Which .22 ammo is best between these two?

[Pukindog12]

I have 1,000 rds of Federal Lightning and 1,000 rds of M22 Winchester. I have shot the Federal with decent results but have not shot the M22s.

I am going to sell one of the two brands to purchase a holster for a newly acquired pistol. I want to keep the better brand for myself.

So, in essence, which is the better .22 ammo?

Thanks.

 

[thump_rrr]

I have never had any success with any Winchester 22LR.
YMMV

 

[rcmodel]

If I had 2,000 rounds of .22 ammo?

I sure as heck wouldn't sell half of it to buy a holster.

Skip Starbucks 3 days, or skip lunch a couple of weeks if you have too.

.22 ammo is real hard to get once you run out anymore!!!!

rc

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

RC's advice is solid. A bird in the hand is worth about twenty in the bush in today's .22 LR ammo market.

 

[22-rimfire]

I personally prefer the Federal Lightnings/Champions (510/510B). It is my standard general purpose 22 ammo and I have a good bit of it purchased between the the current shortage start and the previous one.

I wouldn't sell any for a holster. I'd find another way.

 

[witchhunter]

Keep both, you need to try each brand in your gun to see which one it likes. They are all different. 3 Starbucks or a couple of weeks of lunch! Ha!

 

[JSH1]

The better brand is the one that shoots better in your gun. We can't tell you which one is better for you because every gun is different.

 

[200Apples]

.
.22LR is coming back onto the shelves... it's .22WMR that's now hard to find. Just when I want to bring home a lil' lightweight J-frame snubbie in point.deuce.deuce.mag for snakes n' yotes. Good thing I already have some!

As for your .22LR question, it's a tossup, really. M22 had a bad rap four or five years ago and that was limited to a brief few lots. I like Federal ammo and use a lot of it in their American Eagle brand (also, it's what's avail locally in my freedom-stifled city that does not allow ammo purchased elsewhere to be shipped to our doors).

 

[Jurist]

ammo choices

How much for the M-22 Winchester?.

 

[Warp]

Federal > Winchester

Check the M22 lot numbers, Winchester and their poor QC had to recall some lots

http://www.winchester.com/library/news/Pages/s22lrt-recall.aspx

"Symbol Number: S22LRT
Lot Numbers: GD42L and GD52L

Winchester has determined the above lots of 22 Long Rifle rimfire ammunition may contain double powder charges. Ammunition with double powder charges may subject the shooter or bystanders to a risk of serious personal injury and/or death, or cause firearm damage, rendering the firearm inoperable."

 

[FROGO207]

I agree with those here that say to keep it all. The availability lately is spotty at best. I have a variety of .22 firearms and they all seem to like different ammo. So asking others which is better is like asking which flavor of pizza or ice cream you should buy. For that matter the lobster flavored ice cream available here is not worth buying IMHO. I would try for other means to get that holster as well.

 

[RA40]

+1 on not selling the .22 unless you bought it back in the day when they were ~$.02-$.05/round and will be making some $$. Even then having it is better than not having it. If you don't shoot .22 with frequency then having them is minor to selling them to get something you want.

 

[TruthTellers]

I'd just keep both and wait for the next panic later this year and a 1000 rounds of whatever for 90 bucks or whatever someone's willing to be gouged... I mean, pay for it.

 

[bannockburn]

I have had both and between the two I would keep the Federal Lightning.

 

[ericuda]

I think the first box of shells I acquired long years ago was federal lightning. Used exclusively roaming the cricks growing up. Still prefer it as a good reliable round if you can ever find it.

 

[Sav .250]

Never used ammo as listed so I have no idea.

 

[Rodentman]

I have very bad luck with Winchester 22. Wouldn't feed in my autos and was difficult to chamber in my bolt rifle. Bullets would spin the brass. I'll keep mine and use it, but I don't like it.

 

[Seven High]

I think that I would keep both brands of 22 ammo and buy a Uncle Mikes nylon holster. Then, save up some money and buy a leather holster. You should be able to find a nylon holster for about $20.00.

 

[Oldman1151]

Let the gun decide.

 

[Onward Allusion]

If I had 2,000 rounds of .22 ammo?

I sure as heck wouldn't sell half of it to buy a holster.

Skip Starbucks 3 days, or skip lunch a couple of weeks if you have too.

Listen to RC!

 

[MIL-DOT]

Both of them are just bulk-grade blasting ammo, neither is anything special, so just go shoot some of the Winchester (after checking your lot number for the recall) and see how your gun likes it. THAT'S what matters, not what anyone else tells you.
Also, as you've already been advised, you'd be kinda crazy to dump a thousand rounds of .22 ammo in todays market, just to go buy some frivolous new toy.
On a side note, several years back I bought a CZ 452, a very nice .22 bolt action rifle, and began the process finding what the rifle most "liked". After trying everything on the Wal-mart shelves to a couple different highly recommended "Match grade" ammos, this rifle seemed to shoot the best 50 yard groups with plain old non-jacketed Winchester X-pert (IIRC) !! The stuff, being unjacketed, was grubby to the touch and only cost about $12 a box of 500 at Wal-mart, but I wasn't complaining ! I still have about a half an ammo can of the stuff.
Anyway, the point is that you never know what a gun is going to respond well to.

 

[I6turbo]

Most of my CZs shoot Winchester ammo such as 333/555 as well as any of the lower priced non-match-grade stuff. One that doesn't is the Right Hand 452 American, but the rest shoot it anywhere from pretty well to very well, considering it's bulk ammo. No functional failures, delivers ~1.5 MOA accuracy in most of the guns most of the time, so it's good.

That said, I do not like M-22 at all. This is because the ammo is terribly dirty on the outside.

I had read some decent reviews on M-22 so bought 2K rounds when I found it at WM a year or so ago. However, when I got it home and started looking closely I discovered that the black coating stuff is very sloppily applied and extends down the neck of the brass a little ways on about 40% of the rounds.

Here's a photo of a random handful of rounds from one of the 500-pack boxes. The black stuff down the neck is kinda like a very thin layer of waxy lead or some such weird thing. I didn't really study it to try to determine exactly what it was but it comes off pretty easily with a scrape of the fingernail. I don't see how it would avoid building up in the chamber and requiring frequent cleanings (some on-line reports have mentioned this - semi-auto guns gumming up and having to be cleaned frequently to keep them running). I couldn't bring myself to put it through my guns so I sold my 2K rounds to someone who was more desperate for ammo than I.



Several months later and I've since acquired 3,000 additional rounds from more recent lots. They look exactly the same as the above.

 

[ADKWOODSMAN]

as FROG said.
"I agree with those here that say to keep it all. The availability lately is spotty at best. I have a variety of .22 firearms and they all seem to like different ammo. "

I found some old .22lr from the 70's in my stash and it almost shot 1 hole through my Marlin 39 which I use in SASS. It was inherited from an uncle.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

While I can't speak to that particular Winchester -

I know I've shot it along with other Winchester and it has always (seems) Winchester which would be the one to give my Semi auto pistols or rifles a hard time.

The evidence is the high number of Winchester partial boxes which I have due to putting them up and switching brands while shooting.

Too, I would heed RC's advice above with his particular perspective in mind as well.

Skip some coffee, Red Bull... whatever. Keep the ammo regardless of being Winchester.


Todd.

 

[Reloadron]

Which .22 ammo is best between these two?

That would be the one that shoots best in the gun you plan on shooting it in. Also, while I have seen plenty available lately around my area I would just hang on to what you have. For 1,000 rounds of either you can't be looking at much money, even at let's say $0.10 a round you only have $100 bucks there.

Ron