Very good and interesting thread Big Bill...thanks for starting it. For TONS of great information on 22's.... visit www.rimfirecentral.com . I use a lot of different 22's for different puposes. Mainly using the slower velocity types for target shooting. Try any of the subsonics or even standard velocity ammo and you'll be amazed @ the accuracy you can develop. The Velocitors, Stinger and Hypervelocity types are great fun too. Each type of ammo has it's favorite gun and vice versa. Grab a few different types of ammo, head to the range and see how much fun you can have. As far as Versatile....... oh my yes.
How versitle is a .22 LR - really?
- Thread starter Big Bill
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I've used many different kinds of .22LR ammo and found that each rifle may like different ammo. Some of mine don't like the batch of Velocitor I tried, but love an older batch of CCI SGB. Newer batches haven't been as good in my rifles.
Even the best quality match ammo can vary from batch to batch. Eley is quite variable, but when it's just right for a benchrest rifle, it's about the best accuracy. It seems that just when I find the Eley ammo my rifle likes, I can't get that batch anymore, so I use something else that seems to be more consistent, but not necessarily as accurate.
Regarding optimum accuracy in your rifle, try several brands and when you find the ammo it shoots better than any other (of that type), buy as much of that particular batch as you can afford. I mean CASES of the stuff. That applies to high-speed hunting ammo, match ammo, or even plinking ammo.
Picher
Even the best quality match ammo can vary from batch to batch. Eley is quite variable, but when it's just right for a benchrest rifle, it's about the best accuracy. It seems that just when I find the Eley ammo my rifle likes, I can't get that batch anymore, so I use something else that seems to be more consistent, but not necessarily as accurate.
Regarding optimum accuracy in your rifle, try several brands and when you find the ammo it shoots better than any other (of that type), buy as much of that particular batch as you can afford. I mean CASES of the stuff. That applies to high-speed hunting ammo, match ammo, or even plinking ammo.
Picher
ThomasT
Member
The 22 seems to be an ongoing design project with no end in sight. You can get rounds that are as slow as 350fps to as fast as 1800fps. I think it is the most useful round you can own. Not the best, but one that will be used more than any other. No home or farm/ranch collection is complete without at least one 22 rifle.
One poster mentioned the guy that shot the turkey at 300 yards. The shooter that did this did it in high winds. Like 20-25mph IIRC. The same poster then says the round is good to 50 yards and almost dead at a 100 yards. So its good for 300 but "dying" at a 100? That makes no sense to me.
I have shot my 22s out to 200 yards and beyond and you do not want to be shot at by me or any other shooter that knows his rifle at that range. I think they are best used at 75 yards and under for hunting but good shooting at paper can be done at much longer ranges. The best sight for 22 info is www.rimfirecentral.com
One poster mentioned the guy that shot the turkey at 300 yards. The shooter that did this did it in high winds. Like 20-25mph IIRC. The same poster then says the round is good to 50 yards and almost dead at a 100 yards. So its good for 300 but "dying" at a 100? That makes no sense to me.
I have shot my 22s out to 200 yards and beyond and you do not want to be shot at by me or any other shooter that knows his rifle at that range. I think they are best used at 75 yards and under for hunting but good shooting at paper can be done at much longer ranges. The best sight for 22 info is www.rimfirecentral.com
woodchuck315
Member
I agree!
As a rimfirecentral member for the past 5+ years, The guys n gals over there are THE guys n gals to ask about ANYTHING rimfire. If they cant help ya, they will point you in the right direction, as well.
I currently have more .22lr guns and ammo than anything else. Cheaper. And, if the SHTF, I can at least feed myself with small game, and with careful shots, medium game...But Id use my bow for deer and up...
for extremely recoil sensitive people, a .22lr pistol can dump 10 rounds accurately in very very short time, as there is very negligible muzzle jump, compared to even .25ap, yes ive shot a .25acp, and .22lr has about the same energy, with HP ammo readily available.
Thanks for the great tips guys/ladies. I've been going through all my .22 ammo this morning and am surprised at the variety and quality I have amassed. I'm going to be shooing and hunting much more with my good ol' 22s. BTW, I've got a Henry lever .22 on lay-away right now.
I just got back into .22 shooting, wow...been awhile, I use to buy
CCI for a dollar for a hundred!
Back in to mid 70's, I put up 3 of
those real thick Sears catologs, each one about 3 in. thick an shot different .22 ammo....the worst was Remington, winchester wildcat wasn't bad, but by far the deepest
penatration, an biggest hole was those cheaper CCI.....what, now they are like $7.50 for a box 50, or 100...? ..I bought wal-mart federal, 525 rds. for like 17.00, sure wish I had stocked up on those cheap CCI a long time ago, ...
CCI for a dollar for a hundred!
Back in to mid 70's, I put up 3 of
those real thick Sears catologs, each one about 3 in. thick an shot different .22 ammo....the worst was Remington, winchester wildcat wasn't bad, but by far the deepest
penatration, an biggest hole was those cheaper CCI.....what, now they are like $7.50 for a box 50, or 100...? ..I bought wal-mart federal, 525 rds. for like 17.00, sure wish I had stocked up on those cheap CCI a long time ago, ...
JImbothefiveth
Member
Never hunted with a .22, but I actually feel less confident about using them for self-defense, having read about the FBI guidelines.
C-grunt
Member
Jimbo.... The .22 will actually meet the FBI standards many times. The problem is its a small bullet, not the lack of penetration. Ive seen a drug dealer have a through and through head shot from a .22 pistol. Round hit the bridge of the nose and exited his just front of his left ear. It then cut a nice groove out of his shoulder. The guy did survive though.
I just got a deal on CCI Velocitor, Stinger and Mini Mag cartridges. My gun dealer was all sold out of the cheaper stuff and had a good supply of the CCIs, so I bought them all. He was just going to slap a price hike on them but told me he'd let me have them all for the old price.
On the box it says the stingers travel at 1640 FPS. That's fast for a 32gr hollow point bullet! Is anyone having problems getting good .22 ammo?
On the box it says the stingers travel at 1640 FPS. That's fast for a 32gr hollow point bullet! Is anyone having problems getting good .22 ammo?
Mike U.
Member
Actually, the folks who precision shoot for competition use Eley, SK, Lapua and the other top tier manufacturer's offerings.
CCI is really good, but is not really near the top.
This post has several inaccuracies.
Eley is manufactured in Great Britain and owned by Tenex, IIRC.
Aguila is manufactured in Mexico by Industrias Tecnos.
Two independently owned manufacturers from what I gather.
.22's are in their element from the 0-100 yard range. Many like to keep it under 75 yards, but, that's their self imposed limitation, not the round's.
In addition to the contradictions in the post which were pointed out in Ratshooter's post. May I politely suggest a little proof reading prior to hitting that "Submit Reply" button?
Husker,
I believe you were wondering about velocity for the Velocitor?
My box states 1435 FPS.
I believe the .22 LR is possibly the most versatile round in current production.
Inherently accurate cartridge.
Enough versatility to kill anything from a mouse to a full size steer*.
Incredible amount of loadings available and quite possibly the most popular round in the entire world. I imagine that pretty much anywhere you go, you'll be able to find .22 LR for sale.
Except, of course, those very draconian countries whose rulers forbid the ownership and use of firearms with the exception of their own government thugs, err, I mean officials.
*I've read where the .22 LR was used in the past to dispatch beef cows prior to processing.
Kind of hard to argue with that not adding to the .22's versatility.i personally shot a cow with marlin 60. it had a bum leg so we feed it corn till the time came. now the end of the barrel was maybe a foot from its head but it dropped the cow and that was that. also i hear the Agulira has quite the wallop. now on the other hand i shot a coon years ago in the head and i no it didnt do anything but brake the skin. he hoped into another tree were i had a full body to look at and i gave him a good Brod side. and down he came. this was back in the early 80s
alemonkey
Member
Your coon story reminds me of my coon hunting days. Back when I was a kid we used to hunt them almost every night in the winter. I once shot one out of a tree with my 10/22, and when he hit the ground he was MAD. He landed about 10 feet in front of me and decided to come after me. A whack from a baseball bat finished him
alemonkey
Member
Speaking of good quality .22 ammo, I've had incredibly good luck with Federal bulk pack stuff. Both my .22's (bull barrel 10/22 and Stevens Favorite) shoot it very well. I've put 5 shots in one hole at 25 yards many times with the Stevens, using that ammo.
It's definitely not in the same league with match stuff, but for the price I'm a big fan of it.
It's definitely not in the same league with match stuff, but for the price I'm a big fan of it.
thats so funny. if i could speak raccoon. i no this one was a cussing me. it was a pissed coon no 2 ways abought it. i seen its head jerk like someone through a jab at it. i was in shock the dam thing stood in the tree chatteren away at me for 10 seconds before it got stupid and moved to were i really could see all of him. i was about 15-16 years old
ThomasT
Member
Hello Mike U I took tour advice and went back and looked at the post again and I am not sure what I missed. Feel free to help me out. I am not easily offended and welcome any help you have.
Now here he says that "22lrs arent very accurate past 50 yards". Yet the tester hit a 12lb turkey at 300 yards in high winds. I remember the thread. I thought the shooter did a heck of a job hitting something the size of a 3 gallon bucket at 300 yards.
There are many threads here and on RFC with posted groups under an inch at 100 yards. I have went back and reread what I wrote in my first post and see no errors. If there is something I am missing please let me know.
Now here he says that "22lrs arent very accurate past 50 yards". Yet the tester hit a 12lb turkey at 300 yards in high winds. I remember the thread. I thought the shooter did a heck of a job hitting something the size of a 3 gallon bucket at 300 yards.
There are many threads here and on RFC with posted groups under an inch at 100 yards. I have went back and reread what I wrote in my first post and see no errors. If there is something I am missing please let me know.
rangerruck
Member
Eley, is Aguila, is Golden Eagle, IS remmy orange box, IS remmy yellow box, IS remmy 17mach 2. All of it is eley, period, Tenex IS THE NAME of their most popular 22lr target round. Which has now been supplanted by Tenex/ultimate EPS, and MATCH EPS, accuracy wise, generally speaking. Eley , all of them , is made on eley equipment, eley supplies, to eley standards, just put together in diff places. Aguila is in Mexico, and golden eagle is in America. the remmy's mentioned above, are also made in England, in the eley black boxes which are typical, they just slap on a remmy label. Eley is owned by Eley, ltd, co. It is a family name.
The 22 is the first self contained metallic cart., origionally called the Flobert cb 6mm, which you can still get by the way, a couple of companies still make it. I think it came out in 1853,
in France , and then either Smith or Colt came out with it next, the following year.
that info for husker...
When i say a 22 is dying after 100 yds, even though I mentioned the 300 yd turkey shot, you gotta read between the lines; let me further explain. The 22lr round is highly unique for a few reasons, I won't explain it in detail, but the caliber size, combined, with it's initial slow speed, certain atmospheric, and ballistic things happen to the 22lr , that happen to no other caliber, or bullet out there. So after 100 yds, the drop, wind, speed, atmoshperics really start playing hell with the 22lr round. And keeping them on a paper target , get's really difficult , very fast, after 100 yds. The dude had to take a lot of shots, to get on that turkey, and had to face directly into, or away from the wind, to get it right, IIRW.
As for the Aguila 60sss, I don't know why it shoots in my bbl; it will shoot in all the old remmy 22's of the speedmaster/fieldmaster/pumpmaster/scoremaster bbls. normally , if you think about shooting a 223, there is no way in hell's bathroom , that a 1/16 twist bbl , would stabilize a 60 grain pill, but for some reason , these bbls will.
I don't know if it has to do with the famous 'floating chamber' design of the old remmy's or something diff about the land/groove dimensions, or maybe these bbls, on those rifles, are not a 1/16 twist. Normally , you would have to get a special made bbl, for a 22, with a 1/12 twist, to get them to work.
I have gotten them to work decent from a marlin 981, and various 81's, but they would still keyhole, or be MMMAAAAAAYYYBEE hunting accurate, usually not; the twist just isn't fast enough. Though the microgroove bbl, seems to be working overtime to stabilize those bigboys.
I don't normally talk back to anyone on here, but maybe you should check your own headfacts, before hitting Enter, Mike U. Maybe read between the lines a little bit, maybe read some of my past posts. I'll go out on a limb here, even though I don't know you, and haven't checked on your pasts posts;(" mmm, that's good irony!") I have forgotten more about the mfgr, of eley ammo, in their england plant, and forgotten the 35 sections/headings of recommendations, from their Engineers, on how to possibly make their ammo even more accurate, than you know about 22 ammo; interior ballistics, exterior ballistics, liquid/molten dynamics, basic trajectories, supersonic atmospherics, and subsonic atmospherics, than you will ever know about 22 ammo , ever.
I was just trying to give the questioner some quick hit info , for reference, to help him answer his questions.
I said nothing wrong, or innacurate in my post, and stand behind it. you CAN hit targets in a high wind, at 300, you CAN penetrate turkeys and layers of clothes. Also , even the most accurate rifle, well zero'd at 100 yds, will be off paper 50 yds later, in a high wind or bad weather; from the drop alone, typically it will be over 20 inches at 200 yds, and that is in calm wind and temps, or just any plain ol' calm day.
Yet I finished my post by saying , if you know your 22 stuff, and have confidence in them, as I do, you can do plenty of good with them, from feeding yourself with them, to stopping the zombie hords. Like most of the info I give out here, I do try to be as correct as possible, without sounding mondo technical or anal about it, and if I try to remember info from a book or another reliable person or source, I try to paraphrase, without making it my own, and not take credit, but i still try to get it 100% right, without giving out every exact word, or nuanced detail.
Lighten up , smart guy.
First dude, I hoped I helped to answer your questions.
The 22 is the first self contained metallic cart., origionally called the Flobert cb 6mm, which you can still get by the way, a couple of companies still make it. I think it came out in 1853,
in France , and then either Smith or Colt came out with it next, the following year.
that info for husker...
When i say a 22 is dying after 100 yds, even though I mentioned the 300 yd turkey shot, you gotta read between the lines; let me further explain. The 22lr round is highly unique for a few reasons, I won't explain it in detail, but the caliber size, combined, with it's initial slow speed, certain atmospheric, and ballistic things happen to the 22lr , that happen to no other caliber, or bullet out there. So after 100 yds, the drop, wind, speed, atmoshperics really start playing hell with the 22lr round. And keeping them on a paper target , get's really difficult , very fast, after 100 yds. The dude had to take a lot of shots, to get on that turkey, and had to face directly into, or away from the wind, to get it right, IIRW.
As for the Aguila 60sss, I don't know why it shoots in my bbl; it will shoot in all the old remmy 22's of the speedmaster/fieldmaster/pumpmaster/scoremaster bbls. normally , if you think about shooting a 223, there is no way in hell's bathroom , that a 1/16 twist bbl , would stabilize a 60 grain pill, but for some reason , these bbls will.
I don't know if it has to do with the famous 'floating chamber' design of the old remmy's or something diff about the land/groove dimensions, or maybe these bbls, on those rifles, are not a 1/16 twist. Normally , you would have to get a special made bbl, for a 22, with a 1/12 twist, to get them to work.
I have gotten them to work decent from a marlin 981, and various 81's, but they would still keyhole, or be MMMAAAAAAYYYBEE hunting accurate, usually not; the twist just isn't fast enough. Though the microgroove bbl, seems to be working overtime to stabilize those bigboys.
I don't normally talk back to anyone on here, but maybe you should check your own headfacts, before hitting Enter, Mike U. Maybe read between the lines a little bit, maybe read some of my past posts. I'll go out on a limb here, even though I don't know you, and haven't checked on your pasts posts;(" mmm, that's good irony!") I have forgotten more about the mfgr, of eley ammo, in their england plant, and forgotten the 35 sections/headings of recommendations, from their Engineers, on how to possibly make their ammo even more accurate, than you know about 22 ammo; interior ballistics, exterior ballistics, liquid/molten dynamics, basic trajectories, supersonic atmospherics, and subsonic atmospherics, than you will ever know about 22 ammo , ever.
I was just trying to give the questioner some quick hit info , for reference, to help him answer his questions.
I said nothing wrong, or innacurate in my post, and stand behind it. you CAN hit targets in a high wind, at 300, you CAN penetrate turkeys and layers of clothes. Also , even the most accurate rifle, well zero'd at 100 yds, will be off paper 50 yds later, in a high wind or bad weather; from the drop alone, typically it will be over 20 inches at 200 yds, and that is in calm wind and temps, or just any plain ol' calm day.
Yet I finished my post by saying , if you know your 22 stuff, and have confidence in them, as I do, you can do plenty of good with them, from feeding yourself with them, to stopping the zombie hords. Like most of the info I give out here, I do try to be as correct as possible, without sounding mondo technical or anal about it, and if I try to remember info from a book or another reliable person or source, I try to paraphrase, without making it my own, and not take credit, but i still try to get it 100% right, without giving out every exact word, or nuanced detail.
Lighten up , smart guy.
First dude, I hoped I helped to answer your questions.
Last edited:
ThomasT
Member
Hello RangerRuck. I admit I am not real good about reading "Between the lines". I pretty much take what you write at face value. I am also very familiar with the strange ballistics of the 22 round and the turbulence envelope it operates in.
I don't remember how many shots the guy took to hit the turkey but if he took a lot I don't doubt it at all. Three hundred yards is a long way for that round.
I don't know why your Remmy shoots the 60gr rounds. My rem 572 pump doesn't. I did buy a 1/9 twist barrel for my 10-22 just to shoot these rounds and have never tried it out. For what I paid for the barrel I sure hope it works. I paid more for the barrel than for the whole friggen gun. I do wish I could find a 1/9 twist for my 77/22.
I don't remember how many shots the guy took to hit the turkey but if he took a lot I don't doubt it at all. Three hundred yards is a long way for that round.
I don't know why your Remmy shoots the 60gr rounds. My rem 572 pump doesn't. I did buy a 1/9 twist barrel for my 10-22 just to shoot these rounds and have never tried it out. For what I paid for the barrel I sure hope it works. I paid more for the barrel than for the whole friggen gun. I do wish I could find a 1/9 twist for my 77/22.
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