Thoughts on particular .22 LR ammo

I'm in the same boat in a away. TBH I avoid nothing available but I am getting pickier.

To answer as best I can. Subsonics are ok but have limited use. There are good and bad lots of 22 ammo but the best for me has always been CCI minimags and SV. Lately Aquilla has been steady on the shelves at the local Academy. That's good stuff. The SV and plated HV are very good substitutes for CCI. Both are good quality.

It really comes down to what your guns like best and what you're using the ammo for. SV of any brand is usually accurate but not the best for a steel match.

Since we get to be pickier I would avoid Remington ammo as a general rule.

I'm In the same boat as you guys. That being said you list some good options. The Aguila in most varieties is Eley prime, and tends to group well. The Norma USA if I'm not mistaken is made by RWS. It shoots very well out of my Marlin 7000 bull barrel. I use both of these in my scoped rifles. I tend to get my best groups with sub sonic ammunition ( 1100 fps or less ) and it cycles with no problems through my Marlins and my Ruger 10/22.

The Federal Auto Match is great bulk ammo. It is not as good as the Agulia or the Norma, but then again I only use it in my open sight Lever Guns. The Blazer ammunition is made by CCI and is also good.

Tentwing

The Thunderbolts and Winchester are the only two I'd skip on. Many of those are unfamiliar brands to some people but are excellent shooters.

Aguila SE comes in 4 flavors; 40gr RN and 36gr HP, each in SV and HV.

The sub-sonic ammo will not reliably cycle most semi's. It generally does cycle my guns with suppressors though.
The Thunderbolts are probably the worst of the ones listed but I have 10-15k rounds of it. I don't find it to be THAT bad for plinking but it isn't my first choice.
Anything CCI has generally been good to me. Mini-mags, Blazer, Stingers have all worked well in most of my guns although the Stingers cause some problems in some guns because of their overall length.
I have some of the Gemtech sub-sonic and they caused some gumming in a 22 semi. I cleaned that gun well and now it shoots just fine, as a single shot. I don't know if it was the ammo or the gun but it didn't have that many rounds through it after a thorough cleaning.
I have never had any issues with Federal 22 ammo. I have two 22 pistols that had major problems with the Aguila, don't recall which Aguila, but they eat the Federal Champion so I keep it set aside just for them.

In case you didn't know, 22 firearms can be very finicky, especially with the bulk/cheap ammo. I have guns that run very well on one ammo (see above) and are a disaster with others.
PS I generally do NOT shoot 22 for accuracy other than "minute of beer can" so my experience is based on reliability rather than accuracy.

Over the last several years I have seen a serious decline in rimfire ammunition quality. While working at an indoor range I had the chance to sample and observe how many different brands did. To make a long story short I would stick to CCI mini mags, Federal copper plated bulk, and American eagle copper plated.

Winchester bulk had plenty of powder but the bullet seating left something to be desired. They would often fail in guns. The loose bullet would get hung up going into the chamber.

Remington Thunderbolts had just enough powder to get the bullet out the muzzle and you could hear the different in lack of "bang" when they went off. I had to check several times with a cleaning rod to make sure it exited.

I like Wolf match. Aguila is also good, they also market under the name Centurion. Remington Golden is Ok but has a 5% dud rate

Remington Subsonic runs fine in my Ciener kit. Aguila 60 grain subsonic does not. You're just going to have to try it.

My guns and I generally prefer CCI, though their Blaser ammo isn't always to some rifle's liking. Never met one yet (and I have over thirty .22LR guns at last muster) that doesn't like Minimags!
I have been having to buy other brands as they come available.
Winchester Experts and Dynapoints are good. Mildcats (uh....Wildcats) are a different matter.
I don't like Remington and avid them, though I once had a gift tin of them that performed well.
Federals are reliable but don't shot tightly enough for me. Auto-Match even less so.
I have two 500-packs each of SK brand and Fiocchi, that I haven't yet tried.

I like Aguila .22LR, but they tend to be pricy now, and availability is scarce.

If it were me I'd start selling and standardizing what I have. Sell the crap or odd ammo while there is a market for it. I usually keep 4 or 5 flavors around for different reasons. My supply contains CCI MiniMags, Agulia Target and CCI SV (interchangeable), Agulia Extra and Wolf Match. Stick with anything CCI. Federal bulk and Auto match I've returned to Federal in the past two years because it won't group at 50yds, they did refund my $+ on my returns but I'm done with federal except may be their 719 Gold Medal. Remington's have been inconsistent, dirty and duds. Thunderbolts I WON'T shoot through ANY of my .22s.

I buy whatever is cheap .

I also have a good mixture of 22lr ammo; because 22lr guns can be so picky as to what they like I see this is a good thing.

I only have a couple of 22lr firearms but we all know people that also have a couple.With a nice variety of manufacturers and styles on your shelf you can help find the best round for each particular gun. While that doesn't mean you can find it again it does give you a specific round to look for.

I buy all he CCI Blazer I can when I can find it, my Winchester 9422 likes it. My Ruger SR22 seems to shoot about anything I put into it but the CCI mini-mags seem to be the cleanest and most reliable.

I like using subsonics when squirrel hunting. Won't scare the bejeebers out of every living creature within 200 yds and gives me a shot at multiple targets from the same location. Have had good results with Aguila and CCI.

I'm a stickler for cleaning after every use. Don't know what concoction Remington uses, but after a handful of rounds my cleaning patches are as black as coal.

My Ruger Mark III has no problem cycling subsonic.

From my experience CCI Blazer is the best bargain ammo. It doesn't group well in some guns but it always goes bang and that's more than you can say for Rem. Thunderbolts.

There are indeed differences in the way various 22 ammo performs in different 22s.

First off, the reality is that most of us have no need for match grade 22 ammo. Its a short range cartridge and 95% of it will suffice for whatever accuracy I need. I do tend to remember which ammo performs "best" for me in any particular rifle to handgun. And every single firearm is an entity unto itself. My Browning prefers "this". My friend's identical rimfire HATES "this" and prefers "that".

If my only rimfire handgun was a semi auto, I'd be paranoid about what 22 ammo I bought and whether it was "the best" for my shooter. OTOH: A revolver will handle CB Caps, shorts, longs, long rifles, and some 22/22mag convertibles will even add 22 magnum to the list.

So, having been a good Boy Scout some 60 years ago, I still follow the motto: Be Prepared (and thus avoid the urgency of an issue). My 22/45 loves the white box Winchester ammo. Its purpose is to be a foraging/survival pistol for my trips into the high desert and on those occasions it lives in a bag on the rear deck of my ATV. Long ago I dedicated a then $5 brick of ammo to that purpose and 15 years later I still have most of that brick left.

Otherwise, I buy this and that. I've yet to find any rimfire ammo that was "useless".

Sooner or later its all going to get used anyhow and having a box of "Ringington Super Greasy Mouse-Moose Pops" on hand is better than needing a box and not finding any on the store shelf.

Roughly three years ago Remington mounted a rimfire improvement move across their entire line of .22s.

Lately, aside from lingering commentary on OLDER Remington stuff, I'm hearing & seeing a greater likelihood for disappointment with Winchester.
Denis

At the present time I buy almost anything for plnking and Blazer for more serious target shooting.

First off, the reality is that most of us have no need for match grade 22 ammo.

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Try seriously competing in ANY form of smallbore competition and your opinion will change. Indoor 4 position if you're not shooting Match ammo you're leaving points on the paper. Outdoor hunter silhouette, the speed division out of my 10/22LVT I'll shoot MiniMags, out of my CZ452 Varmint offhand - Agulia Target. NRA smallbore silhouette out of the CZ it's wolf match.

Any ammo that's only minute of soda can at 50yds ain't worth my time or money...but that's just me

Minute of soda can is 4x larger than minute of squirrel head. My 452 Trainer and my Marlin 25N shoot Aguila SE into .3" at 50 yds. consistently and that is what I consider "good enough".

Roughly three years ago Remington mounted a rimfire improvement move across their entire line of .22s.

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Interesting, because the stuff i bought about 5 years ago had 3-5 duds in every 50rd box on average....not bad when you were paying $.03/rd back in the day, but not an experience i'd choose to repeat.

I was talking to one of their senior rimfire guys a couple months back, said they had a major upgrade in processes & QC push.
Denis

Mini mags are my number 1 game getter.

DPris said:

I was talking to one of their senior rimfire guys a couple months back, said they had a major upgrade in processes & QC push.
Denis

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I think there has been an improvement. I've gone through a lot of thunderbolt and been pleasantly surprised but the last 2 boxes of GB were very poor. There doesn't seem to be enough of a sample set available to validate Remington's claims. They were actually great during the height of the panic. Either the QC is slipping or I wound up with a bad lot about 2 months ago.

I avoid Winchester like the plague.

OP, I, like you, have been picking up different brands when I can find them. Experience tells me no two .22 rifle or pistols will shoot the same when using .22. Of your list the CCI Blazer solid nose .22 shoots extremely well out of my 10/22. Even tighter than the mini-mags. But I also love mini-mags because it shoots well in about all my .22's.