Aguila Ammo Range Report

L

lizziedog1

New member
I recently purchased a used single shot .22 rifle for my grandson. I took it to the range today. Of course, I had to test it for safety reasons, if you know what I mean.

I went to the gun store the other day and bought several different brands of .22 ammo to test this rifle. Besides the standard American brands, I purchased several variations of Aguila rimfire ammo.

I have several comments to make about this south of the border stuff. It did shoot accruately and was reliable enough. But there are a couple of complaints about them. First, who designed the ammo boxes? There is this two piece plastic carrier inside of the cardboard box. It comes apart and makes a mess of the ammo. It is difficult to just remove a round or two. If they are going to use plastic, they might as well copy CCI's boxes. Then there was the odor of the ammo. I like the smell of freshly shot rimfire ammo. The Aguila ammo had a peculiar smell. It was sort of ammonia like. I hope it doesn't mean that this ammo is hard on gun barrels. I might try it again. But the ammo boxes don't help.

Who else has tried Aguila ammo? What are your thoughts on it?
 
I have shot tons of Aguila ammo, both the Super Colibri (ultra quiet) and Hyper Velocity rounds.

They do smell strange, and are a bit dirty to boot.

The high velocity rounds were quite accurate - they had Eley primers, which I suppose is a good sign. Fed reliably, which is a plus.

And yeah, I --completely-- agree about the horrible packaging - just terrible. That plastic retainer is a nightmare, I just empty them all into the cardboard box.

The quiet stuff is unbelievable - you can shoot it in a basement with no ear protection and it's quieter than most BB guns, just a light "crack!" ... at the range, with ear protection, I have to check the target to make sure it fired, the sound doesn't penetrate the earphones. However, it shoots very low (for obvious reasons), and is pretty inaccurate above 15 yards (!).
 
Re:270win

At the gun store I did see their ammo that is powderless. The box has a warning against using it in a rifle. Have you used them in a rifle?

I did try their subsonic loads and their high velocity loads. They were pretty accurate.

I like your idea of dumping the ammo into the cardboard box. I will do that next time.

Is this ammo any more corrosive then domestic brands?
 
Only the Super Colibri is powderless, using only the primer to propel the bullet. From a short rifle barrel (18.25") I've had no stuck rounds whatsoever. I know the regular Colibri are even less powerful, and might definitely have problems exiting the barrel. I've read a story here or there, maybe a handful total, of a stuck round... but it seems pretty rare.

I don't know if it's any more corrosive... it seems roughly the same. Nothing grossly noticeable, anyway.

I picked mine up at a gun show, despite the fact that the company representative was a total idiot who said the speed of sound was "about 200 miles an hour... some cars can break it!" and that "Colibri is Spanish for Caliber" (means Hummingbird, hence the primer logo) and other nonsense. But they were very very cheap, and I'd read rather good things, so I picked them up. I've been pleased so far, will probably get some more when these run out.
 
I've shot it all, and it's pretty good stuff. i have shot the super quiet stuff in my old 25" rem without sticking a bullet. It's very accurate for 8yd plinking i think there like about 3 pumps on the crossman pellet rifle.
 
I recommend the 60-grain subsonic rounds. They really penetrate. I with they mada an analagous .22 mag round.
 
aquila 22 ammo

I have a case of 5000 standard velocity Aquila that shoots with the best of ELY or Lapua in my 64mp Anschutz. I paid $116.50 delivered to my door from Centurion Ordinance. At a $1.16 a box of 50 I can shoot a lot. I bought 2 cases of 5000 last year and I just started on the last case. The standard velocity shoots well in all 8 of my 22 caliber rifles.My Ruger 77 all weather and my 10/22 are excellent at 50 yards with it . I get 1/2" down to 1/4" all the time and the Anchutz shoots 1/4" and smaller with it off my Sinclair rest.But remember that every 22 has a brand that it prefers over others and try WOLF ammo also. I've seen CCI mini mags out shoot Green Tag in some rifles and Ely shoots best in my 541S.Who can figure?:D
 
My experiences with Aguila..

by far the most interesting rimfire ammo maker:

1. Super Colibris. Quiet and therefore cool, but not very accurate. 1 or 2 out of 5 shots will be a full inch off at 10 yards. But the other 3 or 4 that you hit with will kill a crow or grackle better than a .177 pellet most of the time. Yes you can shoot them out of rifles, but preferably under 18 or 19" bbls, to be safe. Having said that, I've shot them through 24" bbls with no problems. If you don't see or hear the bullet strike a target, then it may be lodged in the bbl, so don't fire another shot until you've inspected the bore. Do this and you'll be fine. I don't think they make the 'regular' Colibris any more. If you find some, then I wouldn't shoot *those* through anything other than a handgun, to be extra safe.

2. Super Maximum. Does what it says. Chronoed it at just over 1700 fps from a rifle as per the box, and over 1,325 fps from a 5" handgun (1911 ceiner conversion). But again, poor accuracy. I get about 4" groups at 80 yards and 5" at 100 yards - unacceptable. Meh, won't buy it anymore.

3. Sniper Subsonic (SSS) 60 grainers. Accurate in my 1 in 9 AR barrel, with conversion kit, penetrate like nobody's business, and are highly suppressable. Big thumbs up (with proper platform).

4. Super Extra (SE). Good stuff. Very accurate in cursory tests, though I haven't really wrung it out completely. Thumbs up. Raktrak, is that the SE of which you speak?

Haven't tried any other kinds of Aguila yet. Are there other types?

Regarding the SSS:
I with they mada an analagous .22 mag round.
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Ooh, yeah, that would be shiz-nizzle. :)
 
Quick note: the high velocity Aguila ammo will likely not load in a match chamber... it won't in my 10/22. My Henry lever-action treats it great, though.
 
As a rimfire silhouette shooter, I have come to test, appreciate, and buy by the case, the Aguila Standard ammo. I have also found superb results with the High Velocity in other auto loading handguns and rifles. The Standard Velocity is capable of single ragged holes in paper chickens and pigs. Deviation for turkeys and rams are quite acceptable. With a good rifle, Aguila Standard Velocity would put you in the money as long as you could shoot well. The rounds perform, so it's up to the shooter to do his part. When the steel chickens fly off the rail, and the pigs fall one by one, I don't think about how the burned powder smells.
 
I use the target match and the standard velocity both excellent rounds,the SSS 60gr will stablize in my Marlin and is accurate with a punch,while my 10/22 tends to get a flier now and then with the 60gr.

I find the rifle Target match is better then Wolf match, all in all go ammo.
 
I used Super Colibri on the trap line last winter. While it was quieter, it wouldn't feed from the magazine requiring me to load only 3 rounds at a time. Sometimes it took all 3 to kill a raccoon. When trying to kill skunks caught accidentally, I found accuracy was not skunk capable. Most required several shots to make a killing hit with results less than optimum(in other words each and every skunk sprayed before receiving a deadly hit). I also found it would not penetrate the skull of an old boar coon 100% requiring another shot to the ribs or a boot to suffocate the animal.
This year, I'm using Remington C-Bee ammo. Accuracy seems much better and it feeds from the magazine of my Ruger 22/45 fine. Requires manual cycling but that's fine since I have plenty of time to load when approaching a trapped animal.
 
Mobuck said:
I used Super Colibri on the trap line last winter. While it was quieter, it wouldn't feed from the magazine requiring me to load only 3 rounds at a time. Sometimes it took all 3 to kill a raccoon. When trying to kill skunks caught accidentally, I found accuracy was not skunk capable. Most required several shots to make a killing hit with results less than optimum(in other words each and every skunk sprayed before receiving a deadly hit). I also found it would not penetrate the skull of an old boar coon 100% requiring another shot to the ribs or a boot to suffocate the animal.
This year, I'm using Remington C-Bee ammo. Accuracy seems much better and it feeds from the magazine of my Ruger 22/45 fine. Requires manual cycling but that's fine since I have plenty of time to load when approaching a trapped animal.
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You might give CCI Quiet .22 a try. It's a 40 grain long rifle round loaded to a 710 fps muzzle velocity. They are practically air rifle quiet and the accuracy is very good, not match grade but good enough for hunting and casual pliinking.

Here's a five shot group at 50 yards.
020-1.jpg
 
+1 on the odour of the aguila. It stinks! I only use it in the field for that reason, as it just too smelly for the range.
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I notice the same odor when shooting Wolf MT. I guess it's the primer. Does Eley ammo have that odor?

I have always been very happy with Wolf MT but I may try some of Aguilla's match ammo after reading this thread, if I can actually find some without ordering it on line.

Wolf MT at 50 yards five shots.
088.jpg
 
I think I remember reading somewhere that Aguila is made at the Remington plant in Mexico. Does that mean that Remington is still in charge?
 
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