Question?

zburkett · April-13-16 15:04

Most mag calibers have longer cases than the original round 38/357, 44/44 mag. Why did the make the case on the .22 Mag larger as well as longer? I'm sure one of you knows.

PaducahMichael · April-13-16 16:04

I'm just guessing that it is so you can't chamber a mag in a lr weapon for safety.

Shovel-ready project · April-13-16 17:04

My guess is to keep them out of LR tubular magazines.

cfsharry · April-13-16 21:04

PM,
Longer case will not fit in a LR chamber.
Srp,
I do not believe the longer cartridge would cycle through the action of a tube magazine rifle for which the round was originally designed.
My guess is that it is thicker brass to handle the higher pressure generated by the Magnum as compared to the long rifle.

PaducahMichael · April-13-16 21:04

Quote from: cfsharry on April-13-16 21:04
PM,
Longer case will not fit in a LR chamber.
Srp,
I do not believe the longer cartridge would cycle through the action of a tube magazine rifle for which the round was originally designed.
My guess is that it is thicker brass to handle the higher pressure generated by the Magnum as compared to the long rifle.

Your guess is better than mine. Let's go with your answer!

grayelky · April-13-16 22:04

Like everyone else, I can only guess, but mine is different. I think the heeled bullets used in the LR are more complicated, therefore, expensive to make than a traditional bullet that is the same size from heel to ogive. (For those who are curious, that translates to: from the bottom part next to the powder until it starts bending near the point.) By making the bullet diameter larger at the base, the new case had to be slightly larger in diameter than the LR case. Couple that with the LR chamber being the same internal diameter its entire length, the magnum case would possibly fit in a LR chamber. Prime example: a LR cartridge will fit a short chamber, with the tip of the bullet extending past the end of the chamber. By making the magnum case bigger, there is no possibility of the higher pressure round ever being fired in a LR chamber.

Uncle_Lee · April-14-16 03:04

So you can tell the difference by looking at them.
If I had a hand full of magnums the same length as LR, I wouldn't know for sure that they were magnums.

zburkett · April-14-16 05:04

Uncle, I was asking about diameter, not length.

Uncle_Lee · April-14-16 07:04

Quote from: zburkett on April-14-16 05:04
Uncle, I was asking about diameter, not length.

Sorry, I drifted off somewhere and got the question wrong.....

zburkett · April-14-16 07:04

Good morning anyway. As much as you know about guns I was expecting you to have the full answer.

lefty dude · April-14-16 08:04

The magnum started out as; The Winchester 22WRF, and evolved to the Winchester WRM. However the WRF is .226", the WRM, .224". Both are non-healed bullets. the 22LR, etc. is a healed bullet, outside lubricated and .221"-.222".

NAAMIN · April-14-16 09:04

I'm going to go with the full diameter heel(rather than tapered) on the bullet for being the reason for greater diameter case.
An evolution/upgrade/wild cat type idea at one time? from the .22 LR.
Case strength in a rim fire in regards to pressure , is limited by the case having to be malleable enough for a strike to set off priming compound.

bill_deshivs · April-14-16 10:04

Many .22lr chambers are bored straight through. If the chamber/cylinder were long enough, a WMR round could be chambered.
The WMR is too long to use the heeled bullet of the LR effectively, so larger case and jacketed bullet were used.

zburkett · April-14-16 18:04

Thanks Lefty & Bill

cfsharry · April-14-16 20:04

From Wikipedia

"The .22 WMR uses a larger case than the more popular .22 Long Rifle, both in diameter and length. The .22 WMR case is a lengthened version of the older .22 WRF. The .22 WMR's case is thicker than that of the .22 LR, allowing higher pressures. The combination of more powder and higher pressures gives velocities over 2,000 feet per second (610 m/s) from a rifle using a 30-grain (1.9 g) bullet, and 1,500 feet per second (460 m/s) from a handgun. A .22 WMR round will not fit into the chamber of a .22 LR firearm, but it is possible, though unsafe, to chamber .22 LR rounds in a .22 WMR firearm, although doing so can result in injury from gas leaking around the LR case which is undersized for a magnum chamber."

Uncle_Lee · April-15-16 03:04

Quote from: zburkett on April-14-16 07:04
Good morning anyway. As much as you know about guns I was expecting you to have the full answer.

No, No, I know a little about a lot of things. Things picked up going through life.
There is not one subject that I know a lot about.

Bigbird48 · April-18-16 18:04

ah Unc Jack of all trades master of none

pietro · April-18-16 18:04

.

The .22 (short) was introduced in 1856; the .22LR later on.

The .22 S, L & LR family use boolits of the same design as came about in 1856 - "heeled", which means the portion of the boolit that fits inside the case mouth is of a smaller diameter than the forward portion's .219" diameter, which engages the rifling.

With the advent of the .22WRF, and the later (1959) .22WRM, the manufacturing decision was made to use a somewhat larger diameter (.224") un-heeled boolit.

Since the rear portion of the un-heeled boolit was of a larger diameter than the 1856-era heeled boolit, ergo a fatter (larger diameter) case was required.

Today, the bore diameter of most new .22RF firearms is .224", the slimmer/.219" boolits obturating (expanding upon being fired into the rifling) - so any .22RF with the proper chamber/cylinder can be used in the same barrel.

.