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April 15, 2005
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As some of you may know, Ben sold me a Model 61 22 WMR rifle at the last Cody show (and grossly over charged me for it).
After getting it home, I searched around and found a really nice Weaver K6 (steel tube) scope that I mounted on it. After multiple trips to the range over the past few months, and shooting many different types of ammo (CCI, Federal, Hornady, Remington, & Winchester) 30 grain, 33 grain, 40 grain, and 45 grain, FMJs, HPs, and JSPs, I finally managed to get it to shoot a barely acceptable group @ 50-yds.
Winchester Super-X 40-grain HPs (listed as 1910 fps).
For those who are wondering, the Moral to this story is this… If you want a rifle that shoots straight, don’t hang out at Ben’s table! 
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 7, 2015
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I’m beginning to suspect the 22WMR is simply not an inherently accurate round. I’ve only had a few and paper target results ranged from poor to somewhat acceptable. Have you noticed the absence of target ammo for this cartrige?
Mike
January 19, 2026
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TXGunNut said
I’m beginning to suspect the 22WMR is simply not an inherently accurate round. I’ve only had a few and paper target results ranged from poor to somewhat acceptable. Have you noticed the absence of target ammo for this cartrige?
Mike
No this is an accurate cartridge and I shoot several different rifles and one handgun in .22 mag and my 61 is one of the most accurate
April 15, 2005
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TXGunNut said
I’m beginning to suspect the 22WMR is simply not an inherently accurate round. I’ve only had a few and paper target results ranged from poor to somewhat acceptable. Have you noticed the absence of target ammo for this cartrige?
Mike
Come to think about it, No, I do not believe that I have ever heard of or encountered “Target” grade WMR ammo. I would be very happy if I can find something that will shoot .75″ (or less) @ 50-yds. I have to wonder if it is the platform (slide-action rifle). Maybe the 22 WMR shoots better in a quality Single Shot or bolt-action rifle?
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
April 15, 2005
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Randy3590 said
TXGunNut said
I’m beginning to suspect the 22WMR is simply not an inherently accurate round. I’ve only had a few and paper target results ranged from poor to somewhat acceptable. Have you noticed the absence of target ammo for this cartrige?
Mike
No this is an accurate cartridge and I shoot several different rifles and one handgun in .22 mag and my 61 is one of the most accurate
What ammo are you shooting in your Model 61?
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
March 21, 2011
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I don’t shoot mine anymore due to unacceptable target groups. It was bad enough I didn’t consider posting it on a public forum. I only used 5 different rounds and have not tried the hornady critical defense for short barrels which proved to work well in some pistols but kinda defeats the purpose of having magnum caliber. I’ll check back here and see if you get it zeroed in Bert.
January 20, 2023
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I don’t know whether it was in a back issue of Handloader or Rifle that John Barsness wrote an article about his experiences with Winchester 9422 rifles and the 22 WMR cartridge but he became quite frustrated with it and was unable to find a definitive answer, even after discussing the accuracy issue with rifle and cartridge makers. The odd part was that at least one .17 caliber cartridge based on it was quite accurate.
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
April 15, 2005
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Darrin Smith said
I don’t shoot mine anymore due to unacceptable target groups. It was bad enough I didn’t consider posting it on a public forum. I only used 5 different rounds and have not tried the hornady critical defense for short barrels which proved to work well in some pistols but kinda defeats the purpose of having magnum caliber. I’ll check back here and see if you get it zeroed in Bert.
I shot 10-rounds of the Hornady Critical Defense 45-gr … it was a 2.5″ group @ 50 yards. It does shoot quite well in my PMR-30 semi-auto pistol though.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 7, 2015
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Zebulon said
I don’t know whether it was in a back issue of Handloader or Rifle that John Barsness wrote an article about his experiences with Winchester 9422 rifles and the 22 WMR cartridge but he became quite frustrated with it and was unable to find a definitive answer, even after discussing the accuracy issue with rifle and cartridge makers. The odd part was that at least one .17 caliber cartridge based on it was quite accurate.
Zeb-
It’s odd that I’ve had very good results with the 17HMR, notably it was in an R-word 597M that was recalled and re-barreled to the 22WMR. All of the early 17HMR ammo used Hornady components and all were notably accurate. I was not optimistic when the 17HMR was introduced, I was quite sure the tiny projectile could not be mass-produced to any degree of consistency/accuracy but quite obviously I was wrong. I’m sure there’s some secret to making the 22WMR perform but I’m not privy to it. My 597M has been relegated to back door pest control but maybe it needs a range trip. I have vague memories of tuning up the trigger but haven’t shot it much in its present configuration.
Bert-
Way off in the weeds here, maybe you should have bought the 61M I was trying to peddle awhile back. It was a high condition gun so I never bothered to mount a scope or shoot it. OTOH it was overpriced, too.
Mike
June 1, 2023
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I have achieved truly excellent results shooting RWS 22 Win Mag ammunition in my Anschutz 54M Sporter. It will regularly shoot dime sized groups or better at 50 yards. I have even, on occasion, won a bet by breaking an aspirin tablet at 25 yards with a single shot. The Federal premium ammunition for the 22 Win Mag has aslo proven to be consistently very good.
That being said, it does not have the inherent accuracy of good target grade 22 LR ammo.
BRP
January 20, 2023
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And, finally, I was lucky to pick up a Kimber of Oregon 82B Super America in 22 WMR at a DACA show after the manufacturer folded. I equipped it with a 6XAO Leupold Compact and found it to be quite accurate with the CCI 50 grain bullet. It was the last Kimber I let go. 
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
April 15, 2005
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Blue Ridge Parson said
I have achieved truly excellent results shooting RWS 22 Win Mag ammunition in my Anschutz 54M Sporter. It will regularly shoot dime sized groups or better at 50 yards. I have even, on occasion, won a bet by breaking an aspirin tablet at 25 yards with a single shot. The Federal premium ammunition for the 22 Win Mag has aslo proven to be consistently very good.
That being said, it does not have the inherent accuracy of good target grade 22 LR ammo.
BRP
I cannot find anyone who carries it?
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
July 3, 2020
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Bert, what type of cheese to you like with your whine? I’m thinking straight from a can. 🙂
I’m sure I can find a new home for your disappointment if needed….
June 1, 2023
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Bert,
I bought about 1500 rounds of it many years ago— I think at Kesselring’s— but like you I haven’t seen any more of it for sale anywhere else. I guess I had better ration it out.
BRP
April 15, 2005
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Ben said
Bert, what type of cheese to you like with your whine? I’m thinking straight from a can. 🙂
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kraft-Easy-Cheese-Cheddar-Cheese-8-oz/10292085?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&sourceid=dsn_msft_fead0442-95ce-4933-b538-b3c77293bf8b&veh=dsn&wmlspartner=dsn_msft_fead0442-95ce-4933-b538-b3c77293bf8b&cn=00k9_fy27_mp_mp_lo_int_dis_mpmax&wl9=&wl11=Online&msclkid=7b468d8f90f71a45dbebe76abc654d31
A full case of that might ease my angst – No refrigeration required!
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
April 15, 2005
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Blue Ridge Parson said
Bert,
I bought about 1500 rounds of it many years ago— I think at Kesselring’s— but like you I haven’t seen any more of it for sale anywhere else. I guess I had better ration it out.
BRP
I have not been up to Kesselring’s in almost 20-years now… I wonder if they are still in business.
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
January 20, 2023
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To avoid digital bloodshed, i wll ask a technical question. Were all of the WRA Model 61 rifles chambered in 22 WMR made with grooved receivers for “Tip-Off” scope mounts?
If so, I have a follow-on question. I have a favorite Model 61 with grooved receiver, albeit chambered in 22 S/L/R. The Model 61 the place of which the grooved receiver gun took, was an earlier gun that had been drilled and tapped for Weaver two-piece bases. Both of these proved accurate enough to head shoot squirrels in high Oak trees.
My favorite rimfire hunting scope is a Leupold Compact 2.5X model long out of production but very bright and with extraordinary eye relief. In Weaver rings, it could be mounted sufficiently far back on the older rifle to terminate two feeder corn-robbing Fox squirrels without risk to the feeder timer boxes on which they perched, at 40 yards, whie seated in the blind.
A principal advantage of this arrangement was it permitted the scope to be mounted very low over the receiver. The stock of the Model 61 does not have a notably high comb but a good cheek weld was possible.
The grooves on the newer rifle do not start far enough back to allow the Tip-Off rings I’m familiar with to mount the short tube of the 2.5X scope usefully. Ar least the rear ring would have to be made with an offset, as is available on some two-piece Buehler-style rings.
Do any you know of any Tip-Off rings with an offset arm?
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
April 15, 2005
Offline
Zebulon said
To avoid digital bloodshed, i wll ask a technical question. Were all of the WRA Model 61 rifles chambered in 22 WMR made with grooved receivers for “Tip-Off” scope mounts?
If so, I have a follow-on question. I have a favorite Model 61 with grooved receiver, albeit chambered in 22 S/L/R. The Model 61 the place of which the grooved receiver gun took, was an earlier gun that had been drilled and tapped for Weaver two-piece bases. Both of these proved accurate enough to head shoot squirrels in high Oak trees.
My favorite rimfire hunting scope is a Leupold Compact 2.5X model long out of production but very bright and with extraordinary eye relief. In Weaver rings, it could be mounted sufficiently far back on the older rifle to terminate two feeder corn-robbing Fox squirrels without risk to the feeder timer boxes on which they perched, at 40 yards, whie seated in the blind.
A principal advantage of this arrangement was it permitted the scope to be mounted very low over the receiver. The stock of the Model 61 does not have a notably high comb but a good cheek weld was possible.
The grooves on the newer rifle do not start far enough back to allow the Tip-Off rings I’m familiar with to mount the short tube of the 2.5X scope usefully. Ar least the rear ring would have to be made with an offset, as is available on some two-piece Buehler-style rings.
Do any you know of any Tip-Off rings with an offset arm?
Bill,
Yes, all of the WMR M61 rifles were manufactured with a groove topped receiver.
No… I used Redfield rings on my M61.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
July 3, 2020
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Kesselring’s is no longer… a couple of the “grandkids” were selling pistols out the back door, leaving the boxes in the back… ATF shut them down… it was a wonderful gunshop….
November 19, 2006
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Zebulon said
And, finally, I was lucky to pick up a Kimber of Oregon 82B Super America in 22 WMR at a DACA show after the manufacturer folded. I equipped it with a 6XAO Leupold Compact and found it to be quite accurate with the CCI 50 grain bullet. It was the last Kimber I let go.
Bill –
That is a nice looking rifle!
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