CCI stingers . not working so well for me !

[kenny g]

so i keep my glenfield 60 loaded with 32 grain stingers,it even states on the box "varmint "..anyway i shot a skunk the other day 5 TIMES and the darn thing still tried to run off & die, not a bad thing mind you but i don't want any critter to suffer. oh yeah i forgot it was about 250-300' pretty close range really.so i reloaded the rifle with CCI standard velocity lead round nose 40 gr cartridges,now it says "target "on that box..should i expect better results with this load ? or i may have a few box's of federal high velocity 22's i could try next time.
it seems to me the stingers aren't much better than Remington bulk ammo.faster maybe but no more stopping power.

[Dave P]

"anyway i shot a skunk the other day 5 TIMES and the darn thing still tried to run off & die,"

Umm - where did those 5 shots hit?

"it was about 250-300' pretty close range really"

Ha! I could hit him in the ear canal, every time, at that measly range! Those darn 22's ...

[Salmoneye]

My experiences with 'Stingers' are about the same...

I have never understood the love they get...

Any standard velocity 40 grain is a better choice for anything larger than chipmunk IMNSHO...

[kenny g]

my aim is mid body just behind the front shoulder.
where did those 5 shots hit ? I'm not sure Dave p. wife was standing just behind me and yes,all 5 shots hit.
but honestly, at 250' to 300' i can't even see the ears on a skunk but I'm glad to know you can..

wish my eyesight didn't have to keep up with my age.

[arch308]

Any 22LR load will take some time to bleed critters out. Brain shot is the way to go.

[Scorch]

80-100 yds, iron sights, and you say you hit him all 5 times? He's dead.

[Dave P]

Oops, sorry Kenny. I read that as 300 yards!

[bksfirearmsllc]

I use cci quiet 22lr for squirrels and pheasants, great expansion and takes only one shot. only drawback is ya have to be pretty darn close

[22-rimfire]

I would find it hard to believe that 5 good hits with stingers didn't yield a quickly dead skunk. If this is the kind of thing you normally shoot with your 22's, I would suggest trying CCI Velocitors if you want to change from Stingers. I would prefer to use high speed rounds versus the SV loads (target) if the rifle is sighted in with them. The CCI SV rounds should be more accurate.

I have not had any problems with Stingers, but I don't shoot them often either anymore. That is a fairly long shot in my opinion. Most shunks are dispatched at pretty close range. But in my opinion, under 100 yds and you should be fine with Stingers.

[Brian Pfleuger]

1)22 don't have "stopping power"

2)I used CCI Stingers for MANY years as my primary choice hunting woodchucks. They performed marvelously.

3)100 yards with a 22?... I don't know how'd you "know" that 5 out of 5 of those shots hit, particularly since one would assume that the animal was not holding still after a single hit. 5 shots, off-hand, at 100 yards, with a 22, hitting a target the size of a skunk would be... remarkable.

[ljnowell]

Originally Posted by Brian Pfleuger

1)22 don't have "stopping power"

2)I used CCI Stingers for MANY years as my primary choice hunting woodchucks. They performed marvelously.

3)100 yards with a 22?... I don't know how'd you "know" that 5 out of 5 of those shots hit, particularly since one would assume that the animal was not holding still after a single hit. 5 shots, off-hand, at 100 yards, with a 22, hitting a target the size of a skunk would be... remarkable.

I'm with brian on this one. I have shot a possum in the top of the head three times at point blank range with a 22, only to have it waddle off into the brush to die. 22s will kill anything, just dont count on it happening right away.

[carguychris]

Let me start out with a disclaimer: I have never shot any kind of reactive target, critter or not, with CCI Stingers at any range beyond about 40yds.

That said...

Stingers use lighter-than-normal 32 grain bullets and rely on violent fragmentation to do their job. I've shot them into water jugs and the recovered particles look like they had been shredded with a cheese grater. However, fragmentation requires high velocity, and lighter bullets have less momentum, so their velocity typically decays faster as range increases. This is why military ammo intended for long-range fire typically uses heavier projectiles; they may start out slower and drop more, but they maintain velocity longer, and therefore hit harder at long range.

Perhaps the Stingers lost enough velocity on their way to the skunk that they didn't have enough "oomph" to fragment when they arrived. If they didn't fragment, you're better off shooting the skunk with normal high-velocity 40gr solids or 36gr hollow points, because they'll penetrate better. (The 36gr HPs may not expand, but they may still perform better than the Stingers.)

Also, I agree with 22-rimfire; try Velocitors or Aguila Interceptors. They use standard 40gr bullets that will hit harder at long range.

[kenny g]

picture in your minds eye...when you hit a critter with a 22 of ANY kind ,he's going to jump,roll or be knocked off his feet.gather himself and attempt to run for it every time. unless of course he's dead.. plus the fact that the Mrs is standing behind me in the living room saying "yep.you've hit him every time that I can see, is also a pretty good indicator of how I know those 5 shots hit.
we live on a farm out in the country so shooting from the patio door is no big deal for us..
I stand by my original statement..
I was not using iron sights I have a rather cheap but effective Bushnell sharpshooter mounted and sighted in to my satisfaction on the mod 60.
the stingers simply didn't get the job done.
and yes I have shot possums, raccoons, skunks and Ferrel cats point blank range inside my live trap out in the barn .it does less damage to the trap.one shot between the eyes then just let them bleed out,but that can take awhile.

[shortwave]

I would take a gallon milk jug filled with water out to the approximated 250-300yds. and see if I could hit it 5 times.

Is it a possibility you hit close to the skunk causing dirt/ rocks to hit him making him jump?

I've used various LR .22 ammo (Stingers included) on varmints and even a couple yotes around the farm here. Ranges out to 45-50yds. if I do my part, I've not seen that big a difference in the terminal effects on game when using most of the majors brands(CCI,Winchester,Rem., Aguila, etc) with the same cartridge recipe of ingredients. IE: bullet grn. weight, powder charge, similar primer, etc...

...but 45-50yds. is a sight closer then 250-300yds

Five hits on a skunk @ that yardage is some good shootin.

[Patriot86]

My father used the exact same ammo to take out about 20 woodchucks. Go for the headshot and problem solved. Body shot they usually crawl away before they drop.

[Theohazard]

When I was growing up I shot many, many rabbits on my grandparents' property with a .22 rifle. I used all sorts of standard velocity and high velocity 40 grain rounds in HP and non-HP. I also used a lot of CCI Stingers. The Stingers were far more devastating than any of the other rounds. I had a lot more immediate one-shot-kills with the Stingers than with any other ammo. But I was also shooting rabbits and usually at less than 50 yards. With larger animals and at longer distances I can see how Stingers could underperform.

[rc]

CCI stingers that were penta points opened up pretty good. Not sure if the current round cavity stuff is as good but it's still fast. Yellow Jackets are not always consistent in speed and accuracy, but they reliably expand to a base section and a 35+ caliber disk in water. They will leave very large exit wounds at close range. Never seen a squirrel solidly hit go far with either. Having said that, if you hit a skunk 5 times with any 22 Long Rifle load and it didn't go down better check for a camera because either you shot roboskunk or your shooting sucked!

[kahrguy]

kennyg you should not the high velocity rounds tend to go sub sonic around 75 yards. hypervelocity ,around 100 to 125 yards. They also tend to not be real accurate at 100 yards distance.

The standard velocity loads that your rifle likes best tend to be very accurate in marlin 60 actions, "glenfields" and with enought scope will shoot around 1" groups. IF you take the time to find that BEST ammo abd place them in the animals head it will fall died. It doe not matter if you use a HP or solid.

You say your a small game hunter you should then no a baddly shot tree rat at 12 yards will not fall died right now.

Find a better ammo. One your rifle likes not one you like. Then try some 100 yard real world shooting of a target. You might be suprized by your grouping with stingers.

I have not shot any speedy .22lr ammo in many years. Wolf or sk mainly for target and hunting.