22 WRF in Ruger 96

[lucky guy]

I tried the Winchester .22 WRF in my Ruger 96.  (They are just a little shorter than the 22 mag, might have been the first (early) version of the 22mag?)

It shot them pretty well.  They loaded and ejected fine except the last round in the magazine wouldn't feed, so the magazine is 8 rds instead of 9.   

After the first shot it put the next 7 into 3/4" at 50 yards (the first was a half inch out.)  They printed about an inch left and two inches below the Federal 30 grains.  I ran out of time to try them at 100 before the range closed, I'll try it next time out.

They are a alot quieter and cheaper than the WMR's.  I think I paid 5.50, so they cost more than most .22lr's but alot less than most 22 mag.'s.   
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[coyotejoe]

Interesting post, I've been wondering what kind of accuracy folks are getting from the Ruger 96 in .22 WMR. I don't hear much about that rifle. As to the .22 WRF I think you'll find the Winchester Dynapoint .22 WMR are pretty similar in performance and being the same length as other magnum rounds they should function better. That is, if you can find them, Winchester rimfire ammo is getting scarce, but my local WalMart still has the Dynapoints and they do cost less than other Magnums because they use a non-jacketed bullet.

[lucky guy]

Here's some info on the WRF from Chuck Hawkes I think it was.   

"In 1890 the .22 Winchester Rim Fire (WRF) was introduced. This cartridge is loaded with a 45 grain, flat point, inside lubricated bullet with a full diameter heel, rather than the tapered heel bullet of the .22 LR. The .22 WRF fires a .224" diameter bullet, just like modern centerfire .22s and the later .22 Magnum (WMR). At one time a 40 grain HP bullet was also available, but it has since fallen by the wayside.

Remington called this cartridge the .22 Remington Special, and loaded it with a 45 grain RN bullet. The .22 Rem. Spec. and .22 WRF are the same cartridge and are interchangeable.

The .22 WRF is a good small game cartridge, superior to the .22 LR. CCI loads the ammunition, and Winchester does an occasional run of .22 WRF. Modern CCI ammo is loaded to a MV of 1300 fps and ME of 169 ft. lbs.

Today the .22 WRF is kept alive primarily as a less destructive small game load for rifles chambered for the .22 WMR cartridge. The .22 Magnum is a lengthened version of the .22 WRF and will chamber in firearms designed for the .22 WMR, much as .38 Special ammunition may be fired from .357 Magnum guns, although it will not function correctly in autoloaders."

I thought it was a little hotter load than this info shows.  Also the cci's I have are a hollow point. Probably not much advantage over some of the hotter lr rounds like stingers or the aguila hyper velocity and more expensive other than it is a heavier bullet.

I like the 96 alot, light to carry and pretty accurate, it shoots at about 1.5 moa with a few different cci rounds and the rem 33's.   

It's a great jack rabbit rifle, good open sights, fast follow up, and enough pop to put down those big jacks!  I'm looking for a factory 17 hmr barrel for it.

I'll have to try the dynapoints.         

[S.S.]

There are a lot of old lever and slide action rifles still out there that are chambered for the
.22 WRF. It actually seems to be growing in popularity again as a cheaper alternative in WMRF
chambered firearms. I like the CCI  JHP's but the Winchester rounds leave the bore pretty nasty.
They are both pretty accurate out of my Marlin's though.

[lucky guy]

I tried the rest of the box of cci's in the ruger 96 at a hundred yards today.  Took me a few rounds to walk it onto the target, then had 5 left to shoot so I only shot one group.  I was surprised.  The second out of five flew high about two inches, but the other four held right at an inch.  I'll try it again when I can shoot more groups to see if that's real but so far it looks good!

I shot the WRF's after shooting my 204.  Man it seemed to take forever for those WRF's to get downrange! 

[coyotejoe]

I've not chronographed the Dynapoints from a rifle but from the 6" barrel of my AMT pistol they averaged 1113 fps with an extreme spread of 106 fps. They did not cycle the action but fed OK if manually cycled. They gave off a very pronounced and lingering puff of smoke with each shot and, yes, they were very dirty, leaving unburned powder in the action. On other forums some folks seem to like it but I'd rather pay a few bucks more to get real magnum performance and not have a mess to clean out of my guns. But I believe they were intended as a less destructive small game load and they do cost less and are not quite so loud. They will function fine through a manually operated repeater.

[lucky guy]

I think the same thing about the WRF's.  I'll probably stick with the WMR's for the 96.  The hypervelocity aguila's shoot great out of my finnfire, so the velocity and energy of the WRF don't really have any more to offer.  I don't think the WRF is any quieter than the hot 22's either.  Just wanted to see how they worked. 

Glenn