From the Old Days

[JimT]

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The .22 WRF (.22 Winchester Rim Fire) was also known as the .22 Remington Special. It was first manufactured in 1890 as in improvement over the .22 Long Rifle.

It featured an inside lubricated bullet instead of a heel bullet like the Long Rifle, and boasted longer range killing power than the Long Rifle. It was offered in a 45 gr. Standard Velocity (1050 fps), a 45 gr. solid lead at 1450 fps and a 40 gr. HP listed at 1440 fps. Compared to the .22 Long Rifle which ran 1050 fps, it was quite an improvement. Whether the factory loadings actually hit those velocities from a rifle is debatable. Ones I have seen checked seem to run 1300 to 1350 range, still an improvement over the Long Rifle when it was marketed.

However within a few years new powders were invented which boosted the High Velocity loadings of the .22 Long rifle to around 1300 fps. With the sheer number of .22 rifles in the Long Rifle chambering, the cheaper .22 Long Rifle High Velocity loadings effectively killed the more expensive WRF.

[gamekeeper]

I tied to find some of these when I had .22 magnum rifles but never did...

[Gunstore Commando]

I got ahold of some of these back in the 80's. I intended to shoot them in one of those old .22 Mag High Standard Double Derringers or whatever they were called, like shooting Specials in a Magnum.

Could barely close the action, took quite a bit of effort. My impression was that the rim thickness was greater than a .22 Mag. Never really investigated exactly what the deal was.

[JimT]

I got ahold of some of these back in the 80's. I intended to shoot them in one of those old .22 Mag High Standard Double Derringers or whatever they were called, like shooting Specials in a Magnum.

Could barely close the action, took quite a bit of effort. My impression was that the rim thickness was greater than a .22 Mag. Never really investigated exactly what the deal was.

According the specs they are the same since all they did to make the .22 Magnum was lengthen the case.

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.22 WRF

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.22 Magnum

However, when measuring them you can find differences. Very small but maybe enough sometimes to cause an issue, especially if you have a tight gun.

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[Oldncrusty]

Yep. Good old round. Love shooting it in my Rem. Model 12. Haven't seen any Rem. ammo though. I'm curious when they stopped calling it the Remington Special.

[JimT]

Yep. Good old round. Love shooting it in my Rem. Model 12. Haven't seen any Rem. ammo though. I'm curious when they stopped calling it the Remington Special.

Winchester first developed the .22 WRF in 1890. It was a giant leap over the then produced .22 Long Rifle. Winchester .22 WRF loads used a flat point bullet. Remington manufactured the cartridge, loaded it with a round nose bullet, and called it the .22 Remington Special. Remington made their round after Winchester developed it but did not want to put "Winchester" on their rifles or ammo, so they changed the bullet design and renamed it. I am not sure of when Remington quit producing it. Their catalog around 2005 no long listed it. Winchester and CCI still occasionally make runs of the WRF.

[44shooter]

I’ve seen WRF ammo in my LCS recently. Will probably be there another 20 years

[6pt-sika]

When I was accumulating Winchester rimfire pumps I wanted an 1890 in WRF as well as a 61 in 22MAG but never acquired either . Now my only WIN pump is an 1890 in 22 Short my grandfather bought new in the 20’s .