In this day and age of high-velocity small-bore rifle cartridges that advertise speeds as almost capable of breaking the space-time continuum, older and slower rounds, while dependable, are often shoved aside as obsolete. One of those is the venerable .22 Magnum.
.22 Magnum
Developed in 1959 by Winchester for their Model 61 pump rifle, the .22 Winchester Magnum, also called .22 WMR or Winchester Magnum Rimfire, was a rimfire round designed for small game, especially varmints like fox, raccoon, and even coyotes, out to 100 yards without doing a lot of damage to the hides.
The .22 WMR was very important thirty and forty years ago when fur prices were much higher, but now hunters don’t worry about the pelt damage as much. In the last sixty years, dozens of new rounds have been introduced that are much faster but also much more destructive than the .22 Magnum. So what does the little rimfire round offer in this day and age?
While the .22 WMR Magnum might not be the fastest and most glamorous round out there it does make a very decent all-around survival round in a rifle.
So why would someone want a .22 Magnum when they could instead choose something like a .223 or a round reasonably similar? One of the reasons to have a survival round is that you want to be able to shoot game with it, and that includes small game. While you might get some bloodshot meat on a squirrel or a rabbit with the .22 Magnum, that cannot compare to the damage of a higher velocity .223.
I was once given a whitetail deer that had been struck by a car only enough to break its leg and had to be dispatched by a sheriff’s deputy with his .223 carbine. The deer had been shot in the head from about 15 yards away. Most of the skull on the left side past the eye and to the ear and nearly halfway across the top of its head was just gone.
That swore me off ever wanting to shoot a .223 at any small game animal that I intended to eat. I once shot a squirrel back when I was about nineteen years old with a .25-20 rifle. It was a clean shot right behind the shoulder, and afterward, there was no shoulder or much of anything else.
This is important because the .25-20 has less than half the muzzle energy of a .223 round. If you were to shoot a small animal you wanted to eat with a .223 or something like a .17 WSM, .204 Ruger, or .22-250, you can bet there wouldn’t be enough left of that critter to make even a small pot of stew.
.22 WMR Ammunition for Personal Defense?
When it comes to personal defense, granted the .223 is hard to beat with its proven track record, the .22 Magnum is not as anemic as one would think. A 40-grain bullet from the little rimfire with a muzzle velocity of 1,900 fps has 325 ft—lbs of muzzle energy.
While that doesn’t sound like a lot, it’s more than the .380, the .38 Special, and is knocking on the door of the 9mm. The .22 Magnum is simply not the weakling you might think. There are a variety of rounds out there, everything from a 30-grain V-Max with a muzzle velocity of 2,200 fps to a slew of 40-grain bullets like the soft-jacketed point, jacketed hollow point, and full metal jacket, all averaging around 1,900 fps.
.22 Magnum Ammo Wins on Price
Another reason to pick a .22 Magnum is the cost of the ammunition. It might not be as cheap as it once was, but I can still find a box of fifty rounds for about $15 or so. Ammo for the .22 Magnum takes up a heck of a lot less room than fifty rounds of even the smallest of centerfire rifle rounds, something convenient if you want to keep the gun in a truck or if you want to take it on a long hike.
Just about every gun maker offers a .22 Magnum, from semi-autos like the Savage A22, the Remington 597 Rifle, and the CZ-512 Semi-Auto Rifle to bolt-action rifles from Mossberg, Marlin, Ruger, and others. Then there are lever-action rifles like those from Henry, and they also make a pump-action .22 Magnum, something that brings back the good old days like when Winchester made their Model 61 pump.
I decided to take a pair of .22 Magnum rifles to the range, and they couldn’t be more different from one another. One was a Henry lever action with a 20 ½ “ octagon barrel that holds twelve rounds and has an MSRP of $550. The other is a Keystone Arms Crickett rifle (no laughing, please) that is a single-shot bolt action with a 16” barrel and has an MSRP of $179, quite the difference.
One persistent and long-standing rumor about the .22 Magnum is that it is not very accurate compared to other rimfire rounds like the .22 Long Rifle and the .17 HMR, and that has some truth to it. The rifles in .22 Magnum seem to be most sensitive when it comes to which ammunition and which will shoot accurately.
I found that neither the Henry nor the Crickett liked the Hornady 30-grain V-Max bullets; in fact, the Henry seemed almost allergic to them. At 25 yards, the groups were terrible, and the rounds were not only landing left, but they were also keyholing. The Cricket was slightly better, but just with a pretty broad group opening up.
Live Inventory Price Checker
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Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel 22 Wmr Ammo | Brownells.com | $ 18.99 |
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CCI Maxi Mag .22 WMR Ammo 40gr JHP 50 Rounds | GunMag Warehouse | $ 19.99 $ 12.99 |
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Winchester Ammunition Super-X 40 gr Jacketed Hollow Point .22 WMR Ammo, 150/box - X22MH150 | Palmetto State Armory | $ 64.99 $ 49.99 |
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Winchester Ammunition Super-X 40 gr Jacketed Hollow Point .22 WMR Ammo, 150/box - X22MH150 | Palmetto State Armory | $ 64.99 $ 49.99 |
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On the other hand, both guns did well with CCI 40-grain JHP loads. At 25 yards, the Henry put out a three-shot group of only ¾” with the factory open sights, and the Crickett, with the same ammo, shot a one-inch group. Most of the .22 Magnum rifles I have shot over the years all seemed to shoot better with 40-grain bullets versus the lighter loads, but you need to test out which works best in your gun.
The .22 magnum round started life almost sixty years ago as a small game and varmint round for those who wanted to use it on furbearers when the prices for pelts brought you more than just the cost of a Happy Meal. That time might have passed, but .22 Magnum ammunition can find a new life as a survival rifle and, if need be, for personal defense, something that few other rounds can do and do well.
About David LaPell:
David LaPell has been a Corrections Officer with the local Sheriff’s Department for thirteen years. I have been a collector of antique and vintage firearms for over twenty years and am an avid hunter. David has been writing articles about firearms, hunting, and western history for ten years. In addition to having a passion for vintage guns, he is also a fan of old trucks and has written articles on those as well.
I’ve had a .22 magnum in the house for decades and felt very comfortable have it for personal defense.
I own an on the farm slaughter business and my go to rifle is a Ruger 77/22 chambered in.22 Mag. Shooting Winchester 40 grain jacketed hollow points. For distances up to 25 yards when killing beef this is what I use. I will admitt it is a little light on the larger bulls, but with proper shot placement it is very effective. I been around .22 mags my entire life and will never be without one. So long I can find ammo for them.
Comments are six years old but the article is still good. I like 22mag more than 380 or 32 or 25. It is great for pistol training too. Has a little kick but not bad enough to make one flinch when learning to shoot for the first time. Rifles don’t even move when firing and for me doesn’t require that lock down grip.
Good little round.
I love .22 WMR, but I crush hard on the .32’s too, both revolver and pistol; even .30 SC, which is really a .32.
“David reminds us of older, slower, rounds like the venerable .22 Magnum still have a place on our gun rack.”
….What?!?! Ill take a .22Mag over a 5.7 for many reasons.
I own a 22 mag. Marlin and a 25-20 Marlin. Both are great for plunking.
Back in the early 50’s I purchased a New Marlin 22 Mag with a scope for, believe it or not $37.00. Anything from the muzzle to 100 yards was DOA. Best little rifle I own, and not for sale.
i own a couple of 22 mags.
and i don’t even know how much 22 mag ammo i have? but it’s a lot lol.
A need for every defender
I have a Henry and a Buffalo Scout both in .22 magnum. Love to shoot both, but the shortage and cost have slowed me up. Size and weight make it an great cartridge to carry a butt load of ammo with you!
I like the 22 mag. I’ve given it up since the shortage. My old style Ruger single action was very accurate and at long distances. I took small critters at 100yds on several occasions. I’m shocked to see that bad a group out of a rifle.
It suffers the same issue as 22lr as a “survival” round in long term storage and moisture proneness in the field.
I’ve still got my eye on that 30rd pistol in 22 mag though
I have the 30 Round Pistol Shoots good enough for close up Defense
Anyone know what brand and name or inventory number those two Lead Hollow Points in the photo are? I never saw anything like this in .22WMR, but they look interesting, especially for a mini-revolver or derringer.
The comment made above about the .22 mag being fired out of a Ruger 10/22, got me a little stumped. I have an older model Ruger 10/22, and when I say older I’m not sure of the age but not the same magazine well that is being sold at gun stores today. My 10/22 will not accept the .22 WRF, either in the chamber or in the magazine. Were the “newer” guns modified differently at the time of manufacture?
The Ruger 10/22 was offered in a magnum (10/22M) version but has not been produced in a while.
after reading this article i went out and bought two 50 round boxes of 22 mag 50 grain.
i was talking to a buddy of mine in PA, we talked about the 40 grain but i wanted to try this 50 grain out.
i read about it and it has more stopping power so will see what happens?
I bought a lot of Armscor when it was the only .22 WMR available, as I needed _something_ to feed my PMR-30. It sucked for accuracy. Four and five inch “groups” at 25 yards. Hell, I can’t even call them “groups”. CCI Maxi-Mag worked fairly well. I was hoping for one inch at 25 yards, but had to settle for 1.5″. Not horrible, but not great, either. I’ve recently bought some Federal Game-Shok ammo with a 50 grain bullet – the heaviest bullet I could find. I know some rates of twist work better with heavier bullets (as in 5.56… Read more »
I bought a PMR years ago, and try as I might, I cannot like it. Even loaded correctly, the magazines are a borderline engineering impossibility. The CMR WOULD be an ideal defensive weapon, if it used a different, better magazine.
Just a couple of days ago I found a couple of online ammo stores that had 50rd 40g JHP (Fiocchi) for $8.95 a box, no limits. That’s at least as good as what I was paying for the same thing five or six years ago. I’ve recently seen 100rd boxes of MiniMags go for more than that. To me at least, 22WMR isn’t too expensive to shoot anymore but it definitely was there for awhile. I think I shot maybe two boxes in the last 5 years? Something like that. Shame too since it’s got just that little bit more… Read more »
Read an article where Argentine guys were killing pumas with 22 mag.
The Savage 42 .22 mag over 410 is a sweet gun. Very accurate and easy to shoot.
I have a Savage 93 in a left handed wood stock. It has a Leopold 2x7x28 scope. It hits well with 30 grain Hornady V-Max. I use the traditional 40 grain same as always. My Ruger Single-Six has been with me since 1980 still hard to beat with an extra 22 mag cylinder.
I’ve been a fan of the 22 magnum since 1974 when I bought my Winchester 9422M LEVER for $110.00. I now have 22 mag.in HENRY Lever,Henry Pump and Remington 597 semi auto and Magnum Research 22 magnum semi auto.As well as my Ruger Revolver and Heritage 22 mag/22 or. It has been a great round.Ive used it to kill about every animal there is in TX.It got ha4d to find ammo while Obama was in office.I could shoot my 223 cheaper than my 22 mag. Until Trump got in.Now the 22 mag are $11.99 for 50 rounds.I was paying $20.00… Read more »
One Copper I talked to said it was “a nasty little round”, a comment mirrored at the time by a gent from a horsehide holster manufacturer. I’m glad to see the PD rounds pop up, but for me the Hornady V-Max was my Volquartzen rifle’s ‘go to’ round as it gave me half inch groups @100.
I have a Ruger Super Single Six with the 22 Mag and 22 LR clyinders and is stainless. I also have 5000 rounds of 22 Mag ammo and four times that in 22LR. That said It is a gun that I cannot remember when I fired it last. I can load my 9mm for five cents a round and have many thousands of those rounds and the ability to load many thousands more. Back before the mass availability of 223 ammo it had a place but not so much anymore. Its predecessor, the .22 WRF round, was just “magnumized” as… Read more »
Five cents per 9mms round? You must be loading blanks with reused casings.
No Winny, primer cost 2.9 cents, powder cost one cent, and my 9mm cast bullets cost one cent each. The brass is free for the picking. That comes up to five cents a round. Jelly, Bro?
Wish I had a URL for the photo Oleg Volk posted of that 1/4″ thick aluminum plate. Seeing the 5 shallow divots left by 9 mm ammo along with 20 nice, clean holes all he way through the plate might change a man’s mind. As the FBI learned in Miami many years ago, penetration is the name of the game. If a bullet doesn’t penetrate enough to reach the good stuff – central nervous system, heart, major blood vessels – it won’t get the job done, which is at least stopping the bad guy, if not actually killing him in… Read more »
@Roy D. – Who would want to be shot with the old .22 Winchester Rim Fire either? Them greasy lead hollow points?
Though it may be adequate as a small game round, how can you advocate it as a self defense round with a clear conscience. It is a rimfire round. At some point (sooner rather than later) you are going to encounter primers that do not ignite on the first try.
For a self defense round, that lack of reliability is a game ender. No one wants to hear a click when their life is on the line.
@Courson – A wise man once told me there are three thing to defensive shooting:
Shot placement
Shot placement
Shot placement
If you can take the eye out of a fly at 50 yards with a .22 mag round but can’t hit the broad side of a barn with a .44 mag then pick the .22 mag because you are dead with the .44 mag.
Your argument on primers is not worth the post because ANY primer can fail.
Engage brain then post!
And yet, out of the tens (possibly hundreds) of thousands of rounds that I have fired over an entire career in the Marines and coupled with my recreational shooting, the only primers that I have had fail are rimfires. Generally 1-2%, across a variety of manufacturers. More often in some brands. That is the common trend among everyone I gave ever talked to about ammo and every article that I have read. You go on and on about shot placement, though I never mentioned it, then a single sentence that says that my argument fails because….reasons? Take your own advice… Read more »
@Courson – haven’t shot much 7.62×39 have you. I’ll stack the .22 mag up against the 7.62×39 for primer failures anytime.
The shot placement was meant wake you up that a slingshot can kill is the shot is in the right place. I would think a military man would know that, but I could be wrong!
Is your brain working yet?
I have done a bit of shooting over the last 47 years, and have had a number of FTF involving hard primers, mostly on military caliber ammo (7.62×51 and 5.56×45) along with a few commercial .45 ACP (Winchester brand). Any ammo can experience a primer failure. Quality .22 WMR ammo has never failed to go “bang” when I’ve pulled the trigger on it, in a small variety of guns, both hand and shoulder arms. I’ve never had any issues with even .22 LR – except for a couple of brands of box-store bulk .22 LR. Even then, it was only… Read more »
@RegT – Amen!
BTW, failures to fire can often be traced to the firearm being used. The firing “pin” (blade, actually) in a Ruger 10/22 can get jammed up with carbon and unburned powder if the gun isn’t cleaned at least every once in a while. I’ve never had one do that to me (kept them clean), but you can easily see the start of the build-up if you shoot a couple of hundred rounds in one session. I’m not sure the blade would ever completely fail to move, but I _am_ sure it could be slowed down enough for a light strike… Read more »
I own three 22 Mag’s #1 is the 7 shot Smith and Wesson revolver. The revolver I bought for my wife but have conficated because it shoots so well. The second is the Henry pump which is aslo a great gun and last but not least is my Chiappa .22 Mag/.410 over under. I own three .22 LR. as for rimfire failing to go off it has never happened to me (yet), I am 67 and have owned a rimfire since I was twelve. I have replaced firing pins when they appeared worn. A friend owns a ranch and with… Read more »