Selecting 22LR for Range Use

[Pistol Pete 10]

CCI Std, Mini-Mags and Tactical work in all my .22s, Win., Rem. and Fed. some do some don't.

[Jeff22]

I'm going to buy one of those Glocks as soon as I can get one. I use .22 conversions or equivalents A LOT in the winter on basic marksmanship drills.

.22 conversion units can be pretty finicky beasts to feed, and usually run best with a higher velocity (1200 fps or better) bullet that's copper plated.

My Colt Ace .22 from 1982 will run with anything. Also true of the Argentine converter for my Browning High Power and the Beretta "Practice Kit" in .22 for my M9.

I have a Sig .22 conversion for 226 pattern pistols. The directions that came with that unit recommended CCI Mini Mags.

I have a Ciener Conversion unit on a G19 frame and an Advantage Arms unit on a G17 frame. They both run much better with hotter ammo, but I still encounter failures to fire caused by the slide not going fully forward into battery.

I've had my best luck with CCI Mini-Mags (especially in the round nose configuration), Winchester High Velocity Round Nose, and the equivalent offering from Aguila. The CCI AR Tactical Ammo (40 grn CPRN at 1200 feet per second) works pretty well too, but I've not shot a lot of it.

[john c]

Probably 90% of my shooting (or more) is .22 LR. Since you're not talking about high end target loads, a whole other topic, CCI is the top brand. Mini-mags are their flagship product, but I also find their Blazer ammo to be cheaper and very good. It's a lubricated lead bullet, instead of copper washed. It makes no difference to me, although I slightly prefer lubricated lead bullets. You won't find any difference.

Federal makes good .22 ammo. I'll choose it when its cheaper. I also shoot a lot of Aguila, mostly standard velocity and subsonic in target guns. Again, the quality is fine. For cost reasons, I usually get Federal, Aguila, or Blazer over CCI Mini-mags, and the performance is fine.

Avoid Remington .22 LR ammo at all costs! It's simply terrible! The bullets are too hard, and the crimps poor. In a brick, several of the rounds will be noticeably canted in the cases (I fire these anyways, but it's not good for accuracy). Plus the powder is very cheap and poor. In a pistol you'll get burning flakes of it out of the ejection port, and it will burn your hands and arms. This is maybe once or twice every 50 rounds. It doesn't leave any marks, but I won't have my kids fire this because it's pretty painful for 1/4 second or so.

[That Guy]

Remington Thunderbolts seem to suck less now, than they used too.

Well that's not really saying much...

Run mini mags until you find a problem they're not solving.

They run a semi auto well and are not the most accurate

Actually and perhaps somewhat surprisingly, my Remington 597 seems to really like Mini-Mags. I do get vertical dispersion at longer ranges though, but if you're familiar with the craptastic iron sights Remington puts on these rifles you'll understand that I'm reluctant to blame the ammo until I've had a chance to try the gun out with a better aiming solution. (Plus Mini-Mags are significantly more expensive in my country than standard velocity .22LR, so I don't get to shoot it that much.)

[mmc45414]

Especially if you are getting this new Glock, if there are any teething issues their first question is going to be "what ammo are you using" and you are going to want to respond with "Mini Mags".

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[Jim Watson]

Yeah, well Glock once told me to use WWB like they checked out their guns with instead of cheap foreign ammo, too.

[358156hp]

Since the golden answer has already been given, all I can add is that from my experiences, Federal 22 LR is to be avoided at all costs. I've experienced a huge amount of ignition failures with Federal rimfire ammo.

[MolonLabe416]

I stick with CCI or Aguila. I avoid the promotional ammunition as I never had any luck with it even back in the days when rimfire ammo quality was higher than today.

[Bergeron]

Mini-mags are pretty much the go-to for semi-auto.

My personal preference is for Federal Automatch. I like bulk-pack nature of the product, I like that it was designed for semi-autos, and I like that it’s supposed to be more accurate ammo. It’s the only ammo I’ve used in my semi-autos since it hit the market.

Mini-mags are quoted as 40 grains @ 1235 FPS, Automatch is 40 grains quoted at 1200 FPS.

According to The Firearm Blog video on the G44, Glock has apparently put in the time and effort to get the best possible reliability out of that gun. Good luck!

[LtDave]

I’ve shot a lot of .22 ammo, mostly in rifle matches at ranges from 40 to 300 yards. In my experience CCI Mini Mags and Aguila Super Extra HV are the high velocity rounds to start with in testing a new gun. Federal 710 or 810 were the high velocity rounds I’d try if my gun didn’t like CCI or Aguila. I’ve not had any misfire issues with those Federal loads. In standard velocity stuff, CCI is the gold standard. If you want to try match ammo, Wolf Match Target or one of the various Aguila match loads are a good place to start as they are fairly reasonable in price. In bulk ammo, a lot of people shooting long range .22 had decent results with Federal Auto Match. I’ve never had stellar results accuracy wise with any of the Winchester .22 LR loads. Avoid Remington .22 ammo.