22 LR vs 22 WMR

[Adventurer 2]

I recently built a box that holds 1 inch pine boards - I had wanted to use it to see how a NAA 22LR compared to other 22 LR pistols, however my NAA broke this weekend. I am not going to fix the pistol because it would cost more than I paid for it. I can't let the box go to waste so I am going to shoot it with both 22 LR and 22 WMR. I have heard that a 22 WMR fired from a snubby has the same balistics as a 22 LR from a rifle.
The 22 LR round will be a Federal, 36 grain, hollow point, fired from a Browning A-Bolt rifle. The 22 WMR round will be a CCI, 30 grain, jacketed hollow point fired from a 2", Smith and Wesson, J-frame.

Which will penetrate further?

 

[Adventurer 2]

The pine boards are spaced about 4 inches apart.
I'm secretly hoping the 22 WMR penetrates further (I sometimes carry the 22 WMR) but I voted for the 22 LR out of a rifle.

 

[cold dead hands]

I vote .22LR beause a good amount of powder will not be propelling the bullet coming out of your snubbie. It will be making a fireball. .22WMR was really meant as rifle round. You will really see a difference between the two if you use some CCI Mini-mags or Velocitor (I think that's the right name anyway) or some Remington hyper velocity rounds in that rifle. The .22 WMR is loaded as hot as it is gonna get. .22LR gives you many choices. You can get standard, high, or hyper velocity depending on your needs and desire to part with more cash because the hyper stuff ain't cheap.

 

[finrot]

So adventurer 2 which one went further? Don't leave us hanging.

 

[Adventurer 2]

Not a very good test on my part but I'll give you what I've got.
I got my hand slapped at the shooting range - CAN'T shoot anything but paper targets - NO WOODEN BOXES. I had wanted to fire three rounds of each into the boards and then do repeat from the other side. I got stopped one 22 MAG short of three on the first side.
My observations -
All three of the 22 LRs expanded and penetrated in a straight line bouncing off of the 4th pine board. These are the three dents on the bottom of the picture. I only found two of the bullets.
Of the two 22 Mag rounds - they both started to veer off course after the second board. One round turned sideways and stopped in board three sideways almost making it through. The second round made it to board four denting it sideways (top round) - No expansion for either round.
So for these two rounds, with very limited testing, I have to say that the 22 LR was more consistent and penetrated slightly further. I hunt rabbit and squirrel with the federal bulk ammo and it does a great job on these little critters.
This has me very curious and I plan on getting to a private range sometime and trying the 22 MAG with some other rounds. Really curious to see what a 40 grain or 50 grain will do. I also want to see how the 22 MAG snubby stacks up against a 6 1/2 inch 22 LR pistol (I know what the pistol 22 LR does on critters).