Best Rimfire ammo?

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

ds92

Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2008
Messages
218
Location
CT
Hi everybody,
I've decided its time to eradicate the squirrels in my local community via my henry lever-action .22. I currently have some old winchester super X .22lr that performs OK at the range. However, its about time for me to stock up on good ammo, and i had a couple choices in mind that i was hoping i could get some help on:

CCI Stinger: I like the way the performance looks (1640 fps) but is there something I'm missing? It seems a little light for squirrels (32 gr.)

Federal Game-Shock: I've had good experiences with federal in the past but i've never tried this type of ammo before. It is heavier at 40 gr. but its slower at 1200 fps

CCI Velocitor (http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/64738-5.html): It looks good because its high-velocity and 40 gr. but i'm still a bit uncertain about it.


Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated!!!:)
 
CCI Quikshok is first choice if all you are trying to do is eliminate them. It would not be so good if you plan to eat them. It produces a barely visible entry and the back side is gone. Also, no shoot through worry assuming you hit them anywhere in the body. The bullet breaks into three frags almost immediately upon entry. I have been using it exclusively for red squirrel population control for about 10 years.

Ballistics are similar to the Stinger. In fact it is loaded in stinger cases. It is not good for anything much bigger than a gray squirrel. I have used the Stingers on Woodchucks with good results.

One more point: Stingers and Quikshok are usually not the most accurate ammo in most guns I have shot but head shots are not necessary unless meat is the goal.
 
CCI Velociters work well too.

You really need to step back and do some shooting with several different brands. You really don't need the high velocity HP's. Try some of the Federal Champion 510's sold at Walmart in 50-round boxes. They run $1.47/box these days.

For years I shot Remington Golden bullets. They did just fine. Bricks used to cost about $5.00. These days, some of the 50 round boxes cost more than that. It is amazing what time does.

CCI ammo is almost always of good quality.
 
well, eley is the best ammo , period. for detruction of small stuff? I like Aguila hi velocity, aguila interceptor, the fastest of all the standard 22lrs, and the cci quikshok, and SGB's, will do a big job.
 
The "best" is what shoots best in your rifle. I started shooting more targets with 22's and I was amazed at all of the different 22 ammo that is available these days.

But if you want to take a wack at something that many people find to be consistantly very good to great and at "moderate" prices, try Wolf Match Target which run about $45/brick. Sure seems expensive compared to the $5/brick stuff I used to shoot and the $12/bulk pack stuff at Walmart. Much of the 22 ammo runs around $20/brick these days.
 
As stated prior each rimfire will have a particular preference to specific type and brand of ammunition. If your plan is just to eradicate the tree rats the hi-velocity stuff will work just fine but if they may end up on your plate I would recommend using subsonic hollow points. They have plenty of energy to cleanly dispatch squirrels with out excessive tissue damage. I have had really good luck with Eley subsonic HP’s, they give outstanding accuracy in all my rifles and revolver but are hard to find locally and I usually purchase them via http://www.championshooters.com.
 
CCI subsonics shoot fantastically out of my 452. Great performance on squirrels as well.
 
+1 on remington subsonic!! that stuff works well in pest hunting suituations where the sonic crack would alert other pests. I can shoot limb rats all day and they hardly know Im there.
 
If 22 shooters only knew the answer to this ultimate question, there would probably be only one ammo desgin available in the marketplace. No body wants that. Keep on shootin'!
 
All around, acurate, cycle anything ammo? CCI velocitor. Works in every 22 I've seen it tried in. Teaching hunter-ed the last several years, I've seen almost every 22 lr load out there. That one works.

In fact I keep a couple boxes of them in my bag when we have range night for class. When a student shows up with cheap ammo and starts having trouble(assuming it's an ammo issue and not a dirty gun), I give them enough of the velocitors to do the test.

FWIW: federal bulk pack is notorious for short stroking in 10-22's.
 
Finding the accurate ammo....

I find Eley Pistol bullets to be the most accurate in my Mark II Target pistol.

If you have space and a safe place to do this, here is a way to figure out which ammo your 22 pistol really likes (it may work with a 22 rifle, but you might want to first remove the stock).

Carefully clamp the barrel into a vice using 3/4" pine blocks on each side to "pad" the barrel, prevent marring and damage. Aim the barrel at a suitable backstop (8"x8" wood blocking works well) or anything that will safely stop the bullets. Fire one round to ensure you are nearly centered on the backstop and to show you where to mount a target (the farther, the better). Indoors is also better as there will be no wind or breeze to contend with. Just be careful that there are no people, pets, etc. that can accidentally come between the barrel and the backstop, and/or be certain any ricochets will not occur or if they do, they will not harm anything (wires, pipes, etc.).

Carefully shoot five or ten rounds of different ammo into different targets. Of course, the barrel should be locked tightely and not moving at all as the vice is supposedly mounted on a heavy, solid surface. What you are looking for is the ammo that makes the same hole each time. This can be accomplished as you know the barrel is not moving at all.

Whatever ammo can shoot 10 shots through the same hole (or through a hole with just a ragged edge) is the ammo to buy for accuracy.

If that ammo is really expensive, then perhaps the second or third best at tight groups would be good to buy to use for plinking.

I have my target pistol sighted in with the most accurate, then I have four other brands that vary in accuracy. Since my gun is zeroed at 50 feet for the best, accurate ammo, the other ammo I have listed on a 3x5 card which shows me how to change my aim to make up for the different points of impact at 50 feet (for example: Super X 40g HP 1/4" down, 1/2" right; Remington solid nose: up 1", left 3/4").

Once you have done this, you don't need to repeat it, unless you can't buy the ammo your gun likes any more.

Use extreme caution in setting up and performing all of the above.

Once you know which bullets you are going to use, sighting in should be done without the vice, as recoil and hold will change POI to a degree.
 
when i say eley makes the best ammo, they do. Period. Nobody, and I mean no body, comes remotely close, to the materials, design specs, quality controls, that eley does. Just do a search and read some articles on how they make ammo, it will blow you away. Recently the board members asked the whole design/engineering team, to come up with a list on how many ways , that 22 ammo and their specific mfg specs could be improved. the team came up with 35 categories, in which ways 22 ammo could be improved. NOT 35 WAYS, 35 CATEGORIES!!!!! awesome, I can't even think of 35 categories.
two things though, eley ammo is not made for killing game, and eley ammo is made for accuracy. now then, I suppose that using it, would kill game as well as 90% of the other ammo out there, that is designed to kill game.
So that is something to think about. CCi , makes some specific game killers; like quik shok, and SGB's, these were designed to energy dump, and split up into pieces upon penetration.
Aguila, which is made by eley, has the interceptor's, and also their high velocity hollow points, which will kill small game efficiently.
but specifically speaking, I don't know that the eley brand name, carries an ammo that is meant for anchoring game.
 
I knew when I saw the question we would have plenty of responses . . .

I have found that CCI Mini-mags, though not the best performers, perform consistantly well in all of my rimfires. Also, they don't break the bank like Eley, Lapua, SK and other high end super consistant target ammo. I use the hollow points on squirrells thinking they might expand a little better, but the tests I've done don't show much improvement over solids. They're a little lighter and faster/flatter shooting than the 40 grains, but not noticeably.

Having said all that, accuracy in your gun should be the only concern. Unless you're shooting squirrells out at 1000 yards with a .22LR, a well placed shot with a short or CB is enough to dispatch the small critter at realistic yardage. I believe the going rate on foot pounds to kill a squirrell is 3. 22LR High Velocitity at 100 yards delivers about 70 ft lbs.

I do agree with the first reply . . . If you're not going to eat them (I suggest you don't if you're in a residential area . . . fiberglass, vinyl, wire sheathing, aluminum electrical connectors, garbage of any kind make up a city squirrell's diet), the super expanding rounds like make quick, messy kills.
 
Last edited:
CCI Stingers

I bought some of the very first Stingers when they came out. That was in 1975. Being a kid who hunted groundhogs with a Ruger 10/22, I learned early that shot placement was critical with the rimfire. When I switched from Remington hollow points to Stingers I was impressed big time :what: with the killing power.

This was back in the days when I'd shoot the better part of a dozen groundhogs in an afternoon after school. I wasn't into the science of it much back then, but I had plenty of anecdotal data. The difference was significant.:evil:

I don't think the Stinger is at all over its head on squirrels. I've shot lots of game in the "groundhog and smaller" size with them, and I'd rather not try to eat anything I shot with it. There may be some better, but the Stinger's a marked improvement over the standard 22LR HP.
 
Best is what goes bang everytime out of your gun, and shoots to level of accuracy that you expect. This may be cheap bulk paks of ammo or you may have to use expensive match ammo to achieve your expectations.

For the most part the majority of your shooting is plinking, use the cheap stuff and shoot more.
 
In my hopinion, based on years of Squirrel hunting, accurate and quiet is what you want.

Yes with something like stingers you can create horrible wounds, and ruin a lot of meat, but a squirrel hit in the right spot with a solid nose is just as dead as one hit in the right spot with a stinger. And one hit in the wrong spot is just as likely to run off in a hole and die later. Regardless of ammo, you got to hit them solid.

I did test stingers, and that ammo was very inaccurate in my 10/22. All the hyper velocity stuff was inaccurate. I wanted something that could hit a squirrel head at 25 yards, and standard velocity solid nose was just fine.

A hunting bud and myself started experimenting with different brands of .22 LR and found that some of the target grade stuff was quieter than the HV stuff. That was an advantage as you don't spook the whole forest. And if you miss, it takes a second longer for the squirrel to locate you. You might be able to bean him in the head as he is looking around.

Buy the way, the absolute best tool we found in reducing squirrels to arms and legs, were poultry shears. You still need a knife for skinning.

203272e.jpg
 
Any solid or hollow point 22 round will probably shoot through a squirrel even with a good hit. CCI Velocitors while an excellent round are deep penetrators - something like 13" in gel even when they expand. If you are shooting targets over your head you may launch a round 1/2 to 1 mile downrange even with a hit. Do you know for sure what is within that distance down range?
 
. . . have to agree with DBR. I mistyped/thought in my post. Quickshoks blow up, not Velocitors.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

G
  • Locked
Thoughts on particular .22 LR ammo
2 3
Replies
74
Views
4K
tuj
tuj
R
  • Locked
22 lr Stinger or Velocitor for Home-Defense?
2 3
Replies
54
Views
35K
shockwave
S
B
  • Locked
"Quiet" ammo.
2 3
Replies
60
Views
2K
armarsh
armarsh
.455_Hunter
  • Locked
CCW Ammo Choice- S&W Model 317 Snub
Replies
13
Views
2K
seeker_two
S
N
  • Locked
22 Rimfire-chronograph
Replies
6
Views
998
conhntr
C
Back
Top