The .38 rimfire / 9.5x22mmRF refers to a family of cartridges that have been in service in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

since the mid-19th century. The cartridges are produced in short, long, and extra long variants. Much like the smaller .32 rimfire, the rounds were originally manufactured loaded with black powder. In the early 1900s, manufacturers switched to the "new" smokeless powder. The .38 rimfire was preferred to the .32 rimfire for hunting and self-defense purposes because of its larger diameter bullet and increased muzzle energy.

History

The .38 rimfire cartridge was a common round for many

antique An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...

revolvers A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

and

rifle A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...

s from the 1870s to the early 1900s. It was a common self-defense round for a small revolver that was often kept in a vest pocket through to the 1890s. Production in the United States of rimfire calibers larger than .22 ceased upon the country's entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was never resumed again by any of the major manufacturers. Factory loaded ammunition is no longer available except as collector items.

Uses and variants

The .38 rimfire cartridge was available in short, long, extra long, and also shotshells. Most of the revolvers and rifle which were produced were chambered for either .38 short rifle, or .38 long rifle. While there were a few different rifles produced for the .38 extra long cartridge and a few

rolling block A rolling-block action is a single-shot firearm action where the sealing of the breech is done with a specially shaped breechblock able to rotate on a pin. The breechblock is shaped like a section of a circle. The breechblock is locked into p ...

falling block A falling-block action (also known as a sliding-block or dropping-block action) is a single-shot firearm action in which a solid metal breechblock slides vertically in grooves cut into the breech of the weapon and is actuated by a lever. Desc ...

, and

bolt-action Bolt action is a type of manual Action (firearms), firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt (firearms), turn-bolt via a cocking handle, bolt handle, most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the firearm (a ...

rifles had smoothbore barrels which had a slight choke which enabled it to shoot the .38 RF shotshells, which was good for hunting small game at close ranges.

Hopkins & Allen Hopkins & Allen Arms Company was an American firearms manufacturing company based in Norwich, Connecticut, that was founded in 1868 by Charles W. Allen, Charles A. Converse, Horace Briggs, Samuel S. Hopkins and Charles W. Hopkins. The Hopkins brot ...

produced

and

s chambered for the .38RF. Rifles of this caliber were produced by Remington (the revolving rifle of 1866), Ballard, Stevens and Frank Wesson, and revolvers by Enterprise, Favorite, Forehand & Wadsworth, and Colt.

References

* http://www.oldammo.com/august04.htm * {{DEFAULTSORT:38 rimfire Pistol and rifle cartridges Rimfire cartridges

History

Uses and variants

See also

References