The .22 bullet

Updated?? standard load of bear lead at 1080fps for the LR to todays hyper velocity loads up 1700 fps seems like a solid update. Even bullets them selves from the segmented designs over both lead and iron segmented, shot and the solids of today to several hp designs and all the different lubes applied to them. Bullet weights from 29gr to 60 gr. Even quality of rounds that can as accurate as any centerfire round with in there velocity limits to 100 yards. What kind of change are you looking for or thinking about.

There is a difference between an update and an improvement. If someone comes up with an improvement to 22 LR ammo they will start producing it.

Necking the 22lr down to 17 was a major improvement and it just did not get that popular. Great little round but the 17 hmr stole all the thunder.
The 22lr has a heeled bullet meaning the case is the same outside diameter as the bullet so the bullet has to be reduced at the rear to fit the case. Also the round has to go through a multitude of different actions. I doubt very much if anyone will make a really efficient bullet for it as it would be limited in the guns it could be used in and would probably double the price. It would probably have to drop down to a 20 caliber to get rid of the heel.

I wonder if Armscor's .22 TCM Micromag would fit your definition of an update. This round uses a 40-grain jacketed hollow-point bullet mounted on a necked-down and shortened .223 casing and when fired from the five-inch barrel of a Rock Island Armory 1911/TCM pistol reaches about 2100 fps velocity. So far only one gun is made for using this round (it also re-configures to fire 9mm ammo through a different barrel and recoil spring included in the package), but Armscor also makes long guns, including a very tasty little tactical-style .22LR rifle, so I would imagine a TCM carbine should be emerging soon. This is definitely a 22-caliber round, just very souped-up in both performance and price. It well might be the improvement you are seeking.

Like others have said, why "update" or "improve" the .22lr when you can just create a whole new caliber?

What updates or improvements would you make that another caliber doesn't already do? Between .17HMR, .22lr, and .22 WMR, there really isn't a niche that hasn't already been filled. I say the .22LR is perfect just like it is.

I suspect it has been updated in ways you take for granted. For example, I rarely get a primer that doesn't fire. Out of a box of 50, I have only had two bad primers occur once. Looking at all of my .22 ammo I have less than 1% of issues and this is including problems I suspect are the weapon and not the round. I shoot the cheap stuff and I shoot mini-mags. Mini-mags have 100% reliability with me so far. Rimfires have almost no business working as well as they do. Aside from being able to handle bigger loads, the other reason centerfire rounds rose to prominence was reliability. I would imagine very few of us remember the days of regular failures when shooting .22's. I still am hardly surprised when a round has an issue despite how rarely it happens.

I have far more confidence in the cheaper ammunition than I did even 20 years ago. Modern ammunition manufacturing is a marvel we routinely take for granted.

the main reason its gone unchanged is because it pretty much perfect for the role it plays in the gun world. how do you improve perfection??

I think it has been an a situation where "If it aint broke dont fix it". The round has been changed and modified into all sorts of .17s, and "new and improved" versions of itself. One thing that Ive noticed through all of that is the .22lr is still, by far, the most popular rimfire cartridge out there.