Accuracy of 22 rimfire magnum

J

JellyCannon

New member
How accurate is the 22 wmr compared to the 22lr?
Later this year i'll be looking at purchasing a new LA101 Crossover rifle from Lithgow arms; the first rifle released by the company for commercial use in 40 years! The rifle is chambered in 22lr, 22wmr, 17hmr, 223, and 308.
The rifle is known for accuracy with 22lr, .5" @ 100 yards, with a 10 shot group using Winchester 42gr PowerPoints, it was also field tested in windy conditions and had a spread of 1.8" including four flyers, still had a central grouping of 6 shots of .5".
Super excited for this Aussie made rifle!
http://www.lithgowarms.com/portfolio-item/la101-crossover/
 
Originally Posted By: JellyCannon
The rifle is known for accuracy with 22lr, .5" @ 100 yards

That's [beeep] impressive for a rimfire!!!!!
 
In general 22 magnums are not as accurate as 22 LR. It is probably because of the ammo as LR ammo has had a large amount of time, research, and manufacturing techniques developed for years and years to chase accuracy. In theory 22WMR should be more accurate as it uses a non heeled jacketed bullet. But the manufacturers haven't chased accuracy because the WMR is viewed as a field/ hunting round. Don't think you see many magnums show up at rimfire matches and I don't think they would be in the winner's circle if they were allowed. The WMR is certainly accurate enough for its appropriate uses.
 
If your speaking strictly the difference between these two calibers in general, I don't see much accuracy difference between my 22lr and my 22mag. At least not until you you start extending the range a bit. The real difference to me is the terminal effects on game. I know nothing of the rifles your talking about so no opinion there but strictly speaking caliber difference at ranges of 100 yards or less I see no accuracy difference and the 22lr is much cheaper to shoot.
 
In my 22 Magnums, a Ruger M77/22 will provide 1.5" groups and a Marlin goes a bit over 2". Granted the scope on the Ruger is clearly better, but I don't believe there would a great difference in any case. I have never gotten the groups with my 22M's that I have gotten with my 17HMR's, but I really like they way they thump game.
 
No we have no ammo shortage over here, we've always payed premium on ammo so we still get decent supply. I wouldn't have any trouble going down to the gun shop and buying 10,000 rounds if I really wanted too. I think I'll go with the 22lr, last time I checked 22wmr was cheaper than than 17hmr but that isn't the case any more. Thanks for the feedback guys!
 
My savage 22wmr will shoot .5ish at 100 off a solid rest with 30 gr maxi mags or vmax. It might just be alucky rifle but its far more accurate than my hmr was.
 
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I have never had a 22 mag that was consistently as accurate as a 22 long rifle. I have owned four 22 mags in all, still have one, and while they shot OK, they just don't seem to group as well as the long rifle. That's been my experience any way.
 
I was looking at 22mag purely for the extra killing power it had over the 22lr, now that I know the prices are about 250% dearer than 22lr I'll go 22lr, if I need the extra power I'll use my 25-06
smile.gif
. I'm really psyched about an Australian made rifle, as I said its the first rifle released to the public in around 40 years. It costs $995 AUD which is pretty standard for Aussie prices, Remington Fieldmaster is about 1100$. A little bit more info on the gun, it's an injected nylon stock, same material used in our ADF assault rifles, semi-match grade chamber, semi heavy sporter/varmint barrel machined on the same tools used for our ADF rifles, adjustable LOP, crisp trigger, 5 or 10 shot mag, three locking lug bolt, the reciever, barrel, trigger are cerakoted, so it's alot of value for a decent gun. Once again it's called an Lithgow Arms LA101 Crossover, at the moment they're only available in Australia. There also a very customer orientated gun, they released a prototype and allowed the public access to it, they then used our feedback to modify and improve the rifle for its release. As I said I'm super psyched to see my first Aussie made rifle!
 
Jelly that sounds like a slick lil rig your fixin to get. I've never had much luck with the 22 mag " accuracy wise" I have been workin up a reduce .22 hornet load using the hogdon manuals start loads with 4198 under 35 and 40 grain bullets. So far it has done better than my .22 mag bit I still got some work to do to get it right.
 
Originally Posted By: JellyCannonHow accurate is the 22 wmr compared to the 22lr?
Later this year i'll be looking at purchasing a new LA101 Crossover rifle from Lithgow arms; the first rifle released by the company for commercial use in 40 years! The rifle is chambered in 22lr, 22wmr, 17hmr, 223, and 308.
The rifle is known for accuracy with 22lr, .5" @ 100 yards, with a 10 shot group using Winchester 42gr PowerPoints, it was also field tested in windy conditions and had a spread of 1.8" including four flyers, still had a central grouping of 6 shots of .5".
Super excited for this Aussie made rifle!
http://www.lithgowarms.com/portfolio-item/la101-crossover/



Looks like a serious rifle !
 
Hopefully it gets exported, it'd be a great comeback to the market for them. If your really interested you could send em an email to see if they have any suppliers in the US
 
Most of the .22 magnums I have owned or been around were not tack drivers. My most accurate is a Ruger 77/22 mag, but it still won't shoot under 1 3/4" @ 100 yds. I think the .22 mag is known more for it's punch than precision
 
Originally Posted By: yotyfoxMost of the .22 magnums I have owned or been around were not tack drivers. My most accurate is a Ruger 77/22 mag, but it still won't shoot under 1 3/4" @ 100 yds. I think the .22 mag is known more for it's punch than precision

While I wouldn't consider my Ruger American a "tack driver", it is an accurate rifle. I've only fired the gun leisurely once, but the results were within an inch with a couple of "operator error" shots thrown in.

What power scopes are you guys with the "poor accuracy" running on your WMRs? It's hard to shoot sub-moa groups consistently with a lower power scope.

Also, the WMR rifles can be very finicky with ammunition. Mine shoots one brand accurately, but some others are very poor.
 
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