5mm Remington Magnum... Someday? UPDATE

[Wheelgun Dunn]

Would some manufacturer out there please produce a rifle and revolver in 5mm Remington magnum rimfire?  PLEASE?   :'(I would like to shoot this cartridge, I'm sure Centurion would like us to as well.  Taurus, Savage and CZ said they would but nothing yet.  Anyday now guys!  (And no I don't work for Aguila/Centurion  )

On a lighter note does anyone have any experience with this cartridge?

Frustrated,

Wheelgun

[fightingquaker13]

Wheelgun
My question is why? Do we need another small caliber high velocity round? Particularly an obscure, thus expensive one? I speak in ignorance here, and this is a question not a critique. What will this do that a .22 mag rimfire or a .38 +p won't? I'd like to know as I haven't heard of this caliber.
FQ13

[Hazcat]

Flat shooter, higher velocity and energy than either 22 WMR or 17 HMR.

[tombogan03884]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_mm_Remington_Rimfire_Magnum

The 5 mm Remington Rimfire Magnum is an obsolete bottlenecked rimfire cartridge introduced by Remington Arms Company in 1970. Remington chambered it in a pair of bolt-action rifles, the Model 591 and Model 592, but the round never became very popular, and the rifles were discontinued in 1974. The ammo discontinued in 1982.[2] About 52,000 rifles were sold during its brief production run.[3] As of 2008, Aguila, a Mexican ammunition company, is producing 5mm Remington Magnum ammunition.[4]
Remington designed a new case that was very similar to the older .22 Mag, but stronger to handle the higher pressure of the 5 mm at 33,000 PSI.[5] It uses a 5mm (.20 caliber) bullet that measure 0.2045 inches (5.19 mm), the same as the more recent .204 Ruger cartridge.

For a brief time, Thompson Center Arms offered firearms in 5 mm Mag.[3] From 1982 until 2008, no ammunition manufacturers manufactured rounds for this cartridge, but some firearms manufacturers are creating conversion kits to allow the existing 5 mm guns to shoot other more-common cartridges.[3]

At the 2008 SHOT show, Taurus International introduced the first handgun chambered for the 5mm Remington Magnum rimfire.[6] Concurrent with the announcement from Taurus, Aguila Ammunition announced they would begin producing 5mm RMR ammunition in 2008.
The 5 mm Mag offered higher velocity than the .22 WMR and more energy than either the .22 WMR or the later .17 HMR.[2] They offered decent performance on small-game and for varmint hunting.[1]

Follow the link for cartridge dimensions.

[Hazcat]

The 5mm Remington Rimfire Magnum

By Chuck Hawks

The 5mm Remington Rimfire Magnum was based on an entirely new case designed, I believe, in 1969. It resembled a .22 WMR case necked-down to accept 5mm/.20 caliber bullets, but was dimensionally unique. The 5mm Rem. Mag. had a rim diameter of .325", rim thickness of .05", base diameter of .259", shoulder diameter of .259", and neck diameter of .225". Case length was 1.02" and actual bullet diameter was .2045". Factory ballistics called for a 38 grain JHP bullet at a MV of 2100 fps from a rifle barrel, making it the fastest rimfire cartridge in the world at the time.

It was introduced in 1970 in a pair of Remington bolt action rifles, the Models 591 (clip magazine) and 592 (tubular magazine) to a shooting world that could not have been less interested, and it became the shortest lived cartridge introduced since the end of WW II. The Remington 5mm rifles lasted only 5 years (1970-1974), and the cartridge quietly disappeared from the loading list a few years later.

Thompson/Center briefly offered their Contender pistol in 5mm. As far as I know there were no other firearms chambered for the 5mm Magnum, and no other ammunition manufacturer offered the cartridge.

None of that seemed strange to me at the time, as I had predicted the 5mm's demise as soon as I heard about it. The .22 WMR was then loaded with a 40 grain JHP bullet at a MV of 2000 fps. 100 fps more velocity did not seem worth the trade-off of a smaller diameter, lighter bullet, particularly in the case of a weird caliber such as .20, for which there was no previous demand and no accessories.

Today, however, the run away success of the .17 HMR makes me wonder. After all, it is also a sub-.22 caliber rimfire magnum cartridge. Maybe the 5mm Remington Magnum was just misunderstood, a cartridge ahead of its time. Remington has something of a history in that regard. Evidence the centerfire .350 and 6.5mm short magnums (35 years ahead of their time), and .17 Remington (30 years ahead of its time).

The 5mm Rimfire offered more energy down range than the .22 WMR or the later .17 HMR (217 ft. lbs. for the 5mm vs. 170 ft. lbs. for the .22 WMR and 136 ft. lbs. for the .17 HMR at 100 yards). Its smaller diameter bullet was superior in ballistic coefficient and sectional density to the 40 grain .22 WMR bullet and that, plus its increased velocity, gave it a flatter trajectory and about a 25 yard advantage in effective range over the .22 Mag. During its brief life the 5mm Magnum developed a reputation as an effective and deadly varmint cartridge.

For those that own 5mm Rem. Rimfire Mag. rifles, all is not quite lost. Centurion Ordinance has recently announced a new factory load for the 5mm. This uses a 30 grain JHP varmint bullet at a MV of 2300 fps with 352 ft. lbs. of muzzle energy. You can read about it at www.aguilaammo.com

I have never owned or tested a 5mm Remington rifle, but now I wish that I had. The .17 HMR has made me revise my opinion about the capability and usefulness of sub-.22 caliber cartridges, and the 5mm Remington Rimfire Magnum was sort of the conceptual Granddaddy of the .17 HMR

[Sponsor]

[fightingquaker13]

Nice post Tom. Still pretty sure that I wouldn't prefer .223 for varmints though.
FQ13

[tombogan03884]

Nice post Tom. Still pretty sure that I wouldn't prefer .223 for varmints though.
FQ13

Me to. I've shot a 17 10/22 and was not impressed. If I want to shoot something that small I'll use my pellet rifle and save money on Ammo.

[Wheelgun Dunn]

I'm just a nut I guess.  I like shooting rimfires and if the gun companies harbored the philosophy of  "well I don't want to make that because we already have so and so..."  Then we would not have a lot of cartridges we have today!  Anyway rimfires are nice, usually cheaper and do really well on small game in areas with some population w/o aggravating all those around.  Anyway I like "testing" them myself, I just wish someone would hurry up about it.  A friend of mine is a dealer and has had the Taurus on his "wish list" with his distributors for a long time with no luck or even hope in sight.  Now that Remington owns H&R/NEF maybe they could make a barrel for the sporster in 5mm Mag.

Mr. Bane, our beloved leader, The one and only Major Domo, author extraordinaire, climber of mountains, diver of caves, could you maybe help with this?  Perhaps just a professional inquiry?

Thanks to tombogan and hazcat for the extra info!  Appreciate it!

Wheelgun


 

[tombogan03884]

I'm just a nut I guess.  I like shooting rimfires and if the gun companies harbored the philosophy of  "well I don't want to make that because we already have so and so..."  Then we would not have a lot of cartridges we have today!  Anyway rimfires are nice, usually cheaper and do really well on small game in areas with some population w/o aggravating all those around.  Anyway I like "testing" them myself, I just wish someone would hurry up about it.  A friend of mine is a dealer and has had the Taurus on his "wish list" with his distributors for a long time with no luck or even hope in sight.  Now that Remington owns H&R/NEF maybe they could make a barrel for the sporster in 5mm Mag.

Mr. Bane, our beloved leader, The one and only Major Domo, author extraordinaire, climber of mountains, diver of caves, could you maybe help with this?  Perhaps just a professional inquiry?

Thanks to tombogan and hazcat for the extra info!  Appreciate it!

Wheelgun


 

Glad it was a help, I'm just not a fan of sub .22 calibers. Personal prejudice. 

[TAB]

my 17 rem would change your mind.  4000 fps is never a bad thing.