What is the difference between centrefire and rimfire rifles?

Question

Is it calibre, or the way they shoot? The length of the barrels? I have been advised to maybe get a centrefire, as I want a bit more power than a .22, but which would be better to enter into competitions with? Bris, QLD

Answer 1

all 3 of the above lol.  As far as power is concerned a centerfire cartridge is way more powerful than a rimfire cartridge.  You should look into a 17HMR, its a rimfire and its a pretty mean round in a small package.  my buddy has one he got for $220 its a savage.  its dead on accurate about to 100 yards.  the round is so small though that on a windy day you have to correct for windage.  

Answer 2

G'Day mate centre fire has a primer at the back of the bullet  where the firing pin has to strike the centre of it to fire.rim fire has a rim primer that can be struck any where on the back of the bullet.If you want a rim fire

get a .22 magnum they have become popular here is Australia .22 Lr are still a good gun not far behind.If you want a centre fire rifle get a .223 they are very popular here also with bench shooters and pig chaser's on a.t.v.bikes (but that's a pump action on atv's).cheers mate have a nice day and by the way brisy lion's suck magpies rule hehehehehehe cya

the bombers are even worse

Answer 3

one can be struck anywhere one in the center

Answer 4

Center fires are just that, fired by the firing pin hitting the center of the bullet case/brass. These tend to have more fire power than rim fire ammo. Rim fire of course has the firing pin hitting the rim of the bullet case/brass.

Answer 5

The difference is the location of the primer.  The primer on a rimfire is around the rear edge (rim) of the cartridge, and cannot be reloaded.  The .22s are one type of rimfire.  The centerfire has its primer located in the center of the base of the cartridge, and can be reloaded.  The centerfires can be a .22, like a 22/250, 220 Swift, or a .223, for example, or larger.  If you're not going to be shooting at long ranges, you can get by with a .22.

Answer 6

(Q1. What is the difference between center-fire and rim-fire rifles?

(A1. Rim-fire ammunition:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rimfire

Center-fire ammunition:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centerfire_...

Basic difference: where the primer is located. The secondary difference tends to be caliber. Because rim-fire loads can't take as much pressure, they're usually smaller caliber & lower power loads. That's not to say there haven't been large caliber rim-fire cartridges. There have been. They just went the way of the dinosaur because they couldn't take the higher pressures needed to move large chunks of lead quickly. Well, that and they can't be reloaded.

(Q2. which would be better to enter into competitions with?

(A2. Depends on the competition. Olympic shooters use rifles chambered in the .22 LR. However long range shooters use center-fire rifles chambered in a variety of calibers (.223 Remington, .308 Winchester, .45-70 Government...) depending on what's required for your match.

Answer 7

a centerfire cartridge means the firing pin hits the primer cap dead in the center. as per a rimfire....   has no primercap that you can see and usually the pin hits the outer rim of the cartridge. personally i think centerfire is a bit more accurate.The barrel length is very important for accuracy. the longer the barrel the more accurate at longer range has been my experience. i do no competitions merely a bit of hunting and plinking for fun. good luck on your search.  

Answer 8

simply put, gunpowder doesn't light itself on fire.  Ammunition contains priming compound, which, when struck, sparks, and ignites the gunpowder.

If the priming comound is in the center of the cartridge, it is called a center fire.  If it is around the rim, it is called a rimfire.

Rimfire is older, and has been almost universally replaced by centerfire.  However, the one place rimfire is still around is small, low powered, 'rabbit rifle' type rounds like the 22.  In general when someone says 'rimfire' they mean 'low powered rifle, inexpensive to shoot, only powerful enough for tin cans, rabbits, squirrels, and the like

while there are some weak centerfire cartridges that are more suitable to squirrels and rabbits, most common centerfire cartridges are designed for large game, like deer.

If you are using a 22 Long Rifle, you could make the small step up to 22 Magnums which is still a rimfire.  If you wanted to get about 3 steps more powerful, a 22 hornet is a nice centerfire round, or go for a 222 remington or a 223 remington.  Note, teh 22 hornet, 222 rem and 223 rem are only appropriate for target hunting and only the smallest deer like you'd find in texas.  If you plan on hunting whitetail deer, you'd be better off going up to a 243 winchester, but if you aren't going to be hunting, then the 22 hornet for low recoil with some power, or the 2223 for it's great avaialabitly would be my choices.

Answer 9

A cartridge has 4 components: bullet, gunpowder, primer and case.

The case holds everything together. The primer is struck by the firearm's hammer or firing pin. The primer explodes and ignites the powder, causing the bullet to be expelled from the case, and down the barrel. In a centerfire, the primer is in the center of the case. In the rimfire the primer is embedded in the rim  of the case.

Rimfire cartridges are low in pressure and are usually limited to being used on targets or small birds, and small mammals. The most popular rimfire is over a hundred years old and is called the 22 long rifle or 22 lr for short. It can be fired from a rifle, from a semi-auto pistol or from a revolver. The latest rimfire caliber is .17hmr or the 17 mach2. It is a higher speed bullet, good on paper targets or small mammals/birds out to about 100m.

Centerfires come in all calibers (diameter of bullet in tenths of an inch) from .17 to .50.

Rimfires are very cheap. You can buy 500 rounds of 22 lr for about $20 US dollars. They have very little recoil (how much a firearm kicks) and make little noise because they dont have much powder in their tiny cases.

Most rimfires do best in 16-20" barrels, but can be fired from pistols with barrels as short as 5" and still have enough velocity to be useful at short ranges.

Centerfires can be either rifle rounds or pistol rounds; since both types have cartridges with the primer located in the center of the case.

Rimfires are better for beginners because they are cheap to shoot, and dont make much noise or recoil.

As you become more proficient, you can move up to centerfires and engage targets up to 300m with the rifles rounds, or 25m with pistol rounds.In the hands of a skilled shooter, rifle cartridges can be used up to 1000m and pistols up to about 50m.