.22lr ammo managerie

After not being able to find .22 short ammo for my HS, I went out and bought a Buckmark just so I could practice since I can find .22lr ammo, albeit expensive .22lr ammo.  I've managed to collect 2k rounds of CCI SV and this should hold me through the summer.

But in my search, I was somewhat dumbfounded at the assortment of .22lr ammo from each mfg.  From the likes of CCI, RWS, SK, Lapua, Wolf, Eley, and Geco, they each have a half-dozen 40gn choices ranging from $4/50 to $20/50 and I can't tell much difference in their descriptions or reviews.  Well, the lowest price offerings from each are typically sold out, leaving the pricey stuff on most sites, e.g. lots of Eley Tenex to be found, not so much CCI SV.  By the end of summer, supplies might not have returned to normal and I might have to pick up some of the more pricey stuff.  If I do, I will probably have to purchase via internet and I'm reluctant to buy a brick of this pricey stuff on a guess given the shipping and overall cost.

Can anyone point me to some type of review of the different .22lr comparing their performance?  Are the $20/50 versions worth it?  What about the middle priced stuff?

Thanks.

Here's what you are looking for, but the data is somewhat dated.  Its still a good starting point.

http://www.accurateshooter.com/gear-reviews/22lr-rimfire-ammo-comparison-test/

Maybe I'm not looking at this right or misunderstanding what you're looking for...I'm just not having much trouble finding .22. I'm new enough at Bullseye that I'm not that picky about .22 ammo - no bulk green box junk but I'm fine with CCI, lower end Eley, Lapua SK and the like. Certainly it's more expensive that a couple of years ago but not unreasonably so.

CCI standard velocity at palmettostatearmory.com, $4.99 a box, in stock.
Eley Target at killoughshootingsports.com, $5.99 a box, in stock
Wolf at the-armory.com, $6.99 a box, in stock (I don't much like Wolf but some folks swear by it)
Eley Club, at killoughshootingsports.com, $7.10 a box, in stock

The list goes on but the point is, I'm finding plenty of decent quality .22 ammo priced between $5 & $10 a box. Terrible compared to the $3 to $4 a couple of years ago but not $20 a box either. I'm not seeing $20 a box until I reach for Eley Tenex, and my beat up Ruger seems to be just as happy with CCI.

See if you can find Steve Boelter's book, a guide to rimfire ammo. While it is a bit dated on the particular ammo choices, it has tons of good information on the quality of ammo. Also has sections on rifles, cleaning, test procedures, and ammo manufacturing.

What Steve did is that he collected samples of every type of rimfire ammo available about 7 years ago, shot them in a couple of rifles, and then summarized the data in a easy to find book categorized by manufacture.

As a competitive rifle shooter and a competitive bullseye shooter, I have a very strong appetite for rimfire ammo. I primarily use CCI SV in my bullseye pistol although with the ammo shortage I had to snag some Eley Sport, Wolf Match Target, SK Rifle Match, and also some Eley Target. I found that the Eley sport does not work when it is very cold out and Eley target does not have enough horsepower for my gun. I am not too concerned with it since I will be able to use the remainder of those cases in my rifles.

Since I have a good selection of high cost ammo for my rifles, I have done a lot of accuracy testing in my pistol. While there may be accuracy gains from the higher priced ammo (over $750.00/case), I cannot discern them using a red dot on my pistol off a bench. In otherwords, the precision of my eyeball is the limiting factor in the accuracy of my pistol. Most of the ammo that I have tested comes in at 3/8th inch at 25 yards and 3/4th inch at 50 yards. that is x ring accuracy. The ammo that did not shoot that good was supersonic bulk ammo and some old Russian target ammo.

What is more important is that the ammo you select has 100% reliability in your pistol. Alibi's are score killers! Especially if you have two malfunctions in a row and you cannot use that second alibi.

If the ammo supply ever returns to normal, I will go back to shooting CCI SV primarily. I am not a big fan of the wolf snot lubrication that you find on Wolf and SK ammo.

Regards,
Cranky

AllAces wrote:Here's what you are looking for, but the data is somewhat dated.  Its still a good starting point.

http://www.accurateshooter.com/gear-reviews/22lr-rimfire-ammo-comparison-test/

Thanks, that is what I'm looking for.

@Cranky:  good info.  I'll see if I can locate the book.  At this stage of my .22 bullseye shooting, I will be perfectly happy with CCI SV, if it's available.

@TexasShooter: yes, I appreciate your point.  Right now you can find CCI SV at PSA for $5.  But 2 weeks ago, you couldn't.  And the week before that, you could get it at Midway for $4/50, but not now.  My point is when I run out of the 2k of CCI SV I've got, if CCI SV is still scarce, what would I buy that is available at that time?  I'm just looking for some comparison that would let me make a more informed decision, not having tried any of the Eley, Wolf, SK, Lapua, etc....  And, quite frankly, I wouldn't know the difference between:

Eley Tenex EPS @ $20/50
Eley Match EPS @ $15.75/50
Eley Edge EPS @ $12.25/50
Eley Club @ $8/50
Eley Target @ $6.50/50
Eley Tenex Pistol @ $20/50
Eley Match Pistol @ $15.75/50
Eley Match OSP @ $15.75/50



Thanks all.

Was it that long ago, when everybody had CCI SV for $2.50/ 50?

BE Mike wrote:Was it that long ago, when everybody had CCI SV for $2.50/ 50?

Sounds wonderful in the land of milk and honey.     Things change. 

If your gun can shoot higher velocity 22 don't be afraid to buy or use it, federal blue box or automatch in the 325 box  is 1200 fps and shoots very good, so does American eagle and cci blazer, truth is almost any 22 ammo out of any good 22 will group 10 ring at 50 yards.