Two 22 lr ammo questions

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4t5
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Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by 4t5 »

What is your preferred small game round, and what ammo burns the cleanest, thanks!
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mikld
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by mikld »

I've always had good luck with Blazer 22 LR, 40 gr, solids. Pretty accurate in my Rugers and my Marlin bolt gun. When I run them through my Paco Kelly's Acu'rzer the groups shrink up to 25%. The only 22 LR I do not buy is any Remington ammo, 36 gr, 40 gr, HP or solids. When I get a new to me 22, I buy at least 2 boxes of every 22 LR available to find which my guns like the best. CCI green tag is pretty good, but as I said Blazer is all around good...
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4t5
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by 4t5 »

I like blazers as well, rem thunderbolts seem dirtier to me.
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Blaine
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by Blaine »

Small Game (or plinking)? Anything but Remington. One might shoot better than the other, but they all shoot good 'nuff for rabbits and squills....
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fordwannabe
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by fordwannabe »

Yup each rifle will tell you what it likes best. I keep lots of different 22's here. Standard velocity and subsonic too. My model 39 shoots a bullet beautifully that my Henry throws a buckshot type pattern ?
a Pennsylvanian who has been accused of clinging to my religion and my guns......Good assessment skills.
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by jdad »

CCI ammo, in my experience, is the cleanest. Remington is the dirtiest.

The same applies to both manufacturers QC......hence the Remington "Thunderdud" reputation.
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by Pisgah »

I am fortunate to still have a stash of about 1250 25-year-old Remington Golden .22 HP's, which are as clean and accurate as anything you can find today -- but I concur on the lesser quality of the newer Remington stuff. Of current production ammo, CCI Mini Mag is my favorite.
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by 308magtip »

federal auto comp is also dirty.won't run my 10/22.Browning PRF is very good.Seems like the hot seller right now is CCI in any form but subsonic.Many older .22's are caked with the old wax lube and powder at the bolt face and the extractor groves in the breach face that the firing pin won't give a hard strike.Also have a gunsmith check the fireing pin to see if it rouned instead of sharp and square.Keep her clean and lightly lubed and she will shoot for ever..
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by Blaine »

3in1 Oil, or anything like it, will leave a thick waxy build up, too...
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44shooter
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by 44shooter »

I like Winchester Power point and CCI SGB for hunting with my bolt gun. They are both accurate and designed for performance on game. The SGB is spectular on beaver with head shots, no tail slaps like I was getting with round noses. I like a high velocity solid for my MK II and my Kimber 1911 kit for best reliability. I generally use Remington GOlden Bullet or CCI minimag for the pistols. I do not like the lower tier stuff regardless of brand. No thunderbolts, dynapoints, and whatever that big box of Federals are called for me. Still have some from the nineties that I've only plinked with.

In my experience, the bad reputation Remington has regarding rimfire is unfounded. I have some that is very accurate and reliable. Also I have experienced failure to feed, fire, extract, or eject, and report variations, squibs, or ruptured cases with nearly all rimfire brands I have tried including CCI and Eley.

Rimfire ammo is a holdover from the beginning of cartridge development. It's just not the best way to make a cartridge but it is economical. Unfortunately many manufacturers try to cut corners to make cheaper ammo with dirty powder, inconsistent charges and priming, crooked bullets etc. That's why I don't mess with the bargain stuff and go for at least mid grade brand stuff like Golden Bullet, Super X, Hi Power, Mini Mag etc. if someone is getting satisfactory results with something cheaper, great for them. With rimfire, there is no guaranteed shortcuts. You still have to buy and try for accuracy, reliability, and terminal performance. What may work great in one gun may not in another, especially in autos, more so in auto pistols, and don't get me started about my auto pistol conversion kit.
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by jdad »

Rimfire ammo is a holdover from the beginning of cartridge development. It's just not the best way to make a cartridge but it is economical.

I agree if you're talking about plinking/hunting ammo, but not match ammo. I guarantee as you double the price per round the QC improves to the point of weight and rim thickness per round being the same.

http://www.eley.co.uk/eley-tenex



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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by 44shooter »

I generally agree. That's why I don't buy the cheap bulk boxes. That said, the only squib I have ever experienced was with Eley (not Tenex, but still very accurate practice ammo) during small bore practice in college. I caught it because there was there no hole in the paper and the coach pushed the bullet out. If I had been doing anything other kind of shooting, I probably would have put another behind it. Pay for performance and don't be surprised when there is a failure.
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by Merle »

fordwannabe wrote: Sat Sep 30, 2017 2:30 pm Yup each rifle will tell you what it likes best. I keep lots of different 22's here. Standard velocity and subsonic too. My model 39 shoots a bullet beautifully that my Henry throws a buckshot type pattern ?


this is the answer! 8)
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by GunnyMack »

Try to find RWS or Ely, great shooting stuff, but as stated ya gotta try all of them to find out what shoots best.

Also, rimfires tend to shoot better with a dirty bore so clean you action as much as ya want but don't touch the bore unless you see accuracy go to pot!
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by Larkbill »

Price doesn't always get the job done. Back when I was shooting IHMSA pistol silhouette I was happily shocked to discover my new 14" Contender barrel preferred Federal Champion over the RWS Target it's 10" brother liked. My late 60's Remington 511X bolt action shoots almost everything well, even shorts and some ancient longs I had stashed. You won't know until you try.
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by Pete44ru »

.

SGB's (Small Game Bullets) float my boat - I still have few thousand CCI & Winchester versions left from a dozen cases I've had stashed away for the past 25-30 years, nibbling away at them as I hunt.

I've found the SGB to be accurate in every .22 I've had over the years (a dozen or so different rifles of every action style) - and they erase the issues of HP ammo destroying meat, or the plain lead slugs penciling through & allow small game to get lost when they go to ground (rabbit holes, nests inside trees & stone walls, etc, etc).

I plink with the least expensive bulk ammo I can find, generally Federal.

I don't care about dirty shooting, as I clean the rifle(s) after every shooting/hunting session anyway - in 50 years, I've never had a stoppage, or poor accuracy in the field, from dirty guns or ammo.


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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by Sixgun »

CCI Mini Mags have performed excellent in every .22 I have ever owned. CCI Green Tag is the most accurate. I know there is better stuff out there but my skills and guns are very happy with CCI.

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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by piller »

I once had an entire box of 50 rounds of CCI Stingers which wouldn't fire. This was in my 10/22, and I used some Remington Golden Bullet rounds after that to finish my time at the range. Not a single failure with the Golden Bullets that time. Probably 1 bad round in every 1,000 is what I see in .22lr on average. That average is using any .22lr ammunition I have ever purchased. The only ones I have never had a failure of any type with are Aguila. I have never tried Eley. The old Federal copper plated 36 grain hp back in the 80's which came in a box of 10 smaller 50 round boxes was the best I have ever used. In my old Glenfield 60 those bullets were accurate enough to light the strike anywhere matches at 15 yards. I don't remember them ever giving a failure to fire. The Alco store in Liberal, KS carried them for a better price than Wal Mart or K Mart at the time, and unlike K Mart, Alco actually had people working in the store so that you could buy something.
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Marvin S
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by Marvin S »

If I have the good ol CCI mini mags and some Wolf MT I'm good to go.
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by Rusty »

For a reliable hunting round I've always found that CCI Mini Mags are pretty standard. They provide acceptable accuracy in everything I've ever tried them in. I've also had acceptable practice accuracy from the Federal Auto Match stuff. I don't like to use the term plinking any more as I feel like it puts you in the mindset of building poor shooting habits. Those habits are hard to break.
In my Ruger 10/22 that I built up with a Green Mountain bull barrel and such for shooting rimfire bench rest matches the most accurate loads in it are Wolf Match followed closely by RWS.
To find your most accurate loads in your rifle you need to have 100 rounds of each load you want to test. To test carefully clean your barrel, then shoot 50 rounds of the selected load to foul the barrel. Then you can run your tests with the next 50 rounds. Clean again and repeat for each different loading. Also be sure the 100 rounds are all from the same lot number.
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Ji in Hawaii
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by Ji in Hawaii »

Back when I lived on Maui a gunshop owner friend suddenly passed away, and his shop had a closing sale. Besides other things I bought a couple bricks of Remington Thunderbolt ammo at 25% off. This ammo was the worst ammo I have ever purchased. It had a 33% failure to fire rate, and the ones that did actually fire left allot of crud in the bore. 33% FTF vs 25% off was no bargain, I will never buy Thunderbolts again, and probably any other Remington 22 ammo. That being said my favorite 22 rimfire ammo since the days when they were "The Good Old Boys" from Lewiston, Idaho is CCI, extremely consistent and clean burning. I remember when the CCI Stinger first came out, and I thought it was the greatest thing to come out since Spam musubi. I also like Winchester (Dynapoints), and Federal, I guess ABR (anything but Remington).
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by FWiedner »

99.99% of the .22's I've fired since about 1982 have been CCI Mini-Mags. They've functioned well and been accurate in every .22LR firearm I own, and they don't seem make a mess.

I resorted to using Remington High-Velocity once while trying to diagnose a malfunctioning scope, and I recall hunting that night (racoons) with that same ammo. It was accurate enough, but very dirty. There was so much lube on those things that my 10-22 was "gooey". I've still got some of the remainder of that ammo left over. Went back to the Mini-Mags next morning and have never bothered to soil my arm again with that stuff without needing to.

Just my limited experience.

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mikld
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by mikld »

I got a Remington Viper for Christmas in '87. I was able to successfully shoot all types/makes of 22 ammo except Remington!
Remington ammo didn't work very well in a Remington rifle... :o
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by m.wun »

I also love CCI and Spam musubi!
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Re: Two 22 lr ammo questions

Post by J Buck »

My CZ does well with CCI Minimag but really likes the Winchester white box stuff. It's a bolt so ftf are not really critical to action.
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