Originally Posted By: steve154Luke, it is a 100% serious question. Is there any reason, other than cost and it would flop, why you couldn't make a bigger, bottle neck case that is rimfire? I understand that the brass on rimfire cases is necessarily thinner than on centerfire cases, but are we at the maximum now for what is possible in a rimfire case with modern powders?
Ok, now I understand your question! I was misunderstanding thinking that you meant: why cant we make a .22 LR have the same performance?
Now I understand
Sorry to question you, just didnt understand your initial question.
I would say that the reasoning behind not having much outside of a .22 LR, .22 WMR, .17 HM2, .17 HMR, and 5mm Rem (and a few .22 WRFs) is that going much larger would probably detract from the niche market that a rimfire appeals to (meaning cost). I would assume that cost would be a bit high to sell such a cartridge that would not be reusable like any other centerfire.
Take look at this article from Chuck Hawks about larger rimfire calibers:
http://www.chuckhawks.com/history_rimfire_ammo.htm
I think the drawback that I could see along with cost would be a lower velocity as Mr Hawks suggests, and that in itself would be a large detractor for most shooters.
Here is the only one that I have seen that is a bit of an oddball for rimfire that is larger than most (25 Stevens)
http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,4710.html