.22 Winchester Centerfire (.22 WCF) was a small centerfire cartridge introduced in 1885 for use in the Winchester Model 1885 single shot rifle. Factory manufacture of ammunition was discontinued in 1936. The .22 WCF was loaded with a 45 grain bullet with a muzzle velocity of about 1550 feet per second, similar to the performance of the .22 Winchester Rimfire

.22 Winchester Rimfire

The .22 Winchester Rimfire is an American rimfire rifle cartridge.Introduced in the Winchester M1890 slide rifle, it had a flat-nose slug, and is identical to the .22 Remington Special...

 (.22 WRF) designed in 1890.

Experimentation with the .22 WCF among civilian wildcatters

Wildcat cartridge

A wildcat cartridge, or wildcat, is a custom cartridge for which ammunition and firearms are not mass produced. These cartridges are often created in order to optimize a certain performance characteristic of an existing commercial cartridge.Developing and using wildcat cartridges does not...

 and the U.S. military at Springfield Armory

Springfield Armory

The Springfield Armory, located in the City of Springfield, Massachusetts - from 1777 until its closing in 1968 - was the primary center for the manufacture of U.S. military firearms. After its controversial closing during the Vietnam War, the Springfield Armory was declared Western Massachusetts'...

 in the 1920s led to the development of the .22 Hornet

.22 Hornet

The .22 Hornet is a low-end vermin, small-game and predator centerfire rifle cartridge. It is considerably more powerful than the .22 WMR and the .17 HMR, achieving higher velocity with a bullet twice the weight. The Hornet also differs very significantly from these in that it is not a rimfire...

cartridge.

Sources

• Barnes, Frank C., Cartridges of the World, Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. ISBN 0-695-80326-3.