The .22 Savage Hi-Power cartridge, also known as 5.6×52mmR, was created by Charles Newton and introduced by

Savage Arms Savage Arms is an American gunmaker based in Westfield, Massachusetts, with operations in Canada and China. Savage makes a variety of Rimfire ammunition, rimfire and centerfire rifles, as well as Stevens single-shot rifles and shotguns. The comp ...

in 1912. It was designed to be used in the

Savage Model 99 The Savage Model 99, Model 1899, and their predecessor the model 1895 are a series of hammerless lever action rifles created by the Savage Arms Company in Utica, New York. The Model 99 family featured a unique rotary magazine, and later added so ...

hammerless

lever action rifle The toggle-link action used in the iconic Winchester Model 1873 rifle, one of the most famous lever-action firearms Picture showing a Volcanic Pistol A lever action is a type of action for repeating firearms that uses a manually operated cockin ...

. It is based upon the .25-35 Winchester cartridge necked down to accept a .227 in/.228 in diameter

bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. They are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax; and are made in various shapes and constru ...

. Its original loading was a 70

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

soft point bullet A soft-point bullet (SP), also known as a soft-nosed bullet, is a jacketed expanding bullet with a soft metal core enclosed by a stronger metal jacket left open at the forward tip. A soft-point bullet is intended to expand upon striking flesh t ...

with a velocity of about 2790 feet per second.

History and description

The .22 Savage Hi-Power's relatively high velocity for the time and "shocking" power led to an initial surge of popularity, and was attributed with almost magical killing powers even on large and dangerous soft-skinned game such as

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

s. Missionary H. R. Caldwell used his .22 Savage Hi-Power on a 400 pound tiger in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

with success, something the Savage rifle company exploited in its advertising for the cartridge in the early days. The famous

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

-hunter

W. D. M. Bell Walter Dalrymple Maitland Bell (8 September 1880 – 30 June 1954), known as Karamojo Bell after the Karamoja sub-region in Uganda, which he travelled extensively, was a Scottish adventurer, big game hunter in East Africa, soldier, decorated f ...

used a .22 Savage Hi-Power to kill forest buffalo in West Africa in the 1920s, and reported in his magazine articles that the cartridge was popular at that time for

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

stalking in Scotland. While it was used in the UK on

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

as large as Red Stags, it fell out of favour as a big game cartridge after being superseded by other cartridge developments such as the .250-3000. As time went on, other .22 centerfire cartridges outstripped it in performance such as the .220 Swift, and with the advent of the .223 Remington in the 1960s, the cartridge was considered obsolete. Today it is regarded as a vintage round, and aficionados use it for small game hunting in similar applications as the .223 Remington, though it is used for deer hunting where it is legal to do so. In

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

the cartridge is still chambered in drillings and similar

combination gun A combination gun is a firearm that usually comprises at least one rifled barrel and one smoothbore barrel, that is typically used with shot or some type of shotgun slug. Most have been break-action guns, although there have been other design ...

s, and the cartridge is still used by hunters for smaller European deer species such as Roe deer. Although the .22 Savage Hi-Power is no longer made in the United States, it is still produced by several European makers. In Europe, the .22 Savage Hi-Power is called the "5.6×52mmR", and is still made by RWS,

Norma Norma may refer to: * Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) ** Norma Lizbeth Ramos, a Mexican bullying victim Astronomy *Norma (constellation) * 555 Norma, a minor asteroid * Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral ...

Sellier & Bellot Sellier & Bellot is a firearms ammunition manufacturer situated in Vlašim, Czech Republic. It is a subsidiary of the Czech company Colt CZ Group. It has been manufacturing products bearing its trademark uninterrupted since 1825, making it one ...

, and

Prvi Partizan Prvi partizan (; abbr. PPU) is a Serbian manufacturer of ammunition and handloading components, based in Užice, Serbia. The company produces ammunition for civilian and military consumers in a variety of calibers in various loadings. Several ...

Notes

External links

The 5.6x52R (.22 Savage High-Power)
{{Savagefirearms Pistol and rifle cartridges Rimmed cartridges Savage Arms

History and description

See also

Notes

External links