The .22 Winchester Magnum, more commonly called .22 WMR (for Winchester Magnum Rimfire) or .22 Magnum or simply .22 Mag, is a rimfire rifle cartridge. Commonly loaded with a 40 grain (2.6 g) bullet, it can deliver velocities in the 2000 ft/s range from a rifle barrel. It is also available with 30 grain loads (2 g) and can achieve speeds of 2300 ft/s. A M4 Carbine just after firing, with an ejected case in mid-air The article titled casing is a disambiguation page. ... This article is about firearms projectiles. ... The percussion cap or primer was the crucial invention that enabled firearms to fire in any weather. ... A grain (symbol: grd) is a unit of mass equal to about 64. ... BIC pen cap, about 1 gram. ... Feet per second is a unit of speed; it expressses the number of feet traveled in one second. ... Metre per second (U.S. spelling: meter per second) is an SI derived unit of both speed (scalar) and velocity (vector), defined by distance in metres divided by time in seconds. ... The foot-pound force (symbol: ft·lbf) is an English unit of work or energy from the English Engineering System. ... The joule (IPA: or ) (symbol: J) is the SI unit of energy. ... A grain (symbol: grd) is a unit of mass equal to about 64. ... BIC pen cap, about 1 gram. ... Feet per second is a unit of speed; it expressses the number of feet traveled in one second. ... Metre per second (U.S. spelling: meter per second) is an SI derived unit of both speed (scalar) and velocity (vector), defined by distance in metres divided by time in seconds. ... The foot-pound force (symbol: ft·lbf) is an English unit of work or energy from the English Engineering System. ... The joule (IPA: or ) (symbol: J) is the SI unit of energy. ... A grain (symbol: grd) is a unit of mass equal to about 64. ... BIC pen cap, about 1 gram. ... Feet per second is a unit of speed; it expressses the number of feet traveled in one second. ... Metre per second (U.S. spelling: meter per second) is an SI derived unit of both speed (scalar) and velocity (vector), defined by distance in metres divided by time in seconds. ... The foot-pound force (symbol: ft·lbf) is an English unit of work or energy from the English Engineering System. ... The joule (IPA: or ) (symbol: J) is the SI unit of energy. ... A rimfire is a type of firearm cartridge. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

History

The .22 WMR was introduced in 1959 by Winchester, and it was the only successful rimfire cartridge introduced in the 20th century. The .22 WMR uses a larger case than the more popular .22 Long Rifle, both in diameter and length. The .22 WMR's case is thicker, allowing higher pressures. The combination of more powder and higher pressures gives velocities over 2000 feet per second from a rifle using a 30 grain bullet, and 1500 feet per second (460 m/s) from a handgun. The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American maker of repeating firearms during the late 19th Century and the early 20th Century. ... .22 redirects here. ... A Browning 9 millimeter Hi-Power Ordnance pistol of the French Navy, 19th century, using a Percussion cap mechanism Derringers were small and easily hidden. ...

Uses

Since the .22 WMR generally uses the same weight bullets as the .22 Long Rifle, it is generally used in similar situations. The 40 grain .22 WMR at 100 yards still retains the velocity of a .22 LR at the muzzle, which can provide improved penetration at all ranges, and more reliable expansion at longer ranges with expanding bullets.

If sighted in for maximum point blank range on a 3 inch high target, the 40 grain .22 WMR can reach ranges of nearly 125 yards. This makes the .22 WMR an effective short to medium range varmint rifle cartridge. The relatively quiet sound of firing and negligible recoil also make it a very pleasant rifle to shoot for extended periods of time. It is less expensive to shoot than its nearest competitiors, the centerfire .22 Hornet, the .17 HMR, and the new 5.7 x 28 mm. Point-blank range is the distance between a gun and a target such that it requires minimal effort in aiming it, in particular no allowance needs to be made for the effects of gravity, target movement or wind in aiming the projectile. ... Varmint rifle is an American English term for a relatively small-caliber firearm (or even a high-powered air gun) primarily used for varmint hunting—killing animals such as coyotes and other vermin considered to be farm pests. ... A centerfire cartridge is a cartridge in which the primer is located in the center of the cartridge case head. ... The . ... .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire, commonly known as the . ... The 5. ...

Firearms using .22 WMR

The .22 WMR operates at pressures beyond what normal blowback actions typically handle, but in the 1990s semi-automatic .22 WMR rifles were introduced by Sturm, Ruger and Marlin Firearms. Also recently introduced is the new 597 model from Remington. Before this time, most .22 WMR firearms were bolt action rifles, though the .22 WMR is also found in a number of revolvers by Taurus, North American Arms, Tanfoglio, and Sturm, Ruger, and was previously available in semi-automatic pistols by the now defunct manufacturers AMT and Grendel (the AMT has since been resurrected by High Standard). Both of these designs used specially designed chambers with flutes or gas ports, designed to lubricate the long, thin cartridge with gasses from the chamber, overcoming the Blish effect and allowing easy extraction of the cartridge.^[2] Blowback is a system in which automatic or semi-automatic firearms operate through the energy created by combustion in the chamber and bore acting directly on the bolt face through the cartridge. ... A semi-automatic rifle is a type of rifle that fires a single bullet each time the trigger is pulled, without the need to manually operate a bolt, lever or other firing or loading mechanism. ... Rugers . ... Marlin Model 60 22LR rifle manufactured in 1982 The Marlin Firearms Company of North Haven, Connecticut manufactures Marlin Rifles. ... A bolt-action firearm is one that is manually operated (i. ... For other uses, see Revolver (disambiguation). ... Taurus-PT24/7 (polymer-frame) Taurus Tracker PT111 9mm Forjas Taurus S/A (Taurus Forge) is a manufacturing conglomerate based in Porto Alegre, Brazil. ... North American Arms is a United States company, headquartered in Provo, Utah, that manufactures small pistols. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The AMT AutoMag II is one of ONLY two autoloading handgun chambered in . ... The Blish Lock is a friction-lock designed by John Bell Blish, that takes advantage of the fact that under extreme pressures, certain dissimilar materials will resist movement through friction greater than normal friction laws would predict. ...

Ammunition

.22 WMR Ratshot

While the .22 WMR is a more powerful cartridge than the .22 Long Rifle, ammunition is not available in as large a variety as .22 LR ammunition. Availability is also not as great as the .22 LR; 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 ammunition, though it is less expensive than ammunition in 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.^{[citation needed]} Recently, new bullets have emerged from Remington, CCI, and Hornady and have 30 or 33 grain poly-tipped ballistic tips called the V-Max, all produced by Hornady.^{[citation needed]} .22 redirects here. ... .17 Rimfire refers to a . ...

.22 Long, .22 LR, and .22 Winchester Magnum, respectively.

While a pointed bullet is not going to rest against the primer of the round in front of it (like 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. Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... A centerfire cartridge is a cartridge in which the primer is located in the center of the cartridge case head. ...

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 these bullets were 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 (see external ballistics). A wildcat cartridge, or wildcat, is a custom cartridge for which ammunition and firearms are not mass produced. ... // Handloading or reloading is the process of loading firearm cartridges or shotgun shells by assembling the individual components (case/shotshell, primer, powder, and bullet/shot), rather than purchasing completely assembled factory loaded cartridges. ... A centerfire cartridge is a cartridge in which the primer is located in the center of the cartridge case head. ... External ballistics is the part of the science of ballistics that deals with the behaviour of a non-powered projectile in flight. ...

See also

• List of handgun cartridges
• List of rifle cartridges
• 5 mm caliber

Common handgun cartridges. ... Left to Right: .17 HM2, .17 HMR, .22LR, .22 WMR, .17 SMc, 5mm/35 SMc, .22 Hornet, .223 Remington, .223 WSSM, .243 Winchester, .243 Winchester Improved (Ackley), .25-06, .270 Winchester, .308, .30-06, .45-70 Govt, .50-90 Sharps From left to right: .50 BMG, 300 Win Mag, .308... This article lists firearm cartridges which have a bullet in the 5mm (.197 in) caliber range. ...

References

• Cartridges of the World 11th Edition, Book by Frank C. Barnes, Edited by Stan Skinner, Gun Digest Books, 2006, ISBN 0-89689-297-2 p. 479

External links

• Chuck Hawks' page on the .22 WMR
• Chuck Hawks on .22 WMR ammunition selection
• The .22 WMR TODAY, Guns Magazine, June, 2001 by C. Rodney James
• Three .22 WMR Loads From Remington, Handguns Magazine, by Phil W. Johnston
• Reloading Techniques: .22 Win. Magnum Rimfire, Performance Shooter, April 1996