The Rimfire Report: Why Aren’t .17HMR & .22WMR More Popular?
Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and all of the different types of firearms, ammunition, shooting sports, and history it has to offer. In my continuing dive into rimfire ammo throughout the year I have often wondered why we don’t see too many other rimfire cartridges becoming quite as popular as 22LR. While it’s easy to dismiss this as most of them being fairly recent inventions, I think that the real reason is multifaceted and that’s what I want to talk about today. Today we’re going to go over a couple of reasons why I think cartridges like .17HMR, .22WMR, and others have never really quite taken off like .22LR has.
More Rimfire Report @ TFB:
The Rimfire Report: An (Almost) 100% Aftermarket 10/22 The Rimfire Report: Do .22LR Bullet Coatings Matter? The Rimfire Report: Mossad’s Deadly Legacy with Beretta Model 71
The Rimfire Report: Why Aren’t .17HMR &.22WMR More Popular?
Let us first address the simple fact that .22LR, and all of its variants including .22 Short, .22 Long, etc are all ancient loads. .22LR is one of the first-ever metallic cartridges and was released during a time when at-home pest control and the hunting of small game like squirrel, rabbit, and coyote was much more common for the average American. It stands to reason that a large reason why the 22LR became and still is popular is because it is one of the most widely produced, widely accessible, and affordable rounds within the firearm market. While pest control and hunting don’t make up nearly as much of the user market as they used to, you could probably say that most of that market is now largely made up of recreational shooters and chronic backyard plinkers.
Despite its popularity, .22LR also has a less favorable reputation for being dirty, not all that potent for hunting all but the smallest of species, and also quite old and anemic compared to its more modern .22 WMR and .17 HMR counterparts. While in decades past it might have been widely accepted to use plain uncoated lead bullets for hunting game animals, modern hunters, especially those who like to make use of the game meat now more often prefer to use all-copper or other lead-free projectiles. When it comes to suppression, .22LR is hard to beat in the noise department, but any high-volume .22LR shooting is always going to come with the setback of an extremely dirty suppressor and dirty gun, unlike .17HMR or .22WMR.
The Case For & Against .22WMR
When it comes to .22WMR (Winchester Magnum Rimfire), think of it as .22LR’s more powerful cousin. It’s got that extra punch—enough to handle small to medium game a bit further out, giving hunters a cleaner, more potent jacketed projectile with less bullet drop. The added power really helps with reliability in semi-automatic rifles and pistols like my Walther WMP, or even something relatively inexpensive like my Bear Creek Arms .22WMR AR-15 upper. Where .22LR can sometimes struggle in the reliability, cleanliness, and power departments, .22WMR makes up for it but adds arguably an even bigger downside – cost per round.
It’s pricier than .22LR and not as easy to find on the shelves, so it’s not always the go-to for budget-conscious shooters. And while the louder bang and slightly sharper recoil aren’t huge, they don’t make it the best fit for indoor ranges or those laid-back plinking sessions where .22LR still holds the crown. There’s also no subsonic .22WMR ammunition despite there being both threaded barrel .22WMR pistols and .22WMR capable suppressors. As an extension to that thought – there really aren’t that many variations on the .22WMR load outside of its common 30, 40, and 45-grain offerings.
The Case For & Against .17HMR
The .17HMR (Hornady Magnum Rimfire) is another solid option for those seeking higher accuracy and velocity from a rimfire cartridge. My first experience with .17HMR was using it for coyote and prairie dog hunting. With its flat trajectory and high speed, .17HMR is ideal for this specific type of varmint hunting, where the target species is often plentiful and the expected round count will be higher than that of a larger game hunt.
One massive disadvantage that sometimes can even negate its flatter trajectory and higher velocities is 17HMR’s tendency to drift heavily due to its light weight and lose velocity quickly. Most 17 HMR loads can be even more cost-prohibitive than .22WMR even when .22WMR is compared to .22LR. Like .22WMR, it’s less available than .22LR, and it requires more specialized engineering to work within semi-automatic firearms because of its case design. While arguably not as much of an issue when it comes to pest species, .17HMR also lacks any serious terminal performance at greater distances once most of its velocity has bled off. As much as I like .17 HMR, I don’t have enough of a reason to permanently keep one in my inventory.
Final Thoughts
Both .17 HMR and .22WMR aren’t bad cartridges, in fact, I think they’re both pretty exceptional with an extra tip of the hat going to .22WMR for seeing somewhat of a resurgence in the last couple of years. While we still don’t see as many .22WMR firearm releases as we do .22LR releases, recent items like the Rock River Arms bearing delayed 22WMR rifle, and the Walther WMP demonstrate that there is still enough interest in the cartridges to at least keep them alive.
One final thought that came to mind was the new 21 Sharp Rimfire cartridge. Will this new cartridge be able to define itself well enough amongst the already niche set of offerings in the rimfire world, or is it destined to fall into obscurity like 5mm Rimfire? I’d love to hear your thoughts down below. Thanks as always for stopping by to read The Rimfire Report and we’ll see you all again next week!