22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire

The morning’s activity had been hot and heavy, with prairie dogs laid out at all sorts of distances across the town. As the shooting slowed, we decided to take a “dog walk,” where we’d grab a rifle and a bunch of ammunition – and a set of shooting sticks – to stalk prairie dogs. I grabbed a Savage Model A22 Magnum rifle and a whole bunch of CCI 22 Winchester Magnum ammunition for the midday adventure. Stalking the prairie dogs was almost as much fun as sitting over a hot town, and the Savage 22 Winchester Magnum consistently connected out to 100 yards, or a touch farther.

The 22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire (WMR) was released to the shooting public in 1959 by Winchester, though the first Winchester firearm wasn’t available until 1960; Marlin actually marketed a rifle first in late ’59. Actually, by the time Winchester introduced its Model 61 – a slick little pump rifle, only chambered for the 22 WMR for three years – there was a Smith & Wesson revolver available for the speedy rimfire case, and Savage had offered the cartridge in the Model 24 combination shotgun/rifle. Nonetheless, the new rimfire cartridge gained a quick following, and has been chambered in all sorts of handguns and rifles in the six decades it has been around.

It has the distinction of being the only truly successful rimfire cartridge introduced in the twentieth-century. The 5mm Remington had a brief moment in the sun, but has been a rarity at best since the 1970s, and the 22 Magnum possesses a unique geometry in comparison to all the other rimfire cartridges that came before it. It uses the .224-inch diameter bullet common to the 22 Short, 22 Long and 22 Long Rifle, but where that trio shares a body diameter of .226 inch and a rim diameter of .278 inch, the 22 WMR has a body diameter of .242 inch and a rim diameter of .294 inch. This larger size prevents the latter from possibly being chambered in any of the older rimfires. The 22 Magnum is also considerably longer than any of the earlier rimfires, having a case length of 1.055 inches (.442 inch longer than the 22 Long Rifle) and an overall length of 1.350 inches.

All that extra length and girth results in greater velocity and increased energy. Where the 22 Long Rifle drives a 40-grain bullet at a muzzle velocity of roughly 1,200 feet per second (fps), the 22 Magnum will achieve over 1,800 fps. The 22 Long Rifle generates about 130 foot-pounds of muzzle energy, and the Magnum over 320 foot-pounds. This velocity and energy increase extends the effective range of the 22 Magnum to make it a reliable 100-yard, small-game rifle. With most loads, a 100-yard zero will provide a midrange rise of not much more than an inch, and about 6 inches of drop at the 150-yard mark. Though most of the time I try to stay inside of 125 yards.

The 22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire is available in all sorts of rifles and handguns, from lever-action Henry rifles to the autoloaders from Savage, CZ and Rossi. Combination guns and numerous revolvers show up now and then, but bolt-action rifles are the most popular. My dad, “Ol’ Grumpy Pants,” is most pragmatic, not to mention frugal, when it comes to his choice of firearms, though I must admit they all perform well. His favorite rimfire is a Marlin XT-22 bolt-action rifle. It’s a no-frills, polymer-stocked affair with a detachable magazine, that famous Micro-Groove barrel and the company’s Pro-Fire adjustable trigger. Is it pretty? No, no it isn’t. But it is a shooter, and he enjoys the fact that he doesn’t need to worry about scratches, scrapes or dings; it is just a hunting machine. He uses a Bushnell A22 Rimfire 3.5-10x 36mm AO scope mounted in – much to my consternation – see-through mounts. “I’ve gotta have the iron sights too!” There is no changing his mind. But, I digress.

The rifle is actually nice to shoot. Its Pro-Fire trigger breaks cleanly at 2 pounds, 14 ounces, and though the 135⁄8-inch length of pull is a bit short for my liking, it works fine with a hunting jacket on, and the textured polymer butt helps keep the rifle on the shoulder without slipping. It comes with both four-round and seven-round magazines, and in all the time I’ve used the rifle, or have been with Dad while he’s used the rifle, I’ve never seen a feeding or extraction problem.

The Marlin XT-22 shoots CCI ammunition very well, and so do I. When it comes to rimfire ammunition, I feel CCI’s loads rank among the best available, and its 22 WMR products are no exception. For testing, I grabbed some different types of CCI ammunition – the A22 load with the 35-grain Gamepoint bullet, the 22 MAG V-MAX with the 30-grain polymer-tip bullet, the Maxi-Mag HP+V load with the 30-grain hollowpoint bullet, the Maxi-Mag load with the 40-grain TMJ bullet and the Gamepoint load with the 40-grain jacketed softpoint. Aguila’s Silver Eagle load with a 40-grain jacketed softpoint was also tested. This gives a decent cross-section of bullet choices and weights for what most hunters would use on varmints and predators.

The 22 WMR is a cartridge that will handle small-game animals like squirrels and rabbits, as well as varmints like woodchucks and prairie dogs, right on up to the furbearers like foxes and coyotes. With muzzle velocities in the realm of 1,850 fps to 2,200 fps, the cartridge has enough oomph to cleanly take even the largest coyote, and it has been known as the “poacher’s cartridge,” as its mild report has been a favorite of those lawbreakers who take deer when and where they shouldn’t. It is accurate enough to routinely hit small targets – i.e. head shots on gray or fox squirrels, or eradicating red squirrels high up in the trees – and has a nice selection of projectiles, including some full metal jacket options like the CCI Maxi-Mag TMJ, which will minimize pelt damage on the furbearers.

For the accuracy testing, I set up a target at the far end of my 50-yard range and grabbed all that ammunition mentioned. To measure velocities, I used a trusty Oehler 35P chronograph. The Marlin XT-22 showed a definite preference for two of the loads, routinely putting them into five-shot groups measuring between .50 and .75 inch. Some of the other loads showed promise, but would end up with a flyer ruining the group, with extreme velocity spreads indicating there was indeed a difference. Being married to factory ammunition, you’ve got to take the good with the bad. I did find that certain loads gave a certain accuracy level with a cold barrel, and a different one when the barrel was warmer. Such is the way of rimfire ammunition.

CCI 22 Mag V-MAX loads shot the best groups of the lot, with groups averaging .60 inch at 50 yards. Using the Hornady 30-grain V-MAX bullet – the thin jacket plus the polymer tip work together for explosive terminal performance – at an advertised velocity of 2,200 fps. This load is fantastic for both varmints and predators alike. The pointed polymer tip gives the bullet a G1 ballistic coefficient of .116, and the high velocity helps to flatten the trajectory as well as transfer energy.

Aguila Silver Eagle loads with a 40-grain roundnose jacketed softpoint bullet, loaded in nickel cases to avoid corrosion, shot very well out of the Marlin XT-22. Five-shot group sizes averaged .80 inch, but showed sensitivity to barrel heat. With an advertised velocity of 1,875 fps, the test groups ran a bit faster at 1,905 fps. These cartridges are a wonderful choice for a hunting load, expanding rapidly on woodchucks and other pests, as well as sorting squirrels and rabbits quickly.

Third on the list, the A22 Magnum load from CCI, was designed to give optimum performance in the Savage A22 Magnum autoloader but worked just fine in the Marlin XT-22, though I did get the occasional flyer. The 35-grain Gamepoint softpoint bullet gives great expansion, and the lighter bullet at 2,100 fps makes for a good blend of flat trajectory and minimal meat loss on edible game. This load gave groups measuring just under an inch.

CCI’s Maxi-Mag 40-grain TMJ load printed five-shot groups averaging a bit over an inch. I’d choose this load for fox, bobcat and coyote hunting at woods distances, as the full metal jacket bullet will definitely reach the vitals, yet the lack of expansion will keep pelt damage to a minimum in order to preserve the value of the fur. Though the accuracy was not as consistent as that of the CCI 22 Mag V-MAX, it was good enough to cleanly take the larger predators. Velocity ran about 30 fps slower than the advertised 1,875 fps.

CCI Maxi-Mag HP+V 30-grain jacketed hollow point: CCI loads its jacketed hollowpoint bullets into nickel-plated cases, but the Marlin test rifle wasn’t exactly enamored of them. Five shots averaged 1.38 inches, center-to-center, often with the first three in a much tighter group and the last one or two spoiling the party. I suspect these are sensitive to barrel heat as well. Velocities averaged 2,167 fps versus the advertised 2,200 fps.

CCI Gamepoint 40-grain softpoint: Dad’s little Marlin wasn’t a big fan of these, with each group offering a wide, left-right dispersion. Velocity average was close to the advertised value – 1,863 fps was observed versus the stated 1,875 fps. The velocity spread was rather wide, as was indicated by the size of the five-shot groups. They averaged just under 1.5 inches. I told Dad to relegate these to pest control, where the distances were usually on the short side, or try them in a different rifle.

Where does the 22 WMR sit in the mix of rimfire cartridges? Well, it hits much harder than the 22 Long Rifle, 22 Long or 22 Short, though ammunition costs three to four times the price. The 17 HMR also shoots much flatter at the same price, but that cartridge comes with its own set of issues, namely the need to clean that tiny little bore much more often than others in order to maintain accuracy, and the specialized tools needed to perform that chore. Many hunters complain about the wind drift issues with the .17s, but if you look at the data, they’re not really much worse than the 22 Mag. The 17 WSM is more expensive yet, though it ramps up the velocities considerably, and still has the issue with the tiny bore. While the .17-caliber rimfires can handle the larger furbearers, the 22 WMR does a much better job, as it offers bullets weighing up to 50 grains, and the heavier bullets will offer much more in the penetration department.

The recoil and report of the 22 Magnum is negligible, and though it is greater than that of the 22 Long Rifle, it is still mild enough to teach a new shooter – young or old – the principles of marksmanship in both the hunting fields and at the shooting bench. In comparison to the .22 centerfires – especially the 22 Hornet, the mildest of the .22 centerfires, but still much faster than the 22 Magnum – the 22 Winchester Rimfire Magnum is no speed demon, but considering that the effective range of the cartridge is about 125 yards, this isn’t much of an issue inside that distance. There is also a definite and appreciable difference in the report and recoil of the 22 WRM and the 22 Hornet, let alone the 223 Remington or 22-250 Remington, not to mention the increased cost in shooting a centerfire.

For the high-volume shooter who stays inside of 125 yards for the majority of his shooting, the 22 WMR makes a lot of sense, both logistically and economically. Think of the 22 Magnum as a viable means of extending the performance of the 22 Long Rifle cartridge, without the earsplitting report of the centerfire cartridges.