Rifle calibers explained?

astraboy

Hi guys, could someone with the time and patience please do a bit of explaining for me? I have very little idea about rifle calibers. I know a 5.56mm and 7.62mm 9mm etc, but when people start mentioning .22, .22lr, 22 swift, .17, 224 I get lost! Could someone post up the main rifle calibers (hunting/target shooting) in use by shooters in Ireland and possibly the advantages of each. It would clear up my confusion when I eventually look at getting a rifle.

Cheers.

maglite

.22 is often ment to mean .22lr>> long rifle
.22 mag is a longer case in a .22 diameter bullet
22 swift is the bmg of .22's its big and ecpensive centrefire round, as in you hit the middle of the base no the edge as you do in rimfires
.17's are mainly seen as a new flat shooting caliblre(less area= less drag) you cn get .17 hmr(crimpt down .22 mag) or a .17 mach 2(crimpt down .22lr)

then you can start going into .22 long, short , cb, etc they are just .22 diameter rounds with smaller brass

then 225 is refs the diameter of the round but is also a centrefire

bullets

astraboy wrote:

I know a 5.56mm and 7.62mm 9mm etc,

Sounds like all the rounds you would stumble acrosss in the FCA/RDF
so I am guessing you may be in the reserves ???
A lot of the time you will hear people refer to the same round in different
terms. 5.56/.223 .308/7.62 etc etc

The guys here have been very helpful to me starting out.
If your starting out like myself with rimfire stuff give these sites a
Gawk:

http://www.chuckhawks.com/history_rimfire_ammo.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rimfire
http://www.rimfirecentral.com

I recently starting shooting .22LR using a buddys rifle
at the range but being an ex-FCA head and instantly
wanting to go full bore and not being able to afford it I knew that I could
not settle for the .22 and wanted something a little bit more mean looking
so I am just after getting myself a .17HMR rifle (see seperate thread )iThe .17HMR will go 200m on a good day where
its more difficult to hit a target with the .22 which may be more suited to 100m. (Im still learning myself)

Cost is something that people here dont mention much.
50 rnds of .22LR will cost ya about a fiver
50 rnds of .17hmr will cost ya maybe 15 yo yo's
and centre fire stuff (bigger) is a hell of a lot more expensive
and also the barrells (I think) may not last as long.

~B

J.R.

This may give some idea

astraboy

Cheers its making sense now! Bullets, I am a member of the RDF/FCA, have been for years and its where I got my first taste for shooting really. I was just getting confused by the various .22 varations and the differences. Good luck with the new rifle too bullets.