You might assume that since I first started shooting .22 ammo at age 7 or 8, over the following 60-odd years I have sent quite a few rounds thereof downrange — “range” being our backyard, any open piece of land I happened upon, and so on all the way to indoor ranges here in northwest Texas.
And your assumption would be correct. The other day I was organizing Ye Olde Ammoe Locquere, and at a rough count I had on hand about 30,000 rounds of the lovely stuff*.
When I broke it out and tried to sort it out by type, I discovered that about two-thirds of that was 40-grain bullets, and the rest 36-grain. And that puzzles me because for some reason, I’ve only ever had consistent accuracy with the heavier bullets, regardless of the gun used; so why do I have so much of the lighter stuff?
I think it has mostly to do with price, as exemplified by the latest offering to arrive in my emailbox from Lucky Gunner:
It is rather tempting, I will admit: that five cents per pull is very alluring, but for the fact that over time I’ve found the 555 brand rather spotty in terms of consistency, in terms of both accuracy and ignition. (If there’s anything more irritating than hearing a click rather than a bang after squeezing the trigger, I’m not aware of it. And my go-to CCI Mini-Mag ammo is astoundingly reliable: I cannot remember a non-fire with that brand, ever.)
As far as I can recall, however, I don’t believe I’ve ever shot anything with a pulse using the lighter bullet, so I can’t testify as to its effectiveness. For some reason, I’ve always preferred to use 40-grain ammo out in the bush, for reasons I just can’t explain; “bigger is better”, maybe? And what price those extra four grains?
Given that the likely target is going to be small game of the rodent variety, I’m not sure that the hollow-pointed 36-grain stuff is that much more effective than the solid 40-grainers.
But I’m willing to entertain war stories from others on this topic because as the Krauts say, immer werder lernen.
Anyway, all this talk of rimfire has got my digit tingling, so if you’ll excuse me…
…this may take a while.
*I later discovered another thousand or so rounds (all 40-grain solids) in the hall closet and range bag, not to mention a few dozen secreted in the gun bags I typically carry the rimfire guns in. There may also be a box or two hidden away in the car, I dunno; it wouldn’t be the first time.
Since we’re on the subject of .22 this might be a good time to ask my question.
I’m in the market for a .22 revolver. Was in a gun store awhile back and saw a revolver but was disappointed when I found out it was very small. Don’t remember the brand and it was a western style. It seemed to be about 2/3 the size of a normal revolver, and uncomfortable to hold.
Half a century ago I had a .22revolver and it was full size, but I don’t remember the brand. So my question is, who makes a full size .22 revolver? I don’t care if its a western style or otherwise. TIA.
Ghost – I used to work in the gun industry. Now I work with a bunch of liberal idiots. Go figure. But that’s my problem. Anyways Here’s my .02 cents but as always YMMV
DA / SA – Smith and Wesson 617 stainless. (The 6 in front of a number on a smith revolver denotes stainless). – I am not the biggest fan of smith revolvers overall due to internal locks and also due to quality issues from time to time and warranty with them is a pain but the 617 is an AWESOME 22 LR revolver. This one will set you back about 1,000 bucks but it is worth every penny . As of 2025 smith has a “mountain gun” version with NO internal lock. This is a kick ass 10 round 22 LR. I have several friends and family that have these and I rarely saw these break. The only downside to any 22 revolver is that they can get lots of gunk due to the nature of dirty ammo. Just keep a cleaning brush handy and enjoy the affordable shooting of this amazing gun. This is available in 4 and 6 inch. I prefer the 4 inch but some prefer longer. Your choice on size.
Single Action – Ruger single six. Nothing else comes close. I have one of these. Blued 4.62 in. Has both the 22 LR and the 22 WMR cylinder. Great gun. If you want to save money they have a budget version called the super wrangler and there is no shame in that game but I have and like the OG. Maybe someday I’ll buy a super wrangler just to have.
Ruger GP100 – these are hard to find in the 22 variant. They are out there. Nice guns. I think in this rare case the smith 617 is a little nicer but this is great too.
I don’t know if I would want a 22 in any other brand. I have another non name brand 22 and it’s ok. One of those cheapie brands. But smith and Wesson along with ruger are hands down the best. Last you a lifetime and never let you down. Buy once cry once.
I second everything CM said in this post.
The K22 which preceded the 617, from the 1970s or older is absolutely a dream. Better trigger but the 617 is easier to find and just as enjoyable.
My current .22lr livery is a Taurus 992 Tracker with a 6.5″ barrel. It also has a .22wmr cylinder. It shoots both reliably. I got it in a trade a couple of years ago and after initial testing, put it away as trade material for something I’d like better. Still here. Weighs a ton but is fun to shoot. I have about $450 in it, which IMHO is about what it’s worth. I’m not sure what problem it was designed to solve, outside it’s high Fun Factor, but I’ll keep it around. Rocked a coon with a .22wmr round last month and he dropped on the spot. It would make a serviceable club should the 9 rounds not stop a perp.
Ammo –
– The BEST 22 you can buy is ELEY. Hands down. CCI mini mag is damn good but ELEY blows them out of the water. No matter the grain and weight ELEY was the most reliable and consistent ammo I have ever seen. I don’t have a lot of this. It’s expensive and hard to find. If you do need the best for competition or hunting nothing else is even in the same universe. Period.
– 2nd best 22 is CCI. Mini mag. Also many others. This is great stuff. Very consistent and reliable.
– 3rd best is anything else that runs in your gun. Semi auto 22 handguns and rifles can be finicky so whatever runs best and is most accurate in your gun.
If you , like me , Prefer 22 revolvers they will shoot almost anything so then reliability is as good as the primer in whatever ammo you choose. It then comes down to accuracy.
I have a shit ton of 22 ammo. It’s all kinds of cheap brands for range time. I don’t care what brand for plinking.
But again – for when it matters – I have a stash of CCI and somewhere I have a box or 2 of ELEY
Again CCI is damn good and worth every penny. I have lots of CCI because of availability and pricing. a But ELEY is the fucking best 22 ammo on the planet. If you demand the best CCI won’t let you down but again ELEY is better.
@Tee …
My go-to everyday plinking .22 fodder is CC Mini mag. Like you said, a bit more spendy, but for my money, Worth Every Shekel. I also have a stash of CCI Clean polymer coated stuff as backup. All CCI I’ve ever shot runs like the wind in all my semi-auto 22s .. Marlin 60, Browning Buckmark and M&P 22.
I’ve still got most of a brick of ELEY match-grade .22 LR left from what I inherited from Dad. Probably a bit over 2,000 rounds of CCI Mini-Mags. How did my stock get so low?
Another vote for the Single Six. Mine was a 40th birthday present back in the last century. It still looks good, feels good in my hand, and shoots good. What more can a guy ask?
Frankly, I’ve never found the 22 LR hollow points to perform any better than 40 gr RN — for accuracy or lethality. In LR, I stick to the 40 gr bullets and run them thru a Paco Kelly Accurizer (apparently no longer made). This produces smaller groups, punches cleaner holes in paper and seems to kill small game much more reliably.
For “silent” work against certain obnoxious birds like crows, I use the CCI shorts with a 29 gr round nose and also feed them thru the accurizer. They are very quiet in an unsuppressed rifle and reliably kill crows out to about 30 meters.
I’ll add my vote for the Single Six, emphasis on the convertible 22 LR/22WMR. Got mine from the estate of a late shootin’ buddy decades ago. Much to my continuing delight, it is an old model three-screw that goes clickity-click like God and Sam Colt intended. Yes, I’m another Olde Pharte. No disrespect intended for the new model Single Six’s. The too are excellent guns.
Just checked Bud’s Guns and they list a Ruger Limited Edition Collectors Series Super Wrangler .22 LR/WMR, 5.5″ for a cash price of $292.
As to the missing four grains, my impression has been for some time that it’s just a numbers game to boost the velocity and hence sales, starting way back with the CCI Stinger. For quality ammo, I will add a plug for Aguila. For me, it runs right along side my on hand gold standard, Winchester Super-X from back in the day.
War story. Back during my days as a college student (not starving as I was on the G.I. bill) the local PV Ranch and Home store had ammo on sale–Winchester Super-X 22 LR for $9.99 a brick. I bought one brick, and soon regretted my frugality.
A few years later, a wholesale outfit in the area decided to call it quits and had a going out of business sale. Same price as above. I bought two cases, 5000 rounds each, one solids and one hollow points, $107 each with tax. Still have some of it.
Just FYI–today is the last day of sale with free shipping over at Natchez.
https://www.natchezss.com/
Do hollow points even provide meaningful terminal effects in .22lr?
IMO, from a rifle, yes. Said opinion based summers in my youth hunting jackrabbits in the sage brush. Now and again one hit in the body with a solid would wander off, not far, but still… Those hit with hollow points might stagger a bit, but never ran off. They were DRT (dead, right there).
One of the lightest 22 ammo I’ve seen is Aguila Colibri 20 grain. It won’t cycle in most 22 semi autos so your clearing each empty case manually however in a revolver no issue this stuff can make doing business vewy vewy quiet.
I have had problems with the 555 with squibs. What I have of it goes through my bolt action rifle.
I moved 2 years ago. I finally have a somewhat accurate inventory of my ammo and ammo supplies. Much to my surprise I have about 160k rounds of 22 LR – I bought a brick almost every payday for 30 years. I also bought a brick of primers every month. I am looking at the Ruger Mk IV with a pickney rail for a red dot to shoot this ammo up. It also has the threaded barrel so a can will sit on the end of the barrel. The Tanfoglio revolver I have has a worn forcing cone and needs retirement. I could turn my workshop into a 30′ range for the suppressed Mk IV.