The .22 WMR has been the workhorse rimfire for farm and barnyard work since 1959, and it is on this site for the same reason the .17 HMR is: people keep asking whether it will do for coyotes.
It is the same answer, and the same table shape tells you why.
The loads
Published to 200 yards off a 100 yard zero, because that is as far as the makers print.
| Brand | Load | Grain | Bullet | BC | Muzzle | 100 yd | 200 yd | Muzzle energy | 100 yd energy | 200 yd energy | Drop at 200 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hornady | Varmint Express | 30 | V-MAX® | 0.095 | 2,200 | 1,454 | 1,026 | 322 | 141 | 70 | -15.7” |
| Hornady | Critical Defense † | 45 | FTX® | 0.110 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| CCI | — † | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Winchester | — † | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Federal | — † | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
The coyote question
A .22 WMR arrives at 200 yards with 70 foot-pounds, and the comparison that matters is not with other rimfires but with the centerfires on this site: the weakest load on the .223 page carries 105 foot-pounds at 500 yards.
There is a trap in the muzzle figures. A .22 Magnum leaves with 322 foot-pounds against a .17 HMR’s 245 — it looks like the more serious cartridge. By 200 yards they are level at about 70, because the 30 grain V-MAX carries a 0.095 ballistic coefficient and sheds velocity faster than almost anything else on this site. Whatever advantage the Magnum has, it has spent it by the time a coyote is standing there.
So: it will kill a coyote at close range with the bullet in the right place, the same as the .17 HMR, and with the same absence of margin. A hundred yards, in daylight, on a broadside animal, by somebody who will pass on anything else.
If you want something small and quiet that genuinely handles coyotes, the .22 Hornet starts at 732 foot-pounds and the .17 Hornet shoots much flatter than either rimfire.
Several states settle this for you by prohibiting rimfire for predators, or by setting a minimum caliber. Check yours.
Notes on the data
Figures are Hornady’s published ones, from a 24 inch test barrel. Source: Hornady 22 WMR 30 gr V-MAX, item #83202, and the rimfire line.
† Four loads are named without figures. CCI, Winchester and Federal are the volume makers in .22 WMR and their published data is not yet on this table. The 45 grain FTX is a defensive load rather than a varmint one and is listed for completeness.
† marks a load that exists and whose published figures are not yet on this table. The rows are here so the list is honest about being incomplete rather than looking finished.
Know a load that should be here? Tell me and I will add it. And check your state’s rules before you go — several states set a minimum caliber for predators, and several prohibit rimfire outright.