rim-fire

British

adjective

(of a cartridge) having the primer in the rim of the base
(of a firearm) adapted for such cartridges

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Also made to shoot .32 short rim-fire cartridges.

From Project Gutenberg

It is also made for rifled small-arms especially for rim-fire rifles.

From Project Gutenberg

“Prob'ly they're center-fire ca'tridges for rim-fire guns, or vicy-versy.”

From Project Gutenberg

While the rifles were center-fire, a great many of the cartridges were rim-fire, and consequently useless unless broken and the powder and ball rammed home as in the old muzzle-loaders.

From Project Gutenberg

Or else, he could enumerate all the pistols of a certain type; say, all the Philadelphia Deringers, or all the Allen pepperboxes, or all the rim-fire Smith & Wesson tip-back types.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023