.22 Rem Special - jam

[26Charlie]

Well, I’m not proud of this one. I have two M12 Remington slide action rifles, chambered for .22 Remington Special, which as you know is same as .22 Winchester rim fire, .22WRF. I was shooting one this afternoon and had the worst jam I’ve ever had. It was a .22 WMR round, and I had to pry it out of the action with a screwdriver. In two pieces. It being too long, the rear started to come up into the breechblock, but the nose didn’t release from the magazine. Even trying to use the takedown procedure didn’t release it.

Let me say there are several videos on YouTube about the M12, the one most useful to me was about the M12c and the designer, Petersen, noted for the Petersen device also.

A note about these two rifles - I was at the Poulin auction, Fairfield Maine, selling another rifle when the first one came up, so I bid and bought it. It has a date code of 1926 on the barrel, and custom tang sight and front foldable post and hooded bead. I found ammo on the eBay sites, and Winchester and CCI made limited runs of .22WRF. So when I spotted the second rifle on Gunbroker, I bid for it too. It has open sights and a C pistol grip stock. Both have octagon barrels. The date code for the second one is 1931.

So how did I get a .22 WRM round into the .22 WRF box? I do remember being curious as to the difference in case length, and getting a round of each out to measure them - 3/20ths on my scale, .15“ difference. I surmise I put them both back in the WRF box.

[26Charlie]

Amazing production numbers on the model 12 - between 1926 and 1931, the serial numbers jumped 527,777. I’m told total production was above 827,000 when it was discontinued in 1936 for the model 121. This encompassed the roaring 20s and depression 30s.

[26Charlie]

Progression in manufacturing of .22 WRF AMMO - Maybe I have too much time on my hands, sitting in my rocker watching the rain and the ash leaves come down. Any way . I’m looking at .22 wrf boxes I’ve picked up over the years. Oldest and prettiest is Western Super-X, nickel plated case, firm seating-depth crimp, super-x head stamp, box advertises double-action smokeless powder, non-corrosive priming, lubaloy coated bullets. No bullet weight on box.
Next is Winchester limited edition (brown box), brass cases, slight seating depth crimp, W wrf head stamp, 45 grain lead lubaloy bullets, 1 1/2 mile danger warning.
Third is Winchester Super-X target & plinking (grey box) 22 WRF 45 grain, 1300 fps leat flat nose copper plated (all printed on the top of the box), brass cases, no crimp, W head stamp. 2.4 km (1 1/2 miles) danger warning.
Fourth is CCI 22 WRF plastic box, brass case, CCI head stamp, 45 grain (jacketed) hollow point. Many warnings; range 2 miles (3 kilometers), not for use in revolvers, wear hearing protection, know your backstop, lead warning, keep out of hands of children in German, French, and Spanish.

[frkelly74]

No Pictures.

[35 Rem]

I've known of the 22 WRF for years but never saw a gun chambered for it that I recall.

[sigep1764]

I keep an eye out for 22wrf ammo at the gun shows. I have a Win 1890 that my great grandfather bought as a first rifle for my grandfather chambered for it. I don't think I've put a round down it in 20 years, but oh I want to! It was the first gun I ever restored, had a small crack in the stock. Stripped, varnished, Tru Oiled it, and had the metal sent off to be replied. Took 4 months to get it back. It will never be sold, so I wanted it preserved for future generations.

[26Charlie]

Sorry no pictures. .22 WRF can be fired in .22 Magnum guns, like my Ruger revolver. I just looked on ammoseek.com, and loots of companies have the CCI ammo. A couple appear to have mixed up a listing for .22 magnum for .22 WRF.