The Rifleman's Guide To Rimfire Ammunition - Steven Boelter

Book Review by: Andy Moe

A two year, thirty-two thousand round, three-hundred fifty-two page Labor of Love.

You won’t be more than a few pages into Steve Boeltzers new book, “The Rifleman’s Guide To Rimfire Ammunition” to realize that the author put every minute of spare time and all his energies into the writing of this book. You just can’t miss it. This guy loves rimfires, and coming from a back ground of precision BR competition and rimfire varminting, he was well equipped to handle the subject. Steve’s enthusiasm for the sport runs unbridled in his writing. It seeps into the discussion even when he’s detailing the cheapest, bargain basement .22 round Wal Mart sells. It’s difficult for a hardcore rimfire enthusiast like myself to avoid getting swept up in it all. I read The Guide in two days.

Needless to say, I liked this book. Not only is the printing of first class quality -with sharp text and clear photographs- but the author also spared no expense in testing nearly a 100 different varieties of ammunition from more than a dozen manufacturers. His test rifles ranged from custom barreled 10/22’s to specialized Turbo match bench rest rifles. Expansion tests, velocity tests, and dimensional measurements are made of each cartridge tested. Whether it’s Hornady’s 17HMR, Eley’s Tenex, or the bulky-boxed Winchester 22LR ammo available from your local chain store, Steve gives each exactly the same level of consideration and appropriately analyzes its performance in the light of usage and cost effectiveness. The data is thoroughly gathered and the presentation to the reader well organized. If I liked nothing else about the book, the data alone would earn him an “A” for Effort. He certainly put in the work.

Steve’s zeal for the rimfire sports extends beyond just his facts and figures. He graciously added additional chapters sharing his experiences with different styles of chambers, chambering reamers, and barrel tuners to expand the reader’s understanding of the relationship between the rifle and the ammunition available for it. Chapters on sorting ammunition by rim thickness and weight are most enlightening and illustrate the author’s tireless approach to experimentation. There is even a section on proper cleaning technique –always a hot topic of debate amongst rimfire devotees- and one I think (thankfully) the author has finally put to rest. These extra chapters are icing on the cake for those who took the title of his book verbatim.

It has often been said that Critics just don’t feel they’ve earned their keep if they say only good things about their victim, and as much as I liked The Guide, I do need to mention a couple of minor issues. If I was to suggest a change in Steve’s method I would have hedged towards addressing ammunition performance in a larger variety of common rifles, and preferably those more in the working man’s price range. One would expect a Turbo BR custom to shoot excellent groups with match ammo. What would have been more illuminating would be to see how various match ammunition performs in the likes of a Marlin 980, or even a Ruger 77/22 or CZ 453 bolt guns. Of course, by necessity Steve was unable to fire all varieties of ammunition in all of his rifles; most Sporting ammunition just won’t fit into a Match chamber. Match ammunition however, will generally fire in all Sporting chambers. To have done so would have been a way of expanding the data base of each cartridge while providing a glimpse of potential performance for the casual shooters tempted to spend an hour’s wage on that box of Eley Tenex they’ve had their eye on. What about that Micro Groove rifling, anyhow? Does it really have any advantages in rimfire guns? One of the great attractions of rimfire shooting is that often, common rifles can be pared with common ammunition to give uncommon results. Coming from the no-compromise world of precision shooting it’s easy to understand how Steve insisted on shooting the best rifles he had available to him. He was simply giving us our money’s worth. As it was this book was massive undertaking and obviously required much work and forethought; to cover every contingency would have been impossible. You just have to draw the line someplace.

Ah! But this criticism stems from my own personal wants. I could find no faults in the data or his technique. The only hard faults I found in the book are a couple of minor typos that I’m sure will be tidied up when Steve sets himself to the task of writing the next edition to The Guide.

-And I’m certain he will need to write another edition. The world of Rimfire changes every year. New cartridges and trends will certainly send Steve packing to the range again. At least I hope it does, and when the next edition comes out I’ll be sure to buy it. “The Rifleman’s Guide to Rimfire Ammunition” is worth the read. Got a rimfire? Get The Book. You’ll learn something.

-- Andy Moe

 

Editor's Note:

Andy Moe has been writing for many years on a variety of topics in the JHO Gunroom . As one of the testers of the .17 Aguila (now the .17 PMC), he has extensive knowledge of rimfires and their use in the field.