.22LR vs .22 WMR?

It is hugely more powerful than the .22lr. Faster, flatter, reach out and get them.
I have no problem shooting badger or dog with the .22wmr, with .22lr it’s a mag dump.

The .22 LR has a muzzle energy of 137 foot-pounds (ft-lbs) and drops to 91 ft-lbs at 100 yards. The .22 WMR, while not considered a high-powered cartridge, has a muzzle energy of 314 ft-lbs and 153 ft-lbs after 100 yards.

.22 LR, when zeroed to 50 yards, drops 5.6 inches at 100 yards. The .22 WMR round only drops 2.1 inches, If you are hunting squirrel this is important.

No experience with 22 mag and have nothing against it. Always had 22 LR rifles and .22 center fire rifles (.222/223) and never needed the 22 mag to fill the gap between them.

I'm a fan, but as much in a revolver as I am in a rifle. I've had a Ruger Single Six convertible for a long time and it shoots far more .22 WMR than .22 LR. I like it so much I recently picked up a Single Six Hunter convertible. I'd have bought it if it only had the .22 WMR cylinder. It's a fun cartridge.

I don't have anything against it and would love to have a 22 mag gun if the ammo was more affordable. 22 Mag is relatively speaking very expensive and cannot be reloaded. That is what has kept me away from it all my life.
Maybe there's a reasonable explanation but I have never figured why it is so much more than 22 LR.

I really enjoy my 22WMR - KelTec PMR - It hits much harder than the 22LR does, but doesn't recoil much more. After seeing 22LR hits fail to faze a racoon heading towards the chickens, I replaced the 10/22 on chicken watch with the PMR. It fits well for things too small for 10mm, but too big for 22LR.

It was also easier to find CCI MaxiMag 40 grain ammo during the most recent drought than any of the other calibers I own. For some reason their 200 round packs were almost always available. Maybe I'm the only one around here that uses those?

I'm with Charlie. $$ and can't be reloaded.

Charlie Martinez said:

Maybe there's a reasonable explanation but I have never figured why it is so much more than 22 LR.

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Economy of scale.

I like 17HMR over 22 mag by a long shot.

Charlie Martinez said:

I don't have anything against it and would love to have a 22 mag gun if the ammo was more affordable. 22 Mag is relatively speaking very expensive and cannot be reloaded. That is what has kept me away from it all my life.
Maybe there's a reasonable explanation but I have never figured why it is so much more than 22 LR.

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Most .22 WMR these days uses a jacketed bullet, has a slightly longer piece of brass, and uses a bit more powder. I can't recall ever buying .22 LR with a jacketed bullet.

I don't find the cartridge all that expensive since I shoot it in low volumes per outing. The fact that my .22 WMR guns are low capacity manually operated arms, that low volume usage is assured.

I like the 22 WMR as a basic ranch cartridge. More reach for varmints out of a rifle as noted by Atavar. And, like Legionnaire, I have a single six with the 4 5/8" barrel that has seen a lot more 22 WMR than 22 LR (and I also have a Single Six Hunter that has seen only 22 WMR rounds). I lost count of the number of rattlesnakes dispatched with it a long time ago. And, the Single Six is a lot easier to carry on horseback than a 22 lr rifle (but it is comparable in power if not accuracy. ) My usual coup de grace gun during deer season is a 22 WMR revolver loaded with solids. And my CCW is a NA Arms Blackwidow with the 22 WMR cylinder (I think Jeff Cooper was right about a short barrel 22 WMR for civilians).

It is not the most accurate thing around, but it is, like duct tape, very useful

Great 100 yard varmint Cartridge. It kills what a 22LR doesn't and is more accurate at over 60 yards in hunting rounds. A very handy package at the campground and farm.

When there’s a possibility the fat wounded groundhog will crawl under the porch and stink for two weeks, the extra energy of the WMR is appreciated.

At $15.99 for 50 .22 Mag rounds it’s not unreasonable. The cost increase isn’t digested well by many because of the tendency to compare cost per round with the .22LR.

Comparing the price of the two is problematic as the .22mag really is in a different class of performance.

I’m a fan of the caliber and own rifles and handguns for it. I don’t shoot it in volume like I do .22 LR. That’s not due to the cost but because the LR is just a better plinking round. Especially in handguns as the sound signature of the Mag is nothing short of impressive.

I’ve mentioned it in other threads. I hunted early season fox squirrels in Norsk(sic) Dakota with a Ruger MK2 .22LR Target. Late season required me to switch to a Marlin M25 .22 mag as the distances increased.

If I didn’t own a .22 rifle I would lean towards a .22LR as it can do 75% of what the Mag can do. The difference is in reliably/consistently/humanely knocking down varmints at increased ranges.

JCooperfan1911 said:

Having never owned a .22 WMR rifle, I have always been curious about this caliber.

Is it really any more effective or powerful than a proper hyper velocity .22LR?

What benefits does it offer over the faithful .22LR, if any? Or is it mostly a gimmick cartridge?

Thanks for the help

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Do you have a suppressor for 22lr? If so, stick with subsonic 22lr and you will have a fun time just blasting rounds downrange! Even better if the 60gr Aguila stuff works in your gun!

It's a lot more effective than the .22LR, with a good bit more range. It's a field cartridge, not something most people are going to shoot a great volume of so ammo cost isn't really a big deal.

I love 22mag.I got my first one for my 10th birthday, a winchester 94/22mag i still have it .Shot many woodchucks on the farm with it .Way more punch than a 22lr.

I've had the 22 WMR in both rifles and handguns.It's an easy 100 yard varmint rifle.The only one I have right now is a Kel-Tec PMR 30.A few of my friends have that delightful little pistol and it's a fun pistol to shoot.One of my buddies talked about what a great gun it would be for self defense.He said 30 rounds of 22 mag would cut a man in two.I countered by asking him if he ever saw a PMR-30 run for 30 rounds straight.Mine won't.In a plastic pistol the 22 mag is loud,has some recoil and in low light the fireball out of the end of the barrel is like a 45 ACP loaded with Unique powder.It's a bright orange watermelon.In a rifle,it's accurate and is a great walking varmint rifle,especially for groundhogs or coons,which can be hard to kill with a 22LR.The WMR is a lot more potent than the LR,and at least as accurate due to the fact that the bullet is out of the barrel faster and it shoots jacketed bullets.A good quality rifle in 22 mag is very accurate.Compare a good 22 mag to a 22LR with both in the same rifle and the WMR will outshoot the 22LR at 100 yards so bad it's not funny.

22 mag is a lot more powerful. 22 mag is to 22lr what 357 magnum is to 38 special. But with that said I would be hard pressed to come up with an application that I need a 22 mag for that I couldn't either use a 22lr or just use a 223. For small critters past the range where I set the 22lr down, I much prefer my 17 hmr because of wind drift and reliable bullet performance. For larger varmints like yotes where I desire more killing power than 22lr and more penetration than 17 hmr, I'll just use a 223. I do have a 22 mag revolver and rifle and I like to plink with both but I don't get much practical use from them.

A few acknowledged truths:

1) 22WMR is considerably more powerful than 22LR

2) Many folks don’t pursue applications for which that extra power can be effectively realized

3) 22WMR is infamously less accurate than quality 22LR ammo, or 17HMR ammo

4) 17WSM is considerably more powerful than 22WMR, so for those WITH an application where the 22WMR advantage over 22LR stands out, the WSM stands even taller

5) Naturally, when the application demands significantly more horsepower than 22LR, it doesn’t take much reach to find ourselves best served by centerfire cartridges

So personally, I don’t have a 22WMR anymore, but I do have 22LR’s, 17HMR’s, and a 17WSM - and several 20 and 22 cal centerfire rifles there above.

I've had both .22 WMR and .17 HMR and very much preferred the HMR. It was somewhat flatter shooting and expanded much better than the WMR, making it more effective on smaller varmints, yet held its own against larger ones like woodchucks, which are quite tough for their size. After getting an HMR barrel for my Tikka(?), I got rid of the WMR barrel.

WVRJ said:

Compare a good 22 mag to a 22LR with both in the same rifle and the WMR will outshoot the 22LR at 100 yards so bad it's not funny.

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This has not been my experience, enough so I just picked up a .22 Hornet for something more than the .22lr but less than .223.

The .22 WMR’s I still have are convertible from .22lr and stay in that caliber almost all of the time, since I purchased my first Hornet.

I probably wouldn’t own a Hornet if I didn’t reload though.

CoalCrackerAl said:

I like 17HMR over 22 mag by a long shot.

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When the 17 first came out I thought I really need to get one of those. Then I shot one and watched a starling go POOF into a ball of feathers (I hate starlings), and thought I REALLY NEED one of those. Then I went back to the 22mag and thought well this does the same thing with a big more mass behind the bullet. Sure it does not fly as fast or flat, but do I really "need" that. What does it give me?

I still think at 100 yards or less it is hard on steel, the 22 does not seem to be as rough on it. (oh and when I say 22 here it is the mag not LR). It also SEEMS to move the plate about the same. Speed and weight seem to be about a trade off.

Fast forward to today and I still have the same number of 22mag rifles I had when the 17 came out, I also have 0 17's. Everytime I shoot one I think, you know you need one of these....but I never follow through.

And I have a thing for "fast movers" and no 17. I can't figure out why, but I just never do it.

I think it is just the "new" thing, and the 22 is left to us "fudd" type people......again don't know.

I think if I was in the market for something like in 22mag, or 17, I would look long and hard at costs of ammo. I do think 17 will outlive 22, but I doubt I will outlive the 22, so again no dog in this fight.

Personally I think it comes down to price of ammo, I personally see them as about equal.

I do know I would never trade my vintage 22mag rifles for a new 17.

It is considerably more powerful. It is also considerably more expensive to shoot. Most small critters that one may shoot with a 22 LR to eat (like a squirrel) will sustain considerable damage with a 22 mag. IMO, the 22 mag is at its best for pests like bobcats, coons, foxes, etc.