? on .22LR ammo for use in pistol

K

kirbinster

New member
Its really tough to find .22LR these days and I have seen some that says you should not use it in a semi-auto pistol. So, my question is what is the difference between the various types of .22LR ammo and what should I look for and what should I avoid to use in a .22 conversion kit for my 1911?
 
Some .22 pistols can be finicky about ammo, others not. There is no reason you can't try some of the inexpensive ammo that is sold in bulk packs and see if it does OK. If your individual pistol has problems with bulk pack ammo of a particular brand, try another. You can always pick up one of the CCI products if you have problems with more than one of the major bulk-pack brands - CCI ammo will run almost any pistol, and they are still not a major expense.
 
Well, there are several kinds of .22 rimfire ammo, the most common being .22 Short, .22 Long and .22 Long Rifle (note that .22 Magnum is a different beast). All 3 of those are safe to fire from any gun chambered for .22 LR, in the sense that it will fire ok and won't damage the gun.

However, semi-auto .22's need a round with enough recoil to cycle their action, so they typically have to have high velocity .22 LR rounds to function reliably. Also, magazine-fed .22's usually won't feed Shorts or Longs reliably, but you can still fire them by chambering them one at a time.

So, I'd long closely at the ammo you got. If it actually says something about not using it in semi-autos, I would guess that it's probably standard velocity or subsonic .22 LR. You can try it, but it probably won't have enough power to cycle the slide.

Personally Federal bulk pack is my go-to .22LR and it works beautifully in my Ruger MkIII. I've heard that conversion kits can be finicky though, so you may have to experiment with a few different brands. CCI Mini-Mags are a good choice if nothing else will run in the gun, but they're more expensive of course.
 
Excellent answers there. My contribution would be to first check if the round is copper coated (washed) or plain lead head and second check that it is a round nose or hollow point. I have found these can make a big difference and would recommend using round nose copper coated bullets for the first couple hundred rounds.
 
When I just bought some .22Long, the salesperson started to warn me about using it in semi-autos. I cut him off and said: Revolver.

'nuff said. he said.


As to your 1911 .22 conversion kit, what brand is it? AA has a listing of the .22LR ammo they do and do NOT recommend.

My experience is that hollow points are something to be avoided in .22lr conversion kits [for my BHP], and they sometimes give me problems in my Ruger Mark II .22/.45.

CCI Mini-Mags have a great reputation for reliability, but are not the cheapest .22lr: if you can find any of them.

For conversion kits [especially if you didn't add a lighter hammer/main spring] I recommend a 38-40 grain rounded nosed .22, moving at 1235+FPS.

It seems .22LR with velocities over 1230 are considered High Velocity.

HOWEVER, I would avoid CCI Stinger rounds and other 'Hyper Velocity' for extended firing. 'Hyper-Velocity' seems to be moving above 1340 fps [with a 36-40gr projectile].


I agree that a rounded nose 40 grain .22LR projectile, moving somewhere between 1230-1290 fps, is likely to give the best performance for your conversion kit. As to brands: you will have to experiment to see what works best.

Again: I've never heard of any significant dislike of CCI Mini-Mag .22lr ammo. But they may HP and RN Mini-Mag: stick to RN.
 
No experience with a conversion kit but I recently got a smith m&p 22 pistol and have only shot the Remington golden bullets in it and it has ran flawlessly. Put just over 750 rounds thru it and have had exactly zero failures. They are rated at 1280 ft per sec and are cheap when bought in bulk.
 
Some 22 cal auto loading pistols I've had always ran well with: CCI Mini-Mags, Federal AutoMatch, Aguila Hi-Velocity. Poor performers included Rem ThunderBolts, Win WildCats, Rem Golden Bullets, Blazers. Not complete, just several I recall ran well and not so well. Contrary to post #6 (for me) Rem Goldens always seemed to have one or two failures to fire in a number of 10-round magazines across several handgun brands. I take these failures and rotate them. Many times when the rims were rotated, they often fired the next time they were shot. Sometimes not, so they went in with the dud rounds at the range.
 
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I've had great luck with CCI std vel in everything from a Kimber 1911 conversion to a Ruger MK1 to a Remington 550. After I found that out, I now mostly run CCI unless it is a revolver, it gets the extra cheap stuff lol.
 
Bulk pack has always been reilable and accurate for me. Use it almost exclusively.
In one SA pistol I have good luck with CCI SGB (small game bullet). It is a heavier, slower soft lead than most. Works fine.
 
Standard velocity should be fine unless proven otherwise. HS (High Standard) pistols should be used with only standard velocity. Kinda strange in the sense a HS Victor 5.5” weights as much if not more than a Colt GC 45 auto. The Beretta 71 6” is a real joy to shoot because of it’s light snappy recoil but like the HS support is terrible, next to impossible to find OEM magazines and parts.

CCI is a brand I never bought in the past in terms of ammo. I believe it has the reputation of being exceptional for 22 rim fire. And it was the brand of choice of Sirhan Sirhan once he figured how unreliable most brands were.
 
745SW:
...And it was the brand of choice of Sirhan Sirhan once he figured how unreliable most brands were.
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Why would you even think of submitting a statement like that? Is there something intrinsically evil in CCI Mini Mags?

That's like saying because John Moses Browning designed the .380ACP, he is responsible for starting World War I. (The caliber used to kill Archduke Ferdinand on 6/28/1914)

You would think we have enough problems with gun grabbers and anti-gun law makers to have this kind of statement in a gun forum. Because the gun grabbers can be careless with the facts and terminology and get away with it means we need to be correct and responsible all the time.

"If you want to be right, you can't be wrong"
 
Why would you even think of submitting a statement like that? Is there something intrinsically evil in CCI Mini Mags?
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I don't think so? I think it was just his way of sayin..CCI is very reliable..and it is.....

HS (High Standard) pistols should be used with only standard velocity.
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I have 2 HS pistols that have been fed nothing but HV ammo..for years...
 
My Ruger MK II's like Federal Bulk, and Winchester Bulk, plus all the CCI stuff of course, but they are more expensive.
 
I have seen some that says you should not use it in a semi-auto pistol.
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I've bought all sorts of 22 rimfire ammo, and can't remember seeing that warning on my of it. Just curious what kind was it?
I generally use bulk high velocity in my newer semi-autos, and standard velocity in my High Standard HD Military. I have experience reliability issues with light bullet, super high velocity rounds in some guns.
As mentioned in previos posts, CCI, and particularly MiniMag, has always been the most reliable.
 
“Why would you even think of submitting a statement like that? Is there something intrinsically evil in CCI Mini Mags?”

In my area virtually all are pro gun control and if I learned anything from religion by my presents at a lay Buddhist church to Jehovah Witness meetings it’s not productive or proper to have a biased stance.

May sound silly, I get rather envious seeing kids play with their toy guns.:( Over the years the demise of dealers and ranges has made the activity difficult to pursue. Gun shows are a nice relief, I can speak to a complete stranger and have a meaningful conversation.:o

I’m a late consumer of CCI 22LR because I rarely use any 22LR. My only purchase of CCI was a few years ago in Tucson, AZ, five 100 packs at $7 per pack. Why take a 22 pistol when I have hundreds of my reloads in 45ACP at any given time.
 
.22 Victory

Just a quick question...Just picked up a Smith and Wesson Victory .22 the other day based on scores of reviews that said it was one of the most reliable .22s out there. Such as cant find an ammo that dose not feed in it and so on. Took mine to the range just yesterday with Thunderbolt ammo and Federal lighting. Well I found one. The Federal lighting would not work at all in it. jammed or would not feed nothing. anyone else try these in this pistol.
 
Some .22 ammo, especially .22 magnum ammo, has been designed for longer barrels -- which means that much of the powder may not be fully active until AFTER the bullet has left the barrel. That's why the Hornady ammo for shorter-barreled guns is popular... It's designed with faster-burning powder.

You may have to do some checking/research to find ammo that works better with handguns than long guns.

Since I don't use .22 for self defense, it's never really been an issue. And the only stuff I've had "function" problems with is some .22 (20 gr.) Aquila ammo picked up by mistake, with very light bullets, that is basically (I think) powered only by the primer. (I've got 9.5 boxes of that stuff that I'll probably never use unless I pick up another .22 revolver...) Sort of like shooting at a carnival side show...

I have had some supposedly high-quality Target ammo lead up a barrel so quickly that after a mag or two the bullets were key-holing badly.
 
.22 rimfire is made in such huge quantities, unless it's Olympic grade there's bound to be a risk of duds, whatever the brand.
Just expect it, clear the bad ones and keep on shooting.
No big deal.
Makes for better gun handling skills, too. :)
 
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