CCI .22 Stinger.....

[tech30528]

I've done extensive testing on over 30 different types of 22LR rounds. Someone mentioned the CCI AR Tacticals, these are my absolute favorite range fodder. I started off as a target shooter and separate them by weight to avoid vertical stringing, the AR Tacticals spread out over less than 1 grain in weight top to bottom and are VERY consistent.

On the Stingers:

A great hunting round, there is a variant of those that I buy by the brick, it is the Stinger SEGMENTED hollowpoint. I order them thru Cabelas. They are pre fractured into 3 equal sized pieces and fragmentation is, as expected, very consistent. An absolutely devastating hunting round. Check those out, I think you will be impressed. It is the only 22 round I have tested that are 1 shot 'possum killers. Those little bastards are tough.

Now for the shocker. There is a better SHTF 22 round out there. It is the Aguila Interceptor, 1470fps in a 40 grain RN. That's a full 40 grain bullet (Stingers are 32 grain IIRC) and consistently punch thru 1 1/2 steel drums at 25 yards. I have never tested another 22 round that hits that hard. The closest is the CCI Velocitor which is 35 fps slower. The Interceptors also range very tight on the scale, another less than 1 grain spread. I have never had a misfire from them and shoot them regularly in all three of my 10 22s, and they do not have the longer case of the Stinger which can exhibit FTE on 10 22 TARGET MODELS with the tighter chamber. I have collected many of the Interceptors from the inside of the second steel drum, they average 32 grains retained weight and end up being a 10mm disc. The holes in the steel drums look like 9mm holes. Just for comparison 124 grain 9mm rounds go thru 3 drums at 25 yards from a Glock 33 with a 9mm barrel installed.

Having tested a buttload of 22 rounds, there are 5 that I stock:

Remington subsonic hollowpoints (the only Remington I like, 38 grain and great with a suppressor, I buy them at WalMart for about $36 a brick)

Piney Mountain tracers (just for fun)

CCI AR Tactical (I buy these 1500 at a time from Cabelas, they come with a free large plastic dry box great for storing food)

CCI Stinger Segmented hollowpoints (Cabelas)

Aguila Interceptors (Cabelas)


I don't weigh the tracers. These are novelty rounds and I don't hold them to the same standard. The other 4 are all very consistent batch after batch and have few if any failures.

 

[Captains1911]

I'm curious, what is considered hyper velocity? This is from the Mark II manual..
"The RUGER®
MARK II pistol is chambered only for the .22 caliber Long
Rifle cartridge, standard velocity or high velocity, manufactured to U.S. Industry
Standards. Do not attempt to load .22 Long, .22 Short, or any other type .22
caliber cartridge into the magazine or in the chamber of the pistol. Use of .22
shot shells is not recommended. See MALFUNCTION WARNING, p. 18"

High velocity has a standard 22LR case length and velocity around 1250 fps. Hypervelocity ammo, like CCI Stingers, uses a slightly longer case and has velocities around 1650 fps.

 

[tech30528]

Just FYI the fastest 22LR round currently on the market is the Aguila SuperMax at 1750 fps.There are 30 grain RN and HP versions. For their added speed they do not have more delivered energy and have manufacturing inconsistencies (at least that is what I found over testing somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 rounds). I've had some that will group pretty well and then other batches that spread out to 5 inch groups at 100 yards. I've tested them with 1:16 twist barrels and a 1:20 twist barrel I had made specifically for these rounds. Green Mountain makes a 1:18 twist barrel for them, 1:20 is the rate used for 29 grain 22 shorts.

 

[1 old 0311-1]

I got a TON , well 3000 anyway, of them. Both my 10/22, and 22/45 love them.

 

[mastiffhound]

I quit buying CCI .22lr ammo a while ago with the exception of CCI blazer. With the blazer I can shoot pennies all day out of my 60 year old stevens bolt action, litterally. They usually shoot at .5 inches or less at 50 yards. I would shoot dimes but that might get expensive. Aguila is eley primed and I buy it by the brick. It is $5 for 100 for the Supermax and it is $6 for 50 of the CCI stingers. That plastic box must be the extra dollar?

Aguila Supermax is scary, you can hear the difference in the muzzle report. The squirels, ferral cats, skunks, opossums, groundhogs, and other varmints have had some pretty gruesome wounds after being shot. Almost all have been at 50 yards or so, I have no idea what the wounds would be like after that. None have ever ran or even took a step after being shot. They drop dead on the spot. Now I use the hollow point Supermax, not the round nose.

With my chickens being around I still haven't seen a coyote yet. I would feel confident with the Supermax on them too. Now they are less accurate at 50 yards but usually at 1 inch. Maybe it is the old stevens, I don't know. They do shoot 1.5 to 2 inches out of my 10/22 though, can't win them all I guess. They are fantastic on varmints, now as a self defense round, who knows.

 

[Archangel14]

Almost all have been at 50 yards or so, I have no idea what the wounds would be like after that.

Excellent info. What is your estimate as to the effective killing yardage of the Supermax on small game? And do you know if it feeds well in the 10/22?

There is a better SHTF 22 round out there. It is the Aguila Interceptor, 1470fps in a 40 grain RN.

Ah...what is your estimate as to the effective killing range of the Interceptor (on small game)?

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

A story about appropriately placed warning shots. A friend of mine has a dairy farm and a lot of his hired help live around the farm in various houses. One of his employees was involved with some wanna-be gangbangers in town so a rival gangbanger came to his house one night and started kicking in the door. His wife called my friend and told him someone was kicking in the door of the house so my friend hopped into his truck and drove over to the house. The attacker started running as soon as he saw the truck pull into the drive so my friend stepped out of his truck and fired one round from his AR into the ground beside the fleeing GBer. He immediately stopped running and put his hands behind his head where he remained until my friend finished telling him about proper conduct on his property and the consequences of not following his advice. He never had any more trouble and his employee decided that maybe being a modern Mexican bandito wasn't worth his job....

 

[mastiffhound]

It has fed great in my 10/22, as good as the CCI. Maybe past 75 yards that 30 grain bullet might start to lose its effectiveness. I would go for the Interceptor past that range. Here is a video that will show you what CCI's Velocitor(Aguila Interceptor has same bullet and speed) does at 300 yards:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAkOzr6cDx0

 

[Archangel14]

A story about appropriately placed warning shots.

Good story Steel Horse. I don't think I'd actually ever fire a warning shot in my area, unless I was presented with some extreme circumstances, i.e. post-Katrina.

 

[Cee Zee]

Oh Lord, here we go again RC

Amen to that. There are thousands of threads just like this one on gun forums all over the net and the arguments are always the same. People think they can change the laws of physics and ballistics with a little bit of "Ivanna". Dream on. Anyone who deliberately chooses a .22 for SD is likely going to regret it if they actually have to use the stuff in a real life shootout. Never mind that this scenario is very unlikely most of the time. Just keep in mind that a .22 is the least effective round you can buy so why on earth would you want to use it?

Consider this. A shotgun with #4 buckshot will fire 21 pellets where each are bigger than a .32 bullet. So what kind of sense does it make to take a gun that fires one, smaller round at a time and try to make it work as a SD round. It makes absolutely no sense. I don't care about firing 25 rounds off and hitting Mr. Bad Guy in the chest time after time. Horse hockey. It doesn't work that way. Mr. Bad Guy doesn't stand still and let you shoot him. Why not try repeatedly to put 21 pellets into Mr. Bad Guy all at once? Isn't that by far the more logical choice?

I don't care if your .22 looks like a .50 BMG, an AR, a Buzz Lightyear blaster or a super cowboy special. It won't do what a shotgun will do. If you have problems with Mr. Bad Guy use a shotgun. If you really are good at shooting things that are moving very fast and trying not to be shot use a semi-auto, centerfire rifle. The difference in the damage you can do is phenomenal.

I don't mean to be rude here. But people read this stuff and some of them believe it. If you have a .22 and Mr. Bad Guy comes along then yes by all means us that .22. But if you have a safe full of firearms or even just one single other weapon it almost certainly will be superior to a .22. Use that weapon and forget that your .22 looks like a Star Wars / Star Trek / Stargate / Starbucks (Battlestar Gallactica - the head hot dog's name was Starbuck). Looks don't mean squat. Rapid fire works with bigger rounds too. Use those. So if you hit Mr. Bad Guy just once chances are you will discourage him quickly.

 

[mljdeckard]

#4 buck is actually .24". 00 is .33".

 

[MtnCreek]

Just keep in mind that a .22 is the least effective round you can buy so why on earth would you want to use it?

Well let's not forget the .25acp.

 

[M-Cameron]

Just keep in mind that a .22 is the least effective round you can buy so why on earth would you want to use it?

least effective at what?

sure, a .22lr doesnt have the energy of a .223....

but what is more effective at taking small game like squirrels and rabbits?

what is more effective at producing a low muzzle report to not scare off game or attract attention?

what is more cost effective?....with $20 i can buy 20 rounds of .223.....or 500 rounds of .22lr


hell, if i had to, i dont think i would have any trouble taking a deer with a .22lr, not ideal but i think i could make it work.

and as for an attacker, they arent going to know the difference between being shot with 2-5 rounds of .22lr...or 2-5 rounds of .223.

 

[chicharrones]

and as for an attacker, they arent going to know the difference between being shot with 2-5 rounds of .22lr...or 2-5 rounds of .223.

I don't think it matters what an attacker knows as long as an attacker is stopped.

A .223 has a better chance at stopping an attacker than a .22LR, IMO.

 

[chicharrones]

Unless you require good accuracy. I get better groups with cheap bulk ammo than I do with Stingers in every 22 I've tested them in.

That's my experience, too.

In my guns, small targets at 50 yards with Stingers are pretty much out of range due to largish groups. Plinking at that distance is okay though.

 

[tulsamal]

Remington subsonic hollowpoints (the only Remington I like

I've been shooting vermin for a long time. Mostly with a 1960's 10/22. And I long ago settled on the Remington Yellow Jacket for non-edible critters. More accurate in my guns than Stingers and yet a lot more reliable killing power than generic high velocity .22 LR.

Gregg

 

[Bushpilot]

The Mark II is built like a tank and I really can't imagine that you'd get that much extra pressure from a Stinger as to jeopardize the pistol. Just looking at the chamber reveals a very thick, solid firearm. We're talking .22's here. I wonder what Ruger's basis is?

Archangel14, the issue isn't with the guns ability to contain the chamber pressure Stingers produce. The problem is with the bolt speed and travel during recoil. Since the Ruger and every other semi-auto 22 I can think of is pure blowback operated and has no locking mechanism, other than the recoil spring, higher pressure rounds like the Stingers slam the bolt back harder (faster) than normal and hammer the back of the bolt stop. They also cycle the action faster than intended which can be hard on the internals. A heavier recoil spring would solve some of the problem but then the guns would malfunction with normal velocity loads and the stronger spring may hammer the action in the other direction when closing or may even cause slam fires in some guns. Some sturdier built guns handle the hotter Stingers better than others but they ARE harder on semi-auto guns.

 

[tulsamal]

Well let's not forget the .25acp.

I can't agree that .25 ACP is less effective in a small auto pistol than .22 LR. John Browning could have used .22 LR in his Baby Browning but he didn't consider it suitable. The rim makes it tricky to get 100% reliability in a single stack pistol mag. And rimfire in general just isn't as reliable as centerfire. In nearly 50 years of shooting, I've had FAR more "click, no bang" rimfire rounds than centerfire.

If we are talking tiny Browning, Beretta or other small autos, I would far rather actually carry them in .25 ACP than .22 LR. I might buy a .22 LR for practice but I just don't trust it for every day self defense.

Gregg

 

[Guvnor]

I should reiterate again that anyone who is a fan of the Stingers should check out the CCI Velocitor. 40 gr bullet at 1435 fps. Hits hard like a stinger and expands pretty well but has penetration closer to a round nose .22lr. Best of both worlds really.

This guy does an excellent comparison out of a Marlin 60 rifle. Makes for a good read.
http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/v-shrake/ammotrials.html

 

[Archangel14]

Consider this. A shotgun with #4 buckshot will fire 21 pellets where each are bigger than a .32 bullet.

I couldn't agree more. A shot gun is the way to go. I'd rather have my mossy in hand loaded with "00" than anything else. But my concern would be with engaging threats that are a bit beyond the range of a shotgun. I'm thinking that a few shots at a target 100 yards away from a hi-velocity .22 is enough to get someone's attention.

 

[Longrifle2506]

The cci stingers may not be the most accurate, but I always liked them as a hunting round. I haven't owned a 22 LR for a long time. But if I remember correctly, they have nickel plated brass, copper plated hollow point bullets, and they had higher than average velocity. There sure is a lot more ammo to pick from today vs 20 years ago which is when I had a ruger 10/22. My favorite cheap solid nose ammo was Remington thunderbolts. My dad got excellent accuracy with cci mini mags.

 

[Teachu2]

Quote:
Just an FYI, Ruger does not recommend the use of hyper velocity ammo in the Mark series of pistols. I'm not sure why as they are extremely rugged pistols, but they do nonetheless.

Yeah, I was aware of that. I don't know why either. The Mark II is built like a tank and I really can't imagine that you'd get that much extra pressure from a Stinger as to jeopardize the pistol. Just looking at the chamber reveals a very thick, solid firearm. We're talking .22's here. I wonder what Ruger's basis is?

Hard on the extractors. Back in the '80s when I worked for a gunsmith, we stocked Ruger extractors for those who cared - many of them didn't notice because most of the guns still cycled with a broken extractor, so if you always shot to empty it was not a big deal.

 

[Archangel14]

Hard on the extractors.

How about on the 10/22? Ammo like Aguila Interceptor too hard on the 10/22?

 

[22-rimfire]

CCI Stingers came out in December 1976. They were designed for small game, not people. I think you would be better off using CCI Velocitor, Aguila Interceptor, Regular CCI LR for your scenario. You want PENETRATION and the largest bullet that you can shoot accurately in a 22.

 

[wgaynor]

I use to be of the mindset that a .22lr would be suitable for home defense.

The other day, I was shooting my ruger Mrk III 22/45 at a spinner target. Upon examining, I found one of the projectiles imbedded in the plastic. When I took it out with my knife (because I'm the curious type), I was shocked by how tiny that projectile is.

I then sat it next to my 145 grain Hornady XTP 9mm projectile and my 240 grain cast .429 projectile.

That put it into perspective for me. The .22lr is not enough. Firefights are won by superior firepower. Each caliber is a tool. Use the right tool for the job. For agressive squirrels, I'll use the .22lr. For aggressive people, I'll use the 9mm.

This was my experience. Everyone should have their own and make their own deductions.