How small can cartridges be?

[orygun]

I was surfing and ran across an post referencing what was supposed to be the ammo used in a 1/10 scale Gattling gun. The picture shows it on the left with a 22LR (or maybe Long) cartridge on the right.
Has anyone heard about or possibly seen one of these?
I think it's pretty cool.

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[kmk1012]

Looks to be a centerfire too! I don't have much to add here but that's really cool.

 

[orygun]

That's exactly what I thought when I saw it. There was discussion where I grabbed this pic from regarding the super small primers. Conjecture was that the primers may have been handmade, too. A while back a member here was recording a project where he was recharging primers, I believe. Would need magnifiers and tweezers!

 

[Lilhigbee]

Not the cartridge shown above but pretty small, and centerfire!! 2.7 Kolibri and 4.25 Lilliput, resting on a dime.

 

[MannyGlocks]

.17 cal is as small as I go...

It's a hog killing machine too!

Oh no, he didn't say that...did he?

Cuz, nothing under 30.06 will kill those satanic beasts...Right?

Wrong!

 

[TTSX]

When they get that small, is powder measured by "pieces" instead of grains?

 

[orygun]

When they get that small, is powder measured by "pieces" instead of grains?

It's possible the primer is the sole source of power, like a CB Cap, but that's a really small primer. I'd think they would be counting granules!

 

[Will_White]

.11 Whatzit

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Too small imo, too rare, too expensive, no utility. You'd have to shoot like 20 of these per trigger pull to have any effect unless you are shooting house sparrows. Fortunately we have tx-22 with 5 mags for $273, add a frt to get 1500 rounds per minute = affordable swarm of angry bees that anyone in free states can own, widely available in massive quantities (both the gun and ammo), and can shoot for cheap. In our commie anti-gun states though, we're bubblegumed. Now they are trying to ban hunting which is at the very roots and history of OuR state.

2.7 kolibri is 4 ft lbs, or 1/25th the power of a single subsonic 22lr. A single 12 ga #4 pheasant load would = same power as 2280 of these.

 

[Will_White]

Found some more in my internet trawling
L-R 4.25mm Lilliput, 2.7mm Kolibri, .11" Whatzit, 2mm Rimfire, 1.5mm Pinfire



also found out that the Whatzit is actually centerfire because it's formed from a shotgun primer.

 

[TTSX]

At what point is a steel BB more effective at deterring criminals over a "real" cartridge? There is an overlap somewhere, then a nice, steep decline for "bullets" after. Even a mouse will start laughing eventually

 

[orygun]

At what point is a steel BB more effective at deterring criminals over a "real" cartridge? There is an overlap somewhere, then a nice, steep decline for "bullets" after. Even a mouse will start laughing eventually

I would think cartridges this small and light would be for "parlor shooting". Indoors at paper. Sounds like fun to me!
We used to stack up beer cans and shoot them with primer powered training cartridges out of a snubbie in the garage. We called it Redneck Bowling. Tons of fun.

 

[Will_White]

At what point is a steel BB more effective at deterring criminals over a "real" cartridge? There is an overlap somewhere, then a nice, steep decline for "bullets" after. Even a mouse will start laughing eventually

At about 500 fps. The 2.7mm Kolibri only has a muzzle energy of 3 ft-lbs and was marketed as for self defense.

 

[TTSX]

At about 500 fps. The 2.7mm Kolibri only has a muzzle energy of 3 ft-lbs and was marketed as for self defense.

You'll shoot your eye out! If it gets that far!

 

[Lilhigbee]

Continuing with the small cartridges, here is an interesting trio; A 2mm rimfire, a 2mm pinfire, and the big guy is an .11 Whatzit. The Whatzit is actually a shotgun primer necked to accept a #6 lead shot. All sitting on FDR's face for scale. While the two 2mms have guns that fit them there is no known gun in .11 Whatzit caliber. Speculation puts the potential muzzle velocity of the Whatzit's 1.8 grain projectile over 1000 FPS, perhaps as high as 2000 FPS!!

 

[NonExclusive28]

Interesting stuff! Had the thought the other day that it would have been cool to see .25 acp become more popular, given some of the issues with .22lr in box style magazines.