22 LRV

Left to Right: 220 Swift, 22LRV 90gr Berger, 22LRV 77gr Sierra TMK, 22 Nosler

The 22 LRV is the brainchild of WTO gunsmith Jonathan Rubio. Jonathan was in search of a high performance .22 centerfire round that would serve as the ultimate long range coyote cartridge, but with better barrel life than the existing big .22’s such as the .22-250AI and .22-6mm. The 22LRV thus was born, and has hit the ground running. The cartridge uses a 30 degree shoulder angle and a neck that is approximately .050” longer than the .22-250, which allows for more powder burn in the neck of the case instead of the throat of the barrel. This translates into longer barrel life, and the case design makes it very efficient.

  Velocities are impressive too; we’ve seen speeds of 3400 FPS with the 90 grain Berger VLD in barrels in the 26” range. With the 80.5gr Berger Fullbore or 80gr AMAX, velocities in excess of 3500FPS are easily achievable. The throat for the 22LRV chamber has been specially designed to make the most of case capacity, and gain maximum accuracy from the heavy for caliber .224 bullets currently available. We recommend the Berger VLD and Fullbore styles, and have also had great results with the Hornady AMAX. The new 77gr Tipped Match King from Sierra has also proven to be an excellent choice for this cartridge. It runs well at 3500FPS and above, with superb accuracy and very impressive terminal effects on thin skinned game and varmints. With the upcoming release of Hornady’s new .22 caliber ELD Match bullets, this cartridge will only get better.

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100 yard group from a recent 22LRV build. 90gr Bergers in a 24″ Bartlein 1-8.0″ twist barrel. Group measures .065″ Center to Center

  The parent case is the 6mm XC, and factory Norma 6XC brass works very well. The brass can be sized to final dimensions for the 22LRV in one step, and no fireforming is required. Because of the body taper and shoulder of the case, the 22LRV can feed from any .308 Winchester sized magazine, and will feed reliability in an AR .308 platform rifle.

 

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