So here are the final listings of "old stock" 22LR ammunition used for previous 27 brands/weights/lots comparison from last year and "new stock" purchased since 2022 -
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...cheap-bulk-22lr-ammunition-comparison.908102/
Ammunition Selection:
Old stock left over from 2019 (Lot # in parenthesis):
- Aguila 38 gr CPHP boxed (18FM33)
- Aguila 40 gr LRN boxed (310513067)
- Aguila 40 gr LRN Pistol Match boxed (10ED02)
- Aguila 40 gr CPRN boxed (29GL12 Eley Prime)
- Aguila 40 gr CPRN boxed (30EK27 Aguila Prime)
- Armscor 36 gr CPHP boxed (0731418)
- CCI SV 40 gr LRN boxed (40006 Rev D)
- Federal AutoMatch 40 gr LRN loose bulk 325 round (14A290)
- Federal Champion 40 gr LRN boxed (2FM056)
- Federal Field Pack 38 gr CPHP loose bulk 275 round (14P171)
- Federal Game-Shok 40 gr CPRN boxed (26F141)
- Federal Value 36 gr CPHP loose bulk 550 red box (16A092)
- Remington Golden Bullet 36 gr BPHP loose bulk 525 round (D13Z81233)
- Remington Thunderbolt 40 gr LRN loose bulk (E18HC1236)
- Winchester 36 gr CPHP loose bulk 555 round (1P862L)
- Winchester Xpert 36 gr LHP loose bulk 500 round (1PG61L)
These are new stock ammunition purchased from 2022-2023 (Lot # in parenthesis):
- Aguila 38 gr CPHP boxed (18FM33 ... Yes, same # as 2019 but this lot was bought in 2022)
- Aguila 38 gr CPHP loose bulk 250 round (08DP198)
- Aguila 40 gr LRN boxed (16BM37)
- Aguila 40 gr CPRN boxed (02DZ54)
- Aguila 40 gr CPRN loose bulk 250 round (15CN955)
- Aguila 40 gr CPRN loose bulk 500 round (09AL87)
- Blazer 38 gr LRN loose bulk 525 round (A03EE80)
- Blazer 40 gr LRN boxed (H21DA07)
- CCI SV 40 gr LRN boxed 50 round (D06DA01 40006 Rev G)
- CCI SV 40 gr LRN boxed 50 round (E19DA07 40006 Rev G)
- CCI SV 40 gr LRN boxed 100 round (40238 Rev E)
- CCI MiniMag 36 gr CPHP boxed 100 round (40237 Rev E)
- CCI MiniMag Meat Eater 36 gr CPHP boxed 300 round (42054 Rev A)
- ELEY Club 40 gr LRN boxed (3114-30165)
- Federal AutoMatch 40 gr LRN loose bulk 325 round (L101401)
- Federal AutoMatch 40 gr LRN loose bulk 325 round (L207P01)
- Federal AutoMatch 40 gr LRN loose bulk 325 round (Cannot read lot #)
- Federal Champion 40 gr LRN boxed (B09DA02)
- Federal Range Pack 40 gr LRN loose bulk 800 round (L201U03)
- Federal Value Pack 36 gr CPHP loose bulk 325 round (L331Q01)
- Federal Value Pack 36 gr CPHP loose bulk 525 round blue box (1GJ420)
- Norma Tac-22 40 gr LRN boxed (50R043)
- Remington Golden Bullet 36 gr BPHP loose bulk 525 round (G58420570)
- Remington Thunderbolt 40 gr LRN loose bulk (E28WB1234)
- RWS Target Rifle 40 gr LRN boxed (56064)
- Winchester 36 gr CPHP loose bulk 333 round (E129734)
- Winchester M-22 40 gr CPRN loose bulk 1000 round (2TH10M)
- Winchester Super-X 36 gr CPHP wooden boxed 500 round (2MH81M)
- Winchester Super-X 40 gr CPHP loose bulk 300 round (3SM20L)
Testing Platform: 50/100 yard groups shot with
modified Lead Sled Solo (Rear wedged to immobilize swing arm) on
Lifetime 4' table:
Range Report:
Trip to the shooting area was delayed by head-on collision accident clean up that blocked both lanes (I was not involved). Since range time was limited, I focused on shooting 50/100 yards reference groups with Aguila 40 gr CPRN then rushed through initial 2022-2023 new stock ammunition along with 2019 stock ammunition. Regular copy paper target was used with blue bingo dauber to mark POA.
NOTE - Old stock Aguila 40 gr CPRN (Boxed, Lot # 30EK27 Aguila Prime) will be used as reference at the beginning, during and end of each shooting session for comparison (If Aguila groups remain similar, group size variation is from ammunition, not rifle or shoote; although, shooter fatigue will be a contributing factor towards end of shooting session
). Ammunition tested will be new stock purchased in 2022-2023 unless noted as 2019 stock. Lot number of ammunition indicated inside parenthesis. Groups were v center to center. After verifying scope zero, groups were shot as fast as Ruger 10 round rotary magazine was reloaded. There was no cooling down of barrel other than walking to replace targets.
Reference 50 yard groups:
Top row: After verifying scope zero with left 2 groups, blue bingo dauber was used to mark POA. All 5 shot groupes measured 1".
Bottom row: 4 more groups were shot to verify consistency with left 3 groups measuring 1" or less with 4th group opening up to 1.5" (Can you say shooter fatigue?
Just kidding)
100 yard groups:
Two 100 yard groups were shot after verifying scope zero on another copy paper target. I forgot to bring the bingo dauber for the 100 yard walk to target and used short strips of electrical tape to mark POA. Both groups measured 2.75".
With 50/100 yard groups shot, I started the ammunition comparison with three I was most curious with: New lot of Blazer 40 gr LRN boxed and new Blazer 38 gr LRN loose bulk 525 round pack. Of course, I was curious about the only 22LR that produced consistent duds during my 10,000+ round testing (Where even Thunderbolts were 100% reliable), the Winchester M-22 40 gr CPRN.
Top row: 2 reference Aguila groups were shot measuring under 1.25" followed by Blazer 40 gr LRN (boxed - H21DA07) measuring 1".
Bottom row: Blazer 38 gr LRN (loose bulk 525 round - A03EE80) groups measured slightly less than 1.75" and 3.25". Winchester M-22 40 gr CPRN (Black bullet, loose bulk 1000 round pack of two 500 rounds - 2TH10M) groups measured 1.75" and less than 2.5".
Top row: 2 reference Aguila groups measured 1.75" (I think I pushed the low shots) and 1". Hotter Thunderbolt (loose bulk - E28WB1234) grouped above POA and measured 2.25" and 1.75".
Bottom row: 2019 stock Armscor 36 gr CPHP (boxed - 0731418) groups measured less than 2.25" and 1.5". Winchester M-22 group #2 produced 2" and 1.5" groups (In case you are wondering, bottom two holes on left group is touching). (
NOTE: Only dud/failure to fire was produced by Winchester M-22. Ejected round showed nice indent on the rim which fired on the second chambering.)
Top row: Blazer 40 gr LRN group #2 produced 1.5" group (0.75" 4 shot core) and slightly larger than 0.5" group. Blazer 38 gr LRN group #2 produced 1.25" and 1.75" groups.
Bottom row: 2 reference Aguila groups measured under 2" and 1.25". Surprised by higher POI of second group, I fired another round and decided to conclude the shooting session (It was starting to get dark).
Due to road accident induced limited time constraint range session, I feel many groups were rushed and may repeat some groups to verify on next range trip. If THR members have request to do more comprehensive testing (Let's say increase sample size for particular brand/weight/lot of ammunition to 4 groups or 8 groups), I can expand the sample size.