiny rimfires. Maybe neck down a .22lr to .14 and fire a 5 grain bullet? It would be explosive for pests like rats, but would quickly lose velocity. I don’t see much point in going the other direction with rimfires as there are plenty of centerfire cartridges that could do the same thing.
I’d also like to see .27 or .28 pellets and .32 as well. Skipping from .25 to .30 to .35 is a bit much.
The rimfires must be much cheaper to produce than centerfire cartridges. How else would I see specials for .22 rimfire cartridges going for $0.10 per round, that’s with 40 grain lead bullet, brass case, powder, and primer, compared to .22 lead pellets that are only 14 to 18 grains of lead? However, due to the thin brass base, they must be limited in the pressures they can produce.
Update, I saw Aguila .22 ammo for sale today at $0.06 per round for $2000 rounds ($115). The cheapest .22 pellets are between 3-4 cents per pellet, and most are more expensive than. The point is rimfire must be much cheaper to produce than centerfire. So that must be one reason for the recent introduction of new rimfire cartridges. The second point is another gripe on the cost of premium pellets….
SawneyBean,
Do you think the .14 5 gr bullet impact is why the effect on the rodents “… would be explosive…” or could it be the shock wave from their Supersonic velocity? Rodent guts everywhere is not a good thing.
Might prove a tad LOUD in the barn or basement as well.
shootski
Honestly, I have no idea as to the physics of why certain very high velocity projectiles seem to cause such a spectacular impact when they hit, but I’ve seen it demonstrated many times in videos of rats and squirrels being hit by 17 HMR’s. It seems to mostly be a combination of very high velocity and relatively small targets, but its probably just the perspective of it being a small target that makes them seem so destructive. If the video were of a buffalo being shot with a 17 HMR then it wouldn’t seem nearly so explosive.
The man said it. A lead-free bullet that works in a .22 rimfire. It was just a matter of time in today’s environment. So, what is the replacement material used? Probably a trade secret.
Bob M,
Bismuth or an alloy of mostly Bi?
Bismuth is a brittle, silvery-white metal with the chemical symbol Bi and atomic number 83. It’s the heaviest of the non-toxic heavy metals.
shootski
Make 4mm Flobert Great Again! And Edw, .20 is still around; AirForce and Weirauch make guns for it.
“ My point today is that something doesn’t have to be brand new to be exciting to airgunners. It could just be a new way to use something that’s been around.”
I need a method to test for velocity after a pellet/slug ricochets that I can use in my basement range with limited space. I was unsuccessful with the FX Doppler radar device. But an idea struck me recently regarding a very old device, the ballistic pendulum. I am currently in the process of making one myself using an empty 500-pellet tin that is a little over 3” in diameter. The plan is to fill the empty tin with duct seal and hang it using fishing line. Then recording how high it goes when hit with the ricocheted pellet/slug using my smartphone camera in video mode. Here’s a photo showing the progress so far. I am just using items I have laying around. The small wooden dowels give the eye screws something to screw to. I then finish filling the tin with duct seal and tape a target over the opening to give me a center bullseye to aim at.
Elmer Fudd,
“I was unsuccessful with the FX Doppler radar device.” You need to remove or paint ALL of the metal surfaces in your basement with RADAR absorbing coatings ;^)
Sorry it didn’t work…but the good news is…
I volunteer to test your pendulum!
We can see if a .575 350gr HollowPoint or just a 283gr round ball will knock it good and maybe see how far out of the Ball Park…
shootski
The prototype has just gone through a preliminary test shootski (probably while you were posting your funny reply). Like you, I was also was concerned about how much energy the device could absorb without disintegrating. It survived four 14.3 grain pellets at 4-pumps each in my Crosman 362 rifle without any signs of distress. That is about 515 fps according to earlier tests with the FX chronograph. Two of those were direct shots and two were ricochets off of a hard and smooth concrete floor with some masking tape stuck on it for a target and to show me where the pellet hit and to provide some texture and friction for the pellet when it hits the floor. However, I think it would be better to have a heavier pendulum for anything much more powerful.
I still need to finish this project and see if I can get it closer to agreeing with the FX chronograph results. Right now it appears to be registering significantly higher velocities. But that is just some preliminary results without trying to get very precise on how I am measuring. Here’s a photo showing a direct shot into the pendulum. That is 5mm graph paper and there is a pencil mark showing the ricochet measurement is only about 5mm lower than the direct shot. If further testing turns out to be similar to this one, then it appears to me that the pellet is retaining about 95-percent of its velocity after ricocheting. That’s a bit higher than the 85-percent I guessed at based on penetration comparisons in duct seal. This is the type of rough measurements that should be good enough for my purposes. So at this point in time this project has been a success. And it is something fun to do with an empty pellet tin.
Elmer Fudd,
Sounds like way more fun than the late Winter/early Spring weeding, pruning, lawn and flower bed maintenance I have been doing for most of the past three days. I did get to take out an invasive Eurasian Dove high in the Black Walnut; the .22 Marauder and a JSB 15.X grain pellet dropped it straight down not even a flap. During my lunch break one of the local Peregrine Falcons turned it into a pile of feathers; easier than the high speed kill dives i have watched them do which is something everyone should witness at least once. I suspect the chicks were hungry no more. Later this afternoon one of the pair flew over checking for more fresh kill ;^)
shootski
FM be happy enough with .22 LR and .22 WMR; would be willing to try a box of the 21 Sharp but not if it required a rifle or handgun equipped with a .21 cal. barrel? Is that what the “21” in the 21 Sharp stands for? Cost also has to be considered, at least for those of us whose pockets are not so deep. At this point, only The Shadow knows. As for pellets, might be interested in giving the .20 and .30 calibers a try sometime but so far seems .177, .22 and .25 are good enough for FM’s needs and wants.
My father had a Remington 5mm Magnum. It was a superb, but expensive cartridge. It was a very accurate rifle out to over one hundred yards. It had a copper jacketed hollow point that would completely blow a squirrel’s head off on impact.
My father bought me a .22 Magnum to save on the cost of me shooting his 5mm Magnum. I realize now that because of the low quality and limited selection of the ammunition available at the time, the accuracy of the .22 Magnum was horrid.
I have seen various cartridges come and go over the years, mostly driven by the marketeers convincing folks to buy the latest and greatest.
I guess I am just an old dinosaur. For a powder burner, just give me a good quality, subsonic .22LR any day.
I just missed out on the 5mm. By the time I was interested, ammo too high. I liked the idea and have 2 .17 hmr’s. The CZ shoots as well as it looks.
I can’t imagine who backed the idea for the 21. Winchester is now privately held by FN. Those folks have been around a long time. No shareholders to please… A new , lead free load in .22lr at subsonic velocity/quiet could make some sense. It could be used indoors for targets and pests. Avoiding lead is a good idea, especially in your home. I have planted several hundred pounds of lead in the berms at Clarke Bros range. I even spent a little time at the indoor range by Dawson’s. But my basements have been off limits!
I can’t figure how to justify to myself buying a new rifle for this round. And justifying things is usually pretty easy for me. Any support for my version in .22lr? I would buy some just to fool with. No neighbors within 2 miles and all shoot.
Gene,
I like the idea of the lead free .22LR if it is accurate, as long as I do not have to get a rifle with a different twist rate for it. That is the problem with all this hyper sonic .22LR stuff. The twist rate is all wrong.
I’m with Edw. Bring back the .20!
But not you, Crosman. You bought Sheridan then abandoned your customers when you stopped making .20 pellets.
Derrick,
As TCFKAC has reduced their employee numbers to around 60 before being bought out by Gamo, they are not likely to be bringing out anything new.
The new Gamo Semi-Auto Marauder for hog hunting? “Take on the whole pack!”
Gamo Semi – Auto Marauder? Is that the old TCFKAC Semi – Auto Marauder?
Yeah. You missed my joke.
B.B. and Readership,
Public Service Announcement also for shooters…
Since most of us handle and store Elemental Lead (Pb) the following article is important information to know: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13181-020-00811-6
It is especially important for those who have children or grandchildren.
shootski
Thanks, Shootski.
This is exactly what I mean by the sort of valuable info contained in this blog, and why it is probably a Bad Idea to delete the collected wisdom contained herein.
Please restore the Blog. Hopefully, the pages that have been removed so far can be restored.
Roamin Greco,
I think we the readership, from around the World, ONCE AGAIN proved the value of our collective wisdom over the past few days in providing ways to recover the “LOST FOREVER” blogs.
Sadly the Readership’s Replies are probably lost.
NO R-E-S-P-E-C-T!
shootski
Shootski, enable, enable, enable….
https://gunauctionsusa.hibid.com/lot/236540858/beeman-c1–177-pellet-rifle–good-condition–norma?ref=catalog
Roamin Greco,
Sorry can’t see that airgun for me…
it would cut into my time PLINKING with my Big Bore airguns ;^)
My SIG ASP20s Benjamin Discover and Marauder already do enough of that.
shootski
Shootski,
What can I say. Nobody ever told me not to lick the white paint on the door frame 74 years ago. That must be my problem?
Bob M,
I don’t believe you have found your answer Shipmate.
However, you might find it Blowin’ in the Wind.
shootski
BB,
As far as I can see, the 21 Sharp would make sense if most states were planning to make non-lead bullets a requirement in order to hunt with rimfire calibers. In that case, there’d be some justification for someone re-barreling one of their .22LR rifles to the new 21 Sharp caliber.
However, in our current political climate, that seems unlikely, which puts the 21 Sharp in the difficult position of trying to justify itself against an awesome and well-established cartridge: the .22LR.
Here on the farm, all of my .22LR firearms are happy knowing that they are fine as they are, knowing that they will not be getting replaced by the new whipper snapper! 😉
Blessings to you,
dave
The Sharp 21 ammo is the same diameter as the ‘inside’ of a .22 case as opposed to a regular lead .22 long rifle round being the same as the outside. The exposed lead anyway. It will work in any .22 long rifle but won’t be too accurate, especially for long range. However, a .22 long rifle round will not work in a .21 cal. barrel.
It’s faster than a lead .22 bullet also, in a .21 barrel I imagine. Progress moves on.
BB,
Will you be getting involved in the retention or salvaging of your blog posts in any way.
I wonder if google will still put them up on a search? They are usually the first thing to pop up.
Can we give it a try on one you know they removed already?
Bob M,
No, I have no way of finding my old blog reports that have been eliminated. From what Val Gamerman said, even Pyramyd AIR can’t do it. They are gone.
BB
Tom,
Please direct the IT to https://web.archive.org/web/20240101000000*/pyramydair.com then
https://web.archive.org/web/20240101032200/https://www.pyramydair.com/ then click Resources tab and you regain access to the old articles.
https://web.archive.org/web/20240123035351/https://www.pyramydair.com/articles
there are existing snapshots of the articles which they can retrieve and republish on days when you need a break.
For example https://web.archive.org/web/20240212210108/https://www.pyramydair.com/article/Does_the_pivot_point_of_a_breakbarrel_rifle_make_it_potentially_less_accurate_February_2010/78
Siraniko
Siraniko,
You just did.;
BB
Siraniko,
You may have made it more complex than it needs to be. The first blog was here in the archive; https://web.archive.org/web/20050419214607/http://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2005/03/hunt-with-sheridan-blue-streak-air.html and to compare with the Pyramyd Air entries you need only to remove the post title and it will move you to the months posts; https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2005/03/ that looks at the current posts at the current blog. Hope that makes sense.
Mike
edit to add that that works for all posts, just use the url without the name of the post such as; https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2025/03 will bring the posts for this month.
Mike
Everyone.
This is from Val Gamerman. RE the missing blog posts.
“Some old blog posts were removed about 18 months ago. We thought we took backups but we did not, that was a miss on our part, should not happen again.
The way the blogs that were deleted were chosen – low traffic & low engagement. Such pages on our website lead to website rankings being lost and are inevitable.”
Thanks Val,
Low engagement sounds about right. Topic probably was not that thought provoking for most. But there is always that one interested person somewhere sometime.
It rings of times when vast amounts of written words of value were destroyed in the past and lost to history.
To live in a perfect world. One can wish.
Bob M,
See my Reply to Tom about trying the Wayback Machine to retrieve the “lost” pages.
They may have been archived.
shootski
B.B.,
Has anyone at Pair thought of looking for them on the Wayback Machine or one of the other FREE Internet Archiving web sites/machines?
One of the Creators
shootski
Shootski,
The articles were backed up by the Internet Archive aka Wayback Machine. I cannot guarantee how long the complete articles will be there as my previous experience tells me that the article will someday be reduced to text form only omitting the pictures.
Siraniko
B.B. and Val Gamerman,
If the UNPAID readership of your blog, Val and Tom, can figure out how to retrieve the “LOST BLOGS” how much are you paying the folks in charge or your IT department?
HOW much are the Readership actually worth for your companies ABSOLUTE Bottom Line?
Val It should be something to train your workers to think about every time they get ready to do something to this blog.
shootski
Three things:
1. Archive low traffic items, maybe on a pay to access.
2. Most of what I have seen about the 21 Sharp is advertisement.
3. My thoughts on 21 Sharp
The one actual comparison of 21 Sharp vs 22LR showed the round has way more penetration than I would be comfortable using for hunting. When the round was removed from ballistics gel, after traveling the 40+ inches there was essentially no deformation. This lack of deformation and high penetration would result in a lot of ricocheting before stopping. A lot like using a 5.56 to go squirrel hunting vs 22LR; yes both are 22 caliber and will do the job but where will the round stop?
I doubt if any indoor shooting ranges will allow this particular round, due to ricochets. My local indoor shooting range will not allow steel rounds or steel casings, because ammo is checked with a magnet, no steel allowed period!
Mike
Plainsmaster 60’s Vintage .22 ball pistol repeater.
Had a chance to finally shoot it today, or should I say lob lead balls at a box. First two shots bounced off an empty 24 can cardboard case of soda at 4ft. Thats airsoft spring pistol toy performance. Found it on low power … Still?
Adjusted to high power. At 20 ft it shot about 2″ low and had a 2 1/2″ spread. Had to raise the front sight up to include the entire sight and ramp to get it even with the target on paper. Spread remained about the same, but it shot left about 2″
I have concluded I am not a target pistol shooter. Especially with this pistol.
There is no second stage, and on high power setting it was too hard to pull slowly against the trigger. My hand was shaking, and I could not focus on the target or front sight. I held the front grip and was resting my arm on a stair rail. The power I remember from a Plainsman pistol was not there. Did not hear any leaking.
May try to switch a .177 barrel someday. For now, it’s just a collectable plinker in the hands of an old half blind shaky shooter. I don’t plan on many accuracy reports soon. I would have to eliminate the human factor.
Bob M,
See my Reply to Tom about trying the Wayback Machine to retrieve the “lost” pages.
They may have been archived.
shootski
Not to give up.
Decided to give the Vintage Plainsmaster .22 ball pistol another chance. I sort of inherited the old, corroded CO2 cartridge I used, and it may be over 50 years old.
Bob M,
Did you at least place a drop or TWO of Pellgun Oil on the tip of that piece of corrosion?
shootski
Shootski ,
Yes I did. I wondered if some CO2 escaped over the years. Normal shot count per cartridge is unknown for this pistol on mixed power settings. Considering digging out my Chrono too. I have no reference for a .22 cal. ball pistol.
BB,
Just got around to reading your article in the Pyramyd sales flier Volume 24.
“The Best Pellet of All”. “Why isn’t there one pellet that’s better than all the others?”
Outstanding, it covers it all.