What the heck is a 23 caliber? Must be a misprint!!! Well, not exactly. In fact the .234 has been around at least since the mid fifties. And, it is exactly what it sounds like - a caliber half way between the ever popular .224's, and the equally beloved 6mm/.243's.
It seems that back around the time that the 234 Winchester, and it's Remington counterpart the 244 (6mm Remington) began to take the shooting world by storm, it became somewhat fashionable for state game departments to start outlawing the assorted .22 caliber center fire rounds for big game use. This of course meant that the various .243's would now represent the acceptable minimum. A number of die hard small caliber nuts around the country took offense at the legislation and they apparently set about to subvert the system by splitting the difference . . . Viola! The .234.
I really don't know if this tid-bit of history is spot on correct or not. But it seems as good as any reason too me. What I do know is this seemingly minor niche in the caliber line up is actually pretty interesting, and actually offers some improvements (All-be-it slight) over it's junior and senior brethren. How so? Read on...
