Best .22LR ammo for handgun hunting?

[hardluk1]

colt hard to shot shorts in a 10/22 hehe

 

[Loosedhorse]

I have used Minimags, Stingers, Quikshoks--they all worked great. Since you want expansion, might take a look at Quikshoks; they actually fragment.

And he ain't gonna jump no more.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

colt hard to shot shorts in a 10/22 hehe

Eh, if I'm doing squirrel headshots I leave the 10/22 at home and take a more accurate gun that will feed shorts.

 

[scorpio2011]

i shoot squirrels with an low/mid powered airgun with solid pellets at 30yds or less solid heart/lung shots they mighy run 10'
on the other hand will a .22lr hollow point even expand out of a handgun???
hollowpoints i have recovered shot from a handgun 5" or less barrel never expanded

 

[Dr.Rob]

CCI Minimags.

I had some very accurate Remington round nose 'target' loads that just zipped right through a grouse and I know I hit it. Grouse flew off never to be seen again. Last time I hunted with a target load.

 

[11uscava]

Hogwash, I want a little expansion, even on small game. Plain round-nosed bullets just flat do not put down small game and varmints as quickly as a good hollowpoint. For this, I really like Remington GB's or CCI Mini-Mags.

do you hunt for the thrill of kill or a cook

 

[Random Discharge]

Pistol shooting small game is a bit tougher than with a rifle. Nice thing about head shots is if you miss, better chance you'll miss completely. If you connect, better chance its lights out. Miss the chest and get the gut, different result.

 

[Thompsoncustom]

I know aguila Supermaximum ammo will expand out of a handgun, I believe the listed rifle speed is 1750fps not sure how much less that would be in your handgun but that's probably gonna be the fastest HP. Probably should do some water jug test on the one's your thinking about and see what one expands the most as penetration is not a issue with small game.

 

[CraigC]

I think most have forgotten that this is a thread about hunting with a pistol. Not a rifle. What with all the talk about .22Shorts, 10/22's and head shots. Yes, headshots are nice when possible but if you're hunting rabbit or squirrel with a pistol and ONLY take headshots, you're going home empty handed a lot. The little bit of expansion you get out of the .22LR at pistol velocities is not going to destroy half the meat. Usually the nose just flattens out a bit, which puts them down much quicker but destroys little meat on a body shot, if any.


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[TonyT]

CCI mini Mag HP works well for me.

 

[DM~]

I use Remington Yellow Jackets in all of mine, the bullet design really works well on small game!

DM

 

[Remllez]

I've never jumped a rabbit that ran more than 20 yards before it stopped and offered me a shot, in fact I use their big black eyes as a target. As for squirrels I sit still and let them come to me. I rarely go home empty handed that much I know.

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[CraigC]

Depends on where you hunt. Where I cut my teeth hunting small game with a pistol, you would be offered a 50-75yd standing shot much more often than 15-20yds in the brush.

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[papa_bear]

Hands down, CCI Quick Shoks. They are now sold under the name CCI Segmented Hollow Points. I have numerous pictures which are to graphic to share comparing the various 22lr hollow points effectiveness.

 

[Laf'n'Larry]

Haven't used them for hunting, but the CCI Velocitor seems to fly fast and group well from my Beretta Neos. They are designed to mushroom, but not fly apart, so they should get the job done without leaving bullet fragments or destroying too much of the meat.

Based on my own limited testing I get the most consistent groups from CCI Velocitors, CCI Mini-Mags and CCI Stingers, followed by WalMart's Federal bulk ammo.

 

[M16]

I like Winchester Power Points.

 

[woad_yurt]

I shot a bunch of assorted .22LR through the same guns and from the same distances into a 2X4. I wanted to see just which round penetrated the furthest. Aguila Supermaximums penetrated the furthest and next were Velocitors. Velocitors began narrowing the distance as the barrel length and/or distance increased. I did not, however, do anything at hunting rangeses, just self-defense distances. By extrapolating, I would assume that the Velocitors would pull ahead somewhere in the 20 yard range.

 

[scorpio2011]

has anyone checked the hollow point bullets fired from a handgun for expansion??
i have
i tested cci velocitors,mini-mags and stingers from a 5" barrel none of them expanded
remington subsonic hollow points fired from a 5" handgun barrel did expand in a dry phonebook though.not a good example as the phone book was dry

 

[Vern Humphrey]

One of these days I'll try them in my Fackler Box.

A Fackler Box is a wooden trough, with gallon zip lock bags -- it tests expansion and penetration and can be related to ballistic gelatin by dividing penetration in water by 1.8.

 

[Blackwolf]

Most of the squirrels that I've taken were killed with .177 caliber Crosman Premier Hollowpoint pellets. Those 7.9 grain pellets fly at about 900 FPS out of my Daisy Powerline 1000 air rifle. Pellets that I've recovered were maybe .22 inches in diameter when expanded. I've taken squirrels with head and body shots offhand at 10-12 yards with that thing. Never had any trouble with the rifle or the ammo on squirrel.

Whatever .22 ammo you use will be slightly larger in diameter, several times heavier and at least 30-40 FPS faster than my .177 pellets, even out of a 4 or 5 inch barrel. The Rugers generally have pretty good sights, too.
Hollow points or ball ammo, a headshot is still a headshot, and a miss is still a miss. I can agree that properly expanded .22 hollow points are nice, but you're still shooting at a 1-pound rodent. How much bullet do you need for that?

The moral is: Shot placement is most important, and practice makes perfect.

 

[Shimitup]

It seems there's a consensus on shot placement. The most blazing fast hollow point won't do any good if it doesn't hit. I have a Ruger MK1 that shoots groups with Remington Viper three times the size of the groups it shoots with CCI standard velocity or Green Tag. So like most folks are saying whatever your particular gun likes.

 

[Slamfire]

Yah, yah, shot placement is the thing. Too bad circumstances don't always work out that way.

Hollowpoints caused the most damage on squirrels, but I preferred target ammunition that was quite. The more noise the further the warning to other squirrels that hunters are in the area.

 

[pazz]

Best .22LR ammo for handgun hunting?

Stingers