Ammo recommendations for my first 10/22

[thump_rrr]

I finally found a 10/22 Target which has the hammer forged barrel.
I’ve been searching for this rifle for a long time.
I hope it lives up to my expectations.

It is my first 10/22 and also my first semi auto 22 so I’m looking for some ammo recommendations.
It will be used from the bench for 50-100m distances.

My current 22’s are all bolt actions and I’m using CCI Sandard Velocity, SK Rifle Match, and Federal Gold Medal which are all subsonic.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Standard Velocity CCIs are a really good place to start. Eley match and Aguila match are usually good to go too if you can find it.

Really though you should buy a little bit of everything you can find and test it all.

 

[wiscoaster]

Hard to go wrong with CCI Mini-mags; however my recent favorite of choice, when I can find it, is almost any of the 40 gr Eley rounds. They're a bit pricey but they perform. For your rifle you want one of their semi-auto variants.

 

[jmr40]

Virtually all rifle barrels are hammer forged. Nothing special about that. The markings on the outside of the barrel will be on all barrels at some point in manufacturing. Most are machined off, but Ruger left them for aesthetic reasons. The target barrels will have tighter tolerances in the chamber and possibly a more accurate barrel overall.

I find CCI Mini-Mags to the best combination of price, reliability and accuracy. Some of the more expensive target loads are a TINY bit more accurate in my rifles, but not by much. And for what I do the CCI's are accurate enough.

I shoot at 200-250 yards occasionally. (If the wind is dead calm) and the flatter trajectory of the Mini-Mags is more important to me at those ranges than the slightly more accurate, but slower, target loads. I keep some of the match ammo around and if I want to shoot small groups at 50 yards will occasionally run a few mags through mine. Federal Match works well for me. You MIGHT have less than perfect reliability from a semi-auto using lower powered ammo. Might not.

You just have to experiment and see what works best for you. The cheap bulk stuff will probably be more accurate from that rifle than in a common 10/22. But you'll want to shoot the good stuff in that rifle.

 

[ms6852]

Agree with everyone that posted CCI's, it is a great way to start but you won't really know until you try a variety of ammunition to see what your rifle likes the most, plus it is plain fun just finding out. You will realize that some ammo will shoot good at 25 , 50, 100 yards or further and others won't.
For my 4 10/22's I own I have decided to use only Aguila and CCI brand up to 200 yards. For fine groups at 50 and 100 yards I like to use wolf match and eley and one of the rifles does amazing with the bucket of Remington golden bullets but I don't buy them as it is too frustrating that I get 2 to 3 ftf's every 10 rounds.

 

[Sistema1927]

My experience is that each rifle has different likes. One 10/22 thrives on the Federal Auto Match bulk ammo, while another chokes on it.

 

[d2wing]

What you can use may depend on the chamber, If your rifle has a match chamber Mini-mags may not work probably not an issue but just a heads up. I would try samples of all the rounds recommended and a few more. Norma Tac22 has worked in one of my rifles.

 

[.308 Norma]

My own 10-22 runs real well on both Federal "Classic" and Federal "GameShok" ammo. The above type of Federal ammo though - not so much.
Winchester "Power-Points" don't feed real smooth in my 10-22 either. They'll feed, just not real smooth. I suspect it's because of their flat noses.
CCI "MiniMAG" ammo has always worked well in my 10-22. It's what I keep the rifle sighted for, and I shoot real small groups with it. Besides, as I've said in other posts, my wife and I have been killing an awful lot of ground squirrels over on our friend's ranch lately, and CCI MiniMAG ammo works great for that - regardless of which of our 22s it's being fired in.

 

[sparkyv]

In my 10/22, Federal 525 valuepak blue box is very good plinking ammo, but CCI MiniMags are a better choice for target shooting. I stay away from subsonic ammo in my 10/22.

Hard to go wrong with CCI Mini-mags;

I find CCI Mini-Mags to the best combination of price, reliability and accuracy.

 

[Sniper66]

I would also recommend Norma Tac-22. I think it is a cut above CCI SV. Tac-22 will cycle perfectly in your 10/22 and most importantly in today's market, it is AVAILABLE!!

 

[3Crows]

Plain old CCI Standard Velocity.

3C

 

[FL-NC]

I have an old standard model 10-22 that shoots reliably and accurately with even bulk 22 from the brick packs. It doesn't likesubs, but I don't have a threaded muzzle anyway so it isn't suppressor ready. You won't really know what a rifle likes best until you try.

 

[Scout21]

CCI Standard or Aguila Standard are my go-to in my 10/22, very accurate all things considered. Never had a problem with reliability with either. In fact, with the exception of a single (potentially self inflicted) stovepipe, I've never had any kind of malfunction or dud in my 10/22 after at least a good 5k total rounds or so. Far lesser round count than many others, but I'm still impressed.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

It may have a match chamber. I would try a little bit of everything until you find a load that works and is accurate.

 

[bigpower491]

I've been doing real well with Aguila Super Extra 40 gr plated.
I shoot them out of my recently aquired Light Varmint Target, and they're certainly excellent for the $25/250rd price
They shoot fantastic out of my 5.5"single six also

 

[Riomouse911]

As the guys said, its a good idea to try a variety of ammo to see which ones(s) your rifle likes best.

Its been my experience that .22’s are a lot like English automobiles: each one has its own personality and its own likes and dislikes. This holds true even if you own two of the same model and they have consecutive serial numbers.

The suggestions above are very good places to start. My 10/22’s also like RWS rifle match ammo, but its hard to find. The pricy Eley offerings are almost always solid performers, even their “budget” Club line. Before Remington closed and reopened their 100- pack “Golden Bullet” loads were amazing in my guns. I haven’t seen any in a while so those may be things of the past.

Try several, then pass on the so-so loads and keep buying the good ones . Let us know how it shoots for you when you get a chance to exercise it.

Congrats on finding the rifle you were searching for!

Stay safe.

 

[red rick]

Wolf match extra .

 

[.38 Special]

CCI Standard Velocity, SK Rifle Match and Federal Gold Medal are all great places to start, assuming you have plenty on hand and that it functions in the rifle. The CCI stuff in particular has become pretty much my baseline - I have one gun which absolutely hates anything from CCI, but all of the others do good-to-great work with Standard Velocity.

On the higher end, I use Eley Club or Target, as well as RWS Match. I have guns which can take advantage of the higher level stuff (Tenex, etc.) from both brands, but *I* am no longer capable of shooting that well, so don't spend the money.

On the lower end, I tend not to drop below the "individually packaged" level (though I have had some bulk pack, like Blazer, which was at least passable) as the results have just been too hit-or-miss for my tastes. (Pun intended, I suppose.)

 

[Picher]

If CCI Standard velocity doesn't group under 1" at 50 yards, you may want to consider glass bedding the action and about 3" up the barrel channel, then free-float from there. There are many other ways to bed, but not all of them work great. Hope the trigger is smooth and pull weight under 3 Lbs.

 

[3Crows]

It is wrong headed I am sure but along with the mantra that only accurate rifles are interesting, I add to that only rifles that are not picky about having to have only one special load or ammo are tolerable to me. Kind of like panda bears can only eat one sort of leaf from one particular tree, okay, time for you to go extinct. Translated to a 1022, if it will not shoot CCI SV good enough then that rifles is a goner for me.

3C

 

[thump_rrr]

If CCI Standard velocity doesn't group under 1" at 50 yards, you may want to consider glass bedding the action and about 3" up the barrel channel, then free-float from there. There are many other ways to bed, but not all of them work great. Hope the trigger is smooth and pull weight under 3 Lbs.

Trigger pull weight is 3lbs 14oz.
The weight is heavy but there is no grit or creep but lot's of over travel.
I won't start playing with the rifle before I determine what ammo it likes
It's far from the 1lb 3oz trigger in my CZ 457 (Yodave spring $20.00)

 

[thump_rrr]

CCI Standard Velocity, SK Rifle Match and Federal Gold Medal are all great places to start, assuming you have plenty on hand and that it functions in the rifle. The CCI stuff in particular has become pretty much my baseline - I have one gun which absolutely hates anything from CCI, but all of the others do good-to-great work with Standard Velocity.

On the higher end, I use Eley Club or Target, as well as RWS Match. I have guns which can take advantage of the higher level stuff (Tenex, etc.) from both brands, but *I* am no longer capable of shooting that well, so don't spend the money.

On the lower end, I tend not to drop below the "individually packaged" level (though I have had some bulk pack, like Blazer, which was at least passable) as the results have just been too hit-or-miss for my tastes. (Pun intended, I suppose.)

I haven't found a rifle that likes Federal Gold Medal.
I have a Savage TRR-SR that is bedded, A Savage BVSS that is stock, A CZ 457 At-One with only a modified trigger spring.

They all like CCI SV SK Rifle Match and RWS Club

 

[MEHavey]

See https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...cy-question-im-confused.893107/#post-12018884
...and the three (four) recommendations.

 

[alfsauve]

Every gun, particularly every barrel will probably "like" different ammo. I have a 10/22 with the target barrel and it L-O-V-E-S CCI Standard Velocity Lead. Sadly I only learned during the pandemic CCI makes a copper plated version, which I haven't tried out yet. Here's my results from a few years back. I call it my "varmint .22". Not bad for an off the shelf autoloader. This was all with CCI SV. Had tried about 8 different brands and makes and this was the best.

 

[.38 Special]

@thump_rrr @alfsauve My very first .22 rifle was incredibly accurate with everything but CCI. It was a solid 1/2" at 50 yards, but about 3" with anything from CCI. So of course I spent years telling everyone that CCI was junk.

With time, of course, I learned that .22s are individuals - and that CCI usually shoots quite well. I also learned to try two or three brands of ammunition before writing off any particular gun...