Jim Taylor
.22 WRF and .22 WMR (.22 Magnum)
Thursday, September 14, 2023, 17:33

Joepjs question below got me to thinking so I decided to measure the diameter of the cartridges and to show the difference. A lot of people have never seen a WRF.

I have several old boxes of WRF's.

The .22 Magnum case diameter

.22 WRF case diameter

I have fired the WRF's in the .22 Magnum. It's like firing a sub-sonic .22 Long Rifle after you have been shooting the standard High Velocity stuff.

The WRF was a good round in 1890 when it was designed. It out performed the .22 Long Rifle by quite a bit. It was put out of business when new powders came along in the early 1900's that gave the .22 Long Rifle a 300 fps velocity jump.

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Edit: According to the SAAMI specs the WRF and the Magnum have the same bod and neck diameters. They differ only in case length. All the Magnums I measured were a bit smaller than the WRF's I have. They are within specs and I suspect the difference is just due to machinery wear and tear.