Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! The .30 Rimfire cartridge, introduced around 1860, emerged during the early era of self-contained metallic ammunition. Following Louis-Nicolas Flobert’s 1845 rimfire innovation and Smith & Wesson’s successful .22 Rimfire of 1857, the .30 Rimfire found its niche in affordable pocket firearms like the Remington Smoot, Colt New Line, and Sharps Model 2 Pepperbox. The cartridge evolved into “short” and “long” variants by the 1870s. The longer version typically used a 50-58 grain lead bullet over 5-6 grains of black powder, with bullet diameters of .290-.295 inches. Unique to the era were “shot shells” featuring wooden tips instead of crimped or plastic caps, marketed by UMC as “Long Shot.” Production of .30 Rimfire Long ended around 1914, while the Short version persisted until 1920. Both were ultimately superseded by the more powerful .32 Rimfire for self-defense use, much like modern .380 ACP displaced .32 ACP. Though obsolete, these cartridges represent an important transition in ammunition development between percussion caps and modern centerfire designs.
