Ammo for .22 LR Carbine

[4given]

I've been giving this some thought since I am getting rid of the bulk pack 22 LR ammo I bought when I saw the rush on ammo coming a few years ago. I am now trying to stock up on premium 22 LR while it is plentiful. That said I'm in decision mode. I have a pretty good stock of CCI Mini Mag 36 gr HP's already which may be good enough but who knows? A solid might be better. CCI seem to be reliable as far as 22 LR goes.

If you had to rely on a .22 LR carbine like a Ruger 10/22 for defensive purposes, what ammo would you use and why?

If you had to rely on a .22 LR carbine like a Ruger 10/22 for survival purposes, what ammo would you use and why?

[farscott]

I've been giving this some thought since I am getting rid of the bulk pack 22 LR ammo I bought when I saw the rush on ammo coming a few years ago. I am now trying to stock up on premium 22 LR while it is plentiful. That said I'm in decision mode. I have a pretty good stock of CCI Mini Mag 36 gr HP's already which may be good enough but who knows? A solid might be better. CCI seem to be reliable as far as 22 LR goes.

If you had to rely on a .22 LR carbine like a Ruger 10/22 for defensive purposes, what ammo would you use and why?

If you had to rely on a .22 LR carbine like a Ruger 10/22 for survival purposes, what ammo would you use and why?

Premium .22 LR and CCI are really not the same thing. CCI makes reliable, decently consistent ammo, but it is not premium. When I think of the best .22 LR, I think of Eley, especially Tenex (a competition round). RWS Premium, and Lapus SK Premium. The latter two are actually made by the same company and are very similar. All of these loads are very, very consistent leading to great precision and small groups.

That being said, CCI is good enough for use other than competition. The next choice is high-velocity ammo or standard velocity. The advantage of the former is more energy to both cycle the gun and hit the target. The advantage of the latter is better accuracy, especially at distance, due to the ammo not going trans-sonic. I personally like standard velocity as it hits hard enough, has a quieter report, and good accuracy. I also like solids as there is less meat damage for small game and I like to take head shots on small game. I do shoot bulk high-velocity ammo but mostly for plinking.

[Keith E.]

I like the Mini-Mag 36gr HP myself but would choose the 40gr Solid if limited to only one of the two.

Keith

[Sixgun_Symphony]

https://www.cci-ammunition.com/produ...=2&loadNo=0058

[41magfan]

Rimfires quite often are a law unto themselves when it come to accuracy, and that sometimes applies to reliability as well. My advice would be to spend a little time finding out what your gun(s) like and then stock up.

Interestingly, I've found CCI's Velocitor offering to be quite accurate in my rimfires and they provide a little extra performance as they step along at @ 1400 fps, which is about 200 fps faster than your everyday hi-velocity loadings. In my experience, this is something of an unexpected corollary as an increase in velocity generally results in a decrease in accuracy. Like I said ….. they're a law unto themselves.

[revchuck38]

https://www.cci-ammunition.com/produ...=2&loadNo=0058

I need to get a brick of this to see how it runs in my 10/22.

Re: @farscott's comment, he's absolutely right about the premium stuff, which runs (IIRC) around $10/box of 50. That said, it may or may not run in an autoloading rifle, ditto with most standard velocity .22LR. In a 10/22, I'd stick with a good quality high velocity solid.

[farscott]

I need to get a brick of this to see how it runs in my 10/22.

Re: @farscott's comment, he's absolutely right about the premium stuff, which runs (IIRC) around $10/box of 50. That said, it may or may not run in an autoloading rifle, ditto with most standard velocity .22LR. In a 10/22, I'd stick with a good quality high velocity solid.

I like CCI SGB but not for small game. While accurate on rabbits and squirrels, it is much too destructive.

[deflave]

If you absolutely, positively, have to keep a stable of 10/22's and their respective shooters up and running, it's the CCI 40gr Mini-Mag, RN's. And of course the standard 10 round Ruger mag.

I love me some HP's on vermin and small game, but that's where their utility starts, and stops. If you have to brain an ungulate or want that projectile to get to the good stuff on a bad guy you need as much straight line penetration as you can get, and that's going to be found in the CCI RN's.

Deviation from the Mini-Mag can often times yield great results. But it is usually confined to that gun and its user. The CCI's flat out work in everything.