.22wrf and .22wmr

The .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire (.22 WMR) was developed by lengthening the .22 Winchester Rimfire (.22 WRF) case and using more powder.

.22 WRF can be fired in a .22 WMR so it could be thought of as the short ancestor of the .22 WMR.

I keep a box of .22 WRF in case I encounter a fellow shooter with a .22 WRF firearm. WRF is usually harder to find and more expensive because it is not as popular as it used to be. I don't shoot WRF in my WMR guns, but could if I needed to.

Yes it can be used in 22 Mags if you can find any. I lucked out awhile back and found about 500 rounds very cheap at a small gunshop. It was a run that Winchester did 20-30 years ago. I shot most up saving a few boxes. Look around for the Winchester Dyna points. They are a 45grn lubed lead bullet that falls about midway between the WRF and WMR. Walmart usually carried it around 7-8 bucks for 50.

CCI still loads 22 WRF. In fact Bass Pro by me has a bunch of it. Probably because it is unpopular.

Well huh.... I can shoot .22 wrf in my Rough Rider as well?

The WRF is a little more powerful than 22LR, but it's still quite a bit behind 22WMR. Kind of a fun round, though.

Not a rifle issue but just FYI, the round will work in 22 Mag revolvers. My local Cabelas had quite a lot of it. In the NAA 22 minis, it's a less loud option.

Mars5l said:

Well huh.... I can shoot .22 wrf in my Rough Rider as well?

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Yes you can. I find it more accurate than .22LR in both of mine. 22WMR is also more accurate. I purchased a couple boxes of 22WRF to have on hand for my revolvers but shoot 22WMR almost exclusively as they both cost about the same and the WMR is more plentiful.

skoro said:

The WRF is a little more powerful than 22LR, but it's still quite a bit behind 22WMR. Kind of a fun round, though.

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Its very pleasant in .22 Mag. Derringers.

Carl N. Brown said:

The .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire (.22 WMR) was developed by lengthening the .22 Winchester Rimfire (.22 WRF) case and using more powder.

.22 WRF can be fired in a .22 WMR so it could be thought of as the short ancestor of the .22 WMR.

I keep a box of .22 WRF in case I encounter a fellow shooter with a .22 WRF firearm. WRF is usually harder to find and more expensive because it is not as popular as it used to be. I don't shoot WRF in my WMR guns, but could if I needed to.

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I
In my experience you cannot fire a standard .22 LR in a magnum cyl. as the cyl. is bored larger than a .22 RF. It will chamber but will split the case if fired. The mag. is longer than the .22 LR and larger in diameter also.

Huh, I was todays years old when I found out about the 22 WRF cartridge. I can't believe I never heard of it.

Here’s what the two different cartridges look like: 22 WRF (Winchester Rim Fire) Vs. 22 WMR (Winchester Magnum Rimfire) or more commonly, “22 Magnum”.

someguy2800 said:

Huh, I was todays years old when I found out about the 22 WRF cartridge. I can't believe I never heard of it.

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Ready to be even more confused- theres a .22 WSL (Winchester Self Loading) as well, same length as a .22LR, but fatter than even a .22 Magnum.

I found a handful of live ones sitting on the bench at a range decades ago. Didnt know what they were, so I threw em in my range bag and carried em around for years until I bumped into a fella shooting a 1903 Self-Loader. When I saw the ammo he was using, I recognized it right away and gave him the loosies from my bag. He was much appreciative and I solved the mystery of the oddball rimfire rounds!

BC Jr said:

Here’s what the two different cartridges look like: 22 WRF (Winchester Rim Fire) Vs. 22 WMR (Winchester Magnum Rimfire) or more commonly, “22 Magnum”. View attachment 1028683View attachment 1028684View attachment 1028685View attachment 1028686View attachment 1028687View attachment 1028688

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Great pics.

chicharrones said:

Great pics

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Yes, great photos. thanks for posting them.

The only use I have for 22 Mags is in a couple of old Ruger Single Sixes with duel cylinders. I bought this Three Screw Single Six a few years ago and it came with two boxes of 22 Mags and the 22 Mag cylinder as well as a box of standard 22LR.






To tell you the truth, I don't even remember why I bought this box of CCI Maxi Mags, which is what they call their version of the 22 WMR. Less than half of them are left, so I must have fired them in another Single Six before I bought the one pictured above.

Look carefully at the photo below. While 22 Long Rifle and the other two 22 rimfires use a heeled bullet, with the case diameter the same as the bullet diameter, 22 Mags do not. The case is larger in diameter than the bullet, which has been inserted into the case just like most modern cartridges. A quick measurement of cases shows the 22LR cases are running around .223, while the magnum cases are running around .238.

Many years ago, I was given an old Winchester 1903. Not knowing it was different, I tried firing a .22LR in it. I don't remember the specifics of what happened (the bullet lodged in the rough bore of the old rifle maybe?), but I remember finding out it didn't work with .22LR and learned about the existence of the .22WRF.

Ahhhh, the .22 WRF ! We have a long history together ! When I was a kid , back in late 50s and in about 6th grade I begin "hunting" with the slightly older and perhaps poorer neighbor kid who had free use of his worn Stevens single shot in that caliber. Ammo was about twice as much as .22 Shorts were but the effect on rabbits, racoons, and feral cats was many fold greater ! That 45 grain flat point .22 WRF left huge blood trails and nothing got far , they usually dropped in their tracks. I was impressed.
Fast forward to the middle 70s when I was a ranch foreman on a remote Big Sur ranch and a local widow gave me her husbands battery when she moved into town , even his Stetson ! Included in that modest practical battery were two Colts , A 1978 "Alaskan " .45 and a Colt Police Positive Target in .22 WRF . Also in the three rifles she gave me ; a Winchester 94 in .25-35, and a Martini Cadet rechambered to .32 Win Special and a 1890 Winchester take down .22 WRF ! Well it seemed the Colt and Winchester .22 WRF were employed for all the smaller than deer hunting the old small rancher did , it doesn't tear up meat but kills very quickly ! I found it to be so in my useage, the best bunny cartridge, a great tree squirrel and racoon gun and yes I took small wild pigs with it quietly from the 1890 pump ! It is remarkably quiet , but certainly supersonic from the rifle (claimed velocity is 1400fps from a rifle) . The Pistol is relitively quiet from it's 6" barrel about same as standard velocity .22 LR and extremely accurate. An ideal subsistance farm gun !
I still have a 250 round box and a half of the Wincester ammo and yes I do use mostly the CCI made hollowpoints WRF in my .22 Mag revolvers and derringers ! Even my .22 Mag NAA mini revolver loves it !
Unfortunetly , there is no interest from my gunny sons in that Colt/Winchester pairing nor anyone in family other than it's $ value. There for I am getting ready to sell them on GB . I really want to sell them as a set and throw in 250 rounds of Ammo. That ammo is currently still being made ! I sold a few cased sets of pistols on GB but not sure how to effectively advertise these as a set. I'll start at a penny start and would like to get at least $1200 for both, which in my mind is cheap for two 100 year old very good + condition examples of gunmakers art . I'll give it a gp on the for sale forums here, but once again don't know how to advertise a pistol /rifle set effectively. I really don't want to sell separately .

The .22 WRF 1890 is on top :



The Colt .22 WRF target police positive on the bottom

Here is the wonderful 1890 .22 WRF on bottom with the 250 round "brick" , the 1892 Winchester is my beloved 32-20 which I had relined and still use in SASS .