Best 22LR factory loads for small varmints?
- Thread starter BillW
- Start date
Dakota Yote
New member
I like the CCI Stingers.
Whichever hi-vel hollow point shoots best in your rifle. Rimfires almost always show a strong favor for certain types of ammo over others. Only way to find out which one yours likes is to gather up as many different kinds as you can and take them out and test them. The hyper-vel stuff like the Stingers aren't usually very accurate in most rifles but once in awhile a rifle will do well with it. I've got a 10/22 that shoots Vipers almost as well as it does any other hunting ammo (that same rifle sprays Stingers though).
The Fed. American Eagle stuff kills good, is reasonably priced and has shot as well or almost as well as any hi-vel hollow point I've tried in several different rifles. It would be one worth trying anyway.
For general blasting, I like the Wally World bulk pack Federal. I go through almost 10,000 rounds a year of that stuff.
- DAA
The Fed. American Eagle stuff kills good, is reasonably priced and has shot as well or almost as well as any hi-vel hollow point I've tried in several different rifles. It would be one worth trying anyway.
For general blasting, I like the Wally World bulk pack Federal. I go through almost 10,000 rounds a year of that stuff.
- DAA
GC
Well-known member
Just as DAA said, you can't tell by looking at it, and nobody can lead you there without a pulling the trigger. .22's are finicky, get as many different brands and styles as you can and head to the range. The work is yours to do, enjoy!
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"Doing the Right thing isn't always easy, but it's always RIGHT!"
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"Doing the Right thing isn't always easy, but it's always RIGHT!"
Don't ignore the "standard velocity" stuff... you may find something very accurate there too. You may notice that any breeze will push them around a little bit more than the high-vel stuff though.
I found in my T/C match 22 that CCI Mini-Mags (both hollow points and solids) shoot as well as anything, including the EXPENSIVE Lapua and Eley match ammo. $8 for 50 rounds is pretty steep for 22lr, even the $5 for 100rounds of mini-mags ain't cheap... and the Federal bonus-packs that DAA mentioned still hold right around an inch at 50 yards.
It never fails to amaze me how picky 22s can be... but I have found the CCI mini-mags to shoot well in just about any 22. Different lots numbers will behave differently too.
I found in my T/C match 22 that CCI Mini-Mags (both hollow points and solids) shoot as well as anything, including the EXPENSIVE Lapua and Eley match ammo. $8 for 50 rounds is pretty steep for 22lr, even the $5 for 100rounds of mini-mags ain't cheap... and the Federal bonus-packs that DAA mentioned still hold right around an inch at 50 yards.
It never fails to amaze me how picky 22s can be... but I have found the CCI mini-mags to shoot well in just about any 22. Different lots numbers will behave differently too.
Jack Roberts
Moderator - Deceased
Actually DesertFox, the standard velocity ammo blows less in the wind than the higher velocity ammo. It doesn't seem logical at first, but if you look at the equation for wind drift, it does make sense. It has also been demonstrated thousands of times by smallbore match shooters.
If you look at the wind drift equation, (no I am not going to put it here.) the factor that is more important than most is the difference between initial and terminal velocity. This number is larger for the higher velocity stuff, because it slows down faster. This is especially true as it goes from being super-sonic to sub-sonic. The standard velocity ammo is already sub-sonic or close to it, so does not spend as much time in a high drag speed range.
Not the best explanation I have seen, but believe me, it is definitely true.
Jack
If you look at the wind drift equation, (no I am not going to put it here.) the factor that is more important than most is the difference between initial and terminal velocity. This number is larger for the higher velocity stuff, because it slows down faster. This is especially true as it goes from being super-sonic to sub-sonic. The standard velocity ammo is already sub-sonic or close to it, so does not spend as much time in a high drag speed range.
Not the best explanation I have seen, but believe me, it is definitely true.
Jack
A hollow point of medium to high velocity will kill small varmints the best. Like said above, go out and buy 50-100 rounds of a half dozen different makes and find out what your rifle likes best. I like to shoot five ten shot groups at 50 yards when trying out new ammo. The nice thing about .22 rimfires is its so cheap to test out different brands of ammo.
I have had good luck with Remington Yellowjackets but I have seen .22's that absolutely hated them, the same story with the CCI Stingers. So thats why you just have to try different kinds of ammo in your .22.
The past five years or so I have used the Winchester Power Points and found they shoot very well out of my 77/22. They have a 40 grain HP bullet that isn't as fast as the hyper velocity stuff but they are very consistent. They work very well on ground squirrels,starlings,pigeons,etc. For general plinking I like the Federal bulk packs. They shoot fine and are economical.
I just picked up a couple hundred rounds of some new CCI Velocitor stuff. It uses a 40 grain HP with a claimed velocity of 1435 fps. I am curious to see how this stuff performs on targets and ground squirrels. Anybody tried this stuff yet?
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I have had good luck with Remington Yellowjackets but I have seen .22's that absolutely hated them, the same story with the CCI Stingers. So thats why you just have to try different kinds of ammo in your .22.
The past five years or so I have used the Winchester Power Points and found they shoot very well out of my 77/22. They have a 40 grain HP bullet that isn't as fast as the hyper velocity stuff but they are very consistent. They work very well on ground squirrels,starlings,pigeons,etc. For general plinking I like the Federal bulk packs. They shoot fine and are economical.
I just picked up a couple hundred rounds of some new CCI Velocitor stuff. It uses a 40 grain HP with a claimed velocity of 1435 fps. I am curious to see how this stuff performs on targets and ground squirrels. Anybody tried this stuff yet?
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Hi Jack--
I understand the transsonic instability portion of the problem, and I've heard the same info you passed on, and worked the numbers some and it seems true... BUT it SEEMS like the I get better groups with CCI Mini-Mags than with the CCI Standard Velocity when the breezes come up, when in dead still conditions they both group statistically the same. (at 50 yards) There's probably other factors at work there. Hopefully the range to the critter will be short enough that the bullet won't go transsonic and get bumped around, and time of flight will be less than with the standard vel stuff....
Oh, what the heck, just grab a sack full of ammo and go see what works best!!
Good hunting
I understand the transsonic instability portion of the problem, and I've heard the same info you passed on, and worked the numbers some and it seems true... BUT it SEEMS like the I get better groups with CCI Mini-Mags than with the CCI Standard Velocity when the breezes come up, when in dead still conditions they both group statistically the same. (at 50 yards) There's probably other factors at work there. Hopefully the range to the critter will be short enough that the bullet won't go transsonic and get bumped around, and time of flight will be less than with the standard vel stuff....
Oh, what the heck, just grab a sack full of ammo and go see what works best!!
Good hunting
I like the CCI mini-mags in my ruger 10/22. I have also had good luck with winchesters. The cheap federal (lightning) and remington(thunderbolts) foul my gun bad.