Good cheap .22lr Ammo?

[DubDubU]

cci 40gn lrn std vel.

[QuercusMax]

Originally Posted by Micha2u

I have to cast my for for the Federal bulk ammo.

Ditto. I like shooting my .22's more than anything, and have gone through a few thousand rounds of Federal with only 2 FTF's that I can remember. It's worked fine in my Beretta 87T, Browning BuckMark Camper, and my Remington 12C (1934 model). I used to buy CCI, but couldn't see any advantage to spending more mostly to get a nicer box.

I've got a S&W 617 near the top of my current wish list, to provide an entirely new rimfire experience. Hopefully will provide another opportunity to test Federal before too long.

[Scoundrel]

If anyone's still interested in this thread:

For bulking up, as many have pitched in already, both the Federal and Winchester bulk packs at Wal-Mart are good. However, I find them to be somewhat inconsistent in their accuracy, and definitely VERY dirty.

When I want to go shoot a crapload of .22 and don't much mind if it takes 2 or 3 shots to hit the target because I'm just having fun sending them downrange, I use the bulk pack stuff.

When I want to hit my targets with more of my shots, and want my gun to be less gunked-up when I am done, I use the CCI Sub-Sonic lead hollow point 40 grain 1050fps (CCI56) stuff, and I buy large amounts at a time from CTD to offset the shipping cost and maintain a good price on it.

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/2CCI56-1.html

The price, not including shipping, is about $0.06/round (so you gotta buy a lot to make it worth the shipping).
That's nearly twice what I pay for the Federal or Winchester bulk stuff - but if I hit the target on the first shot and don't need to fire again to get that target, well, then the price works out OK.

Back at home, after I've cleaned my gun, I carefully peel the CCI stickers off of the plastic cases and refill them with the Federal bulk stuff.

P.S. If you are using the whiz-bang loader on Ruger MKIII magazines, the wax coating on some .22 rounds causes some issues, reducing the effectiveness of the mag loader. The rounds get stuck sometimes, and the wax starts to build up in the loader. The Federal and Winchester bulk packs at Wal-Mart typically do not have the wax coating (one of the reasons they are so cheap), so they slide through the mag loader easier.

I have fired hundreds of all three types through my MKIII without any issues. I think the Ruger MKIII pistols will eat anything.

[chrish]

fwiw i have converted from cci mini mags to the winchester m22s sold at walmart. they are some kind of black coated copper bullet, but whatever it is it runs cleaner in my p22 than the cci mini mags did. they have been super reliable. ive put one brick of 1000 rounds thru my p22 already and maybe 250 into my second. do not recall a single dud yet and the only issues ive had have been failure to lock back on the last round and i have attributed that to riding the slide release on a couple of occasions. they run $45/1000 at walmart.

[TominCA]

I've had good accuracy with Fiocchi std velocity - mail order - Very accurate in my Ruger and 22 rifle and not expensive. The wally world Federal is okay (not great) and CCI the best and also most expensive.

[MikeG]

Sorry to revive an old thread but I love this topic... I've got a ruger mkI that my dad traded a single six for back in the mid 70's that has literally over 100,000 rounds through it, still has all the original parts, even the springs. I know because it's been mine for over 30 years... Still the most reliable and accurate pistol I've ever shot, with any type or brand of ammo. I would expect your mkIII to be no different. The mk series is probably the best .22 pistol ever designed, even though it can be a pain to take apart sometimes. On the other hand, my 10/22 would stovepipe every other round with federal bulk but feed everything else just fine. A new extractor fixed that, but I'm still trying to find something that groups better than 1" at 50 yards. On the third hand, my marlin 60 has never once malfunctioned and I tried literally dozens of types and brands of ammo to find "the one"...which turned out to be aguila super extra 38 gr plated hp... One hole groups right on the crosshairs at 50 yards all day long while federal bulk might miss a 3" target completely...

My point is that .22's can be very ammo-sensitive and "best" is subjective. Buy a box of several different brands and have fun narrowing it down but don't forget there are different types of the same brand--hollow point and round nose, plated and non-plated, high, hyper, and standard velocity, subsonic, etc... It can take a lot of effort but if you find "the one" it's all worth it. Especially if it's cheap like the aguila's

[Scoundrel]

Had the MK III at the range today shooting Federals and CCI Sub-Sonic through it. One of the CCI rounds did a delayed fire - the delay was about 1/4 second. I was so surprised I nearly dropped the gun (not really). The delayed fire round was also the last one in the magazine, so the bolt locked back. The net result was that something "felt funny" to me, and I checked the bore for obstructions before putting another magazine in. I thought I might have gotten a squib round. Turns out it was fine, just slightly delayed.

That was the first ever CCI problem for me, in several thousand rounds. By the standards most people regard .22LR in, that's positively awesome. For $0.06/round, I'll keep firing those.

I did have a Federal bulk pack dud today. I hit that primer four times, rotating 90 degrees each time, and it still did not go bang. The back of the casing was slightly concave. I was somewhat curious to take that round home and dissect it, but I just ended up dropping it in the dud bucket with all of the 9s and 40s on the way out.

[muggsy]

Originally Posted by MikeG

Sorry to revive an old thread but I love this topic... I've got a ruger mkI that my dad traded a single six for back in the mid 70's that has literally over 100,000 rounds through it, still has all the original parts, even the springs. I know because it's been mine for over 30 years... Still the most reliable and accurate pistol I've ever shot, with any type or brand of ammo. I would expect your mkIII to be no different. The mk series is probably the best .22 pistol ever designed, even though it can be a pain to take apart sometimes. On the other hand, my 10/22 would stovepipe every other round with federal bulk but feed everything else just fine. A new extractor fixed that, but I'm still trying to find something that groups better than 1" at 50 yards. On the third hand, my marlin 60 has never once malfunctioned and I tried literally dozens of types and brands of ammo to find "the one"...which turned out to be aguila super extra 38 gr plated hp... One hole groups right on the crosshairs at 50 yards all day long while federal bulk might miss a 3" target completely...

My point is that .22's can be very ammo-sensitive and "best" is subjective. Buy a box of several different brands and have fun narrowing it down but don't forget there are different types of the same brand--hollow point and round nose, plated and non-plated, high, hyper, and standard velocity, subsonic, etc... It can take a lot of effort but if you find "the one" it's all worth it. Especially if it's cheap like the aguila's

Remington Golden brass plated high velocity hollow points have worked well in all of my .22s and are available in a 525 round value pack.

[wyntrout]

I haven't tried it, yet, but I ordered 4,200 rounds of the Federal and two dry boxes with $2.00 shipping... about $162 delivered... tomorrow, hopefully, from Cabela's. They have good deals sometimes and if the ammo is the right price, too, I can save a bunch.

I already got 1K rounds of Stingers from Cabela's with the same deal... dry boxes and $2 shipping, but the price is what I would pay at Wal-Mart, but without the tax... $6.49 a box of 50.

I also got 2,000 rounds of Remington Subsonic from Natchez for $4.89 a box of 100. With the little testing I did, that stuff is quieter and shoot okay in my Ruger 10/22 Carbine. If I want to subsistence hunt without attracting a lot of attention, this might work.

I also have 2K rounds of the CCI Quik-Shok CPHP-segmented Subsonic coming from Ammo To Go. I wanted some subsonic with copper plating for longevity. The unplated lead can corrode or get "fuzzy" and hard to load.

I would normally use the CCI Mini Mags but it costs more than the Federal with about the same velocity and weight.

Wynn

[MikeG]

Originally Posted by muggsy

Remington Golden brass plated high velocity hollow points have worked well in all of my .22s and are available in a 525 round value pack.

I didn't mention those but they do shoot well for me too, just not quite as well as the aguila's out of my marlin. I had also bought the 2100 rd federal bulk deal from cabela's before I found out they don't work very well for me, but at least I can load up my 25 round mags guilt-free with 'em I do have to admit, no duds in the first three boxes so no complaints there...