i grew up on a cattle ranch in MT where .22 ammo was as important as gas in the pickup. i've used everything from the cheapest i could get to CCI stingers. my favorite is the stingers (now that i can afford a steady diet of 'em) but i wanna know what everyone else likes for small game (less than 20#).accuracy is an improtant factor and everybody's guns are gonna have their own preferences, but i want to see if one or two brands are the best.


monty

Monty,

This should be a most interesting and educational thread. I cannot ever think of a time or truck that has not had a veritable litter of 22 ammo about and my home is the same.

I have had a habit over the years of dragging home bricks of the stuff when it is "on sale". That stuff is great for plinking and shooting for shooting sake, but I find myself using the CCI mini mags for meat makin. I use the Maxi-Mags in my 9422M for varmints.

Our critters here in AK tend to be either very small or very big, I have just started to experiment with some CBLongs for headshooting grouse. Subsonic loads are plenty for that task.

Scotty

Mini-Mag HP. Have sometimes gotten very good results with Stingers, but not always, and I find that the Mini-mags are readily available, work well enough in all my guns, and cost is certainly reasonable. Plus they shoot a lot cleaner than some of the discount ammo.

Winchester power Points. I started using them when they were imported from Australia, and the domestic product they sell now seems to work just as well.
They shoot well in my rifle, and seem to expand and deliver more energy than anything else I've tried.

Under 50 yds, Stingers are pretty rough on the smaller game edibles like grouse and cotton tail rabbits, unless you can make consistent head shots. While I do have a couple of rifles that are reasonably accurate with the Stinger, I have found better choices accuracy wise in my own experience. The Stinger was developed as a close to moderate range varminting round.

Personal choices? I have found the CCI Subsonic 40 gr hp to be very accurate in my older rifles with the cut type rifling. It does not seem to shoot well for me from micro or ackro gruv type rifled barrels, but that is just me. Win Dyna-points from Wally have been very consistent also. If the shooting is going to be tight- windy, with nervous game, I'll go to an accuracy rig with good glass, and use target ammo. Again, head shots are the ones that count. Wolf Match would be an excellent choice for this demanding hunting. CCI Blazers have also shot very consistently for me.

Regards,

Doc Sharptail

When I was shooting 22 rifles/handguns, I found the next best to Stingers was the Velocitor ammo. Slightly more accurate in my 10/22 out to 75 yards.

For my meat .22's I use Winchester Super-X HP's or Mini-Mag HP's. For my plinking I usually purchase whatever is on sale or buy the bulk stuff. However, the bulk stuff from Win. or Rem. doesn't shoot worth a hoot in any of my .22's! I guess that is the norm.

I've found that the Federal Bulk HP's from Wally-World shoots very well in most of my rimfires. It performs admirably on small game critters as well, without excessive tissue destruction.

When hunting for the pot, however, I prefer to use the Remington Golden 22LR ammo (which has an excellent resistance to moisture when stored long-term), and use my SGB jig ( http://www.beartoothbullets.com/tips/archive_tips.htm/25 ), and make them into flat-meplat small game bullets. Very deadly, and very accurate. If I had to pick only one .22LR load for all purposes and guns, this would be it!

Fun thread! Good info.

God Bless,

I've found that the Federal Bulk HP's from Wally-World shoots very well in most of my rimfires. It performs admirably on small game critters as well, without excessive tissue destruction.

When hunting for the pot, however, I prefer to use the Remington Golden 22LR ammo (which has an excellent resistance to moisture when stored long-term), and use my SGB jig ( http://www.beartoothbullets.com/tips/archive_tips.htm/25 ), and make them into flat-meplat small game bullets. Very deadly, and very accurate. If I had to pick only one .22LR load for all purposes and guns, this would be it!

Hmm....VERY INTERESTING! Thanks Marshall!

Most of my rimfire hunting is for non edible small varmints like ground squirrels or jackrabbits. My preferred ammo is also Stingers. I've found nothing in rimfire which equals the "Pop" of the stuff in the blue box. Only problem is many rifles won't print Stinger worth a flip. I expect my rifle/ammo combination to produce 1 inch or better five shot groups at 50 yards. If I want to use a rifle that won't group Stinger that well my next choice is the Winchester Power Point ammo. It utilizes a large cavity hollow point which is a full 40 grains in weight. They hit hard on small varmint type critters. They also exhibit terrific accuracy for high velocity hunting type ammo. Power Points always seem to finish at or near the top accuracy wise in my rifles. As a bonus they cost a little more than half the price of Stingers....For even less cost per round I've always had good luck with CCI Mini Mag HP's. They're not as destructive as Stingers or Power Points but they print well in most rifles and offer good bang for the buck.

I have had good luck with the Remington Yellowjackets, and Vipers. The bulk pack Federal and Winchesters I sometimes use are not very consistant. I have got the odd box that wouldn't shoot worth a hoot.

My Rugers prefer the Federal bulk (American Eagle) HP's for accuracy. I use them for plinking and ground squirrels. I've tried most everything else but the Fed's print .5 MOA at 50 yds. and anchors them for a confirmed kill.
http://www.molalla.net/~cboyer/clintsquirrel.jpg

I have found when using 22lr's that Remington yellowjacket seem to have the best results, great speed and accuracy, only a 32gr bullet jhp at Hyper velocity, I have shot everything with fur thats is a varmint with the yellow jackets, I have taken many coyotes using the yellow jackets, shot placement is important no room for error, unlike the 222,223,243 ect...these carts can be off there mark some and still expire the animal with ease, the 22lr has its limits much less than the carts I mentioned, most of my shots are inside 50 yards, all head shots. I have tried other MFG's of 22's but have not found any compare, Winchesters have to be the dirty-est dame ammo I ever fired out of my 22's I have a Ruger 10/22 tricked out to the max & a ruger MarkII they both love the Rem yellow jackets, they also burn clean, no gummy crap building up in the ejector. good to go. Aim small hit small. RAMbo.

ok then, so far we have:
CCI mini mags------4
stingers--------------4
win power points-----2
fedral bulk HP-------2
rem yellow jackets--2
cci subsonic----------1
win dyna point-------1
wolf match-----------1
cci blazers-----------1
velocitor-------------1
win super x hp------1
vipers----------------1


monty

Okay, here's my vote: For power and the biggest "wow" factor in a 22lr, I like the CCI Stingers. They can punch through 2 layers of sheet metal (a car hood & the bracket behind it) at fifty yards. Unfortunately, they're not as accurate. For accuracy, my old H&R bolt loves Remington std. velocity; good groups at 50 - 100 yards.

i gotta agree, most guns don't so so well with the stingers. i have a 10/22T that does a good job with them, and i also have an AMT lightling (ruger 10/22 clone with stainless steel reciever) that handles them good. all of my other guns scatter them. i'm gonna try yellow jackets in the others.

monty

Hey, put one up for Dynapoints. My 10-22 with Hogue/Clerke setup loves them. CCI's MM's just cant group better than 1"@50. Tried several others until the Dynapoints and that's where she stays.

Velocitors have produced the best bench group at 100yds, it was a ragged one-hole cloverleaf....havent done that but once but hey it did it and have the target in my office :)


Perferator

I like Winchester Power Points. We have had them in Australia for quite a few years now. Were they an Australian design?? They really anchor the rabbits we have down here even if the shot is wayward and hits a bit far back. The 22lr is not the best on foxes but I would use the powerpoints if one pops up. In my Krico bolt action I get a one hole group at 50m if I allow barrel cooling time between shots. If I just keep shooting the first shot is a flyer and the rest are in the one hole about a half inch away.

I like Xpediters out of my AMT barrelled 77/22. They are very vicious on rabbits if you don't head shoot them though.

i like the velocitors for the accuracy.
-dan

I have found that CCI Velocitors and Winchester PowerPoints are the best combination of killing power and accuracy in most of my rimfire weapons. For meat hunting, CCI's newly reintroduced Small Game Bullet (they call it the SGB on the box) has produced phenomenal accuracy for me, and deadly, but not splattering, meat-damaging results on squirrels and rabbits.

For those interested, I've done a lot of work with 22 rimfire ammo, and have the results posted on my not-for-profit, non-commercial, non-subscription web site: www.rimfirenews.com. Dig around through it and you'll find a couple of tables that I created comparing 30+ different rimfires on both velocity and extreme spread.

gunwriter

Nice site, guys. I'll have to spend a little more time over there when I get a chance.....

CCI Velocitor and Winchester PowerPoints for awesome terminal damage on varmints. CCI's newly introduced Small Game Bullet (SBG is written on the box) is very accurate and doesn't tear up much meat if you're hunting for the cook pot.

gunwriter

My vote is Winchester power points for accuracy and hitting power. They are an Australian bullet which, some years ago they coppied in the USA.

My 22 rifle, an old Stevens 87A simi-auto likes CCI minimags the best (15 shots covered by a dime at 50 yards), Followed by CCI Blazers and the Federal HollowPoints that come 550 rnds in a milk carton type box. The Blazers and federals are just a tiny bit bigger in group size.

Winchesters were not to great, 1 1/2 to 2 inches at 50 yards and Remingtons you couldnt cover them with a paper plate. That was 10 to 12 years ago so maybe the remingtons and winchesters are better now, but I will stick with buying the blazers and federals.

Never really tried any of the rest much, shot a few yellow jackets and a few stingers (about a box of each, divided up between 3 or 4 different guns, LOL, cost too much.)

Michael Grace

CCI MiniMags get my vote for small game hunting. They perform well in my ruger 10/22 as well as my brother's Marlin semi-auto (Model 54 I think). Both rifles will shoot 10 shot nickel-size groups at 25 yards with these, and they feed more reliably than any other shell I've tried.

Federal Bulk HP ammo also groups fairly well in both rifles, but jams occur about 5-10% of the time. Also, this is the only ammo that we have had misfires with. Right now, this is still my cartridge of choice for plinking though.

Try cleaning your barrels out before switching to another rim fire bullet ! I have found that most of my rim fires will group better in my guns then ! JAGG

In the few different 22 rifles I've tried them in, Velocitors have been shooting as accurate or better than any other hollopooint or SGB.
Velocitors clock a consistent 1400 fps in the 16" barrel old single shot I like to use.
I was worried about the damage (the 17 rimfires make a horrible mess of squirrels.
So far I've only shot a few squirrels this year (the hurricanes decimated our central florida woods squirrels), but all shots between the chest and tip of the nose have been instant kills and not too messy. Dead before they hit the ground. The best results of any .22 ammo I've used on squirrels.

CCI all the way. If I'm going to eat it. CCI SGB. If I just want to eradicate it. CCI Stinger or Velocitor. CCI mini mags for other general shooting.

Last week I tried out some CCI Velocitors using the GDHP GoldDot bullet in 22lr, I have to say very accurate and good penetration to boot, after sighting in I went to my spot I hunt coyotes, a old farm, as I crested the hill, I spotted a huge coyote, looked just like a wolf grey and white coat,very large,about the size of a female german shepard, I was camoed out, he never saw me, and the wind was in my favor.
He started skirting the edge of the field and working across me, I scoped him in, and lined him up on his shoulder, right about the front of the brisket due to he was moving, I had my souped 10/22 with a fixed scope, started squeezing nice and easy, the first shot hit mark and he drove to the ground, but got back up and went into 3rd gear, boy they can move out, I kept up with him and hit him with five out of the ten rounds, he had so much adrenaline, he would not lay down, tracked him about 400 yards along a swamp bottom, when I checked him over, spotted a few through shots, looked like a nickle on the exit wound, golddots did well, I could tell when tracking him he was bleeding like a stuffed pig and was not going to live long, he laid down three times during the stalk on his blood trail. It was getting dark, had no time to wait more than twenty minuets after I shot him, I have to admit it was fun gating him and unleashing those shots, shots began at forty yards down to twenty. For the most part I bait hunt coyotes, but mr coyote showed his face, I could not resist. Didn't take pictures, should of, but here is a few got last deer season, tracking my scent pads right to me during deer season. I prefur to use a 243 Win hunting coyotes,but in southern areas, its rimfire only, or shotgun. most of the time I shoot them in the head at the bait site. Aim small hit small RAMbo.
P.S. check out the size of these critters.
http://www.hunt101.com/img/030011.jpg

Nice coyote - always glad to see a dead one,as they sure are hard on deer,small game and fox.
We do a lot of grey squirrel hunting here,in the PA mountains.
I use the Remington Subsonic Hollow-Points.They group well and with a 4-12X scope on my Marlin 56,head shots are no problem up to 50 yards.
They are also very quiet and sometimes you can get 2 or 3 squirrels out of the same tree.
I used to use .22 Standard velocity HP shorts,but you can't find them any more.
I also carry a clip of Super-X Hollow-points,in case a turkey,fox,or coyote comes along.The .22 is a great turkey crippler though,if you don't place the bullet correctly.

Last week I tried out some CCI Velocitors using the GDHP GoldDot bullet in 22lr, I have to say very accurate and good penetration to boot, after sighting in I went to my spot I hunt coyotes, a old farm, as I crested the hill, I spotted a huge coyote, looked just like a wolf grey and white coat,very large,about the size of a female german shepard, I was camoed out, he never saw me, and the wind was in my favor.
He started skirting the edge of the field and working across me, I scoped him in, and lined him up on his shoulder, right about the front of the brisket due to he was moving, I had my souped 10/22 with a fixed scope, started squeezing nice and easy, the first shot hit mark and he drove to the ground, but got back up and went into 3rd gear, boy they can move out, I kept up with him and hit him with five out of the ten rounds, he had so much adrenaline, he would not lay down, tracked him about 400 yards along a swamp bottom, when I checked him over, spotted a few through shots, looked like a nickle on the exit wound, golddots did well, I could tell when tracking him he was bleeding like a stuffed pig and was not going to live long, he laid down three times during the stalk on his blood trail. It was getting dark, had no time to wait more than twenty minuets after I shot him, I have to admit it was fun gating him and unleashing those shots, shots began at forty yards down to twenty. For the most part I bait hunt coyotes, but mr coyote showed his face, I could not resist. Didn't take pictures, should of, but here is a few got last deer season, tracking my scent pads right to me during deer season. I prefur to use a 243 Win hunting coyotes,but in southern areas, its rimfire only, or shotgun. most of the time I shoot them in the head at the bait site. Aim small hit small RAMbo.
P.S. check out the size of these critters.
http://www.hunt101.com/img/030011.jpg

I like the velocitor' for shooting ground squires in my 10-22 ruger . In both a rugar 96-22 and a 9422 ,22mag I have had my best results with federals 50 grain hp with kills on on ground squires out ot 143 yards. I ues a Leica 1200 lasar range finder this helps trmendously on longer shots. nice work on the coyote I have not tried the rimfires on coyotes yet.

For 'possums and skunks, I used to use Remington Yellow Jackets. Remington lists a velocity of 1722, with a 33 gr bullet. It has a deep hollow point in a truncated cone bullet. I found that it expands violently, hits small animals harder than a regular 38 gr hollow point. I got fine accuracy in my Marlin 39A.

After a while, for killing pests like that, when I did not collect the fur or intend to eat it, I switched to max loads of BB shot in a 12 ga full choke. I decided it was much more humane, especially at night, holding a flashlight under the forend, shooting at a running varmint. The BB pellets got very good penetration, even after the pattern opened up a bit. Very quick, instant kills. It was messy, but reliable.

Many people seem to think that blasting an animal to pieces seems sick or cruel. Well, putting a couple of 22's into its butt just as it dissappears into a cornfield at 3:00 AM is far worse.

Many people seem to think that blasting an animal to pieces seems sick or cruel. Well, putting a couple of 22's into its butt just as it dissappears into a cornfield at 3:00 AM is far worse.


wrj4, I couldn't agree more. Nothing bothers me more than a wounded animal getting away.

Food for thought:

I ran the numbers on .22 Shorts HVHP and .22LR HVHP through a ballistic program to see what the difference in maximum range was when the two were sighted so that the bullet (actually, the group centre) never strayed more than 1" above line of site and no more than 1" below line of sight. The difference was 10yds; 66yds for the .22 Short and 76yds for the .22LR. Makes me think I would like to build an accurate .22 Short!

I have had good luck with the Remington Thunderbolt in my 10/22 and Browning Buckmark. In my Marlin M81, it works okay, but Winchester Wildcat shoots a little tighter group at 75 yards. The Romanian M1969 shoots everything pretty well except CCI Blazers. All three rifles perform very well with CCI Velocitors so for small game/varmints I use that. I tried CCI Stingers in my old 10/22 and the current one and both grouped sloppy. I have yet to try them with the new Green Mtn. barrel though. We shall see...

Food for thought:

I ran the numbers on .22 Shorts HVHP and .22LR HVHP through a ballistic program to see what the difference in maximum range was when the two were sighted so that the bullet (actually, the group centre) never strayed more than 1" above line of site and no more than 1" below line of sight. The difference was 10yds; 66yds for the .22 Short and 76yds for the .22LR. Makes me think I would like to build an accurate .22 Short!

One of my brothers - a farmer - keeps an old, old box of 22 short hollow points just for shooting 'possums and 'coons in his machine shed. 22 LR will sometimes go through and make a hole in something on the other side, but the shorts don't. I remember once I shot a coon on his combine in the head with a 22LR hollow point. It went right through and put a hole in the main drive belt on his combine! Big bro wasn't very happy about that. I'm not sure who offers 22 short hollow points any more. I haven't looked.

Winchester Power Points seem to be an Aussie icon like Brno model 2's and lithgow SMLE's. Love em all!

I personally think that Winchester 22 ammo is very dirty, just my findings. I stay as far away from it as possible, after running fifty rounds of winchester ammo you can see the 10/22 action gumming up, I find Rem or CCI 22's seem to be much cleaner burning, less deposits left over. Aim small hit small. RAMbo.

I vote for the CCI - SGB (small game blt) target accurate in my two tight chambered 22s. Expansion is good enough to provide plenty of shocking power but dosen't destroy much meat.

[i shoot cci standard velocity (green tag or cci-blount) for short ranges (up to 50yards) for minimal meat damage. cci subsonic hp i use for ranges from 50 to 100 yards for sure kills but acceptable meat damage. both bullets have practically the same trajectory so i can switch ammo and still use the same chart. my rifle is chambered for cci so both would chamber perfectly (semi tight) though subsonic hp would show some rifling marks coz its longer. standard velocity will print 3/8 at 50 with subsonic printing 1-1/2 at 100. I'm sure other ammo would do better but choices where i live is not much. I'm from the philippines and new to this site----like it already.

just my 2 cents worth, cci-sgb(small game bullet) shoots good and hits hard. don't know if they still make it. i bought a bunch of it a few years back. my kleingunther rifle loves it, but it only likes gray bullets. it wont shoot gold or copper colored bullets well at all. go figure.

Got a Clark barrel w/ match chamber on my SQ rifle so won't shoot Stingers in it. Most any Eley $$.$$ stuff shoots very well but prefer to hunt with $1 box ammo. Have found that most any 22 ammo will work on SQ and rabbits so set out to find the most accurate $1 box ammo.

Have not tried CCI - SGB but based on info in this thread plan to try some. Best most accurate $1 box ammo I've found so far is 22 zappers from PMC followed by CCI Blazers. Some bricks of Federal Lightnings have been very accurate but others have been disappointing! Suspect its a lot to lot variation with Federal so plan to buy all I can find the next time I find a good lot number.

My theory is that tighter groups will extent your 22s effective range much further than higher velocity or light hollow "splat" points.

Theory also applies to scopes helping to reduce group size. See:

http://www.hunt101.com/img/243983.jpg

i grew up on a cattle ranch in MT where .22 ammo was as important as gas in the pickup. i've used everything from the cheapest i could get to CCI stingers. my favorite is the stingers (now that i can afford a steady diet of 'em) but i wanna know what everyone else likes for small game (less than 20#).accuracy is an improtant factor and everybody's guns are gonna have their own preferences, but i want to see if one or two brands are the best.


monty

Don't know if any brand is "best", most firearms I have tried all had their own preferences and with no particular rhyme or reason. Heck one of my Kimber's likes everything with no real preference while the other really loves the Federal Lightning blue box stuff that I'm running low on. the red box isn't quite as accurate in it.

My general use ammo goes like this.
CCI Blazer put through homemade 50 rnd SGB tool to a length of .905" to exclude rim thickness. This is in almost everything anymore, it feeds and shoots accurately in most of my .22's. I've used it on everything from prarie dogs to wounded deer and now buy it by the case and sit for an evening removing the bullet noses every so often.
I've had the best luck with Blazer over all other bargain ammo, the soft lead bullet that seems to be sized just a bit larger than most other ammo fills the rifling better than most I 've found.

CCI MiniMag HP's for the Colt conversion unit on my Gold Cup, the plating reduces the floating chamber crudding up until several hundred rounds have gone downrange unlike plain lead bullets which will only get through 50 or so. The Match Target Woodsman also prefers these to any other load.
Aguila Colibri for those in town pests that seem to plague the neighbors yard.

Remington Subsonic HP's for the long barreled Stevens 87, for my style of hunting there's nothing with the same level of quiet and power. The 87 has a habit of flattening the nose on HP's if the mag is left loaded for a while, which gives the same effect of the SGB tool with no bullet weight loss. This load will roll a jackrabbit nicely.

For most of my "meat" hunting, I've used mostly Remington golden .22shorts. The gun I use most for this work is an Remington auto made about 1920 and it only shoots shorts. During the dry years in South Dakota Phesants were like rabbits are in Oz. It cost almost $2 for a box of 12ga. shot shells, but it cost 15cents per box for shorts. Till the day he died I had only seen him miss shooting a bird on the fly twice with that rifle.

For plinking I buy what ever is cheapest or on sale, except Thunderbolts, I've had more duds in this brand than any other.

If I really need it dead, I use Remington Yellowjackets or Vipers.
Dan

Yellow Jackets. Enough said.

Last week I tried out some CCI Velocitors using the GDHP GoldDot bullet in 22lr, I have to say very accurate and good penetration to boot, after sighting in I went to my spot I hunt coyotes, a old farm, as I crested the hill, I spotted a huge coyote, looked just like a wolf grey and white coat,very large,about the size of a female german shepard, I was camoed out, he never saw me, and the wind was in my favor.
He started skirting the edge of the field and working across me, I scoped him in, and lined him up on his shoulder, right about the front of the brisket due to he was moving, I had my souped 10/22 with a fixed scope, started squeezing nice and easy, the first shot hit mark and he drove to the ground, but got back up and went into 3rd gear, boy they can move out, I kept up with him and hit him with five out of the ten rounds, he had so much adrenaline, he would not lay down, tracked him about 400 yards along a swamp bottom, when I checked him over, spotted a few through shots, looked like a nickle on the exit wound, golddots did well, I could tell when tracking him he was bleeding like a stuffed pig and was not going to live long, he laid down three times during the stalk on his blood trail. It was getting dark, had no time to wait more than twenty minuets after I shot him, I have to admit it was fun gating him and unleashing those shots, shots began at forty yards down to twenty. For the most part I bait hunt coyotes, but mr coyote showed his face, I could not resist. Didn't take pictures, should of, but here is a few got last deer season, tracking my scent pads right to me during deer season. I prefur to use a 243 Win hunting coyotes,but in southern areas, its rimfire only, or shotgun. most of the time I shoot them in the head at the bait site. Aim small hit small RAMbo.
P.S. check out the size of these critters.
http://www.hunt101.com/img/030011.jpg

Time to get a .22mag. JP

For all my sooting CCI's work best. Although Lightnings are accurate in .22 they are to dirty. My favorites>>>

Top: Marlin 60
Center: JC Higgins 108.03 (Stephens '50's)
Bottom: Browning A-bolt .22 Mag.

I look forward to following this post. My son and I shoot .22s alot. I shoot bulk Federal H.P.s alot for critter control and they perform very well. If I were to choose what to use to "get food". It would be the most accurate load for "my" rifle. For me it is Federal Gold Medal Target. At about $23.00 per brick they are worth it to me. It can make the difference between a "clean miss" and a "clean kill."
Cheezywan

Depends on the game. I've killed deer with stingers and really tore up some squirrels with them to so they are not my favorite. when I hunt squirrels i use 22 remington shorts in a win 67 single shot boys rifle. For rabbits and every thing else I like federal lightings. Not a real big hollow point fan and for plinking anything that in on sale.