Ammo For My Revolvers

[SullyVols]

For the last month I've owned a SW617 and an old Taurus 66 but I've only been shooting them at the range and buying the range ammo offered, but not required by the range store.

For the .22lr it has been CCI "mini-mag"
The .38 special has been generic copper-coated 158 grain
The .357 has been 158 grain jacketed soft-points

I want to get about 100-200 .22lr rounds, and about 100 .38P+/.357 rounds that will got towards any sort of emergency/disaster preparedness/self-defense purposes. Even-though VA is open-carry - I will not be carrying under any sort of normal circumstances.

A side curiosity would be about the lethality of the .22lr round. From what I've gathered on the web. A good .22lr round out of a longer barrel can approach the low end of the .38 special in terms of raw energy. Obviously the lack of mass is a very limiting factor to its actual practicability. I was wandering about what kind of game it might it be able to reliably bring down? (i.e. rabbits, groundhogs, birds, woolly mammoths).

Any recommendations for ammo types/brands for self-defense?

Any recommendations for range ammo?

 

[firesky101]

The .22 will reliably take small game, pretty much all you mentioned except the woolly mammoths. Do not go after deer with it, poachers only do it because it is quiet. As for ammo .22 is cheap enough to stock up, and with a revolver you don't have to spring for the expensive stuff. I like Federal bulk pack 550rds for $19.95 at the local wal-mart. Each .22 will shoot better with its own preferred ammo. The .38/.357 can be had at wal-mart, but will be much cheaper online with a decent sized order to offset shipping or wait for a local gun show. For self defense I would get any premium ammo (PDX1, Golden Saber, Gold dots, etc.) Just make sure to test it in your gun.

 

[F-111 John]

Last week at a Wally World I scored a 100 round box of Federal 158 gr JHP +P .38 that was listed as the same price as their 130 gr FMJ .30 WWB, which was $33 and change. Too bad they only had one box...

 

[Lawdawg45]

For the last month I've owned a SW617 and an old Taurus 66 but I've only been shooting them at the range and buying the range ammo offered, but not required by the range store.

For the .22lr it has been CCI "mini-mag"
The .38 special has been generic copper-coated 158 grain
The .357 has been 158 grain jacketed soft-points

I want to get about 100-200 .22lr rounds, and about 100 .38P+/.357 rounds that will got towards any sort of emergency/disaster preparedness/self-defense purposes. Even-though VA is open-carry - I will not be carrying under any sort of normal circumstances.

A side curiosity would be about the lethality of the .22lr round. From what I've gathered on the web. A good .22lr round out of a longer barrel can approach the low end of the .38 special in terms of raw energy. Obviously the lack of mass is a very limiting factor to its actual practicability. I was wandering about what kind of game it might it be able to reliably bring down? (i.e. rabbits, groundhogs, birds, woolly mammoths).

Any recommendations for ammo types/brands for self-defense?

Any recommendations for range ammo?

My personal preference is Speer. They have a practical approach to their line, the range ammo is loaded to the same specs as their defensive ammo, so that you can train with what you'd use in a real life SD shooting. Their Gold Dot line is a superb SD round............in my opinion.

LD

 

[Catapult]

Stingers for the .22 and Remington 38spl.+P Wal-Mart special for the both of you revolvers. If your in big critter country then Wal-Mart has great prices on semi-jacketed deeper penetration stuff for the .357.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

For the .22lr it has been CCI "mini-mag"
The .38 special has been generic copper-coated 158 grain
The .357 has been 158 grain jacketed soft-points.

A side curiosity would be about the lethality of the .22lr round. From what I've gathered on the web. A good .22lr round out of a longer barrel can approach the low end of the .38 special in terms of raw energy. Obviously the lack of mass is a very limiting factor to its actual practicability. I was wandering about what kind of game it might it be able to reliably bring down? (i.e. rabbits, groundhogs, birds, woolly mammoths).

Any recommendations for ammo types/brands for self-defense?

Any recommendations for range ammo?

I ran the numbers on the CCI Mini-Mags and a generic 158gr .38 Special +P. Don't be fooled into thinking the .22 is anywhere near the "raw energy" of the .38 Special. The .38 generates just over twice the energy, 3X the momentum and 7X the Taylor TK numbers. And, that's when the mini-mags are shot from a rifle, not a 4" handgun. Use This Calculator to check the numbers.

As for small game .22 hunting ammo, there are a lot of good choices. Winchester Super X has a big hollow point bullet that works well on game. CCI has several rounds that are good on game including their SGB round. For plinking I would shoot whatever is cheapest that week. (Federal bulk Box is good)

For the .38 Special, I like the old time tested FBI Load. (158gr LSWC/HP .38 Special +P) I also like Speer Gold Dot short barrel ammo in a J frame. For practice I use my reloads but you can find Remington UMC, Winchester White Box, Federal American Eagle or a bunch of others on sale from time to time that will work well.

 

[BCRider]

You may not be accurate enough with your skillset yet to notice much of a difference between various .22 cartridges. But there is no doubt that your S&W 617 will group a LITTLE tighter with the ammo which works best with the barrel's bore size and twist rate. But for now just about any bulk buy ammo is fine. Although I do find that some fit the rather tight chambers in the cylinder better than some others.

On my own .22's I use mostly CCI Blazer as I find it's not bad for accuracy on most of my guns and it chambers and ejects fine on everything other than my Model 17. On that gun it's OK until the chambers get the slightest bit of fouling then they get sticky to eject them. On the other hand CCI Standard Velocity, at least the bricks of 500 that I've tried, seems to be produced to a slightly tighter tolerance for the cases. So the empties eject a little more easily even with a little foulng.

So I'd suggest you try a few small boxes of 50 of various brands and types. The one which chambers easily and seems to shoot best for your present level is the one you should then buy in bricks of 500 at a time.

And to save money as you find a few shooting buddys go in and split cases of 5000. It ends up cheaper that way. And really it doesn't take all that long to go through a couple of thousand rounds of .22.

The time to start worrying about how accurate the ammo is will come when you can consistently shoot 2 inch or smaller groups at 15'ish yards with your 617. At that point you'll appreciate the 1/4 to 1/2 inch difference in group size of having the optimum ammo for YOUR gun. Or you may find out that what you had chosen IS the best for your gun.