.22 practice ammo

Given the current state of the ammo market I'm probably going to have to buy whatever I can find, but I'd like a little information to proceed with. Does anyone have any opinions about the various standard velocity rounds? Can anyone rank what's out there in relation to the others? What is generally good and what is generally bad?

CCI?
Remington?
Federal?
Winchester?
Wolf?
Others?

I'd like to know what to jump on and which to avoid.


Thanks.

The least expensive practice ammo I purchased last was Eley Sport. I thought it was fine. It was $45 a brick.

But then SK Standard Plus that I favor was only $55 a brick at the same time.

In the last 20 years I've only shot Federal, CCI and Eley Sport (which is the same as Aguila SV) and all of those were great.

As far as Remington goes, I frequently hear Remington shooters struggling with duds.  More than 1/50 duds.

As we struggle to find .22 ammo, I used to shoot high velocity Federal Lightning in times of poor SV ammo availability.  It's only slightly faster than CCI, very reliable, and accurate.  I did some testing with CCI Blazers and they were ok also.

Eley Sport has been discontinued (and it's not the same as Aguila).

CCI SV is, for all practical purposes, unobtainable.

I've recently had good luck with Gemtech subsonic, but that's hard to find as well.

Given that the recent shortage has been going on for close to 18 months, I've taken to a form of dollar-cost-averaging on .22 training ammo.

John, do you know why Eley discontinued the Sport?

Something to do with the AGUILA plant in MEXICO that was making it.

Nope, just got emails from multiple suppliers (with whom I either had backordered it or I had it on a watch list) that it was discontinued.

Rob, Eley Sport and Aguila have different bullets, different cases, different recoil impulses, and different reliability rates. I can't contest whether they are made in the same plant or not (I know that Eley Sport says "Made in Mexico"), but the stuff that I have tried has not been the same.

the stuff I have tried felt and looked the same.  I admit I am not certain, but the Aguila that I had side-by-side had "Eley Primed" on the package, the cardboard of the packaging was the same size and thickness, the plastic packing was the same.  The only thing visibly different between the 2 rounds was the headstamp.

Also had decent success recently with Federal Premium Gold Medal Target. Despite the superlative adjectives in the product name, it was $39 per brick at Midway when they had it in stock. Needed a drop of oil on the first round in the mag to function reliably, but was OK with that.

Edit: I guess that's the stuff they call 711B.

Rob Kovach wrote:the stuff I have tried felt and looked the same.  I admit I am not certain, but the Aguila that I had side-by-side had "Eley Primed" on the package, the cardboard of the packaging was the same size and thickness, the plastic packing was the same.  The only thing visibly different between the 2 rounds was the headstamp.

We're like castaways on a desert island, comparing the meals we've had in days past. If I could find a case of either Eley Sport or Aguila right now at the prices they fetched a couple of years ago, I'd jump on it faster than a hungry pooch jumps for pickled Alpo.

john bickar wrote: wrote:We're like castaways on a desert island, comparing the meals we've had in days past. If I could find a case of either Eley Sport or Aguila right now at the prices they fetched a couple of years ago, I'd jump on it faster than a hungry pooch jumps for pickled Alpo.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

......not to make a hungry dog drool, there are 1000 rounds of ammo in this photo that I just took 10 minutes ago:

I agree they sure look the same but the Eley Sport will cycle my semi auto pistols and semi auto rifles that the Aguila is not able to cycle.

10-4 Farmboy.  If the stuff wasn't so hard to come by, I would Chrono some to see if there is a velocity difference.

ELEY Sport U.S.A (purple box) – Discontinued


 
ELEY would like to announce that ELEY Sport U.S.A (purple box) has now been discontinued.
ELEY sport was an externally sourced product under the ELEY brand name which we have found does not perform to our required specifications and so we have taken the decision to remove it from our product portfolio.

ELEY Target is now our entry level product in the U.S.A. An affordable and great quality general purpose cartridge and the most accurate cartridge at this entry level on the market.

Should you need any more information on ELEY, our complete product line (http://www.eley.co.uk/en/ammunition/) and our Test Facility in Texas then please visit the relevant pages on our website http://www.eley.co.uk/en/test-ranges/ or alternatively feel free to contact our distributor in the USA, contact details listed below.
ELEY prides itself in providing competition grade ammunition of unequalled consistence, accuracy and quality.
 
Zanders Sporting Goods, 801 Bradbury Lane, Sparta, IL 62286
Phone: [url=tel:618-443-2400]618-443-2400[/url]    Phone Toll-Free: [url=tel:800-851-4373]800-851-4373[/url]
E-Mail: sales-support@gzanders.com

I have been shooting Remington Sub-Sonic in my S&W 41 for practice and my gun loves this garbage. It's affordable and seems like nobody wants it so it's available. Been  surprisingly reliable and accurate too! 


Virgil

Thank you kczerwin.

"...doe$ not perform to our required $pecification$" is more like it. I had some extremely good results with that stuff. Maybe I lucked out and only got the good lots

john bickar wrote:Thank you kczerwin.

"...doe$ not perform to our required $pecification$" is more like it. I had some extremely good results with that stuff. Maybe I lucked out and only got the good lots

Perhaps you (and a friend of mine - with a 208s) did get good lots.  I, OTOH, had trouble with some I tried to use in my 208s and when I gave some of it away at our league a few years ago (before the scarcity) , the recipient had trouble, as well.  Maybe lot-to-lot consistency was the issue...

Remington target and the white box stuff the cmp sold is very accurate but its also prone to have some duds in each box, that's why I don't use it in matches.

I can get CCI SV for around $40/brick. But for practice, I use Federal Champion SV or bulk Winchester M-22 HV ($25/brick). Both are reliable for me. Given that my scores are around 740 / 900, I have other things to worry about.

I've had others report that the 22LR supply is better for our friends up North. Why is that?

Desben, do you know if they would ship down South?

All the Canadian sites I visit have a notice stating that they will NOT ship to the USA. Sorry.

You are correct, ammunition, even though more scarce than before, seems easier to find here than in the USA. I attribute this to the much smaller number of shooters. Getting a pistol here is quite an ordeal with mandatory training, permits, etc., and takes 6-9 months for a first pistol.

Virgil Kane wrote:I have been shooting Remington Sub-Sonic in my S&W 41 for practice and my gun loves this garbage. It's affordable and seems like nobody wants it so it's available. Been  surprisingly reliable and accurate too! 


Virgil

Ive been waiting to find some to see if it works in my High Standards. Im burning up old 40 year old Rem target, and SV now for training...I dont want to burn up my hard to find CCi SV till I get better, or do a match. With the HS pistols I cant use HV.

DavidR wrote:Remington target and the white box stuff the cmp sold is very accurate but its also prone to have some duds in each box, that's why I don't use it in matches.

I've shot a few thousand rounds of the CMP white box Remington. It has been reliable in everything from my Marvel Precision conversion to my DPMS AR-15 .22 conversion. I just wish I had ordered more when it came available. My experience with other Remington .22 ammo, including Pistol Match, having a high percentage of duds, kept me from buying more of the white box.

s1120 wrote:

Virgil Kane wrote:I have been shooting Remington Sub-Sonic in my S&W 41 for practice and my gun loves this garbage. It's affordable and seems like nobody wants it so it's available. Been  surprisingly reliable and accurate too! 


Virgil

Ive been waiting to find some to see if it works in my High Standards. Im burning up old 40 year old Rem target, and SV now for training...I dont want to burn up my hard to find CCi SV till I get better, or do a match. With the HS pistols I cant use HV.

I should have written that I use this in my HS also but I just use my HS for a back-up gun these days. I have gone according to the following chart to get the MV the same as CCI SV with ME at or lower than the CCI SV. This chart has been very helpful especially in light of not being able to get the ammo we are use to shooting. I have tried many different makes of 22 from this chart and every one has worked as long as I keep the two parameters that I have talked about. The important thing I believe is keeping the ME at or lower that CCI SV so I don't beat my guns to death, so far it has worked although accuracy from some makes has not been on par with CCI but it does give me options for practice and matches if I run out of CCI SV

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

Hope this is helpful to others as much as it has been to me.


Virgil

Thank you for sharing Virgil. You put in a huge amount of time and effort on this chart!