Winchester Ammunition
1/20/2009
As a result of increasing customer demand for lead-free products across the United States, Winchester® Ammunition will offer three lightning-fast, lead-free rimfire bullets, chambered for both .22 Win. Mag and .22 Long Rifle (LR) cartridges, beginning in 2009.
The Winchester SUPER-X® lead-free bullets are well-suited for practice and ideal for small game, varmint and pest control. They are designed for maximum expansion and they are extremely accurate. These products use a patented technology to achieve a totally lead-free bullet.
“Winchester Ammunition engineers our products for hunters and target shooters to assure they have quality, high-performance ammunition that also complies with local regulations in their hunting and shooting areas” said Greg Kosteck, Director of Marketing for Winchester Ammunition.
These three rounds join Winchester’s wide selection of traditional lead projective rimfire products designed for precision target shooting, silhouettes, plinking, small-game, varmint hunting and pest control.
The new SUPER-X .22 Win. Mag features:
• Muzzle velocity of 2,200 feet per second
• Bullet weight: 28 grain JHP
• Rounds per box: 50 rd. plastic pack
• Symbol: X22MHLF
• Availability: January 2009
The new SUPER-X .22 Long Rifle
• Muzzle velocity of 1650 FPS
• Bullet weight: 30 grain THP (Tin hollow-point) & TRN (Tin round nose)
• Rounds per box: 50 rd plastic pack
• Symbol: X22LRHLF & X22LRLF
• Availability: March 2009
Here are the specs on the old lead centerfire rounds:
The Old SUPER-X .22 Win.Mag Features:
Mussle velocityof 1910 FPS
Bullet weight: 40 grain JHP
Rounds per box: 50 rd. box
Symbol: X22MH
Factory price per box: $13.74
The Old SUPER -X .22 Long Rifle Features:
Muzzle velocity of 1280 FPS
Bullet weight: 37 grain Lead Hollow Point & Lead Round Nose
Rounds per box: 50 rd. box
Symbol: X22LRH & X22LR
Factory price per box: $3.78
This is what we are going to be using in the future if the lead free ammo laws keep creeping eastward. The press release states that the new .22 Win Mag rounds would be available in January of 2009. I went to the largest firearm dealer in my area maybe even in the state and they haven’t even heard of the lead free ammo yet, not to mention not even having it available. I wanted to see what kind of price increase we were going to see in this ammo, but we will have to play the waiting game for now. If it is like anything else, I can only imagine it will be more expensive.
When I looked at the price per pound on lead today it was 53 cents per pound. When I checked tin which these new bullets are made of, it was $5.20 per pound! This is ten times more than the lead product used in conventional ammuniton.
Now I’m not saying that the price of lead free ammunition will be 10 times greater. There are other costs that figure into the price of a box of cartridges, but a price increase multiplied by 10 on one of the main products to manufacutre ammunition is definitely going to increase the cost of shooting!
