Best ammo for Ruger 10 22

E

eric3D2

Inactive
Hello shooters! My dad and I have just gotten into this great sport and are having a great time. I bought my first firearm last week, a Ruger 10 22 carbine. Very proud of it, and very happy with the way it performs.
Since I'm just starting out, I have lots of questions and that's why I came on here! My dad joined the forum last week and has already gotten a lot of help.

My first question is about ammunition. I've heard from a number of sources that sticking to the same kind of ammo is a good idea. At the range on Sunday I used Federal copper plated hollow point loose pack. Yesterday my dad came home with a few boxes of Remington brass-plated hollow points, also loose pack. He said I could have one of the boxes if I wanted. So my question is this-should I use the Remington brass-plated or go with something else? I thought the Federal that I used was not that great, I had a few misfeeds and the quality just doesn't really seem to be there. The Remingtons seem a bit better, but I just don't like the idea of all the rounds thrown into a box. What's been your experiences with ammo for the 10 22? I plan to use the rifle for target shooting and plinking.
 
One size does not fit all !!

I'd like to say that the 10/22's will eat just about anythng but sure as heck cannot. ... :mad:

I have had many problems with Federal bulk-packs (blue Box) and a few with the Remington bulk-packs. The Federals were dirty, under-powered, inconsistant and a few splits or came apart. Long ago, I gave up on the Remington thunderbolts, although I understand the the newer ones are better. .. :confused:

If you are going to have ammo problems, it will show up on these Semi-Autos. I reserve these for the bolts and our training classes. For my plinking, I pretty much stick to the Wildcats and for target and hunting, I go with the CCI Mini-Mags and Wincheter Super-X.

Keep looking and i'm sure your will find more than one, that you like !!

Be Safe !!!
 
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You don't have to stick with one type of ammo, it's just that if you sight it in for one type and one brand, and you change to another brand it may shoot differently and you may need to adjust your scope, or sights. That's why people say to sight it in with one ammo and stick with that one.

I personally shoot several to find the one that groups the best while feeding reliably and that's what I stick with.
 
Some brands are better than others. Most people find Remington rimfire to be crap, me included. Bottom line is try several different brands to find out what your gun likes best. Mine all perform well with Federal or Winchester bulk. CCI performs best in all of them tho. I have one old one that doesn't like anything but CCI but it has a non firearms related mainspring so that may be why.
 
Experiment

99% of 22s , especially semi autos will prove to have a preference fo a certain round ! My 10-22 likes Winchester Super-X ammo . My Mossberg prefers CCI Mini-Mags , but will shoot Rem. Thunderbolts almost as well ! Keep track of what each type does in your gun , and buy something different until you find the one that groups the best ! At least that's what I do !
 
Try different brands to see what works well in your gun. It's not unusual for a gun to "like" a particular brand over others.
That said, I have found CCI products to work well in all of my guns.
 
Try Federal AutoMatch Rifle, Winchester Wildcat, Federal Champion bulk pack, and CCI minimags, and see if any of those give you the performance you are looking for.

Generally Federal AutoMatch gives the tightest groups, but just because it says "match" in the title don't expect to go up against someone with an Anschutz shooting Eley Tenex.

Jimro
 
different 10/22s are different from others. I hear a lot of people that have had issues with your standard bulk packs from remington or federal but I've never had that issue. I normally stay away from the cheap winchesters that are solid lead...they have a nasty tendency of fouling your barrel. a while back I bought an ammo can of old mix and match boxes of 50 that was packed 10-15 years ago and had american eagle copper plates, remington brass plated, cci stingers, some old brand that I don't recognize but it came in a green box and all the bullets were coated in wax. there was also some armscor and a few other boxes that were mix and match of just about any ammo you could think of. a few of the armscors were duds but everything cycled and fed without issue, apparently I must have gotten one of the happy 10/22s :D
 
My 10/22 has ~800 rounds through it, a mix of Winchester "333s", Federal Bulk-Pack, and Remington.

I liked the 333s best. They seemed to feed smoothest. But all fed and ejected without issue.
 
Mine eats just about anything you can put in it...except solid lead bullets :( bust bulk federal and remington is does fine with. Be more picky about magazines than anything. Those little ten round mags work very nice. Those other ones are iffy, butler creek make them ok though :)
 
Who knows why ??

I have a Ruger Charger which is a 10/22 pistol. There is abosolutely no good reason why it should be so fussy on what I feed it but it sure is. Just so happens it likes Remington golds. Cycles just like it was intended. Have not done and trigger group work on it yet and if and when I do, I'll have to find what it likes. Know that these 10/22's are really not that fussy and are good little rifles but I guess you will have that. .... :confused:

Keep listening to your 10/22 and it will let you know what it likes. .... ;)

Be Safe !!!
 
I find Aguila brand best in my 10/22, subsonic for plinking, for accuracy there rifle match is excellent the WalMart work but poor for accuracy IMO.
 
Thanks for all the help! That was a lot of replies in a very short time. So I will have to see which of the brands you all have recommended are available at the stores in my area. I'll be looking for the CCI, but how much does this ammo usually cost? One of the reasons I bought a .22 was becasue the ammo is pretty cheap, and if this stuff is too expensive, it defeats the whole purpose a bit. I'll look for the Winchesters as well.
 
Go to Walmart and your local sporting goods store.
Buy one 50-100rd box of each type they have.
Shoot each box at targets at 25-50yds distance.
Select the best ammo for accuracy/feeding that suits your purpose, then go back and buy a brick of it.

Bulk packed ammo is usually the lowest end stuff. Federal Automatch and Winchester Dynapoints are two notable exceptions to that rule.
Stick to 50-100rd boxes for now, as they're cheaper to experiment with.
 
My .22 is not a 10/22 but a Mossberg 702 Plinkster and all I have shot through it is the Remington 550 bulk pack. So far all have gone bang and had one misfeed.

CCI gets the most wide spread praise so I would try that next. If I am really trying to wring out accuracy I would buy CCI but for plinking any of the cheapo bulk packs are more than fine as long as they cycle well in your gun.
 
I'll be looking for the CCI, but how much does this ammo usually cost?
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as far as general ammunition prices goes the CCI is very good. as far as 22 ammo prices go it's not cheap. I thinks it's about 7-10 cents a round. but well worth it, it's probably the most reliable and accurate ammo you can get for a rimfire.
 
As many have already mentioned, most of the 22's I have like different ammo. The one brand that runs most consistently is CCI. Mini-Mags in particular. Blazers are pretty good too. I don't shoot any Remington ammo anymore. Too dirty, the lead fouling was by far the worst. CCI Standard velocity is probably the most accurate of the cheaper rimfire ammo I use. Federal Champion has been good to me too.
 
First things first: congrats and welcome!

What Jimro said, and then largely stick with the most reliable and accurate for you!

Well written post by the way.

Enjoy and be safe.
 
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