Looks like in 2020 the little .22 LR will undergo some metamorphosis and turn into a completely different animal. A couple of months ago we talked about solid copper bullets being developed for .22 LR by Lehigh Defence. And today, we’ll take a look at experiments done by another company known for making solid projectiles – Cutting Edge Bullets. They have shared on their social media pages a couple of pictures of .22 LR cartridges loaded with solid copper heeled spitzer bullets.

Apparently, rimfire ELR (Extreme Long Range) competitions are becoming more and more popular and that’s the application Cutting Edge Bullets develops these cartridges for. According to the company, that they are experimenting with 30, 40 and 50 grain bullet weights. The 30 grain one will be designed for the barrels with standard factory twist rates. The heavier and longer bullets will obviously need faster twist rates. Cutting Edge Bullets have been testing these bullets in a Vudoo Gun Works rifle with a custom twist rate.

Note also that at least some of these .22 LR cartridges are loaded to a longer overall length than the standard .22 LR. I think it may be relatively easy to convert .22 WMR actions and magazines to use these longer loaded .22 LR cartridges along with custom barrels with faster twist rates. The rim dimensions of .22 WMR and .22 LR are not identical, however, the conversion should not be extremely difficult.

The company experiments with both all-copper and polymer tipped bullets with a black tip similar to what is seen in their Lazer line of bullets.

If these experiments succeed, we may see the capabilities of humble .22LR expanded to levels unseen before, allowing it to make accurate hits at distances otherwise considered impossible for this cartridge. If we have ELR rimfire competition shooters among our readers, let us know in the comments section what do you think about these developments.

Photo credit: Cutting Edge Bullets