Nearly, but it was developed from a black powder cartridge in the 1920s. As the .22 WCF it existed before gas-checks were invented, or jacketed bullets in an American sporting rifle. It worked well at about 1500 ft./sec. with black powder, and fouling wasn't an insuperable problem. You will probably find that modern cases will hold less powder than the early ones, due to having thicker walls, but it should be enough for a marginally hotter .22LR equivalent, which lots of people seem to have a use for nowadays.
The tendency to foul may be diminished in a period-authentic way by using a sheet of wax between tight-fitting card discs behind the bullet. If you melt any hard lube in hot water, you should have an even sheet floating on top when it goes cold.