.22 WRA ammunition - available anywhere?

**wave.jaco** · 06-05-2023, 23:38

Hi everyone

Just very curious after reading up on this cartridge - the .22 Winchester Automatic (NOT the well-known .22 Winchester Magnum).

This round seems to have been only ever used in the Winchester 1903 semi-auto rifle, so I can guess that it must be pretty scarce locally. I know one such rifle was sold at an auction last year, so I am sure there must be some info on the ammo (and possibly of available rifles) somewhere...

Can anybody point me in some direction regarding this?

**oafpatroll** · 06-05-2023, 23:47

The cartridge rabbit hole is indeed deep! Never heard of it.

**zguy** · 07-05-2023, 09:28

I found this

https://www.aguilaammo.com/products/...fle-model-1903

Very interesting, looks like a. 22lr round but with a much larger rim. I'm sure they are scarce.
Might be one of the only rim fire cartridges worth reloading.

Might be possible to convert the rifle to use. 22lr

**Peter Wells** · 07-05-2023, 09:40

More likely the .22 WRF. There are still a goodly number of rifles chambered for the WRF in SA and obviously USA and over the years Winchester had done small runs of ammo. Check around I'm sure some smart dealers will have (Classic in particular).

**A-R** · 07-05-2023, 14:41

Originally Posted by Peter Wells

More likely the .22 WRF. There are still a goodly number of rifles chambered for the WRF in SA and obviously USA and over the years Winchester had done small runs of ammo. Check around I'm sure some smart dealers will have (Classic in particular).

The 22WRA is a shorter version of the 22WRF, which is again a shorter version of the 22 WMR. (Actually, the WMR evolved from the WRF.)

The 22WRA is basically a 22 LR, but with the bullet sitting inside the case as in the 22 WMR. The update to the 22LR that never caught on.

Besides the occasional production run by Aquila in Mexico, I doubt you will find any ammo anywhere.

**BBCT** · 07-05-2023, 20:38

Originally Posted by Peter Wells

More likely the .22 WRF. There are still a goodly number of rifles chambered for the WRF in SA and obviously USA and over the years Winchester had done small runs of ammo. Check around I'm sure some smart dealers will have (Classic in particular).

.22WRA is DEFINITELY not the .22WRF and is DEFINITELY not interchangeable with WRF either.

I have .22WRF ammo in my hands quite regularly, most recent was on this past Tuesday when I fired off about 20 rounds. As already said, WRF is slightly shorter than WMR and predates WMR. I have never, ever had my hands on .22WRA and I've been collecting ammo for about 40 years. Maybe I'm just unlucky.

.22WRA is in a little world of its own.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.22_Winchester_Automatic

**wave.jaco** · 10-05-2023, 13:03

Originally Posted by BBCT

.22WRA is DEFINITELY not the .22WRF and is DEFINITELY not interchangeable with WRF either.

I have .22WRF ammo in my hands quite regularly, most recent was on this past Tuesday when I fired off about 20 rounds. As already said, WRF is slightly shorter than WMR and predates WMR. I have never, ever had my hands on .22WRA and I've been collecting ammo for about 40 years. Maybe I'm just unlucky.

.22WRA is in a little world of its own.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.22_Winchester_Automatic

This is exactly why I am interested in finding out more about the availability of this cartridge. Being a collector myself, I would love to get a few. Better yet, to figure out if it would by any means be possible to import via a dealer without incurring too significant additional costs.

Those who have the Winchester 1903 rifle, do they still shoot it, or just keep it for the collector's value of the rifle itself?

On a side note, where do you source your .22 WRF ammo from? Seems like I can only find .22 WMR at the local stores...

**wave.jaco** · 25-05-2023, 11:38

Originally Posted by wave.jaco

On a side note, where do you source your .22 WRF ammo from? Seems like I can only find .22 WMR at the local stores...

@BBCT: Just picking this up again, as I am really curious on where you can find .22 WRF ammo locally.

**BBCT** · 25-05-2023, 12:33

Originally Posted by wave.jaco

@BBCT: Just picking this up again, as I am really curious on where you can find .22 WRF ammo locally.

I've just replied to your PM, we can discuss this topic via PM or email too, but to answer your question directly I got my WRF via City Guns in Cape Town. CCI does an occasional run of it and Nicolas Yale (I think) had stock so City Guns ordered a few hundred rounds for me when I had a Winchester Model 1890. When I sold the 1890 some of the ammo went with the rifle, and I gave some to a buddy that has a NAA revolver in 22WMR. Since then I've had a couple of boxes come past me from random sources. If you're seriously in search of WRF, my buddy will be happy to swap for WRM, which I know City Guns has in stock right now. Otherwise I'll just keep my eyes open because it will pop up again somewhere.

**wave.jaco** · 25-05-2023, 14:01

Originally Posted by BBCT

I've just replied to your PM, we can discuss this topic via PM or email too, but to answer your question directly I got my WRF via City Guns in Cape Town. CCI does an occasional run of it and Nicolas Yale (I think) had stock so City Guns ordered a few hundred rounds for me when I had a Winchester Model 1890. When I sold the 1890 some of the ammo went with the rifle, and I gave some to a buddy that has a NAA revolver in 22WMR. Since then I've had a couple of boxes come past me from random sources. If you're seriously in search of WRF, my buddy will be happy to swap for WRM, which I know City Guns has in stock right now. Otherwise I'll just keep my eyes open because it will pop up again somewhere.

Thanks for the replies on this thread and on PM. Not particularly in search for WRF at the moment, just more of an interest out of curiosity (and from a collector's viewpoint) at the moment.

Continuing discussion via e-mail on other topic.