Many of us have searched to find the best .22 rimfire ammo.

But what have you found to be the worst?

In my 10/22 (factory, with no aftermarket modifications), Federal Champion and some versions of Winchester Wildcat .22 long rifle ammo have produced what is best described not as groups, but as shotgun-like patterns (at 50 yards, from a benchrest).

Sometimes the cheapest stuff seems to produce good results, but other times it does not.

I also know that you can't necessarily go by brands and names for this stuff, as there is often large variation from lot to lot in .22 rimfire ammo.

I've found very few problems with rimfire ammunition other than Remington, which misfeeds and/or groups poorly in more guns than any other brand for me. It has never been the best performer in any rimfire rifle.

Rimfires tend to be very individualistic in the ammunition they like. Sometimes it is the cheap store leader stuff with the unplated bullet that shoots the pants off of the "premium" ammunition; and this varies from gun to gun. For cheap shooting, I like the Winchester wildcat or whatver their current leader brand is; if you want to spend a little more money, the CCI stuff usually works pretty well in most rimfires. All of the above comments pertain only to "high velocity" ammunition. Match ammunition is a completely different subject (with some of the Rem match doing just fine, thank you.)

The more I use those bulk packed Federals the less I like them, especially in semi auto's. Many misfires and failures to feed and eject.

Have to agree with Stonecreek on the CCI's. They are medium priced and usually give very good results. The high velocities perform very well in several of my semi's and the standard velocities have a good reputation for accuracy.

Save the cheap stuff for plinking in bolt action rifles or revolvers.

aquila

I also have found the Federal bulk 22LR rimfires to be filthy burning and inaccurate.

I've not had enough problems with a specific Brand to say it is worse than any other. No doubt some are more accurate "in a specific firearm" than others. But change the firearm and what was not real good in the last one might shoot great in the other one.

That said, the least accurate 22RimFire ammo I've used is the CB-Long. Don't even know if they still make it.

Have found that some of the 22Short ammo is still accurate today. Hits lower on the Target, but that is a Sighting In issue.

It also seems the 22RimFires with the "Wax" coatings are pretty much all accurate in my stuff. Some is so soft that it would pick up dirt and lint if carried loose in the pocket.

We are running a test on over 50 brands of rim fire ammo, in a Bleiker match rifle.


We have not had a single misfire, despite firing several thousand rounds.

But, we have encountered other problems.

Such as very hard chambering with some ammo - CCI, and some East European made lots.

Some of the Eley ammo had what can only be described as horrible lube.

It falls off as one opens the box, and actually feels almost like sand.

I have no idea why they use such an amount to lube some of they ammo.

Lapua has the best lube, and feeds better than almost anything else.

We have finished the tests at 50 and 75 yards, and now running the final test at 100 yards.

I have been out of the country until a couple of days ago, so I hope to get back to finishing the test in the next few days.

Worst ammo?

Russian made with steel cases.

Almost every single one misfires.

Variation between the rounds from the same box is also an issue with 22 rim fire ammo. Some sound normal, some sound very loud.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Lapua has the best lube, and feeds better than almost anything else.

Lapua has been consistently the most accurate of all 22 ammo I've tested. Midas "L" specifically. For some unknown reason, Midas "M" doesn't shoot well. RWS R-100 is right up there with Midas "L" for accuracy in some rifles, but not as many as with Midas "L". RWS R-50 doesn't shoot in any rifles I have; not the worst, but far from being close to best.

Worst ammo I've tested is all of the cheap bulk stuff. Never tried and of the steel case Russian ammo.

Don

Saeed,
I would not be to concerned with hard chambering. Match rifles have chambers usually cut tighter and most will not chamber the cheaper rounds easily, if at all. Cooper rimfires are similar in this reguard as they will usually not chamber the less expensive rounds but the Eley's, Wolf target, Lapua (which they use when shooting there test targets) will chamber nicely.
However, speaking from experience even these target rounds can be troublesome in cold weather due to the lube becoming harder and even more difficult to chamber.

Finding the most accurate ammo for a given rimfire truly gives meaning to the fact you have to match the ammo to the rifle. Have seen many of the same make rifles shoot the same ammo and the results were totally different. Some of the cheap ammo gives fantastic results but there is the occassional flyer which destroys the testing. Seems the better (more expensive) the ammo, the less flyers there are.

quote:

Worst ammo?

Russian made with steel cases.

oh yeah - i forgot about that stuff

I ran across some Winchester 22 magnum ammo that was oversize. I was shooting it in my Brno semi-auto and the heads were blowing off. I tore my hair until I tried in im my 22 mag pistol. It was real hard to chamber. Got some that would chamber easy in the pistol and the semi-auto purred like a kitten.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

Worst ammo?

Russian made with steel cases.

Almost every single one misfires.

Could that be because the steel case is strong enough that the firing pin, when it strikes, doesn't dent the rim sufficiently well to ignite the priming compound?

IMHO anything from Remington except the Eley made stuff. The "golden bullet" is really poor. It jams in many different autos and accuracy is poor.

Eley stands out above the rest price point to price point.

Pete A.

quote:

Originally posted by Pete A.:

IMHO anything from Remington except the Eley made stuff.

I've had relatively good results from Remington standard velocity and Target .22 rimfire ammo.

I would have to go with Rem T'bolts.Quite a few would not fire,dirty burn,below average accuracy.

Remington rimfire is junk in my opinion. I will never buy it again unless I'm out of ammo and it's my only option.

The worst, bulk packed Remington Golden Bullets, but haven't shot any Russian for 20 years.

I shoot single shots (old Winchesters & Ballards) and a 1922 Springfield. The Remington stuff may not be accurate, but I have had the absolute worst experiences with the stuff labeled Winchester. Head separations & blown cases occur much more frequently than with other brands. There has been at least one recall of the stuff. QC at Olin must be close to non-existent. If it comes in a silver box with red letters, I am content to leave it on the store shelves. With the Remington stuff, much of the problems seem to be associated with too little priming or powder. With the Winchester stuff. the problems seem to be associated with too much priming compound or powder. That said, I have seen the Remington stuff leave bullets stuck in the barrel. And the next shot left a ring in the barrel. Pay attention to every shot fired! It is far cheaper than rebarreling.

i had over 20000rds of remington target, every box of 100 would have at least 10 that eirher misfired or blew the primer, when the primers blew they would blow the extracter out of any ruger, could only be shot in some bolt actions
remington said it musta been stored wrong, which was b.s. was stored at 60f in sealed ammo cans, if this crap had been fired in a revolver it would have put somebodys eye out

I have been shooting all sorts of rimfire ammo over the past 45+ years and have never had a misfire, head separation, or a blown case or primer.

I guess I'm just lucky.

The Federal 36 gr HP 550 rd bulk pack was a miserable choice for my 10/22 International back when I owned it, causing no end of misfeeds, light strikes, and accuracy that was poor even for a 10/22. For some reason that very same ammo (same carton, same day) will shoot under an inch at 50 yards from my CZ452. Go figure.

I can't remember back say 10-15 years ago when the talk of 22 ammo contained much if anything about the failure to fires that are becoming so common now.

I would say that 20 years ago all 22ammo was purchased with the explicit assumption that it would go bang each and every time when the trigger was pulled...... and it always did.

Today that is not the case and I vote the Remmy Golden Crap stuff as the worst by far with no concern coming from Remmy about the QC.

quote:

Originally posted by anukpuk:
i had over 20000rds of remington target, every box of 100 would have at least 10 that eirher misfired or blew the primer, when the primers blew they would blow the extracter out of any ruger, could only be shot in some bolt actions
remington said it musta been stored wrong, which was b.s. was stored at 60f in sealed ammo cans, if this crap had been fired in a revolver it would have put somebodys eye out

Wow that is a very high failure rate. Too bad you ended up buying 20,000 rounds of that crap.

My last box of Remington .22 fired a few years ago yielded 17 squib rounds from a box of 50. It was the last Remington ammo I have every used or will ever use again. Their brass however has stood the test of time when reloaded on my bench.

I just bought another box of the Federal 525 count bulk pack because after testing everything available on the local market they grouped 10 in 20mm at 75yds and will do just fine for rabbit. Worst by a wide margin was the Aguila. T22 best sub but only suitable for paper targets with Rem Sub and Rem Cyclone runner up in the sub and supersonic category.
My rifle is a Kimber with 2-7 so these results are pleasing with every day hunting equipment.

Von Gruff.

quote:

Von Gruff:

A 404 and a 7x57. All a man needs anywhere, anytime. ever.

Well, no.

He at least needs a .22 rimfire in addition to those.

If he does any shotgun sports, he will need appropriate shotguns for those too.

______________

quote:

Originally posted by LE270:

quote:

Von Gruff:

A 404 and a 7x57. All a man needs anywhere, anytime. ever.

Well, no.

He at least needs a .22 rimfire in addition to those.

If he does any shotgun sports, he will need appropriate shotguns for those too.

______________

Lloyd, maybe I should have changed my sig line for the rimfire buffs but the truth is I have taken many rabbits, etc with my 7x57, but having said that I have never been able to take anything larger than small goat, and that from up inside 25 yds with the 22LR which does not take away from its usefulness, nor my relience on it for fun and rabbits. The same goes for my sxs AYA 12G and Rem XR100 in 20 VarTarg They are special in all sorts of way. But if I was pressed into only one firearm ot would be the 7x57 and the variety of loads I have for it so dont think I will change my sig line after all.

Now back to rimfires.

Von Gruff.

I agree. I have a Brazilian M98 1908 -original barrel in 7x57, and have been very happy with it over the years. As to the .22. I also have a couple of remington 511 .22's and they shoot best with Lapua or SK standard velocity. Oddly, the groups from a really cheap brand called Bunny Galore, shoot almost as tight.