Deadliest 22LR ammo for small game

[R.W.Dale]

Here's the deal. I sold my 17hmr CZ with the intent of buying a barrel and switching my Ruger 77/22 over to 17HM2. Well squirrel season is just round the corner and I'm tapped out so that 17HM2 barrel will have to wait. But I really liked the way 17HMR anchored tree rats.
A critter that in my opinion is pound for pound the hardest critter to kill in North America. I've seen the suckers take 5 rounds of 22lr and still be trying to get away. That would be like me or you gettin shot with a 20mm cannon and still try to run.

I digress

What 22lr ammo knocks tree rats deader than a box of hammers be it std velocity, subsonic or hyper velocity.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I find that Wal-Mart bulk pack Winchester hollowpoints hit with a tad more authority than I like -- you may waste some meat with a body hit, but they definitely anchor a squirrel.

 

[PracticeFreedom]

Probably CCI Stingers or one of the many Stinger "clones"

This type of ammo isn't (IMO) very accurate, but it is powerful.

 

[R.W.Dale]

This type of ammo isn't (IMO) very accurate, but it is powerful.

That has been my experience with the stuff in the past. But as long as I can peg a tree rat with the stuff within 50 yds it'll be good enough.

 

[Geno]

Remington Thunderbolt works best for me. Also, Remington Target (Blue Box).

 

[jkuntz22]

hate to say it, but you should not have sold the 17........I LOVE my Thompson Center 17 Mach2 very, very, accurate

 

[ArmedBear]

Velocitor seems to work decently in my 24" barrel Marlin. It's a tad slower than Stinger, with 40 grainers in the Velocitor. Got a box of each in my ammo can, and they both seem to shoot fine in the Marlin. Groups seem pretty much like most other ammo. I'm all for a manual action of one sort or another; I think they just plain shoot better, even really dirty.

AFAIK both Stinger and Velocitor rounds rely on certain chamber dimensions. Match guns don't like them. Standard .22LR chambers are fine -- and my Marlin is a S/L/LR gun anyway, so it's apparently designed not to be too picky.

Remington bulk Golden Bullet hollowpoints from Wally World are my forbidden pleasure. They seem to shoot great, and they're cheap.

I'm trying out American Eagle 38 grain HP copper plated tonight for rabbit this weekend. I'll report back if they're either especially great, or crappy.

 

[MCgunner]

I like to use CCI CB shorts from squirrels, silent and deadly. I'll use LR in solids. Hollow points tear 'em up too much. Sometimes I can't see the head and take a body shot. I'd think 17 would tear 'em in half. I've killed many a squirrel with a .22 short. Heck, I've killed a lot with a pellet rifle when I was younger, Benjamin pump up .22. I still have that old air gun and it still shoots. I chronographed it at 400+ fps, still kills squirrels dead. Don't take no naught six to kill a squirrel. Give me a good hollowpoint, something like mini mag, for rabbits.

I traded a guy out of a .22 mag, but don't really know what I'm going to hunt with it. It's too much for squirrel. Be a good gun for jacks next time I'm out west.

 

[koja48]

Never hunted tree-dwelling squirrels, but have shot plenty of the variety that live in the ground . . . Winchester Power Points have always worked well & are extreme;y accurate out of both 10/22s that I accurized.

 

[R.W.Dale]

I'd think 17 would tear 'em in half.

That's just it. The 17 is so freakishly accurate and flat shootin that EVERY shot is a head shot even out to 100yds. Fi for some reason a body shot is required, past 50yds or so the 20grn ammo doesn't tear em up.

dangit I shouldn't have sold my 17

 

[eliphalet]

Deadliest 22LR ammo for small game

CCI Stinger

 

[borrowedtime69]

best ammo

the ONLY .22 LR ammo i use for small game & varmint hunting is CCI Mini-mag HP's. they are very accurate, hit hard and have, for me, a perfect , 25 year record of reliability.

i have taken prairie dogs, squirrels, rabbits, marmots, and even a 44 lb beaver with them out of many different guns, both rifles and handguns. - Eric

 

[ArmedBear]

I just got back from the range.

Those American Eagle 38 grain HP's seem to be really good ammo, especially for the price I paid. Gonna use those, I think, and get some more, too.

 

[BackwoodsFiero]

Aguila Interceptor.

 

[MCgunner]

On squirrel, power just doesn't matter. Even a .22 short will kill 'em out to 50 yards in an accurate rifle. I don't shoot at 'em any further than 50 yards. My 22 mag is just over a 1 MOA rifle with CCI maximag. I'm sure that 17 is accurate. I just don't see it for squirrel, the realm of the .22LR. But, if it works for you, it works. I hunt in pretty heavy woods and like to get close enough to know where they're falling.

Neat thing about .22 CB shorts, when you have a bunch of 'em playing around you, you can pick 'em off and they don't even know what's happening. LOL It's like a silenced gun, makes less noise than your average air rifle. Now days, I normally use .22 LR ammo, though, cheap stuff if it's accurate. Federal lightening is accurate in my Contender. Heck, about ANYthing is accurate in my Contender. I like CCI mini mag for proper function in my 10/22. Stingers, in that rifle, are quite accurate. Stingers don't usually have that rep, but they shoot well in the 10/22. My old trusty Remington 512X bolt gun is deadly accurate with about anything including CCI CB shorts. That little rifle will shoot 1 1/2" 100 yard groups with HV .22LR, but the trajectory is a bit of a rainbow and you have to shoot on a calm day. At 50 yards, that rifle is an eye socket gun. I got that rifle for my 9th birthday and it's taken many, many squirrels. My old Mossberg 152 semi auto likes RWS Target, deadly accurate with it and only mediocre with anything cheap. It also shoots Eley very accurately. Cheap gun with champagne tastes, LOL! Every gun is different.

 

[marksman13]

Try the CCI SGB. The Small Game Bullet is a flat nosed solid bullet and it really does a great job on small critters. The other plus is that it shoots nearly one hole groups out of my Marlin 25n and my CZ 513. I doubt you will be dissapointed in this bullet.

 

[nickE10mm]

SGB is good but overall, my favorites are CCI Pistol Match (std vel) and CCI Green Tag. You don't need any more than a 40gr bullet at std velocity. In fact, you don't really want any more than that if you plan on having meat left to eat. I'd MUCH rather have the accuracy to hit the head at 75 yds rather than the power to split the poor animal in half.

 

[koja48]

I just got back from the range

Sounds as if you found a combination that works for you, Bear.

 

[MCgunner]

I need to try some of that SGB stuff. I've read about it, but never stumble across it.

 

[Art Eatman]

I have rock squirrels around the house. For the periodic reduction of numbers, I've found that the QuikShok (spelling?) is very good. A cross-body shot through the rib cage has been DRT. They seem to work as advertised.

Art

 

[MCgunner]

I've got some of that quick shot. Would be some good stuff, I think, on rabbits, 'coons, that sized game. I bought it out of curiosity. I chronoed and accuracy tested it, but I'd have to look it up to see how it did. Must not have been real impressive in my guns or I'd have remembered, LOL. I think I only tested it in a couple of handguns, though.

 

[H&Hhunter]

Winchester power points are my favorite git R done .22LR round.

 

[Art Eatman]

MCgunner, oddly enough it gave me the tightest groups of any ammo in my 10/22.

Art

 

[koja48]

American Eagle 37 grain HPs

Just back from the range . . . these shot quite well after I re-zeroed a little & warmed the barrel up. All groups at 50 yards -- accurized 10/22 with 18 1/2" Midway barrel & Tasco optics. Experienced a few mis-feeds, but I have a ton of Ruger mags and will adjust the spring tension on a couple to correct this. I still like Power Points, but these shoot almost as accurately & are considerably less expensive.


Used this:


Remington Vipers were all over the map. Remington sub-sonics were a hoot -- I could pick-up the projectile in the scope on its way to the target . . . should work well on skunks. All I shot today was the .22 . . . ain't had that kind of fun in a long time . . . was even hitting a 10" plate at 200 yards with great regularity & a fair bit of hold-over. I need to be a kid more often . . .