I'm now a believer in standard velocity .22 ammo.

A

aarondhgraham

New member
I shoot a lot of .22 semi-auto pistols for recreation,,,
I have found that my pistols are far more reliable with hi-velocity ammo.

For this reason I have a lot of CCI Mini-Mags on my shelf.

Last week I was on a 5-day "stay-cation",,,
I decided that was an excellent time to dial in my scoped .22 rifles.

I was using the Mini-Mags in the rifles,,,
But my groups looked more like shotgun patterns,,,
No matter how I tried I could not bring any of my rifles to a tight group.

Then I ran out of Mini-Mags,,,
I had only taken 100 rounds for this trip.

The only other ammo I had with me that day,,,
Was a brick of Remington Mil-Surp 40 grain standard velocity LRN.

Wow! What a difference.

A 3-4" pattern from my Savage Mk-IIF,,,
Immediately shrank to a 1" (or smaller) group at 50 yards.

The same thing happened with my Henry Acu-Bolt,,,
The 3-4" pattern immediately became a tight little grouping.

With both rifles (off of a cheap plastic front rest),,,
I was hitting a 2" metal gong at 100 yards.

So now I can save the pricier Mini-Mags for my semi-auto handguns,,,
And enjoy actually hitting my targets again with my rifles.

The good thing is that I have 17,000 rounds of that mil-surp ammo,,,
That cache should last me for quite some time.

Ya live and learn,,,

Aarond

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It is a lot of fun to use the dum dum lolli pops as targets at 50 yards, explode the tops and cut the sticks.

Standard velocity 40 gr works well.
A nice shooting 22 is as enjoyable to shoot as a centerfire to me.

The savage mk 2 I have likes wolf match, sk standard, and cci standard.

My pistols run ok on federal automatch for bulk plinking,

I tried other brands and velocities, but anymore, std velocity 40 gr lead is what shoots best for me.
 
I have a wonderful Win mod 62a, iron sight's. All I use it for is killing chickens I want to or need to put down. Use very old. All I generally shoot in it is very old Remington Hi-Speed 22 short's! I use to shoot a 22 a lot, just got out somewhere along the way!
 
My preference as follows::

SV best in S/W 41 and 46's as well as in older Belgian Browning semi autos.
Buckmark- who cares swallows and shoots any HV.
Browning 22 rifles are accurate with any HV with the exception of the "A" bolt that demands SV for accuracy.
Hammerli demands SV.
Finally, various 22 revolvers do just fine with SV or HV.

Just my experience with my small herd of 22 handguns and rifles.
.02. David. :)
 
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I can count on .5" five shot groups at 50 yards, 1" at 100 with Mini-Mags in my most accurate 22's. The expensive Match ammo shrinks groups by about .1". Now with the cheap bulk pack ammo 1-2" groups are the norm and I just don't use it anymore. Considering the Mini-Mags are about 1/2 the cost of match ammo I shoot them a lot. Especially when I shoot at 100 and 200 yards. The extra speed really helps.
 
"Where did you find the Rem Mil-Surp ammo at?"
"Milsurp two-twos?"

I shot a LOT of late 60's production back in 1970-71 on the smallbore ROTC rifle team. I have some left of the case(dated in the 80's IIRC) I bought through CMP several years ago.
White boxes with brand and lot number.
When new(ish), it was pretty darned accurate through our match rifles. Now(@35ish years old), it's somewhat variable and not what I'd classify as "match grade".
 
jmr40 said:
I can count on .5" five shot groups at 50 yards, 1" at 100 with Mini-Mags in my most accurate 22's. Considering the Mini-Mags are about 1/2 the cost of match ammo I shoot them a lot. Especially when I shoot at 100 and 200 yards. The extra speed really helps.
Click to expand...

jmr40, do you get these results with the 36gr or 40gr mini-mags? What firearm(s)?
 
I have used SV 22LR ammo for accuracy testing for decades. Used to be Federal Champions were pretty good for testing most rifles. Some needed Federal Gold Medal Match or S&Ks for best results, but just about any 22LR rifle would shoot better with SV than HV.
 
I think it has more to do with quality than velocity. My Anschutz likes Wolf match. It shoots them better than Eley, SK, Lapua, Federal.
 
CCI Std Velocity is as good as most anything out there.
(I tried A-to-Zed, including El Supremo Match of multiple/various/expensive/domestic & European makes)
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It was only after I started reloading for my .308 that I realized the same rules for the big stuff apply to the little stuff.. My Marlin Model 60 that's been with me since I was 13 absolutely hates anything CCI makes.. Federal GameShok though is a winner; crazy accurate through that rifle. On the flip side, Remington Speedmaster makes the CCI shine. So do my pistols. Different strokes for different folks.. if strokes are ammo brands and folks are firearms. :)
 
Rimfire ammo, regardless of price is highly variable with regard to accuracy, whether you pay a couple of bucks a box or over $10, but accuracy is relative and you expect the best match ammo to group under 1/4" at 50 yards every time, but matching your particular rifle to a batch of ammo is the name of the rimfire accuracy game.

I knew a guy who had a huge cache of old Winchester target ammo that shot wonderfully in his rifle. He'd had it for almost 20 years!

You should be aware that some older rifles with soft steel can be damaged by shooting Shorts in them. I ruined a Remington 514 by shooting many boxes of Shorts. It ringed the chamber, so that Long Rifle ammo wouldn't extract. Traded that baby and never shot many in any gun since.
 
Ruger American Standard .22 rimfire (trigger adjusted easily) + CCI, 40grn. standard vel. ammo (very accurate, and very available these days) + 4x Nikon Rimfire scope = a super accurate, economic, and really fun combo to plink with at the range or in the field.

I think I paid $7.50 for the last 100 pack of the standard vel. CCIs I bought just a week ago at a local Sportsman's Warehouse. From what we went through a few years ago with .22 ammo, I'm certainly good with that price. Good all around.

Looks like Midway has a sale going on right now, with that same ammo for 25 bucks a brick. That looks real good.

www.midwayusa.com
 
When my stock of SV is exhausted, I likely won't buy more. Sub-sonic serves my purposes better and I've found it more accurate than run-of-the-mill SV.
 
I believe the mil-surp .22 was from the CMP.

I believe the mil-surp .22 was from the CMP.

Another gentleman in my rifle/pistol club had some of the same ammo,,,
He said he had ordered it from the CMP website.

I purchased my 4 unopened/sealed cases (5,000 rounds) from a private seller,,,
A friend had a friend whose grandfather had passes away,,,
I got the ammo for $75.00 per 5,000 round case.

That was a stroke of luck hearing about that ammo,,,
It was right in the middle of the 2nd Obama ammo shortage.

In my town the Academy store has a good stock of CCI ammo,,,
I'm going to try shooting some of the Standard Velocity stuff this weekend.

Aarond

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CCI sv shot as well or better than the expensive European match ammo in my Norinco copy of a TT Olympia and also Baikal IZH-46.

Having spent money to test the Ely, I’d refill the fancy match ammo box after Wednesday Night League with CCI SV.
 
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