.22 Winchester Rimfire

• Name —.22 Winchester Rimfire • Origin — United States • Type — Rifle • Design Date — 1890 • Production Date — 1890–present • Case Type — Rimmed, straight • Bullet —.2285 • Neck —.2435 • Base —.2455 • Rim Dia —.300 • Rim Thick —.050 • Case Length —.965 • Length — 1.180 • Rifling — 1: • Primer — Rimfire • Max Pressure — 19000 • Bwround — 1 • Bw1 — 45 • Btype1 — standard velocity • Vel1 — 1050 • En1 — 105 • Bw2 — 45 • Btype2 — solid lead • Vel2 — 1450 • En2 — 210 • Bw3 — 40 • Btype3 — hollowpoint (high velocity) • Vel3 — 1440 • En3 — 185 • Balsrc — Barnes & Amber 1972 The.22 Winchester Rimfire (commonly called the.22 WRF or.22 Remington Special) is an American rimfire rifle cartridge.

Introduced in the Winchester M1890 slide rifle, it had a flat-nose slug, and is identical to the.22 Remington Special (which differs only in having a round nosed bullet). It uses a flat-based, inside-lubricated bullet, which differs from the outside-lube heeled bullet of the.22 BB,.22 CB,.22 Short,.22 Long,.22 Long Rifle, and.22 Extra Long cartridges. When introduced, the.22 WRF "was the first notable improvement in the killing power" over the.22 LR, and was very capable of taking small game at up to 75 yd. It is somewhat less accurate than the.22 LR and is most suited to hunting small game such as rabbits or prairie dogs. Shortly before World War II, propellants were developed that greatly increased the effectiveness of the.22 LR. These new "high velocity" loadings offered a nearly 300 ft/s increase in velocity over the original 1,050 ft/s.22 LR load. This increase in power of the smaller round, coupled with its cheaper price and sheer number of rifles already owned in.22 LR, effectively diminished the popularity of the.22 WRF. A variety of Winchester, Remington, and Stevens single-shot and repeating rifles were offered from 1890 onward, but new rifles are not made for this cartridge. The.22 WRF ammunition is periodically offered by commercial manufacturers for use in the old firearms. It can be fired in any rifle chambered for the more powerful and longer.22 WMR. The shorter.22 WRF cartridge may be limited to.22 WMR revolvers or single-shot usage in.22 WMR rifles, since it may not feed correctly from the longer.22 WMR-length magazines, depending on its design.

Cartridge dimensions as specified by ANSI/SAAMI.