The 5 mm Remington Rimfire Magnum or 5 mm RFM is a bottlenecked rimfire cartridge introduced by Remington Arms Company in 1969. Remington chambered it in a pair of bolt-action rifles, the Model 591 and Model 592, but this ammunition never became very popular, and the rifles were discontinued in 1974. About 52,000 rifles and 30,000 barrels for the T/C Contender pistol were sold during its brief production run. Remington discontinued the cartridge itself in 1982, leaving owners with no source of ammunition. In 2008, the cartridge was reintroduced by Aguila Ammunition in collaboration with Centurion Ordnance.

Design

Remington designed a completely new, bottlenecked case that was somewhat similar to the older .22 Winchester Magnum, but stronger to handle the higher pressure of the 5 mm at 37000 psi. Between 1982 and 2008, no ammunition was being manufactured. Some firearms manufacturers even created conversion kits to allow the existing 5 mm guns to shoot other more-common cartridges. At the 2008 SHOT Show, Aguila Ammunition announced it would reintroduce the cartridge and begin commercial production of 5 mm RFM ammunition. Until 2019, the cartridges were sold in the United States of America under the Centurion brand. In 2019, Aguila Ammunition announced the company now offered two 5 mm RFM loads: one with a semi-jacketed hollow point bullet and a second with a full jacketed hollow point bullet. Both loads use a 30 gr projectile and have a muzzle velocity of 2300 ft/s.

Performance

The 5 mm RRM offers higher velocity and more energy than the .22 WMR and the later .17 HMR. It offers improved performance on small game and for varmint hunting, along with excellent accuracy.

5 mm Craig centerfire conversion

When Remington discontinued production of 5 mm RFM ammunition, owners of Remington 591 and 592 rifles were left with excellent rifles but no ammunition for them. In 1994, Mike Craig of Seattle, Washington began working on a centerfire conversion of the 5 mm RFM, called the 5 mm Craig. His company, Certech, also performed conversions of 5 mm rifles from rimfire to centerfire by altering the bolts and installing new firing pins, restoring them to use. Craig has since sold all the rights to the 5 mm Craig to Eagle View Arms of Shelton, Washington.

Firearms chambered for 5 mm RRM

For a brief time, Thompson Center Arms offered firearms in 5 mm Mag. At the 2008 SHOT show, Taurus International introduced the first handgun chambered for the 5 mm Remington Magnum Rimfire.