Aguila SSS - tested in a few of my rifles

[Virg461]

I know that others have discussed this round, but I've just learned of it recently. Very strange construction (60gr .22 round). Don't be fooled by the short case into thinking it's a pussycat. The round is slow (850fps) but very heavy. It hits my spinner target with a heavy "thwack".

I had heard that it didn't stabilize in the normal 1:16 twist barrels on most .22's, but I thought I would give it a try. I liked the amount of energy delivered at 50 yards. We keep goats and a free range chickens here on the ponderosa, and I thought it might be just to ticket for dispatching the odd racoon and and maybe even a coyote that might show up looking for a free meal.

I tried it first in my favorite .22, an MAS 45 (basically a Mauser-style trainer). This rifle shoots subsonics and high velocity rounds equally well, has very nice peep sights, and is one of my most accurate rifles. Very well made. But....it hated the SSS. At 50 yards, every round hit the target sideways. No stabilization. Very quiet, though.

Next, I tried my Remington 597. A completely different story. Nice groupings (1 inch at 50), however about one in 20 would destabilize and keyhole. Interestingly, even the keyholed rounds would land within the group. Not sure what a sideways 60 grain bullet would do to a racoon, but I'm sure it wouldn't be pretty. The real problem was that about 1 in 20 rounds would jam due to the short case.

Ruger 10/22.....not worth mentioning. Same as the MAS45. Also wouldn't feed worth a crap.

Romanian M69 trainer - stabilized the round well. Not a single keyhole out of 30 or so rounds. Good groups, but not as nice as the 597. The 597 really shot those rounds accurately.

The biggest surprise came when I tried them in my old Remington Nylon 66. This rifle was not exactly designed for accuracy, but it shot these rounds very well. The rifling on this barrel has either a faster twist (I seem to remember seeing 1:9 somewhere, but I'm not sure). I was obviously using the iron sights, since putting a scope on that loose receiver cover is pointless, and I shot consistent groups of 1-2 inches at 50. Not exactly as good as I would expect from a precision bolt gun, but as good as I've ever seen from this rifle. The other bonus is the way the action works on this tube-fed rifle. The tube feeds from the rear, so each new round is tossed up into the breech by the spring-fed follower. The bolt doesn't have to "strip" the next round out of the magazine like the 597 or 10/22. I fired about a hundred SSS rounds through this rifle, and not one failure to load or fire.

So, the Nylon 66 magazine is currently loaded and awaiting the next barnyard predator. As far as I'm concerned, it's now dedicated to the Aguila SSS.

 

[desidog]

I'd recommend against hunting with round nose bullets. They'll penetrate, but not shed much energy as a hollowpoint, or create as effective a wound channel.

I haven't had much luck with them overall. The short cases tend to jam my guns too regularly to be considered dependable, and the added weight on mag springs means occasionally the round won't be up in the feed when the bolt is coming back forward on a semiauto, so you have a full mag and an empty chamber.

 

[Zanad]

nice you tested these, I've found that they work quite well in my 10/22 with no tumbling until after 60-75 yards.



desidog, the bullet was designed to tumble, and tumble it will do. do some test on water jugs and wet newspaper...

 

[Zanad]

double post.

 

[rcmodel]

I'd recommend against hunting with round nose bullets. They'll penetrate, but not shed much energy as a hollowpoint,

Not if they are going sideways they won't.

I tested SSS in several handguns & rifles against gallon water jugs.

In every instance they started tumbling on entry, and tore ragged sideways holes on the other side when they were able to exit the jug.
Not all of them did, and I recovered several that were bent in the middle like an L shape.

I'm not real keen on them, as the increased recoil impulse seems like it might batter a semi-auto action.

And they don't group worth a darn in my Ruger 10/22, Browning Auto, Winchester 9422, or 06 & 62A Winchester pumps.

rc

 

[R.W.Dale]

I'd recommend against hunting with round nose bullets. They'll penetrate, but not shed much energy as a hollowpoint, or create as effective a wound channel.

And I'll state that as far as the SSS is concerned you couldn't be more wrong.

I've shot a plethora of small critters with this round from revolvers from rabbits, squirrels, opossums and armadillos. THis round flat puts a killing on these animals far far quicker and more thoroughly than ANY other 22lr load you can buy. You shoot a critter with SSS from a marginally stabilizing firearm and it just stops being alive right there like you flipping off a light switch.

If fact during one especially bad armadillo overrun by a wide margin SSS outperformed cor-bon JHP +P+ .380 from a bersa thunder in stopping shot panzerlizards from getting to their burrow

 

[desidog]

And I'll state that as far as the SSS is concerned you couldn't be more wrong.

Are you arguing that a round nose is better than a hollow point?

Apparently your mileage varies. I generally don't count on my bullets going sideways, and hunt with a rifle. Nothing i hit with SSS was DRT. My experience was that the ammunition did not kill quickly and humanely. It they made the same round as a 55gr HP, I might revisit it; but between poor accuracy, poor loading, poor stabilization, lack of expansion, greater bullet drop at distance, dirty crud in my mag, and that Ely primer smell...I'll leave it for you on the store shelves.

 

[Karl Hungus]

Aguila SSS cycled my 10/22 fine, but Green Tag (and quite a few other subsonics) is far more accurate.

 

[R.W.Dale]

Are you arguing that a round nose is better than a hollow point?

No I'm saying that SSS is.

FIRST You tell us that you won't use these rounds due to poor accuracy and function.

THEN you tell us you've used them and they don't kill well.


Which is it and what all have you tried to kill with these?



Tapatalk post via IPhone.

 

[steven58]

I found them to be very accurate in 2 of my rifles.

I routinely get 1/2" 5 shot groups at 25 yds out of my Bravo Co AR (1/7 twist) with a Ciener .22 rimfire conversion kit installed. Even more surprising was that it cycled the action flawlessly for 300 rounds (so far).

It's also accurate out of my Anschutz Sporter but cycling must be done slowly. If I try too fast they jam.

 

[jpwilly]

The SSS 60gr pills worked well out of my AR-15 1-9" bbl with a CMMG 22lr drop in conv kit and have fed reliably from the Black Dog Machine magazines I feed it with. I purchased a brick last year and have shot 150rnds if it. While they weren't the most accurate 22lr ammo (Wolf MT works great) it shoots they did shoot well enough to hunt with them.

Neither of my Savage MKII's will stabilize them at 50yrds and were tumbling frequently. They smell really bad too! BUT this load is very very quiet and has decent energy on target.

 

[adobewalls]

I went the route of getting a GM 1:9 Barrel for the SSS's. <1" groups at 50 yds (but not quite 1/2"). Some FTF, but not aggrevating.

I did a penetration test into 1X4's at about 25 feet and compared to other subsonics. Most 40 Gr. subsonics penetrated 3 1X4's and lodged in the 4th, the SSS penetrated 5 and lodged in the 6th.

 

[DM~]

I've shot them out of my Colt Woodsman and also my Savage 3D, not on paper but i shot several oposuums and coons with them. They were all close shots, but that ammo killed them DEAD, on the spot!

I'd have to try them on paper before i'd take any longer shots with them.

DM

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Aguila SSS SubSonic Sniper is a 60gr bullet loaded in a .22 short case with a funky smelling propellant that gives about 950 fps velocity for a muzzle energy of 120 ft/lb. That's equal to the energy of a regular 40gr .22 LR but without the sonic boom.

Aguila SubSonic Sniper should be differientiated from some of the other .22 subsonic rounds. Most subsonics are the standard .22 long case with the 40gr long rifle bullet at ~1000-1080 fps for ~90-100 ft/lbs. Other subsonic .22 rounds are of the CB variety usually a 29gr short bullet in a short or long case at 720 fps for about 33 ft/lb or the performance of a good hunting grade air gun.

Published gelatin tests show the Aguila 60gr bullet penetrates about 12" and does a flip about half way, ending up stopping base first. The 40gr solid point does the same thing in ballistic gel, tumbling once to finally stop base first.

I recently tested a Nylon 66 and a Marlin 60 with Aguila SSS cartridges with the 60gr bullet. With a full magazines 14 rounds the Nylon 66 gave perfect functioning. (The Nylon 66 was made in a .22 short gallery rifle version so I was not surprised the short case gave no problems.) Out of twelve rounds, the Marlin gave fail-to-eject once and fail-to-feed once. The Nylon 66 had a slight edge on accuracy with the Aguila SSS. Both guns were well-used pawn shop orphans but functioned fine with CCI Stinger and Winchester SuperX. The Nylon 66 preferred Remington ammo.

The SSS also worked well in a Ruger Mark II and in a Jennings J22. Did not eject in a AR-7, could only be used singleshot in a bolt action Roumanian training rifle.

 

[rcmodel]

I've shot them out of my Colt Woodsman

I really would not suggest using them in a Woodsman.

Like I said earlier, the recoil impulse if much greater then normal loads.
I can feel it in the revolvers I have used it in.
And if I can feel it, your Woodsman can feel it much worse.

Woodsman are getting too hard to come by to beat them into an early grave with SSS ammo.

rc

 

[desidog]

FIRST You tell us that you won't use these rounds due to poor accuracy and function.

THEN you tell us you've used them and they don't kill well.


Which is it and what all have you tried to kill with these?

Well, I wouldn't try to give an informed opinion if i wasn't informed on the subject.

I tried them out; in my 10/22s, Marlin99 and AR-ceiner as well as my Walther P22, and took a couple shots at a couple squirrels (the Eastern Grey variety), and a raccoon by my trash. The squirrels were at usual hunting distances, and the raccoon was close. As i said before, none of them were DRT.

As a side note, i got no stabilization out of the 5" P22.

 

[DM~]

I really would not suggest using them in a Woodsman.

Like I said earlier, the recoil impulse if much greater then normal loads.
I can feel it in the revolvers I have used it in.
And if I can feel it, your Woodsman can feel it much worse.

Woodsman are getting too hard to come by to beat them into an early grave with SSS ammo.

rc

I understand that and i don't shoot a lot of them in it... As for the $$ it's worth, that means nothing to me, as all of my guns are "shooters" that i bought for ME, i don't care what they are worth...

DM

 

[Virg461]

Anyone know what the twist rate is of the Nylon 66 barrel? I'm still surprised how accurate these rounds fired out of that gun.