Favorite Ammo for S&W 617?

[SIGcurious]

I have a 617 inbound, but I don't know anything about 22LR.  I know it will be barrel dependent, but is there any ammo I should definitely consider?  Any I should absolutely stay away from?  Thanks.

[Bill Sahlberg]

I shoot CCI 40 gr HPs, they are readily available and shoot very consistently.

[21 shooter]

I shoot a lot of CCI and Aguila standard velocity, and CCI mini mags.  I don’t particularly like Remington ammo but haven’t tried any lately, and I hope their QC has improved.  I stay away from Winchester and Armscor.  You will find many opinions on rimfire ammo.  
I will add that SK Pistol Match ammo was very accurate.  

[Makicjf]

CCI mini mags are the most reliable in mine.  I've tried other ammo, but invariably I end up with to clickers (any) for Steel Challenge .  Mini Mags work, so I stopped looking.

Jason

[DS-10-SPEED]

My 617's like any Federal and CCI Mini Mags. A friend gave me some Norma Tac .22 to try, I fired 3 shots and it bound up my cylinder and had a hard time getting them out. Also I have found Browning .22 ammo has very bad quality, bent bullets, dented cases and misfires.

 

I also don't like to use Winchester or Browning because they have the thinnest rims of all ammo and don't work the best in my speedloaders.

Edited February 7 by DS-10-SPEED
Added info

[Joe4d]

I use the bulk Winchester, Bulk bucket of bullet remingtons,  Have a bunch of American eagle and fiochi probably 10 years old. Dont recall having any issues with any of them in either my 22/45 or 617. maybe the WIN once in a bluemoon go click.| Like the others above I use CCI mini mags for matches in both.

[Mover480]

For accuracy, tested about 10 different types of 22 ammo in a 6" 6-shot 617 in a Ransom Rest many years ago.  At 50 yards, 12 shot groups.  Worst was Federal bulk pack - 6" group.  Best was CCI Pistol Match - 3/4" group.  CCI Standard Velocity was about 1.25".  Rem Golden bullet was about 2.5".  Fed Gold Medal Match and Eley Target about 3".  Others like Winchester were in the 3 to 4"  range.  Didn't test the higher velocity ones like Thunderbolt or Mini Mags.  Other guys I shoot with really like Norma Tac in their 22 autos (which I didn't test).  YMMV

[MHicks]

In years past I'd heard that the Blazer was popular for steel. Has that changed or was it ever true?

[bigdog02]

So far shooting mine I have found most federal bulk packs are good, Remington golden bullets work well (any clicks were bad ammo and not the gun), Winchester bulk packs are pretty good but accuracy seems to be a little more off with them.
CCIs are the really good stuff though - runs lights out for serious competition shooting.

[Squirrel45]

CCI Standard 

[AzShooter]

CCI - SV give me the tightest groups but for Steel Challenge I shoot Remington Bucket Of Bullets.  They are the cleanest ammo I've found.  I can easily run 500 rounds before I clean the cylinder.

 

Mini Mags work pretty well also.

[rooster mcbee]

I run CCI Standard Velocity or Mini Mags in mine.  I shoot Steel Challenge and I can't tolerate any clicks.  

I practice with some of the other brands already mentioned, except Winchester.  I bought a bunch of 

M22 in the black box and have had miserable luck with it.  I'm pretty leery of any Winchester .22 now.

[10mmdave]

20 hours ago, MHicks said:

In years past I'd heard that the Blazer was popular for steel. Has that changed or was it ever true?

That's all I use when I can get it, got lucky last year and bought a case of it, time to find some more.

I've had very good luck with the CCI Blazer for many years of shooting Steel Challenge.

Mini Mags are the next ammo I go for, accuracy at 20 yrds seems to be the same there about,

though I  believe MM has the edge.

 

Not sure if the 617's now are coming with the tight cylinder chambers, back some years it seemed

everybody was having ejection problems. I was shooting the Blazer and never saw it, then the ammo

shortages happened and I found a bunch would stick in the cylinder, Aquila, Eley, and some I forget.

I was buying whatever was available.

 

Good luck with new 617, see DS-10 above or ANSAC for some speed loaders and a loading block,

if you plan on shooting steel it makes the day go so much better

[Toolguy]

They have had tight chambers in 22s for at least 70 years up to the present time. They run the reamers too long on the production line and they wear down smaller and smaller over many cylinders. Then you end up with some cylinders that are the right size with a new set of reamers, some slightly smaller, some a little smaller than that, and some too small, etc. The way to fix that is to get a new standard finishing reamer and cut the chambers to the correct size they should have been to start with. Problem solved.

Edited February 8 by Toolguy

[practical_man]

1 hour ago, Toolguy said:

The have had tight chambers in 22s for at least 70 years up to the present time. They run the reamers too long on the production line and they wear down smaller and smaller over many cylinders. Then you end up with some cylinders that are the right size with a new set of reamers, some slightly smaller, some a little smaller than that, and some too small, etc. The way to fix that is to get a new standard finishing reamer and cut the chambers to the correct size they should have been to start with. Problem solved.

My experience bears this out. My 617 works much better after reaming. I have a seldom used 317 that might benefit from reaming too. 
 

As to ammunition, I like CCI SV, Blazer, and minimags.  Generally in that order. Varies from lot to lot. I’ve had some Federal automatch that does very well and some that does poorly. 

[ysrracer]

I use Armscor .22. It's the easiest to ignite. I can run a light trigger.