Whats your favorite non-competition 22LR round for your 10/22?

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

  • No ad networks!
  • Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership
  • Discuss anti-gun legislation
  • Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section
  • Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses
  • Discover free outdoor shooting areas
  • View up to date on firearm-related events
  • Share photos & video with other members
  • ...and so much more!
  • Magnumite

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 17, 2007
    6,564
    Harford County, Maryland
    ^^^ I agree. I read once if your favorite 22 shot a particular ammo exceptionally well, “mortgage the farm and buy as much of the lot as you can”. I believe is was Eley that identified just over 200 factors that play into 22 LR consistency.

    I’ve started to adjust my ammo buying habits, was until this recent thing started, to not buy small groups of particular loads here and there, but sit on the cash and buy larger quantities of one lot.

    Same with gunpowder. For years I could buy a pound of gunpowder...in this case Bullseye...open it, through a few charges to check the charge weights and the variation wasn’t more than a tenth or two of a grain. This last pound of Bullseye throws charges over .5 grain light! Part of cannister powder formulation was staying tight on lot to lot consistency. That’s why we check ‘em first.
     

    Uncle Duke

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 2, 2013
    11,667
    Not Far Enough from the City
    ^^^ I agree. I read once if your favorite 22 shot a particular ammo exceptionally well, “mortgage the farm and buy as much of the lot as you can”. I believe is was Eley that identified just over 200 factors that play into 22 LR consistency.

    I’ve started to adjust my ammo buying habits, was until this recent thing started, to not buy small groups of particular loads here and there, but sit on the cash and buy larger quantities of one lot.

    It was actually your mention of Thunderbolt that prompted my mention. Thunderbolt is arguably the most maligned .22LR made. At one time, I had a lot of Thunderbolt, all of which I had bought years ago. Always wondered why the negativity, as like you I've had very few problems with it. And though I never found it to be an accuracy champ, it certainly wasn't terrible either. I liked it well enough for plinking ammo. But....it's entirely possible that the Thunderbolt I bought years ago was either made better, or came from a better than average lot.

    Funny also to some is that a 10 or 12 round ammo test that I did on my Marlin Glenfield 25 years ago produced a big purchase of.......believe it or not, Remington Golden Bullet in 100 packs. Went back and bought all that Clyde's had of the same lot at the time. Marked it "Hunting." Still have some of it. I know what it's going to do......in THAT rifle.

    Every rimfire I own has its own quirks and preferences.
     

    photoracer

    Competition Shooter
    Oct 22, 2010
    3,318
    West Virginia
    Most of us hate Remington 22 because its DIRTY and requires you to clean your guns more often. Which I don't like to do. To paraphrase a saying we had on the Remington forum of RimfireCentral.com, friends don't let friends run Remington ammo out of their Remington rifles. My metallic silhouette Remington 597 runs best and sub-MOA using Norma Tac-22 (same as Match-22). My speed 10/22s like CCI AR-Tactical, MiniMags, Clean-22, and Eley Force best. And 1 bad every 500 is enough to make me clean them. Lucky I still have about 8K worth of .22 ammo from the last shortage. At one time I had upwards of 32K.
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    ^^^ I agree. I read once if your favorite 22 shot a particular ammo exceptionally well, “mortgage the farm and buy as much of the lot as you can”. I believe is was Eley that identified just over 200 factors that play into 22 LR consistency.

    Rimfire match shooters test individual lots, and when they find a lot that shoots better, they buy cases and cases of that particular lot.
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    It was actually your mention of Thunderbolt that prompted my mention. Thunderbolt is arguably the most maligned .22LR made. At one time, I had a lot of Thunderbolt, all of which I had bought years ago. Always wondered why the negativity, as like you I've had very few problems with it. And though I never found it to be an accuracy champ, it certainly wasn't terrible either. I liked it well enough for plinking ammo. But....it's entirely possible that the Thunderbolt I bought years ago was either made better, or came from a better than average lot.

    Funny also to some is that a 10 or 12 round ammo test that I did on my Marlin Glenfield 25 years ago produced a big purchase of.......believe it or not, Remington Golden Bullet in 100 packs. Went back and bought all that Clyde's had of the same lot at the time. Marked it "Hunting." Still have some of it. I know what it's going to do......in THAT rifle.

    Every rimfire I own has its own quirks and preferences.

    It seems that the Golden Bullets of the past are not those of now.

    Back in the 70s, GB were on par with CCI MiniMags.

    But based on reports, that is no longer true.
     

    E.Shell

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 5, 2007
    10,245
    Mid-Merlind
    Might be a stupid question but is there a situation to use hollow point other than self defense or hunting?...
    For expansion, not really. The only other reason that occurs to me would be that if your particular rifles shoots them well.

    Up until CCI introduced their .22 Long Rifle Mini-Mag Hollow Point, expansion was nearly non-existent in regular HP rounds anyway. Tiny, shallow cavities, filled with wax...
     

    Uncle Duke

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 2, 2013
    11,667
    Not Far Enough from the City
    It seems that the Golden Bullets of the past are not those of now.

    Back in the 70s, GB were on par with CCI MiniMags.

    But based on reports, that is no longer true.

    That may well be. Then again, Sooo many different possibilities that could explain differences. Maybe different production machinery, then vs. now. Almost certainly different operators. Could be changes in powder or priming compound. Maybe a different brass supplier. Or the infamous 5pm Friday production lot, or the 8am Monday miserable hangover lot. Impossible to know really.

    All I know to do is to assume nothing, and pick up ammo and go shoot. Because when done often enough, and given sufficient data, that target won't lie. And then when you find something good, buy that lot in bulk. Because there's really no way of knowing for sure, just what you might be buying the next time. With rimfire production especially, they say that consistency especially has always been and remains, comparatively difficult.
     

    Gilo

    Member
    Jan 20, 2019
    67
    At this point, my favorite type is what's available. its so hard to find anything to Plink with.
     

    Uncle Duke

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 2, 2013
    11,667
    Not Far Enough from the City
    At this point, my favorite type is what's available. its so hard to find anything to Plink with.

    Absolutely! And that's the rub now, as it was in 2013, and really for a good time thereafter. Actually, 2013 was worse than right now for .22. But this current story hasn't played out yet. Far from it, is my best guess.

    Nothing new really. It has happened before, and it will happen again. It always repeats. And it always sucks if you get caught in it.
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    That may well be. Then again, Sooo many different possibilities that could explain differences. Maybe different production machinery, then vs. now. Almost certainly different operators. Could be changes in powder or priming compound. Maybe a different brass supplier. Or the infamous 5pm Friday production lot, or the 8am Monday miserable hangover lot. Impossible to know really.

    All I know to do is to assume nothing, and pick up ammo and go shoot. Because when done often enough, and given sufficient data, that target won't lie. And then when you find something good, buy that lot in bulk. Because there's really no way of knowing for sure, just what you might be buying the next time. With rimfire production especially, they say that consistency especially has always been and remains, comparatively difficult.

    Yeap.

    I have a Mitchell pistol. Which is copy of a High Standard in stainless.

    The best ammo that I found for it.......

    Federal American Eagle High Velocity.

    Strange, but it likes that.

    I did not try Eley or the higher end target ammo. Only CCI Green Tag.
     

    Alan3413

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 4, 2013
    16,929
    For expansion, not really. The only other reason that occurs to me would be that if your particular rifles shoots them well.

    Up until CCI introduced their .22 Long Rifle Mini-Mag Hollow Point, expansion was nearly non-existent in regular HP rounds anyway. Tiny, shallow cavities, filled with wax...

    If you must use .22 for self defense from a 10/22, use a CCI 40 gr solid.

    Tnoutdoors9 did a ballistic gel test and they consistently tumble while penetrating better than a foot. The tumbling makes for a pretty large cavity.

    Hollow points stop after less than 5".
     

    dist1646

    Ultimate Member
    May 1, 2012
    8,760
    Eldersburg
    Winchester Power Point. Bought a case of it when Mountainside closed. I gave half of it to a buddy who shot the sportsman team challenge, his gun loved that stuff. I no longer have a 10/22 but still have a brick or so of that ammo. It works well in my bolt action .22's.
     

    Users who are viewing this thread

    Latest posts

    Forum statistics

    Threads
    274,932
    Messages
    7,259,526
    Members
    33,350
    Latest member
    Rotorboater

    Latest threads

    Top Bottom