.22 LR Ammo

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

-terry

Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2006
Messages
344
Location
WA, Bellingham
I'm considering what is (for me) a massive purchase of .22LR ammo. Maybe 20-30000 rounds.

I don't want to buy bad, cruddy ammo. This will last me for a long time and I'd like it to be accurate and reliable. I have a Buck Mark pistol and am probably going to get a 10-22 targetized rifle.

What ammo do you guize suggest I get.
 
22 ammo

-terry, I know little about 22 pistols but have some experience with 22 rifles. Very sensitive to ammo types and brands. Just last night I fired what I thought was a nice, controlled shot so was surprized to see the bullet hit the target right above the cross hair. On examining the target, that bullet had a slight yaw - as did three others. Those bullets with yaw were all off and may have accounted for me getting my butt kicked!

I tried two brands and types of ammo - one gave me a ragged one hole group, the other gave me three clusters. Test some of what ever you want to buy before buying bulk.

I had a 4 inch barreled 22 revolver once and cannot say I noticed any difference between brands or types. I did get a 9 shot, three inch group, at 110 yds, off a bench, once.

Pete
 
I have found that there is an enormous difference in the size of my groups when I shoot cheap bulk ammo vs the quality stuff. Its not even close. I've also found that the good stuff does not make my gun nearly as dirty and that the gun functions much more reliably. I have also found that the cheap stuff has a dud rate of about 4%, but I've never had a dud shooting the good stuff.

When I talk about cheap ammo, I'm refering to Remington Golden Bullets and those are vastly better than Thunder Bolts. The good stuff I shoot is CCI, but I'm sure there's lots of other good ammo out there from other vendors. My favorite .22LR handgun ammo is CCI Mini-Mag and I shoot a ton of it. It typically costs about $6 for a box of 100 at Walmart vs $11 for 550 rounds of the cheap Remington stuff.
 
Last edited:
scurtis_34471 said:
When I talk about cheap ammo, I'm refering to Remington Golden Bullets and those are vastly better than Winchester Thunder Bolts.
Click to expand...

Remington makes the Thunderbolt, not Winchester.

In response to -terry's question, it's not an easy answer. Find the ammunition that meets your needs at a price you can afford. As much as I'd love to shoot gobs of Wolf Match Target, I can't afford huge quantities of it.

.22 guns are notoriously picky about what sort of ammo they like. What works in one gun won't work in another.

For me, Winchester Dynapoints are ideal -- inexpensive (about $14/500 with shipping for 5,000 of them), accurate, subsonic out of my pistols and 16" barreled rifles, reliable (haven't had duds in a few hundred rounds yet), and generally the best non-match stuff I've shot yet. The fact that they're subsonic is great, as I like shooting with my suppressor.

Your mileage may vary.

You might look into buying in bulk from online sources or getting Wal-Mart to order the ammo for you (it can be a hassle with WM) if you're buying that much. It might be cheaper to order through WM as you don't pay for shipping, but you do pay tax. Also, considering getting your C&R license to get dealer discounts from online vendors -- saves a bunch of money.
 
My advice is buy as many different kinds as you can, and try them all. Then buy bulk quantities of the brand and lot that is most accurate and reliable. Don't be surprised to find that your rifle and pistol like different brands.
 
I did that about a year or two ago. Bought a combination of Federal 510 (Federal Classic), Aquilla Subsonic and Winchester Dynapoints, maybe 15k all together. Was never disappointed with any of them and gave me some variety for different gun's preferences.

Come to think of it, I need to consider restocking again. Actually shot up all the Dynapoints and half the 510s. That was even buying about 3k of some random Federal and Winchester bulk packs when they went on sale occasionally.
 
Before you go splurging for that much ammo, you might want to wait for THR member Afy's report. It's in the rifle section, but should be some good info.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=275975

My revolver and rifle are perfectly happy with whatever WWB (or the like) I put in them, but my Beretta pistol is rather persnickety about being fed a steady diet of CCI Mini-Mags. If the CCIs weren't so much more expensive than the bulk rounds I'd probably use them for everything.
 
I agree with comments about CCI Mini Mags being the best LR ammo. I use it almost exclusively in the .22 SAS, that is if I am not using .22 WMR.

My Model 60 and Savage MK2 seems to be way less picky about what I run through it. Rem Golden bullets and Thunderbolts work fine but I prefer the Federal brand. Federal seemed cleaner to me than the Rem stuff.

Maybe buy some of all you can find and experiment? Gander Mtn. sells some obscure brands of .22LR ammo.
 
I will not say i am an expert, but i Have in my posession, over 100 diff brands of 22lr ammo, and then those , in several diff types, weights, forms, etc. Aguila, which is mexican assembled Eley, is going to be the best , most varied, most accurate ammo you are going to get, followed by CCI, then Golden Eagle, which is American assembled Eley. If you can get also Remington/eley, it is eley throw offs, packaged by remington. Eley is the finest 22 ammo in the world , bar none, and if you can get Eley white rabbit, it is their hi velocity stuff, that did not pass their excruciatingly tough standards evaluations
 
Get a bunch of different brands and try them to see what is most accurate in your guns. It also depend on your application. Do you want hunting ammo or just for target shooting? My TC-55 and CZ-453 both love Remington Subsonics. I found the bulk pack Federals are okay for plinking, but not very consistent for target shooting.
 
All the ammo suggestions we have to offer aren't worth "the paper they're printed on". Rimfires are picky critters and each prefers it's own favorite ammo. I have some distinct favorites that perform well in my guns, but that doesn't mean they will perform well in yours. The ONLY way to find out what works for your guns is to buy different kinds and try it before you buy any in bulk.

A couple examples from my own experience. Remington Golden bullet is very accurate in my 22/45 but isn't reliable. It works fine in my 10/22 though. It's not accurate worth beans in my Savage bolt action. I have settled on Federal bulk pack for my plinking, as it works well in all my guns and is as accurate as I need. Also, their "Automatch" loads function well and shoot great, even in the bolt gun. I tend to buy this load a lot.
 
Consistency is the Key

Agree with Atomchaser on this. I sighted in my scoped rifle with the 550 pack Remington Golden Bullets, and do most of my shooting with them. When I shot a box of CCI Stingers, the accuracy was way off. If I'd sighted in with the Stingers, the Golden Bullets would probably have been disappointing.

I think that the real issue for the folks with lots of experience is this: is there any .22 ammo that is notably consistent or inconsistent? If you stockpile ammo and it shoots the same every shot, you'll be satisfied; on the other hand....

As a PS, the variation in POI between ammo brands is much less noticable with my .22 pistol, most likely because I'm shooting a shorter distance and not expecting the same kind of precision.
 
sevengunner, those Stingers shot so differently because they have a much higher velocity. Probably shot about 2 to 3 inches high, huh? All my rifles group the Stingers about 2 inches or so higher than standard velocity stuff.

My CZ 513 loves the Federal Match Bulk stuff. My 10/22s like CCI and my Nylon does really well with Remington Golden bullets.
 
I would suggest you buy a brick (500 rounds) each of Remington Golden bullets (not Thunderbolts or just include them too), Federal Champion, Winchester Dynapoints, and CCI standard velocity. Shoot carefully and document your findings with each gun. Then choose what seems to shoot the best and buy the quantities you seek. You are looking at a fair chuck of $. Make sure your guns cycle the ammo brand unless you are shooting with a bolt action rifle. That is one of the reasons I like bolt actions for precision shooting. You don't need to buy the quantities you mentioned all at once. Remember to store it in a cool dry place. I used US army ammo cans with good seals.

The target ammo is almost always better than the regular bulk ammo. It is much more expensive as you know. If you are willing to spend the $ for the high end stuff, you will spending a bunch of money but shooting better.

Why do you want to buy so much all at once? Unless you shoot a lot, your quantities are a bit strong. Shooting a 100 rounds per outing is no reason to buy 10,000 rounds all at once unless you find something that is really good for your guns. Sometimes, I don't even shoot 50 rounds of 22 in an afternoon of shooting if I'm shooting a mix of guns in various calibers. My typical outing is about 2 hours long. Target shooting is not fast high volume shooting normally.

If you are just plinking, buy which ever bulk ammo that your guns generally prefer. I lean toward copper coated bullets as they tend to feed better in semi-auto pistols.

22 ammo will vary by lot number somewhat as well as brand. So, it is tough to test the stuff, and then buy the same lot unless you buy a bunch all at once, try it out, then sell it off if it is not up to your standards. It's tough for me to sell thousands of rounds of 22 ammo very quickly; frankly it's a pain in the butt which means it usually just sits in storage until a plinking session where I supply the ammo.

I have good luck with Wolf Match Target which used to be the best bargain in quality 22 ammo. Now, they are not so cheap. Bricks ran about $35-$40 each which is like $0.08/round. For me, that is quite a price to pay for 22 ammo unless you are in competition.
 
I've been shooting Remington Game Loads through my Walther P22 and Rem 121 pump for the last 6 months, and I've been quite satisfied with the performance, though I've got nothing quantifiable in terms of accuracy to report. About 1 out of 30 or 40 rounds will require a second strike (though at least some of those have been due to powder residue build-up around the firing pin), and I've only had 1 round which required more than two strikes out of around 3k-4k. It's clean enough that I can get away with shooting almost 1k rounds through my P22 without cleaning it, which says something I think.

With my Rem 121 pump, I can get about 2.5" groups with it at the indoor 25 yard range from a standing position, and a little better than that from a supported position. Not great, no - but I don't doubt that a person could do half that from a supported position with a decent optic, because my eye sight is fairly poor, and my technique not the best. :)

I buy it for like $12/400 at the local range; I'm sure you could find it cheaper elsewhere, as it appears to just be fairly cheap, generic ammo. I imagine they stock it because it works fairly reliably in their rentals, as well as in any other guns people might bring. Worst problem I've had is cases ejecting short on the P22 and getting caught between the bolt face and the barrel head while closing on a couple of occasions.

I've both heard and experienced that .22LR is very particular to the specific gun it's being fired in when it comes to accuracy. Some works better than others, and you'll sometimes get completely surprising results (ie crappy ammo working in a nice gun w/ good groups whereas it's all over the place in another gun). So at least in this regard, YMMV.
 
Buy varriety--even if you have found 'good' for your gear.

In 10 years, you might find it ages poorly.

CCI is great. Old match grade .22 rem is awesome--new prod is just sad.

The years aren't always kind to .22--it's the nature of how it is made. Find the best 3 types and split it up would be my bet.
 
Wolf Match Target shoots great through my rifles, mostly various CMP guns. All my .22 rifles are bolt guns.

It doesn't work well at all in my Ruger 22/45 pistol. It's accurate enough, but not enough oomph to work the action, so I end up with jams, half-ejected brass.
 
i've had the best luck with remington gold packs, followed by federal bulk. winchester x-perts don't run for crap for me in any 22, and for some reason thunderbolts are now not the cheapest 22 by me. i guess they are trying brand repositioning, but i still have my doubts about them.

cci blazers used to run well for me, but recently the price on them has steadily increased as well.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

M
  • Locked
22 lr ammo ?
Replies
9
Views
707
mc30707
M
R
  • Locked
best 22 lr ammo
2
Replies
46
Views
5K
rimshot25tn
R
D
  • Locked
Ammo Cheaper Today Than 50 Years Ago
Replies
17
Views
928
Smokey Joe
S
T
  • Locked
hypervelocity 22 lr research
2 3
Replies
54
Views
4K
tech30528
T
B
  • Locked
Sierra Bullets take on the .22 LR shortage.
2 3 4 5 6 7
Replies
163
Views
8K
22-rimfire
2
Back
Top