Why not .22lr in a .22wmr?

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

You can put a .38spl cartridge in a .357mag gun as well as several other straight cased cartridges.

But why can't you put a .22lr cartridge in a .22wmr gun?

There must be some reason Ruger sells their single sixes with 2 different cylinders.

[pinduck]

You can put a .22lr in a.22wmr chamber but when you attempt to fire it the case usually splits and bits of powder and sometimes brass comes back in your face. If you check the two you will see the wrm is a bit bigger in diameter than the .22lr. That is why ruger furnishes two cylinders to chamber the different diameter cartridges. One can never go wrong using the correct ammo for which the gun was designed.Also the barrel on the Ruger will be a bit large for the .22lr and usually poor accuracy is the result.

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

What a pity.  

The world would be nearly perfect if .22lr would function in a .22wmr.  Wouldn't it be great to have one rifle that could reap the benefits of cheap .22lr AND have the oomph of .22wmr?

Maybe someone could come up with a reduced .22wmr that could be made as cheap as a .22lr.

[jh45gun]

What a pity.  

The world would be nearly perfect if .22lr would function in a .22wmr.  Wouldn't it be great to have one rifle that could reap the benefits of cheap .22lr AND have the oomph of .22wmr?

Maybe someone could come up with a reduced .22wmr that could be made as cheap as a .22lr.

Why defeat the purpose of the 22 mag by making it weaker? a reduced case would do that. 22 mags and 22 lr guns are cheap enough even the most cash strapped individual should be able to afford both. I know I am strapped for cash most of the time but still own 2 22 lR rifles and one 22 Mag plus a 22 pistol.

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

I know the .22's aren't that expensive, but I generally don't like owning a lot of stuff.  Why have two guns if one could handle both types of ammo?  And for a reason for why to download a .22 mag  -  cheaper ammo, less noise.  By cheap, I mean if they could get it down to regular .22lr costs, otherwise there's no point.

[jh45gun]

I know the .22's aren't that expensive, but I generally don't like owning a lot of stuff.  Why have two guns if one could handle both types of ammo?  And for a reason for why to download a .22 mag  -  cheaper ammo, less noise.  By cheap, I mean if they could get it down to regular .22lr costs, otherwise there's no point.

I guess we are looking at different pages as if you reduce the load of a 22 mag you would have a hyperspeed 22 lr which we allready have using ammo like stingers, yellow jackets, Maxi mags ect. The aquila high speed ammo is supposed to shoot over 1700 FPS so if you want variety with a lower speed ammo than a 22 Mag a 22 LR would do every thing you want. I myself would like to see 22 mag ammo get faster with a good bullet instead of slower to bridge the gap with the 17 but still have a heavier bullet to be able to use it on larger critters than prairie dog size. Jim