shooting .22wmr in a .22lr

Nothing since it wouldn't fit. 22WMR is almost twice as long and 22LR. No way will you get a 22WMR into a 22LR rifle.

It wouldn't even fit in the chamber.

It's also fatter than a .22LR, with a larger base. Don't shoot .22LR in a .22WMR chamber, either.

Maybe your buddy told you the wrong model number and has gotten himself (and you) confused. What he might be saying is that he is firing .22 LR in a rifle chambered for .22 Magnum. I have heard that it will work but is dangerous and can split the case, leading to gas blow-back. If this is what your buddy is doing, he should stop immediately.

Even if you could stuff a .22 WMR into a .22 LR chamber, the LR bullet is .223 inch diameter and the bore is .222 inch. The WMR bullet is .224 inch diameter and jacketed, so there'd most likely be some pressure issues.

I have an un-messed-with Old Model Ruger Single Six with both LR and WMR cylinders. The bore is .224 inch to let the WMR slugs do their thing, and the LR slugs have to expand a little to fit. It's old and beat up and ugly and it's my hands-down favorite thing to shoot.

Rove, first off, WELCOME.

Second: If it's an honest question, it isn't dumb. Ever. Ask what you will. Knowledge is the purpose of this board.

Third? Yeah, they're right. Won't fit. No way, no how.

No dumb questions:

Only dumb answers! In this case, all answers I see are smart answers. Many deadly mistakes can be accomplished in ammo mismatches, but fortunately this ain't one of them. Wrong bullet diameter and wrong case size prevents no possibility of killing one's self in this case scenario. cliffy

maybe the only things you could jam this in would be a nef single shot or a remmy speedmaster. they would blow up, along with face , proly. maybe not the nef, because they are so stout, but the remmy? oh yeah...

tell yer buddy who says hes done it to do it again.. cause ya cant....


also tell him that its ok to ask questions for himself. curiosity and in-experience is not looked down on here at THR.... but imo, bullsh*tters are..

personally, Im real glad you decided to join THR just to ask that question you were curious about.. cause mabey some other person wondering the same thing will read yer curiosity, and learn it wont work nor is it safe.

pretty much, Im pretty shure... most guns are stamped with something, or have something in the manual that say: use only with specified ammunition as indicated on the firearm....
or something like that.

take it to heart... they dont say that fer giggles...


ip.

Use the ammo that the gun is marked to use. 22Mag will NOT fit in a gun chambered for 22LR.

This is from page 14 of the Ruger 10/22 manual about using .22S/L/LR in a .22Mag chambered rifle:

Use only standard Winchester Magnum Rimfire (22 WMR)
ammunition loaded to U.S. Industry specifications. Do not
fire 22 short, long, or long rifle cartridges in this rifle or load
them into the magazine - they are of smaller case diameter and
otherwise vary in size from the larger 22 WMR cartridge. They
can split or burst when fired in the larger magnum chamber,
releasing hot powder gasses and particle fragments out of the
action at high speed, possibly resulting in injury to the shooter
or bystanders.

Actually proved this to myself in my Single-Six "Convertible" Had the .22Mag cylinder installed, but only brought .22LR ammo with me..left the .22LR cylinder at home. After 2 shots, I though "Wow!!?!?! What is wrong with me today? If this gun was a bass fiddle, I couldn't hit an elephant in the butt with it.? ? ? ? "

I ejected the remains of those 2 shells...and slowly the pilot light came on....

I did the same thing of firing the 22L with the 22Mag cylinder installed. I was hitting clay pigeons at 50 yards very nice (5 out of 6 were hits). It was not until I dumped the brass did I notice all the cases were ruptured. then the light went on. I have now color coded the cylinders in order not to make the same mistakes.

GNLaFrance . . .

You are correct about bullet diameters being different, but so are the bores of rifles . . . even within the same make and model.

Most carton .22LR range from just under .223 to slightly larger than .224. In general, I've found autoloaders to like the larger diameters. Bolts, Levers, and Pumps seem to like the smaller diameters. Of course, this is a generality and I myself have rifles/pistols that don't follow this recipe.

The same can be said of .22 WMR, but this is where you're hypothesis holds true. Most .22 WMR use a harder alloy than .22LR for bullets. They also seem to be more consistant, not quite .224 but not less than .223 . . . mostly. The softer bullet of .22LR alows them to expand into the rifling of various diameter barrels, so they can have a little play in diameter.

This is one reason why different rifles like different .22LR/.22WMR ammo . . . bullet diameter. My CZs like .223, my Browning autos like .224.