Good cheap .22lr Ammo?

[MikeG]

Sorry to revive an old thread but I love this topic... I've got a ruger mkI that my dad traded a single six for back in the mid 70's that has literally over 100,000 rounds through it, still has all the original parts, even the springs. I know because it's been mine for over 30 years... Still the most reliable and accurate pistol I've ever shot, with any type or brand of ammo. I would expect your mkIII to be no different. The mk series is probably the best .22 pistol ever designed, even though it can be a pain to take apart sometimes. On the other hand, my 10/22 would stovepipe every other round with federal bulk but feed everything else just fine. A new extractor fixed that, but I'm still trying to find something that groups better than 1" at 50 yards. On the third hand, my marlin 60 has never once malfunctioned and I tried literally dozens of types and brands of ammo to find "the one"...which turned out to be aguila super extra 38 gr plated hp... One hole groups right on the crosshairs at 50 yards all day long while federal bulk might miss a 3" target completely...

My point is that .22's can be very ammo-sensitive and "best" is subjective. Buy a box of several different brands and have fun narrowing it down but don't forget there are different types of the same brand--hollow point and round nose, plated and non-plated, high, hyper, and standard velocity, subsonic, etc... It can take a lot of effort but if you find "the one" it's all worth it. Especially if it's cheap like the aguila's

[Scoundrel]

Had the MK III at the range today shooting Federals and CCI Sub-Sonic through it. One of the CCI rounds did a delayed fire - the delay was about 1/4 second. I was so surprised I nearly dropped the gun (not really). The delayed fire round was also the last one in the magazine, so the bolt locked back. The net result was that something "felt funny" to me, and I checked the bore for obstructions before putting another magazine in. I thought I might have gotten a squib round. Turns out it was fine, just slightly delayed.

That was the first ever CCI problem for me, in several thousand rounds. By the standards most people regard .22LR in, that's positively awesome. For $0.06/round, I'll keep firing those.

I did have a Federal bulk pack dud today. I hit that primer four times, rotating 90 degrees each time, and it still did not go bang. The back of the casing was slightly concave. I was somewhat curious to take that round home and dissect it, but I just ended up dropping it in the dud bucket with all of the 9s and 40s on the way out.

[muggsy]

Sorry to revive an old thread but I love this topic... I've got a ruger mkI that my dad traded a single six for back in the mid 70's that has literally over 100,000 rounds through it, still has all the original parts, even the springs. I know because it's been mine for over 30 years... Still the most reliable and accurate pistol I've ever shot, with any type or brand of ammo. I would expect your mkIII to be no different. The mk series is probably the best .22 pistol ever designed, even though it can be a pain to take apart sometimes. On the other hand, my 10/22 would stovepipe every other round with federal bulk but feed everything else just fine. A new extractor fixed that, but I'm still trying to find something that groups better than 1" at 50 yards. On the third hand, my marlin 60 has never once malfunctioned and I tried literally dozens of types and brands of ammo to find "the one"...which turned out to be aguila super extra 38 gr plated hp... One hole groups right on the crosshairs at 50 yards all day long while federal bulk might miss a 3" target completely...

My point is that .22's can be very ammo-sensitive and "best" is subjective. Buy a box of several different brands and have fun narrowing it down but don't forget there are different types of the same brand--hollow point and round nose, plated and non-plated, high, hyper, and standard velocity, subsonic, etc... It can take a lot of effort but if you find "the one" it's all worth it. Especially if it's cheap like the aguila's

Remington Golden brass plated high velocity hollow points have worked well in all of my .22s and are available in a 525 round value pack.

[wyntrout]

I haven't tried it, yet, but I ordered 4,200 rounds of the Federal and two dry boxes with $2.00 shipping... about $162 delivered... tomorrow, hopefully, from Cabela's. They have good deals sometimes and if the ammo is the right price, too, I can save a bunch.

I already got 1K rounds of Stingers from Cabela's with the same deal... dry boxes and $2 shipping, but the price is what I would pay at Wal-Mart, but without the tax... $6.49 a box of 50.

I also got 2,000 rounds of Remington Subsonic from Natchez for $4.89 a box of 100. With the little testing I did, that stuff is quieter and shoot okay in my Ruger 10/22 Carbine. If I want to subsistence hunt without attracting a lot of attention, this might work.

I also have 2K rounds of the CCI Quik-Shok CPHP-segmented Subsonic coming from Ammo To Go. I wanted some subsonic with copper plating for longevity. The unplated lead can corrode or get "fuzzy" and hard to load.

I would normally use the CCI Mini Mags but it costs more than the Federal with about the same velocity and weight.

Wynn

[MikeG]

Remington Golden brass plated high velocity hollow points have worked well in all of my .22s and are available in a 525 round value pack.

I didn't mention those but they do shoot well for me too, just not quite as well as the aguila's out of my marlin. I had also bought the 2100 rd federal bulk deal from cabela's before I found out they don't work very well for me, but at least I can load up my 25 round mags guilt-free with 'em I do have to admit, no duds in the first three boxes so no complaints there...

[Rubb]

Blazer - my Marlin 60 and Ruger MK love em.

+1 the Blazer seems to be the most accurate after mini mags in my Marlin 60.
WM federal bulk comes in 3rd...FWIW

[Thunder71]

Good or cheap? Pick one and/or define each.

I like CCI Stingers

[jg rider]

I use either Federal red & black boxed. Or Remington Golden Bullets out of necessity.

I sometimes shoot rimfire in steel plate matches out of Spikes dedicated uppers or 1911 .22 conversions. I found the Fed. stuff to be cheap and 100% reliable. If I can hit 8" steel plate out at 50Yds. off hand , that's accuracy enough for me.



The Fed. G.B. are necessary as the only cheap ammo that works out of the wife's Advantage Arms .22 conversion for her Glock 17. That's because it's the only one that generates enough pressures to cycle the slide. Until I modified the fire system to make heavier hits there were lots of misfires. Now I get one in about every 100 rnds. That's not because of the unit, but the ammo because now the hits are deep.




If I shoot the Rem. G.B. out of my totally reliable competition guns I would have some misfires.
So unless you have a A.A conversion unit, after many thousands of trouble free fired rnds. I'd recommend the Fed. bulk pak for cheap .22 ammo.

[el_chupo_]

I generally stock up on Federal bulk. The 525 packs seen here seem to be the most consistent in all of my guns, though my Mosquito is a picky little bugger.

I have recently bought a few thousand rounds of this Federal bulk, though I have not had a chance to use any, still working on some of those 525 packs.

I wont use the Remington bulk, as it is the only round I have found that has had consistent FTF's in my P22, .22 AR, and my 10/22's. Never tried it in any Ruger pistols.

The Mosquito prefers Mini-Mags, and at 7c per round, I cant complain too much. I need to order some more of it, though.

Blazers work OK, but the Mosquito hated them too.

I have a 1000rd brick of the Win M22, but have not shot any yet.

Soooooo - Federal Champion seems to be my "works with everything, and acceptable in the Mosquito" ammo.

[wyntrout]

I just got my last order of .22LR's in from Cabela's... 4,200 rounds and two dry boxes with $2 shipping...
Products Ordered
2 of 21-6951 FEDERAL CHAMPION 22LR PER 2100 W/DRY BOX
Shipped-03/22/12
Total
Merchandise = $159.98
Postage = $2.00
ORDER TOTAL = $161.98
That comes out to 3.86˘ per round, not counting whatever value you perceive for the two dry boxes.

My scope and some other stuff should come in tomorrow and I hope to test all of this within a few days with my Ruger 10/22-RPB... Wal-Mart model All-Weather Carbine. Gun, ammo and accessories exceed $1k and I told my wife.

I'll have to take ballistics into consideration when trying to set up my scope for 50 yards or whatever, while shooting at 15 yards at the range.

Her "bug-out-from-work-and-disabled-car folding bike should be on the way soon...eBay purchase.

Wynn