Best rimfire ammo?

G

gaseousclay

New member
I picked up a 200 pk of Blazer .22 ammo the other day, only because it's made by CCI and CCI ammo was unavailable at my LGS. My question is, which company makes the most reliable .22 ammo? I've read that CCI is consistently good but beyond that i'm not sure who else falls into the reliable category? I'm not sure why but i've tried steering clear of brands like Winchester and Remington, even though those are the most plentiful. At this point I don't think I can be too picky, especially if only certain brands present themselves at the store. I'd like to buy some bulk .22 ammo if I can.
 
I've had the most consistent results with: CCI Standard Velocity, Blazer, and Federal Small Game.
I mostly shoot in my Buckmark, but also shoot Ruger 10/22 and SR22.
 
I don't think there is any good answer to the OP's question, beyond CCI. I think the nature of rimfire ammunition depends too much on the batch -- and probably the phase of the moon and the alignment of the planets.

For example, Remington Thunderbolt consistently gets horrible reviews, but I have gone though several bricks of it that have been extremely consistent. On the other hand, I was given some Federal Target .22LR that has been a nightmare. I can't use it in semi-autos -- what's left will only be used in revolvers.
 
I don’t know what’s best, but I can say that the most accurate ammo in my Tikka T1X is the CCI Blazer. Note that I have no CCI SV, so can’t compare it to Blazer. Also worth mention is that the round nose ammo by most anybody is not as useful as hollow points on small game and pests. I have gone to using Remington Golden HPs.

And I have had no problems with Remington Thunderbolt ammo. Going on memory, when I tested various 22 ammo, the Thunderbolts were worst in accuracy, but in that Tikka, worst isn’t bad.
 
When I get a new .22, especially a semiautomatic, I take like 15 boxes of ammo. Different makers, velocities, bullet weights, plated and lead to find what that particular rifle or pistol prefers.
I've had rifles that wouldn't cycle one make/model of ammo reliably for 3 rounds but several others like it okay.

One of my rifles really loves the Blazer .22.
 
Generally CCI is the most reliable of the USA rimfire manufacturers. In my experience bulk rimfire ammunition is all over the lower end of the scale as far as quality; as far as reliability it typically has far too many dud rounds. I've given up on bulk ammo and have changed over to properly packged rimfire ammunition.

Head over to the Rimfire Central forums if you want current discussion on rimfire ammunition trends,
 
I currently have a bunch of Aguila standard velocity, Lapua Midas, RWS 50, Norma, Eley Club, Eley Tenex, CCI standard velocity and Thunderbolt.

Haven't had any reliability issues with any of them (Christensen Arms Ranger, Remington 521 and a Ruger Mk III 22/45). Best groups are with Lapua, RWS and Tenex, but those groups don't come cheap
 
Reliability is a combination of magazines, firearm, level of cleanliness and lube and last, the actual ammo.

Aguila's answer is probably the most accurate of the bunch. But then I have a pistol that won't run on CCI standard and runs 100% on Thunderbolt. I've seen a few "duds" in which the primer did not ignite in all of them. Even Eley.

Tuned, cleaned mags are the biggest hurdle for most.
 
Lapua (CenterX & Midas+), Eley (TenX & Match) and RWS (R50 & Match Special) are chosen by many competitive benchrest shooters.

That said, it all comes down to your rifle and what it likes. Choosing one of the above won't guarantee accuracy. I'm in the tier below and have SK Rifle Match, Eley Club, and for plinking CCI SV. I have some of the others but as we shoot off-hand at 100yds with iron sights, it's a bit of a waste.

All but the CCI SV were purchased online. Wally has the SV (along with the other "domestic" stuff I won't buy.

Note they are all SV, not HV. Blazer & MiniMags (which I have a lot of) are HV and do not perform as well as SV beyond about 50yards. I've had other HV in the past but won't buy any more once this batch gets used up. We use it for plinking scaled-down silhouettes at 50, or at the local indoor (25) range..
 
At my level of expertise and range of application, I am satisfied with CCI or Aguila HV for action shooting (Some IDPA clubs are allowing .22s during the panicdemic shortages.) and CCI SV for target.

A friend and I were doing OK out of those buckets of RP Golden but I stuck a bullet in the barrel last week and am suspicious of its quality.

Back when our club shot CMP Rimfire Sporter, I used SK Standard Plus.
 
Back in the day (15-20 years ago), CCI Standard Velocity cane in a nice fancy yellow clear plastic box with the ammo in a clear plastic separater I seem to recall paying about $5.00 per hundred.

This was the “go to” ammo for club bullseye pistol shooting, most guns shot them very well. Mine did.

I bought some CCI green tag target, and the groups were identical but the price of the target ammo was doubled.

I paid more than double for Ely match ammo and some SK. Bench rest showed these were better, but for my wobble, the difference wasn’t worth paying triple… for rifle shooters, I’m sure it would be.

A few years ago, I shot some CCI SV from my Ruger 10/22. WOW, the group sizes were opened up! SV is no longer the secret sauce. Blazer and the new SV are the same, from my bench shooting.

Green tag was seriously better. Ely and SK were way better. I dug out an OLD box of CCI Sv, and wow, that was MUCH better than the new CCI SV.

I found that for my lots of ammo, 3 years ago, CCI SV shot and grouped exactly like Blazer. Blazer is cheaper. My 10/22 thought CCI Blazer was okay, and slightly preferred Aguila (regular old standard velocity, and it’s cheaper.)

My 10/22 (Stock barrel but bedded, free floated and BX trigger upgrade) couldn’t much tell the difference between Aguila and SK Rifle Match ($$). My CZ 455 American grouped better than the 10/22 with Aguila, seemed to slightly prefer Blazer, and Rifle Match resulted in group sizes half of the Aguila or Blazer.

My dad gave me a bucket (literally, in a bucket) of Thunderbolt. It was fine, but it seemed like every 100 rounds I could count on a dud and accuracy was good enough for plinking. It was very inexpensive but perfectly fine for shooting tin cans.

There is bulk ammo in buckets. It’s cheap and use for giggles. Duds happen.

CCI Blazer and Aguila (sv) are good practice ammo and good enough for pistol club level competition. I don’t think I have ever had a dud with either, and I’ve shot lots. I bet I just forgot, but I buy .22 ammo by buying a box, going to the ranger, and seeing my group size. If the group is good, I go back and buy a lot of The same stuff with the same lot number on the box. Some lots shoot better than others.

When SK Match went on sale, I bought an armload.

I understand that presently there is an ammo shortage. It will ease up. When it does, stock up.

“Life is just one D@m thing after another.”- my grandpa

I like CCI Blazer and Aguila. Both are budget ammo of “acceptable to me” quality. I had a bad batch of Federal Match once and will never try that again, your mileage may vary. Ely and SK are worth experiencing if you have a “serious” rifle. Different guns will prefer different ammo of the same price range.

Keep it subsonic for best accuracy. If you need more than standard LR ammo… get a bigger round or .17. I mean, how tough is that squirrel or bunny?
 
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The best!

Competition shooting I only use CCI LR SV. That said, I have experienced a rare FTF/FTE which makes one practice dropping mags and inserting a fresh one.
I shoot a Ruger MK I with Volquartsen upper and internals.

Make sure you clean all mags and replace springs when needed.
 
Reliability means different things to different people. If a brand does not group well I would venture to say that it isn't reliable to hit what I'm aiming at on any given day. But I do see where you are going with this.

I have not had any reliability issues with any of the ammo brands that I mentioned. One of my rifles blew up a few cases due to an out of spec barrel (Christensen fixed that, no cost to me) but haven't really haven't had any reliability issues with any of the brands that I mentioned. I think there was a brick of Winchester at some point too, also with no issues.
 
Just before the last great .22LR shortage, I bought two cases, (10,000 rounds) of SK Pistol Match. I guess I had $1300 that I didn't know what to do with? I'm about 1/2 way through the first case with zero failures of any kind. Works great in my target pistols, Ruger Mk series pistols, and even my Ruger 10/22. SK makes Rifle match, a bulk pack, high velocity, and various other flavors of .22LR. I gave up on CCI after two consecutive bad cases of it. SK is now my "go to" 22LR ammo.
 
Rob228 said:
Reliability means different things to different people.
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Reliability means every round goes bang when you pull the trigger.

Putting every shot exactly where you aim it isn't reliability, it's either accuracy or precision.
 
I stopped buying cheap bulk ammo about 10 years ago during a previous ammo shortage. The more expensive stuff was still on shelves, although at inflated prices. But cheap ammo wasn't anywhere.

I got used to hitting what I was aiming at and never went back. And yes, in my experience, accurate ammo also tends to be the most reliable. The 2 qualities are linked.

For me CCI is the best balance of price, accuracy, and reliability. Some of the more expensive match ammo is just as reliable and just a tad more accurate in my rifles. But not enough more accurate to justify the price. Other than a few boxes every now and then when I really want to squeeze the most accuracy possible out of a rifle.
 
Reliability means every round goes bang when you pull the trigger.

Putting every shot exactly where you aim it isn't reliability, it's either accuracy or precision.
Click to expand...

I know what you're saying and I'm not trying to be argumentative, but in my mind if it goes bang but it is an uncalled flyer; its not reliable.
 
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