.22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire - Ammunition

Ammunition

The .22WMR is little more than an enlarged, more powerful version of the much earlier .22 WRF (which can also be fired in any firearm chambered for .22WMR). It was for a time the most powerful rimfire round available, and even outperformed the .22 WCF.

While more powerful than the .22 Long Rifle, ammunition is not available in as large a variety as .22 LR. Availability is also not as great, either; while the .22 WMR is by no means hard to find, nearly every retailer that sells ammunition will carry .22 LR. The price of .22 WMR is substantially higher than almost all .22 LR, though it is less expensive than the new .17 Rimfire calibers. Since many of the rifles that chamber the .22 WMR use tubular magazines, bullet noses are generally flat or blunt to allow smooth feeding. Recently, new bullets have emerged from Remington, CCI, and Hornady and have 30 or 33-grain (2.1 g) polymer plastic ballistic tips.

While a pointed bullet is not going to rest against the primer of the round in front of it (as in a centerfire cartridge), a pointed bullet could still hang on the manufacturer's stamp, which is found in the middle of the base of the cartridge.

Bullets for the .22 WMR are generally unlubricated lead with heavy copper plating, in either solid nose or hollow point style designed for small game hunting or pest control (varmint hunting).

Due to the limited selection of commercial ammunition, the .22 WMR was the case used by a small but dedicated group of wildcatters for handloading high performance rimfire ammunition. Generally these loads would use more aerodynamic pointed bullets, the same type used by .22 caliber centerfire cartridges. While often heavier than standard .22 WMR bullets, the sharp nose and tapered tail retained velocity better, and delivered more energy downrange. Other wildcatters would neck the .22 WMR down to smaller calibers, such as .20 (5 mm) and .17 (4.5 mm) or even smaller, in an attempt to get maximum velocity and the flattest possible trajectory.