Help: best 22lr load/brand for hunting on a budget?

[AlmightyJackas21985]

sup? im new to hunting, at least with a gun. i have a savage arms model 64 22lr, and i plan to go squirreling and possibly cooning if a 22 is good enough for it. i dont know much about the different types of 22 rounds. i know that a 40 grain usually goes farther than a 60 grain, and that some of the heavier loads tend to tumble, but that is all second hand knowledge. i haven't shot my 22 at anything more than 50 yard targets, as there is a lack of space. and i have no real means of determining bullet speed or tumble, only how accurately i can shoot it...so my question is, whats a good brand/load for hunting small game? i'll be stalking my prey, so distance wont be too much of a problem, i foresee 25 yards being farther than i'll be shooting at. but i havent got a lot of money, and am in between jobs at the moment, so i cant go out and scouyrge for the ever so rare 22s at stores or gunshows. my pa did get me a ticket for the upcoming prepper show in Raleigh this sunday, but thats not exactly a gun show...

[Cheapshooter]

In a 22 LR, anything you can find will be perfectly alright tor hunting small game. It's generally thought that CCI makes some of the best 22 LR ammo available.
The biggest variable is what your particular rifle shoots best. Both in reliable function, and accuracy.

[marine6680]

Minimag hollowpoints will work for most small game. Even the round nose will work for most small game.

[AlmightyJackas21985]

thanks, i heard cci was good, but i havent bought any yet. ill buy some next time i see some,

[Cheapshooter]

Minimag hollowpoints will work for most small game. Even the round nose will work for most small game.

i'll be stalking my prey, so distance wont be too much of a problem, i foresee 25 yards being farther than i'll be shooting a

Even CCI, or other standard velocity will be fine at that range. In fact, in my Ruger 10-22 Takedown the CCI standard velocity is the most accurate round I have tried. Filling a thumb nail sized hole with ten rounds @ 50 yards.

[pgdion]

Hard to be chosey these days. But if you can find them, Super-X SS are my favorite .... 37gr hollow points. CCI Mini-Mags are the runner up.

[Mike38]

CCI Mini Mags in either 40 grain solid, or 36 grain hollow points will take squirrels to rabbits to raccoons successfully as long as you do your job with shot placement. My opinion, stay away from standard velocity or sub sonic for hunting.

The CCI Mini Mags are very reliable. I bought a case of 1400 rounds a while back. I've shot 600 rounds in six different .22 firearms and have not had one failure of any kind.

[dakota.potts]

I can imagine there will probably be .22 ammo at a prepper show since it's very popular in that community. What they will charge for it is of less certainty.

Mini-mags are some of the most consistent stuff across the guns I've shot. My bolt action .22 likes the Aguila match subsonic which is something like $9 a box for group shooting but I don't know if it will cycle a semi auto. Stay away from very cheap brands like Remington Thunderbolt unless you know from experience it will shoot well in your gun. I don't imagine dud rounds and feeding issues are very conducive to a good hunt.

[SRH78]

The short answer is any hollow point that your rifle shoots well.

Personally, I hunt with the Winchester subsonic 40 grain truncated cone hollow points because they are very accurate from my rifle and allow precise shots at longer distances. It is also a nice bonus that they are relatively quiet as well. If I were using a semiautomatic inside of 25 yards, I would probably just stick with whatever was cheap and available.

Just make sure you hunt with whatever ammo you zero the rifle with.

[gb_in_ga]

I know that it sounds counterintuitive, but if you are hunting at longer ranges (over around 70 yards) then you are better off using either the very high velocity stuff (like stingers) or to use subsonic ammo. The reason that "conventional" high velocity ammo isn't really good for that is that it is supersonic, but not "very" supersonic. It will group well (if your rifle likes it) out to around 70 yards, but at about that range, as it naturally slows down, it will pass back through the sonic barrrier as it starts going subsonic. As it passes through it, it will encounter turbulence which will throw accuracy off. Subsonic ammo doesn't do that because it never passes through the sonic barrier as it starts out below it, that's why high end match ammo is all subsonic. The extra high velocity ammo doesn't do that (at that range) because it starts out faster and thus doesn't slow down to that velocity at that range -- it happens somewhat farther out. If you need to hunt at longer ranges than the hyper velocity ammo can handle then you need to go with something with even more velocity, like a .22 Mag.

[TimSr]

.22 Rimfire ammo varies widely, and performs differently in different guns. A lot of testing has been done on .22 rimfire ammo, and CCI typically tops the tests of best accuracy in a wide range of guns, often performing up to par with more expensive special purpose premium match ammo.

Light weight "hyper velocity" cone shape bullets tend to be less accurate than normal round nose bullets.

In answer to the OP's question, buy half dozen boxes of various brands, and see what gives you the best accuracy in your gun, shooting paper from a rest. I recommend starting at 50 yards for 22 rifles.

[Picher]

I like CCI SGB (Small Game Bullet), which is a truncated cone with flat nose. It hits hard, kills fast, but doesn't destroy a lot of meat.

If you don't want to eat things like woodchucks, it's hard to beat CCI Mini-Mag HPs. They're accurate and hit hard.

A lot of squirrel purists like to use standard velocity ammo. CCI Standard Vel ammo is excellent and report is somewhat lower.

[Scorch]

First of all, I think you need to get over the myth that 22LR ammo is hard to find. Since you have access to the internet, it should take you no more than 5 minutes to find ammo and order it. I can find 22LR ammo in local stores here, but if all else fails, I have ordered over the internet and the prices are good and supply is abundant.

Next, at 25 yds or so, just about any 22LR ammo is going to work for squirrels or raccoon when you place your shots well. Since it sounds like you are not willing to experiment and find what works in your rifle, just find what fits your budget and get it.

[AlmightyJackas21985]

thank you all. i was able to buy some of the brands ytou all suggested, and ive decided on the CCI. its reliable, and its a little cheaper at the ma and pa gun shop near my house. only $10.59 for 100 rds, and $32.98 for 350 is what he's selling them at.

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

I found Remington Yellow Jackets to be very accurate when shot from either my rifle or pistol. In the past there were other brands that worked well in one gun or the other but not both. Until I tried Yellow jackets. The Rem Y/J brand is the only brand I now bother to buy.

[CajunBass]

I haven't bought any 22 LR for years, but I've always found Federal bulk pack hollow points, to work just fine for squirrel hunting. I've got it both in the blue and the brown box (Wal-Mart), but I'm still shooting the stuff I've had stashed for so long some of it cost $5.95 for a 500.

[40CalGuy]

CCI Subsonic Segmented 40gr. Hollow Points. Product #0074. Use the Standard Velocity 40gr. rounds for target practice. Both are rated to 1070FPS, so perfect for suppressor use as well.

these 4 jacks were taken in 45 minutes on my property with the above segmented hollow points. none had to be tracked. all were downed immediately. 1 entry hole and then the bullet turns into 3 petals and the base. it is devastating on small game if you get a good kill zone hit. these were all taken with a franken-rifle 10/22 (which contains no Ruger parts).

[bamaranger]

I'm of the stance that some type of hollow point is best when shooting the .22 at game and pests. Certainly a head shot squirrel or cottontail won't know the difference. Should the occassion arise where one needs to shoot something a bit bigger, say like groundhogs beaver/nutria, or perhaps a coyote, the HP will provide more satisfactory results.

[Brian Pfleuger]

I always hunted with Yellow Jackets until they became unavailable, at least locally. After that, I switched to CCI Stingers, which I used until I stopped hunting with a .22. I was always happy with Stingers. Their accuracy wasn't the absolute best but at the ranges I shot, and targets I shot at (woodchucks) they were plenty good enough and almost always results in "Insta-kill" if I did my part.

[Erno86]

I like subsonics...because it spooks the squirrels less, and less damage to your hearing, if you're not wearing amplified hearing muffs. The Fiocchi 22lr 40 grain Subsonic Hollow Points ain't so bad --- But mostly all of the 22lr ammo is still hard to find on the web.

Yet shotguns are still more safer to use on public lands for squirrels than a rimfire would.

I like #4's or 5's for squirrels with a shotgun.

My squirrel rifle is a 22 rimfire Kimber Classic, with a match grade chamber --- Made in Yonkers, New York, but Kimber does not manufacture rimfire rifles anymore --- Though I have a special liking for Cooper rimfire rifles, except for the exorbitant price tag.