.218 Bee

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.218 Bee
Left, compared to .223 Remington
Type	Rifle
Place of origin	US
Production history
Designer	Winchester
Designed	1937
Manufacturer	Winchester
Produced	1937–present
Variants	.218 Mashburn Bee[1]
Specifications
Parent case	.32-20 Winchester
Case type	Rimmed, bottleneck
Bullet diameter	.224 in (5.7 mm)
Neck diameter	.242 in (6.1 mm)
Shoulder diameter	.329 in (8.4 mm)
Base diameter	.349 in (8.9 mm)
Rim diameter	.408 in (10.4 mm)
Rim thickness	.065 in (1.7 mm)
Case length	1.345 in (34.2 mm)
Primer type	Small rifle
Maximum CUP	40,000[2] CUP
Ballistic performance
Bullet mass/type Velocity Energy 35 gr (2 g) VMax 3,205 ft/s (977 m/s) 799 ft⋅lbf (1,083 J) 40 gr (3 g) BT 3,130 ft/s (950 m/s) 870 ft⋅lbf (1,180 J) 46 gr (3 g) JFP 2,708 ft/s (825 m/s) 749 ft⋅lbf (1,016 J) 50 gr (3 g) BT 2,654 ft/s (809 m/s) 782 ft⋅lbf (1,060 J)
Source(s): Hodgdon [3]

The .218 Bee is a .22 caliber centerfire rifle cartridge designed for varmint hunting by Winchester in 1937. The cartridge was originally chambered in the Winchester Model 65 lever-action rifles, which may have ultimately led to its lack of popularity. The cartridge is named for the bore diameter of the barrel in which the cartridge is chambered rather than the usual practice in the United States of having the cartridge's nomenclature reflect in some way the bullet diameter.