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Old November 26, 2018, 01:58 AM   #1
TruthTellers
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.22 LR ammo variety- what do you buy?

Since the .22 ammo panic is long over and prices are low enough to buy in large quantity again, I decided earlier this year to start cutting down on the variety and different brands/loadings of .22 I have. I'm shooting up the bulk packed ammo when I go to the range and have decided on only buying a handful of .22 to keep stockpiled.

I'm just wondering does anyone else do this or do you just buy whatever .22 you can find or what's cheapest?

In no particular order, here's what I've narrowed down to when I buy .22 now:

1. CCI Standard Velocity- Cheap and accurate.

2. CCI Velocitor- Hardest hitting .22 I know of that is quality and accurate.

3. CCI Stinger- Good results when I use this in handguns, not that accurate from rifles.

4. Aguila Sniper SubSonic- Quiet, accurate, and a good penetrator.

5. CCI Quiet- Cheap, even quieter than Aguila SSS, but doesn't work in semi-autos.

6. Winchetser bulk- Decent power, ok hollow point, shoots well from my guns.

7. Winchester Super X Hyper Speed- this is basically a budget CCI Velocitor load that Winchester makes, but instead of 50 rd boxes, they sell it in 100 rd boxes.
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Old November 26, 2018, 03:00 AM   #2
bamaranger
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golden bullet

When things were bad, I bought and shot what I could find. I too need to shoot up some odd .22 that I acquired during those times. Now that things have settled down, I will buy my old standby, the Remington high velocity "Golden Bullet" HP, in 500 rd bulk.

Though I hear and read bad reports on the GB bulk, the fodder has always shot and grouped well (enough) from all my .22's. I'll add that I never hoarded .22's, after the first .22 crunch (when?, O'bama's first election?) I bought GB's when I could find them, but never went overboard. When the second, really bad crunch hit in the O'bama years, I was pretty well set without having to panic. I absolutely refused to pay the scalping prices that were so common around here.
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Old November 26, 2018, 07:11 AM   #3
Targa
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Mainly CCI standard velocity followed by Aguila Super Extra standard velocity. These seem to be the best “bang” for the buck, excuse the pun..
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Old November 26, 2018, 07:14 AM   #4
Jim Watson
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The last I bought was CCI Standard for my target pistols and Aquila High Velocity for my plinkers.
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Old November 26, 2018, 08:21 AM   #5
Brian Pfleuger
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When I hunted woodchucks with a .22 I almost always used Stingers. Now that gun only gets shot for fun so I use bulk Remington or whatever is on sale.
I also liked Remington Yellow Jackets, many, many years ago. They disappeared in our area for a long time, I thought Rem stopped making them, and then they came back years later but I was happy with Stingers at that point.
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Old November 26, 2018, 09:12 AM   #6
603Country
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I have a mongrel mix of 22 ammo, but some of it is better than average quality. I have a new rifle on order (Tikka T1X), so when I get it I might buy some high grade ammo for it. Depends on the accuracy of what I have on hand.
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Old November 26, 2018, 10:50 AM   #7
stangbangr
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I have a mix, but I only buy non jacketed in the velocity range of 1000-1100 FPS. All I shoot is targets. Right now I’m buying Federal AutoMatch. It’s cheap and I have a CZ 455V that loves it. The only Ammo that CZ shoots better is Eley Match or Eley Tenex.
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Old November 26, 2018, 12:37 PM   #8
T. O'Heir
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You need to buy whatever ammo your particular .22 shoots best. No two .22 calibre firearms will shoot the same ammo the same way. Gets worse with semi-auto's as they have be cycled by the ammo too.
Saddest part of the whole market is that Remington discontinued Yellow Jackets. They'd go right through an M1 helmet. Stingers will not. Tested(along with Winchester Expeditors) by some guys who hung around the gun shop when hypervelocity .22 ammo first came out 30 some years ago.
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Old November 26, 2018, 01:32 PM   #9
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I have a box of Yellow Jackets that I bought years ago and will never open. It's gonna be collector's ammo along the lines of Black Talon.
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Old November 26, 2018, 01:56 PM   #10
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Whatever is on sale at the moment. Federal had their Black Ammo sale and I got 1600 rounds for a net cost after $20 rebate for $40
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Old November 26, 2018, 05:34 PM   #11
pete2
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CCI Standard, Tactical, Mini Mag solids and HPs . I've bought SK Std plus and some Eley Std. The SK seems more accurate than the others. I have had good luck with Federal auto Comp.
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Old November 26, 2018, 05:44 PM   #12
Mike38
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For general plinking, Federal AM22
For normal pistol competition, CCI-SV
For serious pistol competition such as Regional / Sectional / State Championships, Eley Club.
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Old November 26, 2018, 06:15 PM   #13
7.62 man
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If just plinking I use the cheapest round I can find.
If hunting or competition I buy a variety & see what works best in my guns.
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Old November 27, 2018, 01:02 PM   #14
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Winchetser for me only worked well in revolvers, but one that never failed me in Thunderbolt and any CCI.
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Old November 27, 2018, 03:14 PM   #15
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CCI Standard is the only thing I have found that chokes my Beretta Neos. Well, and the subsonic stuff, which doesn't run any semi that I know of. It doesn't feed correctly, so probably something about the shape of the nose.
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Old November 27, 2018, 03:57 PM   #16
skywag
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Just as long as it says CCI!

I'm tired of being a guinea pig.
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Old November 27, 2018, 08:30 PM   #17
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I have an older Marlin M60, a Ruger 10-22, and a H&R 9-shot revolver. The all handle anything I care to try, but I buy mostly Aguila, Remington GB, or anything CCI.
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Old November 27, 2018, 10:18 PM   #18
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CCI Standard V. and Mini-Mags.
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Old November 28, 2018, 12:34 AM   #19
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CCI SV was my standard fodder but I found Eley Practice for the same price. It shoots cleaner and more accurately out of my Mark pistols. My new match ammo is Eley Force. Again, for Christmas I found it at a very good price and stocked up on it.

Force shoots even better than Practice.
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Old November 28, 2018, 03:55 AM   #20
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Whatever good quality ammo is available. I prefer Federal American Eagle copper-plated stuff, but will shoot almost any good quality ammo.
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Old November 28, 2018, 08:56 AM   #21
reinert
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For my .22 rifles, the CCI SVs are all I need; very reliable, very accurate, and as .22 shells go these days, very available. And these days, they're about as economically priced as one can find for good .22 shells. Good all around cheap ammo (IMO). BTW, I have an old Ruger 10/22, a Ruger American rimfire, and a vintage 40's, M75 Winchester target rifle. My wife has a Henry Golden Boy (made in New York city) in mint condition. We also have a Savage M72 single shot (like the old Crackshot) that's our "trainer;" got two grandkids coming of age...

So, I just bought a new S&W Victory .22 pistol, and since I had a bunch of .22 shells stashed from years ago, I wanted to see what might work best for me in my new plinker.

First, I had a 15 year old (at least) opened bulk box of Federal Auto Match that I tried, and found them dirty and inaccurate; had one stovepipe with them, but all the rest I tried cycled through the pistol just fine, just didn't think much of them, generally. Shot 50 of those, and won't buy them again.

Second, I tried a brand new (very old, but unopened) box of Rem "Golden Bullets" that still have the price sticker on them from a hardware store that isn't there anymore in our home town. They're the old style 100 round, transparent, amber colored, plastic square container concern that has $2.79 for the price on the sticker, along with the hardware store ID. These shells have to be at least 25 years old, and they shot remarkably well, and cycled flawlessly through the pistol. I wished I had more of those. I saved half that box unfired, just because, price sticker and all... very good stuff.

Third, I tried some Winchester, Super X, 40 grn. round nose shells that came in the red, plastic, transparent 100 round container, that I've had for a couple of years. They shot very well, cycled as the old "Goldies" did, and I'd use them again if I can find them locally. Good stuff, too.

Fourth, I tried the CCI mini-mag, 36 grn. H.P.s. They, too, shot very well in the pistol, and because they're pretty available these days, though more expensive, I'll probably go with them currently with my Victory.

I did all my shooting @ 15 yards, and though I'm not any kind of a pistol shot, I could hold MOST all my shots in a 4" circle. I shot both two-hand, and single-hand hold, and found the single hand hold the most comfortable, and fun, for me. For just a complete novice having fun with a new firearm, that was how I judged the ammo I used for this thread. .22 pistols are wonderfully fun, and I don't have to reload, either!
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Old November 28, 2018, 09:14 AM   #22
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When buying for a specific rifle like my Anschutz I buy the Eley flavors. When I am out and about if I see a good sale price on about anything I buy it just for general shooting and adding to my existing stock. There have been some good sales lately and it's like we worked our way from shortage to a glut of the stuff.

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Old November 28, 2018, 01:26 PM   #23
Don Fischer
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I don't shoot 22 RF very much and hate to admit it but have never really sighted one in. I mean, I get one and take it out to shoot, generally about 25yds is good to go. Now I have fired the 22 mag to sight it in but darn if I have ever been able to remember what it fired best! Doesn't really seem to matter much which brand of 22 mag ammo I get, I'll either hit with it or miss with it. I don't shoot it a whole lot anymore either but I can hit an 8" paper plate with what ever I have in it at 100 yds! A sage rat's head at 100 yds? Might miss!:-)

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Old November 28, 2018, 01:40 PM   #24
SIGSHR
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First accuracy then reliability. Remington has always worked best for me. Shooting my Ciener units at present, I get good accuracy with CCIs and Winchester but numerous failures to extract/eject.
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Old November 28, 2018, 10:24 PM   #25
Prof Young
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Swearing off Remington, unless . . .

Am burning lots of 22 LR these days having fun with new Beretta m9 22. Love that thing. I've had FTF with remington before in other guns. Well when I shoot my Beretta 22 loaded with Remington Golden it sounds like this . . . BAM, BAM, BAM, pop, BAM, BAM, pop, BAM etc. On every pop, if I don't see the hole appear in the target I stop and check for a squib. So I think I'm done with Remington 22 ammo. I buy 22 LR when I can find a good price and over the last couple years I've acquired over 1000 rounds of Remington. I've moved those to one side of the ammo closet, saving them for when I have nothing else. Which might be a while. I finally counted my 22 LR ammo stash and there are almost 13K rounds. Yipes. Guess I'm finding too many good buys!

Life is good.
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