.22 LR ammo variety- what do you buy?

For my .22 rifles, the CCI SVs are all I need; very reliable, very accurate, and as .22 shells go these days, very available. And these days, they're about as economically priced as one can find for good .22 shells. Good all around cheap ammo (IMO). BTW, I have an old Ruger 10/22, a Ruger American rimfire, and a vintage 40's, M75 Winchester target rifle. My wife has a Henry Golden Boy (made in New York city) in mint condition. We also have a Savage M72 single shot (like the old Crackshot) that's our "trainer;" got two grandkids coming of age...

So, I just bought a new S&W Victory .22 pistol, and since I had a bunch of .22 shells stashed from years ago, I wanted to see what might work best for me in my new plinker.

First, I had a 15 year old (at least) opened bulk box of Federal Auto Match that I tried, and found them dirty and inaccurate; had one stovepipe with them, but all the rest I tried cycled through the pistol just fine, just didn't think much of them, generally. Shot 50 of those, and won't buy them again.

Second, I tried a brand new (very old, but unopened) box of Rem "Golden Bullets" that still have the price sticker on them from a hardware store that isn't there anymore in our home town. They're the old style 100 round, transparent, amber colored, plastic square container concern that has $2.79 for the price on the sticker, along with the hardware store ID. These shells have to be at least 25 years old, and they shot remarkably well, and cycled flawlessly through the pistol. I wished I had more of those. I saved half that box unfired, just because, price sticker and all... very good stuff.

Third, I tried some Winchester, Super X, 40 grn. round nose shells that came in the red, plastic, transparent 100 round container, that I've had for a couple of years. They shot very well, cycled as the old "Goldies" did, and I'd use them again if I can find them locally. Good stuff, too.

Fourth, I tried the CCI mini-mag, 36 grn. H.P.s. They, too, shot very well in the pistol, and because they're pretty available these days, though more expensive, I'll probably go with them currently with my Victory.

I did all my shooting @ 15 yards, and though I'm not any kind of a pistol shot, I could hold MOST all my shots in a 4" circle. I shot both two-hand, and single-hand hold, and found the single hand hold the most comfortable, and fun, for me. For just a complete novice having fun with a new firearm, that was how I judged the ammo I used for this thread. .22 pistols are wonderfully fun, and I don't have to reload, either!
 
When buying for a specific rifle like my Anschutz I buy the Eley flavors. When I am out and about if I see a good sale price on about anything I buy it just for general shooting and adding to my existing stock. There have been some good sales lately and it's like we worked our way from shortage to a glut of the stuff.

Ron
 
I don't shoot 22 RF very much and hate to admit it but have never really sighted one in. I mean, I get one and take it out to shoot, generally about 25yds is good to go. Now I have fired the 22 mag to sight it in but darn if I have ever been able to remember what it fired best! Doesn't really seem to matter much which brand of 22 mag ammo I get, I'll either hit with it or miss with it. I don't shoot it a whole lot anymore either but I can hit an 8" paper plate with what ever I have in it at 100 yds! A sage rat's head at 100 yds? Might miss!:-)

PS
this priceless information was assembled over 50yrs of shooting and not keeping records!
 
First accuracy then reliability. Remington has always worked best for me. Shooting my Ciener units at present, I get good accuracy with CCIs and Winchester but numerous failures to extract/eject.
 
Swearing off Remington, unless . . .

Am burning lots of 22 LR these days having fun with new Beretta m9 22. Love that thing. I've had FTF with remington before in other guns. Well when I shoot my Beretta 22 loaded with Remington Golden it sounds like this . . . BAM, BAM, BAM, pop, BAM, BAM, pop, BAM etc. On every pop, if I don't see the hole appear in the target I stop and check for a squib. So I think I'm done with Remington 22 ammo. I buy 22 LR when I can find a good price and over the last couple years I've acquired over 1000 rounds of Remington. I've moved those to one side of the ammo closet, saving them for when I have nothing else. Which might be a while. I finally counted my 22 LR ammo stash and there are almost 13K rounds. Yipes. Guess I'm finding too many good buys!

Life is good.
Prof Young
 
CCI minimags or Aquila for the most part.

During the great shortage, I actually bought a Heritage Arms Rough Rider 22 revolver so I could shoot all the ####### Winchester white box that would NOT cycle my semi-automatic 22.
 
I would never buy again Winchester unless you use it in a SA/DA revolver but even than might cause issues. I am good luck with Thunderbolt and Golden Bullet but best was any CCI.
 
CCI and Aguila for me.

I'd like to take this moment to formally curse those who hoarded .22 LR for the sole intent of flipping it at a gross profit causing artificial inflation and empty shelves everywhere.

May your bowels be forever loose and suffering a minor headache.
 
I'm not going to say that I haven't had issues with Winchester White Box in some of my .22's, but it's worked well in others and I just figure that's normal .22 rimfire for ya. The worst I've encountered was the polymer coated CCI (they've had Red, White, and Blue for July 4tha and Red/Green for Xmas) and that stuff shoots very inaccurately in all my guns and/or won't feed in some.
 
CCI SV, Mini Mags and Blazer are what I shoot most but on Thanksgiving Academy Sports had Eley for a great price and I bought a case of Standard and a few boxes of Force. I would never buy that stuff at full retail.
 
TruthTellers said:
Since the .22 ammo panic is long over and prices are low enough to buy in large quantity again, I decided earlier this year to start cutting down on the variety and different brands/loadings of .22 I have. I'm shooting up the bulk packed ammo when I go to the range and have decided on only buying a handful of .22 to keep stockpiled.

I'm just wondering does anyone else do this or do you just buy whatever .22 you can find or what's cheapest? . . . .
Click to expand...
Having bought both boxes and bulk packs in a "catch as catch can" manner for several years, I've got kind of a little of everything. That means that it'll take me while to shoot through the variety I've laid in. I'm good with that. Shooting .22s makes me smile. :D

I must admit to being a BIG fan of being able to buy .22 regularly again, but I bought my first case online last year about this time. Federal somethingorother. I'd have to go look at the box. I'd like to lay in a couple more cases of bulk .22, including but not limited to:
1. CCI Standard Velocity. Just about everything I've bought over the years has been HV, but I've begun to think that SV may group better for some of my guns. And I'd love to do some "serious" testing. (That's pronounced "kill more soup cans.")
2. Aguila SV. See above


I'd like a good supply of those, but am pretty content to keep a mishmash on hand. Only a couple of my .22s seem to show much preference, at least as far as feeding and ejection. Grouping may be another story.
 
Aguila makes good ammo, but when it comes to standard velocity I stick with CCI because almost anything CCI is always available at any gun store or Walmart. Same goes for Mini Mags, Stinger, Velocitor; Aguila makes similar ammo, but the CCI stuff is easier to find and IMO, a bit better.

If Aguila just shoots better out of any gun that a person owns, by all means, by whatever shoots best from your gun.

Stuff that is completely unique and no one else makes that only Aguila does, like Colibri, Sniper SubSonic... just for the niche uses they're made for are worth trying and stocking a few hundred rounds of if they shoot well in one's guns.
 
CCI Standard is about all I buy these days. Sometimes Remington subsonic or GemTech subsonic if it's a good price. I'd buy Wolf Match, but I haven't seen it on a shelf since 2012...just online and I don't get much 22LR online. Like the OP, I've got too much "crap" that I bought before the panic when I was not as discriminating...Federal Automatch, Champion, etc....I should just sell it away cheap because I purchased it at pre-panic prices.

What I won't buy ever again:

CCI Quiet (worthless except a revolver)
Rem Golden Bullets (nobody wonders why)
Federal Automatch (lousy accuracy in most of my guns)
Federal Champion (poor plating...corrodes over time)
Any supersonics; Browning, Velocitor, etc. (lousy accuracy)
CCI Select ("select"...is no better than CCI Standard and more expensive)
 
I have been in the habit of buying the cheapest stuff I can find. I still have stuff that I had stashed during the 22 drought from a few years ago. I had it stacked deep then and still have it stacked deep. I do rotate my stock. I will say I never gouged anybody during the 22 shortage. I sold one brick for $20 and gave one brick away. The rest I kept for me and family. I try and stack all my calibers pretty deep and would suggest that if you can you should start doing the same.
 
berettaprofessor said:
CCI Standard is about all I buy these days. Sometimes Remington subsonic or GemTech subsonic if it's a good price. I'd buy Wolf Match, but I haven't seen it on a shelf since 2012...just online and I don't get much 22LR online. Like the OP, I've got too much "crap" that I bought before the panic when I was not as discriminating...Federal Automatch, Champion, etc....I should just sell it away cheap because I purchased it at pre-panic prices.

What I won't buy ever again:

CCI Quiet (worthless except a revolver)
Rem Golden Bullets (nobody wonders why)
Federal Automatch (lousy accuracy in most of my guns)
Federal Champion (poor plating...corrodes over time)
Any supersonics; Browning, Velocitor, etc. (lousy accuracy)
CCI Select ("select"...is no better than CCI Standard and more expensive)
Click to expand...
CCI Quiet is a non-semi auto ammo. Can't remember if it says on the box it won't work in semi-auto's, but on CCI's website they have in red letter that manual cycling of the action may be required.

The Hyper velocity stuff is for max power when needed. It's not going to be as accurate as standard velocity or subsonic .22, but that ammo isn't nearly as powerful.

Federal can be okay ammo, but it's not worth it to me to keep on hand over CCI Standard.
 
I sure hope .22 LR has no expiry date. I bought cheap and deep back 10 years ago, and have never come close to a shortage.
CCI and Federal are what I usually choose when I buy now.
 
Blazer is my favorite and shoots very well out of all of my 22's. Remington Thunderbolt has also worked well for me. I've had a lot of problems with Winchester Super X so I avoid it. I like the cci quiets and they DO cycle my M&P22c most of the time. Federal has been hit and miss.
 
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