Indoor shooting

General Ammunition Discussion
1

Would these all be center fire or are some rim fire?
Thanks
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2

Hi Pete,

Nice find! These are round ball boxes for airguns and/or rifles and adapters firing 4 mm rimfire cases, except for the Lienhard which use the ZL special primer.

Regards,

Fede

3

thank you, Sir

1 Like
4

While Fede is correct, I think “Zimmerstutzen” deserves to be explained a little more.
“Zimmerstutzen” is a type of small bore rimfire rifle that once was extremely popular in southern Germany (Bavaria) and probably also used in Austria and Switzerland.
One peculiarity of this system is having separate rimfire cases (similar to a 6 mm Flobert, but only about 4.3 mm) to which the shooter attaches his preferred size (no. 5. 7 and 8 in the photo) of lead ball before shooting.
So the Zimmerstutzen is a class of weapon in itself, quite separate from airguns (Luftgewehr or LuftbĂĽchse).

5

Zimmerstutzen or Zimmerschuetzen rifles are (for the most part) the full-sized equivalent of centerfire medium caliber rifles (8.15x46R the most common “size”) used in very formal offhand shooting. The centerfire rifles were fired outdoors, mostly in good weather, usually at distances of 175 to 200 meters. The various 4mm (+/-) sizes were/are intended for indoor shooting during the winter. The range was customarily 10 meters, shot at tiny targets. Most Zimmerstutzen units are short rifled sections (100 to 150 mm long) located near the muzzle of a rifle. They were loaded through a port on the bottom of the barrel. The regular hammer of the rifle action struck a very long striker (>400 mm length?) which either hit the rimfire part of the cartridge directly or hit a smaller firing pin.

The cartridges are still manufactured and used, both in Bavaria and in the USA, although many rifles in the US have been converted to .22 Short rimfire.

The “locks” or actions holding the tiny cartridges are not at all strong, not even as sturdy as a Flobert. The fired case is only held in place by friction and perhaps the resistance of the long striker.

They are not for air rifles, but real if miniature cartridges.