.22 Lr Ammo Test

[spike1]

I keep buying different .22LR ammo, I never could really figure out what was better. I broke down and bought a small box of each and went to the range today. It was an all day thing !

.22 LR Ammo Test
50 Yard Performance (from best to worst group)

Remington Golden Bullets (cheap bulk pack)
CCI Mini Mag
CCI Subsonic
CCI Quik Shok (It’s a defense round that separates into 3 parts)
CCI Blazers
Remington Vipers
Winchester Xpert 22 HP (Cheap bulk pack)
Peters (Rem)
Aquila Hyper Velocity
CCI Stingers *Worst Group*


100 Yard Performance

Remington Golden Bullets (Cheap bulk pack) 6 inches of drop
CCI Mini Mag, 6 inches of drop
CCI Blazers, 5.5 inches of drop
CCI Subsonic (very poor group), 8 inches of drop

All testing was done with a Marlin 925 Bolt Action. (These results match a smaller test I did with a Remington 597 autoloader.)

The two top performers at 50 yard were also the top performers at 100 yards. They had negligible difference at both distances. Surprisingly the Remington’s had the same drop from 50 to 100 yard groups as the Mini Mags.

I don’t believe the CCI Subsonics are useable at 100 yards.

The CCI Quik Shok’s performed excellent for a defense type 22 round. I thing I’ll try them in my pocket pistol.

And the winner is Remington Golden Bullets at 1/3 the price !
~ $10 at Walmart.


NOTE:your results may vary !

[DaMadman]

$10 at Walmart for how many rounds? is that a brick price?

[spike1]

I just got an e-mail correcting me. $10.99 for 550 rounds . Still sounds like 2 cents each. I'll bet it's +/- a buck or 2 depending on your location.

[redjonson]

Very interesting test. I agree that the rem bulk pak "golden bullets" are a good round for the money. We have been using them around here for years. I got a bad lot a few years back that had so much variance in the powder charge that you could really tell the difference in the sound....Haven't run into that since....For targets and up close dispatch of small critters I like subsonic rounds. The Rem subsonics seem to be the best in my guns, The Aguila works OK and I don't like the CCI subsonics. .... Red Jonson

[Jack]

I wonder if you'd get the same results with a few different rifles....
I'm kinda thinking that the 'best' round would vary by firearm, but who knows?
I helped a friend do a similar test when he bought a Ruger 10/22 target model- it's stainless, heavy barrel, with a laminated stock. We put a Bausch & Lomb 3000 3-9x scope on it, and tested every different load we could find. I can't even remember them all...
The clear winner was a HV hollow point by American Eagle - cheap stuff. Beat out match ammo, subsonics, everything....

[spike1]

Q; “I wonder if you'd get the same results with a few different rifles....”

Normally I would think not,,,, But not too long ago I did a limited test with my Remington 597 (POS) and that is about as different a gun as you can get. The top of the list was still the Remingtons Gold and the Mini Mags, Federal was poor and those Stinger sure sounded cool but the targets said different. In the past I sure loved those Stingers. It wasn’t until I really started going to a shooting range that I figured out that Mini Mags pattered a lot smaller and that was in a 10/22.

Autoloader are fun but I was really interested in finding the optimum bullet for this bolt action Marlin since you only get 1 shot at a time. I was in shock at how small the patterns are compared to the autoloaders. I’ll tell you this, by selecting the correct ammo you really can shoot ½ inch groups at 50 yards.

I guess what we would need to do is select ~ 6 different brands/types and have 5 to 10 people go out and do a real test from a bench with their rifles. Maybe shoot 3 groups each to throw out the lucky groups or the (I have to pee) bad groups. This could give us better data.

To me it starting to looks like better 22 ammo is better 22 ammo. I know this just doesn’t hold true in higher power rifles.

[Andy L]

I too have tried several different rounds. I found the Eley Match Plus Extra to shoot the best in my gun. They are a little higher, I paid 80 bucks for two bricks. Just thought I would throw that in. Didnt know if you tried any of them or kinda excluded them because of price.

Andy

[Catfish]

I built up a 10/22 afew years back and did some similar test. I shot groups at about 30 yrds. as that was what I figured most of my shots on squirrel would be. The best groups I got were from some Eley target ammo that cost $10 for a box of 50. But, to my supprise Rem. Sub. Sonics were just slightly larger and still good enough to put the round in a squirrel`s eye at 30 yrds. When I picked up a model 39A Marlin I tried the Rem. Sub-Sonics in it and they were very accurate in it also. A year or 2 later I had the cronograph out one day and desided to crono. some .22 rim fire ammo. As expected the the $ 10 a box stuff was very uniform. Totally unexpected was the Rem. Sub. Sonics. The standard devation on them was 29, not what you would expect for good shooting ammo. I am sure with thar much vairation they would not group well at all at 100 yrds. The biggest suprise I got though was the gray box Win. 550 cheapy ammo. It was not available when I shot my groups, but the standard devation that stuff was 5. Even better than the $10 a box. stuff! I`ve still never got serious about shooting a group with it, but it should do very well and I have killed several animals with it through my Mk. 11 Ruger, and my 10/22. It does not seem to hit as hard as the high velosity stuff, very good on squirrel but your shot must be well placed on a groundhog.

[redjonson]

Catfish.....I have chrono'd the Rem Subsonics and had similar results to yours......The Extreme spread was large but the groups were small..doesn't seem to make sense....The rem subs work well in my match barrel 10/22 with a lightened bolt... Quiet. accurate and deadly on columbia ground squirrels inside 75 yds...There was a thread on this last winter..Red

[Mad Reloader]

I remember that thread....

Also another one that Rocky Raab got in on, I think both he and I started taking calipers to .22 projectiles and comparing results.

Summing up those conclusions:

1) Quality products tend to perform better in most arms

2) Bullet diameter needs to match, or possibly exceed slightly, bore diameter. They're all lead bullets folks, and a slightly oversize projo will squinch down slightly. BUT YOU NEED OBTURATION. Worst results in his & my and the third guy's tests indicated an underzize projo for bore diameter, in all 3 instances.

3) Some arms really really prefer certain makes of .22 round. My INFAMOUS got-it-for-under-$50 .22 SA revolver from my longterm project in Heber AZ...seems to perform best with CCI, and of the CCI's...the REALLY cheap Blazers.

4) There's an oddball DEFINITELY subcaliber .22 out there that has the obturation problem licked...and in states such as WI (but definitely NOT Arizona!) has some application to very small game, at short ranges.

That would be the Hirtenberger & GeCo brand .22 CB caps. Propellant is a double dose of priming compound. Projo is essentially a miniature Minie ball, or a .22 skirted airgun pell without wasp waist.

These WILL function in any bore diameter of .22 LR rimfire out there.

They WON'T cycle an action.

They MAY have problems extracting, as the case is copper, not brass.

Wind drift is a MAJOR concern here.

BUT: On a windless day on the outskirts of Milwaukee or Wisconsin Dells or Madison, WI -- or in a home-made basement firng range with exhaust fan -- or if you want to actually fire that old ancient S&W #1 rimfire pistol and not have it self-destruct....it's "da kine."

[SuperMagnum]

The remington golden hollow points have worked the best for me too, consistently get 1/2" groups at 50 yards and can easily take headshots at 50yds on squirrels. One of the worst I've shot was also the CCI stinger and subsonics.

[spike1]

It's just hard to beat cheap ammo(inexpensive) that works great

[Mickey Rat]

Several years ago, The American Rifleman had an article compairing 22 LR ammo. Eley Tenx was first, Federal Lightnings was a microscopic 2nd.

I have found the same to be true in all my 22's. Cheap lead solids tend to be VERY accurate, just one out of a hundred won't fire. Usually from no primer mix. For less than a buck a box, why sweat it?

[reload]

You will find that different rifles will like different ammo. A 10-22 with a target barrel and 12X target scope fired many different brands costing up to 15.00 a box. The remington standard velocity(target) came out on top,close was winchester standard velocity and cci standard velocity and one box at a cost of 8.95. Had another.22 that liked pmc. Good Luck

[gumpokc]

Originally posted by redjonson
Very interesting test. I agree that the rem bulk pak "golden bullets" are a good round for the money. We have been using them around here for years. I got a bad lot a few years back that had so much variance in the powder charge that you could really tell the difference in the sound....Haven't run into that since....For targets and up close dispatch of small critters I like subsonic rounds. The Rem subsonics seem to be the best in my guns, The Aguila works OK and I don't like the CCI subsonics. .... Red Jonson

About 8-10 years ago i got ahold of some remington .22's that did that saem thing. I want to say they were in tubs of 550 each.

I switched to winchester .22's then and have been quite happy since.