Winchester's .21 Sharp Looks to Change the Rimfire Landscape

Is improved performance over the .22 long rifle worth it?

August 07, 2025 By Joseph von Benedikt

Winchester’s new .21 Sharp fires true .21 caliber projectiles out of classic .22 Long Rifle rimfire cases. The bore diameter of .21 Sharp rifles is .210, rather than .223. Some of you are already thinking: Is this not the answer to an unasked question?

That depends on where you’re from. If you live in California or some other lead-restricted region and have struggled to achieve adequate accuracy with nontoxic .22 LR ammo, the .21 Sharp may be exactly the answer you’ve been looking for.

One of the four initial loads offered by Winchester is a speedy flatnose 25-grain Copper Matrix monometal bullet. Yes, it’s light compared to the standard .22 LR’s 40-grain bullet, but it exits the muzzle at a speedy 1,750 fps. Inside practical hunting distances out to 100 yards, that high velocity makes up for the lack of projectile mass.

This load is under the Winchester USA banner and labeled as Game & Target. Two others under the same branding include a 37-grain black copper-plated bullet rated at 1,335 fps and a 42-grain full metal jacket at 1,330 fps. The fourth initial .21 Sharp load is a jacketed hollowpoint Super-X load at 1,500 fps.

New Load Offerings

21 sharp cartridge shown — Winchester’s new .21 Sharp cartridge uses the same case as the classic .22 Long Rifle but employs different bullet technology. (Photo submitted by the author)

Winchester claims the 25-grain .21 Sharp Copper Matrix load is better than nontoxic offerings in the classic, tried-and-true .22 Long Rifle. In pure engineering terms, the company is right.

When the .22 Long Rifle was introduced back in 1887, it was configured with a heeled bullet like many other rimfire cartridges prevalent at the time. Heeled bullets have a bearing surface that’s the same diameter as the cartridge case itself, with a small step down in diameter at the rear—the heel—that seats inside the mouth of the cartridge case.

It’s an outdated, even antiquated design. Even so, it’s served honorably for a century and a half, and the .22 Long Rifle shows no sign of fading. I suspect it’ll still be the most popular cartridge in the world 150 years from now.

Winchester claims to have corrected this design flaw by eliminating the heeled bullet, saying it has more or less perfected the small rimfire cartridge. Being a vintage cartridge lover, that sort of raises my hackles. But that said, projectiles with parallel shanks fitting inside the mouths of cartridge cases do have advantages. There’s less potential for tipping, more bearing surface to maximize concentricity inside the bore, a smoother, more aerodynamic profile and so forth.

Ballistics Chart Preface

factory ballistics chart — (Factory ballistics chart provided by the author)

A few notes regarding the accompanying chart listing ballistics for these new .21 Sharp loads. One, I suspect the copper-plated load is slower, relatively speaking, because its swaged-lead construction doesn’t hold up as well at higher speeds. Two, you will note that in addition to the monometal Copper Matrix projectile, two loads feature jacketed bullets. Yep, traditional lead cores with copper jackets.

For those thinking, “We don’t need no jacketed bullets in a rimfire!” it’s worth pointing out that the .22 Mag. uses the same jacketed-bullet technology as the new .21 Sharp, and the .22 Mag. has a lot of loyal disciples. Further, jacketed bullets are generally more consistent and clean-shooting than swaged-lead bullets—but are incompatible with the classic .22 Long Rifle. That’s another refinement that makes the .21 Sharp superior to the .22 Long Rifle, at least in theory.

Compatibility with jacketed projectiles enables the .21 Sharp to fire more refined bullets and more versatile bullets. Whether that’s a significant enough advantage to ensure the .21 Sharp’s survival, only Father Time can say. On the downside, jacketed rimfire bullets are generally more expensive than swaged-lead bullets.

Terminal performance will be similar to the .22 LR in many ways, with some significant exceptions. The 25-grain Copper Matrix bullet is a true non-expanding design, with a flat meplat and a fairly sleek angled ogive. Winchester says it will penetrate around three feet in typical penetration-testing medium, which is unprecedented for any small rimfire bullet.

As I write this, it’s early on in the .21 Sharps’s existence, and few test rifles are available. Currently, Winchester’s Xpert will be chambered to the cartridge, but RifleShooter was unable to get one. However, Savage is chambering several models in .21 Sharp, and the company provided me with a Mark II Minimalist.

Savage Rimfire

accuracy results — (Accuracy results chart provided by the author)

It’s super handy, and it proved to be 100 percent reliable. The Minimalist has the excellent AccuTrigger, which arrived with a two-pound pull. Now, this is not a precision rimfire, as its weight is just 5.5 pounds and the 18-inch barrel is relatively slender in profile. As much fun as it is to shoot, I don’t believe it accessed the .21 Sharp cartridge’s full accuracy potential.

I was able to obtain two of the initial four factory loads. I bolted a CVLife bipod to the fore-end and mounted a Trijicon 3-18x44 scope on the factory-installed cross-slot bases. Results are shown in the accompanying chart.

At 50 yards, accuracy was consistently minute of squirrel—and that’s plenty good for a compact little rifle such as the Mark II Minimalist. It’s worth noting that the 1.58-inch average of the 25-grain Copper Matrix and the 1.32 average of the 34-grain jacketed hollowpoint weren’t huge improvements over typical nontoxic copper-plated zinc bullets in most .22 LR ammo—at least not out of this particular rifle. However, I anticipate that when fired from a heavy-barreled rifle configured for accuracy rather than light weight, the nontoxic .21 Sharp load would outshoot most nontoxic .22 LR ammo.

Velocity was impressive. Both loads outperformed factory specs. The 25-grain Copper Matrix clocked 86 fps faster than the 1,750 fps on the box. The slightly heavier 34-grain jacketed hollowpoint also beat its advertised 1,500 fps by 67 fps. It’s unusual for factory ammo to shoot faster than expected.

Ultimately

2 cartridges side by side — The .22 LR (l.) uses a heeled bullet while the .21 Sharp’s bullet—the monometal version is shown here (r.)—has parallel sides. Eliminating the heel is potentially beneficial to accuracy and consistency. (Photo submitted by the author)

Although 67 to 86 fps isn’t much in the centerfire high-power cartridge world, it’s fairly significant in a small rimfire. It’s enough to flatten trajectory at 100 yards and noticeably increase on-impact energy. Chalk up a win for the .21 Sharp.

Another win for the new rimfire cartridge is the ease with which existing .22 LR firearms can be adapted to the new round. The .21 Sharp uses the same magazines, the same bolt faces, operates at the same pressure, and in short shares all things but bullet diameter and design with the .22 LR. Aside from boring barrels to a slightly smaller internal diameter, manufacturers need change nothing at all to add the .21 Sharp to their lineups.

I can’t help pondering whether the .21 Sharp has a chance of surviving. It’s not as different or as cool as the 2002-introduced .17 HMR, which is the only rimfire that has gained significant traction since the .22 Mag. was announced in 1959. The accuracy advantage is probably limited to nontoxic projectiles, so it’s doubtful it will apply to the average shooter across the U.S. and around the world. In my opinion, Winchester’s claim to have fixed the design issues with the .22 LR is more likely to ruffle feathers than to convert shooters.

But the .21 Sharp has one redeeming virtue that may well prove to be its saving grace. It’s probably the best cartridge available for rimfire shooters in lead-restricted areas. And although those of us who aren’t similarly restricted might roll our eyes and give the .21 Sharp the cold shoulder, those shooters may well be enough to shift the balance and put this new little rimfire on solid footing.

Joseph von Benedikt

Raised in a tiny Rocky Mountain town 100 miles from a stoplight or supermarket, Joseph von Benedikt began shooting competitively at age 14, gunsmithing at age 21, and guiding big game hunters professionally at age 23. While studying creative writing at the university he began publishing articles about firearms and hunting in nationally distributed magazines, as well as works of short fiction about ranch life. An editorial job offer presented an open door into the industry, along with an eye-opening two years stationed in the Petersen Publishing building in Los Angeles. A position serving as Editor in Chief of Shooting Times magazine took von Benedikt and his young family to Illinois for four years. Homesick for the great Rocky Mountains, von Benedikt swapped his editorial seat for a position as a full-time writer and moved home to the West, where he's been writing full-time ever since, along with hosting the Backcountry Hunting Podcast. Favorite pursuits include high-country elk and mule deer hunting, safaris in Africa, deep wilderness hunts in Alaska, and wandering old-growth forest in Europe for stag, roebuck, and wild boar.

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