There's a new rimfire kid on the block and from the start it took off like wild fire. This little hot rod started when Hornady necked down a great cartridge to start with, necking down the .22 WMR to hold a 17-grain, 17-caliber bullet. This new rimfire appeared at the 2002 SHOT Show in Las Vegas and things have been moving along briskly since.

The initial push revolved around long guns, of course. Out of a typical rifle barrel, Hornady's Magnum Rimfire generates 2,550 fps, creating a bite way out of proportion to the bark and a surprising lack of recoil. The new round is 25 percent faster than the old standby .22 Magnum and the new .17 HMR manages to trump up 245 ft-lbs of muzzle energy from its 17-grain bullet. Of course the other great things that go with a rimfire cartridge go hand in hand, as well. There really is no recoil and the muzzle blast is but a puff, if you will. (Hearing protection is still necessary, however.)

It didn't take long for the cartridge to start showing up in shorter barreled arms, either. While cutting a foot or more off of a barrel does effect velocity, a great cartridge often remains great regardless of the barrel length. The rimfires are a good case in point. Hands down, the rimfires are great out of anything. In fact I've long felt that the world's greatest cartridge is the .22 Long Rifle. Most of us started out with this great cartridge and where fun is considered, the .22 LR has no peers. The magnum rimfire is every bit as great, when one wishes to up the ante a bit.

Taurus introduced the new Tracker in 2002 and the line now includes a gem chambered for the .17 HMR cartridge. Constructed from stainless steel and equipped with the best grips that I've wrapped my hands around, this new Tracker may be one of the slickest handguns in the business.