22LR and Ammo Selection

[tower59]

Hi, gang. I spent yesterday afternoon testing out a newly acquired Ruger 10/22 22". I'm new to the 10/22, new to .22LR, and only really have shot SKSs otherwise. Man, I think everyone should start on a .22 and then move to other things later. It's so much easier to learn at 2 cents a round without the BANG of a Garand. (You guys have been saying that forever, and I'm now a believer.)

So, here's my question: I tried out Federal Wallyworld bulk pack (36 grain, hollow points at $10/550), CCI Minimags (36 grain hollowpoint at $5.50/100), and Remington Thunderbolts (40 grain, lead, not hollow points). They all shot about the same in my hands at 25m (beginner). Here's the catch: I had about 7% jams with the Federal, shooting about 300 rounds. No jams with the Thunderbolts or the Minimags. My gun was clean when I started and had had fewer than 150 rounds through it total. What do you think?

Also, in looking at the packages, the 40 grain Thunderbolts have about the same velocity as the other two, and therefore more energy when they hit. They also claim 1.8" drop at 100 yards versus 5 " drop that is on the Federal box. Does that mean that the Thunderbolts shoot flatter? Five inches is a lot of drop, I'd think, and if I could have a round that only fell 1.8" I'd have one less thing to worry about, right? (That is, accurate range estimation would be less critical.) The only downside I see here is the non-hollow point nature of the Thunderbolts. The role of the .22 for me is (1) training for an SKS or Garand, (2) dropping smaller animals and such (3) getting bigger "animals" if absolutely necessary to defend oneself. Of course price is an issue since I'd like to find one round I can train with and hunt varmints with and stock for long-term. What do you experts out there think? Can you teach me about 22LR ballistics? Thanks!!!

[Snake45]

Also, in looking at the packages, the 40 grain Thunderbolts have about the same velocity as the other two, and therefore more energy when they hit. They also claim 1.8" drop at 100 yards versus 5 " drop that is on the Federal box. Does that mean that the Thunderbolts shoot flatter?

Sounds like the Federals were zeroed at 50 yards (or 60) and the TBolts were zeroed much farther out--I'd guess 75 or 80 yards. I always use as a "ballpark" figure that if a .22 is zeroed for 50 yards, it will drop 6 to 7 inches at 100. You have to shoot YOUR gun to get the exact figure, but that will get you on the paper.

If, on the other hand, you zero at 100, you will be somewhere around 3-3.5" high at 50. Again, ballpark.

TBolts are generally regarded by most in the rimfire community as "bottom of the barrel" ammo--very dirty stuff. Some guns shoot it well, though. But I don't know of one serious or semi-serious .22 shooter who uses it regularly or says it's his preferred load.

Try Remington's Golden Bullets, also available at Walmart. They also carry Winchester XPerts, which I've found to be pretty accurate in a number of rifles IF the gun will feed them, which all won't. Both of my 10/22s feed and shoot them fine but I've heard of a lot of 10/22s that won't run them.

[cmidkiff]

I've settled on Winchester SuperX for my .22lr needs.  Remington Golden bullets won't feed right in my Buckmark or my 22/45, and Winchester XPert won't work in my Taurus 63.  My 10/22's work with several different brands, but some of my other .22's are pretty picky.  SuperX runs well in all of them (so does PMC Match, but it's expensive!).

It works for me, but may not work for you.  That's the thing about .22lr, you simply have to try different brands until you find one that your gun likes.  The good news is that you can pick up a dozen 50 round boxes of different brands without breaking the bank

[Old Dog]

1.  not sure the hollow point vs. solid nose matters much.  The redcoats can't tell the difference for one thing.  For another, hloowpoints are dependent on velocity to make the expand.  I don't know whether or not the Federal .22's have the velocity at 50 or 100 yds. to expand.  For small game (table food) you don't need hollowpoints.  Headshots are a sure kill and don't mess up the edible meat.
2.  follow the advice on trying different loads  to see what your rifle likes.  They're all different.  My Ruger Mk1 likes Thunderbolts and so does my bolt action .22.  My Ruger 10/22 likes the Rem. Golden Bullets the best.  My CAR with the ceiner kit likes the Golden Bullets best.
3.  figuring out what your's likes best is cheap, it's extra trigger time, it's fun.  You get to practice all the good stuff about learning to shoot a rifle while you figure out which bullets to shoot in your 10/22.

[bobd42]

We started out with the Federal 550  pk.from wally world and it did o.k. so we stocked up on it pretty good . How ever in the past  two months  it has gone south and has started hanging up on our 10-22's and seems to be getting dirty faster . We have gone to the remington 500 golden bullet and it is performing like our old federal stock . I even did a comparison using cci standard , winchester , sellier , and some old federal and the remington  golden bullet is what we are now buying .

[Old Dog]

picked up 2 bricks of golden bullets at wally world today for just under $13 a piece.

Cheap to buy, effective to use, easy to find room to store.  What's the hold up?

[SGTCap]

picked up 2 bricks of golden bullets at wally world today for just under $13 a piece.

Cheap to buy, effective to use, easy to find room to store.  What's the hold up?

Golden Bullets wont run in my 22s.  Automatch runs in all of them though but its more expensive.

I think I am goin to try the Dynapoints soon and see how they do .  I hear god things about them on the suppressor forums.  If I like them I will get 5000 from midway.

[Snake45]

picked up 2 bricks of golden bullets at wally world today for just under $13 a piece.

Yes, the price went up almost a dollar yesterday.   Last week they were $11 something. The lady told me pricejacks came through on all Remington and Winchester ammo. The Federal is unchanged, so far--still $9.88/550, a "best buy" if I've ever heard of one (even though that ammo isn't particularly accurate--but it's still better than I can hold offhand or standing).

[Old Dog]

Sorry, I meant that .22's are a "best buy".  Doesn't matter what brand.  Yup, $15/brick is more than $12/brick but either is way less for 500 rounds than any centerfire cartridge.  Find what shoots best in your guns and buy lots of it.

[wildman]

Last year the only 22lr that would group in my 10/22 was Federal Match 40gr the rest of it was worthless. This year I couldn't find the same ammo. Federal had some "Auto Target Match" in boxes of either 350 or maybe 325 I think at Wal-Mart for $12.00. I believe it is the same ammo I bought last year just in a different box and a slight name change. Anyway it groups great in my CZ bolt rifle. Groups you can cover with a nickle at 50 yds.

[Snake45]

Wildman, try the Federal 510 Champions in your CZ 452. They're $1.07/box at Walmart and many CZ shooters at Rimfirecentral have reported very good accuracy with them. Mine will put them into 1/2" at 50 yards and that seems to be a typical story.

My semiauto rifles don't particularly like the stuff, though.

[grimmjack]

Walmart jacked the price up on their .223 remington as well.. it was 6.74(20).  Now its 7.64.

[Snake45]

Walmart jacked the price up on their .223 remington as well.. it was 6.74(20).  Now its 7.64.

Just over a year ago they sold a "value pack" of 40 rounds for $7.99--when they had some. My store hasn't had ANY .223 in all of 2007.

[MOGromit]

Just got back from a quick trip to WM for the Federal box of 550 rds of 22.  As I got there a guy was repricing the ammo.  Went from 9.88/550 to 11.97/550.  21% increase.

Now where was my 21% raise since inflation is under control....

Gromit

[Snake45]

Just got back from a quick trip to WM for the Federal box of 550 rds of 22.  As I got there a guy was repricing the ammo.  Went from 9.88/550 to 11.97/550.  21% increase.

Now where was my 21% raise since inflation is under control....

Gromit

Hadda happen sooner or later. I'm actually surprised it took this long--the Win and Rem went up twice in the last few months already while the Fed held the line. I've been buying two bricks a week of the Fed (and one of the Rem) for months and months now.

[SGTCap]

Anyone tried Winchester Dynapoints yet?  I called 1800 WALMART and I'm hoping to get some availible at my local store soon.

My go to ammo is the Federal Automatch availble from WalMart in 325rd packs for about $13.  It runs well in all my 22s and groups almost as well as Wolf Match Target for half the price.

[Snake45]

Anyone tried Winchester Dynapoints yet?  I called 1800 WALMART and I'm hoping to get some availible at my local store soon.

Love them, but can't get them anymore, and they've jacked the price of them WAY up, too. I went the 1-800 route to try to get them into my local Walmart, no joy, no joy at all, even with the store manager trying for me. And I offered to buy them by the CASE lot. I'm learning to get by without them.

[Nickle]

Dynapoints are $22.49/500 at Midway.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=866708

Not much break for dealers on them.

[Old Dog]

Sooner or later the stores (one or the other) put them on sale.  Be ready to buy'em then.  If they put a limit on them then take a friend to buy some for you, too.

[Scout]

What is the difference in .22LR as far as match pistol and regular? Sportsman's Guide is selling their PMC 40 grain .22LR match pistol for 37.00 a thousand/ 178.00 for five thousand. How is this different than ammunition made for a rifle?

[Old Dog]

Article specifically about PMC match .22 pistol ammo http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTT/is_145_24/ai_59328843

article/chart comparing different brands/types of .22 ammo, the PMC ammo is well down the page but it lists the pistol and rifle match ammo specs.  Enjoy, but I'd buy a few boxes to shoot to see how my guns liked it before I'd buy cases of it.  Your choice though.

http://www.flat5.net/22LR_velocities.html

[Snake45]

Sportsman's Guide is selling their PMC 40 grain .22LR match pistol for 37.00 a thousand/ 178.00 for five thousand. How is this different than ammunition made for a rifle?

I firmly believe that this is purely a marketing ploy. This ammo might shoot best in one of your rifles, and your pistol might like some other kind of ammo even better. Every .22, rifle or pistol, will have its own tastes and preferences and they don't care at all what the words on the box happen to say. The only way to tell how any given gun/ammo combination is going to shoot is to shoot it.