Reliable .22lr ammo

[xcelr8hard]

What are you running for .22lr ammo? Bought a new ruger MKIII 22\45 for steel challenge. Was running CCI blazer without much success. Actually my daughter was shooting and it jammed 3 out of 5 runs on all the 4 stages she shot. I would imagine it is ammo related. Would sure like to get it running reliably so that she doesn't get frustrated and quit.

Thanks for the help.

Butch

[HotIce]

Consider it might be the gun, or gun+ammo combo. Difficult to give a general answer.

I shot a few thousands CCI SV rounds in my two BuckMarks, with only an handful of issues (mostly duds).

[DougCarden]

Your Ruger will probably shoot the bulk .22 pks, like the Federal or Remington bulk from Walmart, but I can almost guarantee that right now it will run 100% on CCI minimags 40gr RN, and after a couple thousand rounds it will run the CCI standards 100% as well as long as you clean the chamber every couple hundred rounds and oil it up.

CCI blazer is good primed ammo, but the QC is not as good as the higher priced rounds.....as you would expect for the price.

The Aquila 40gr RN ammo runs pretty well too in my limited testing.....

Also make sure you test and shoot it holding it good. There may be issues with the way she is holding onto it, ie. not hard enough for 5 shots, etc.

Get a .22 boresnake and put it in the gun bag with the gun. It will make life so much better.

Mark the mags as well. If you have one that repeatedly give you jams it is the feedlips, in my experience.

Good luck! This is a great way to spend time with your daughter!

DougC

[Round_Gun_Shooter]

I shot Bulls eye with a MKIII. Mine loves Aguilla and CCI Mid Range. Federal Gold match was good too but pricey.

You may be able to get the Aquilla through the Civilian Marksmanship program. Not sure if they still have it. I found with the Ruger, the bolt needs to have good lubrication. I used Mobil 1 or Castrol on mine Anything that prevents carbon deposits. i was able to get to the point I only had to clean it every couple months. I shot about 500 rounds a week in practice and match till my lead levels gave me trouble..

Good luck, break it in and have fun.

[Chris Christian]

+ 1 to CCi Mini Mags. It has been the most consistent performer in the many .22s I've shot over the last 20 or so years.. and often among the most accurate. Keep the chamber clean and dry... pay particular attention to the extractor cut on the chamber mouth (gunk builds up there and impedes chambering ad extraction)... and use the lightest lube oil possible (Corrosion X For Guns is my favorite). Your gun should run if it's clean. The .22 rimfire is a very dirty cartridge, and creates a lot of firing "grundge"...unclean guns are a major cause of malfs.

Chris Christian

[mwx40x40]

Since it is a new gun. Run at least 500 rounds through it then clean and lube. Last two 22/45 I have seen, did not start running reliably until they had a brick or two through them.

BTW, I agree that CCI Mini Mags are very reliable. If you can find it. Federal Auto Match is good too.

[jkatz44]

+ 1 to CCi Mini Mags. It has been the most consistent performer in the many .22s I've shot over the last 20 or so years.. and often among the most accurate. Keep the chamber clean and dry... pay particular attention to the extractor cut on the chamber mouth (gunk builds up there and impedes chambering ad extraction)... and use the lightest lube oil possible (Corrosion X For Guns is my favorite). Your gun should run if it's clean. The .22 rimfire is a very dirty cartridge, and creates a lot of firing "grundge"...unclean guns are a major cause of malfs.

Chris Christian

Another vote for CCI mini mags. This ammo pretty much works with any .22. I have never had any problems with mini mags through my Ruger 22/45. All of the other ammo has malfunctioned. You can usually buy a lot of this from a Walmart for 7 bucks per 100. Another ammo that worked pretty good is the Federal 550 Value Pack. This is cheaper than the CCI mini mags but it has little problems. What ever you do, don't use lead bullets. These really make your gun dirty and put lots of gunk in the barrel.

[G-ManBart]

I'm another that will vote for CCI SV or Mini-Mags....which one depends on the gun. Now, I'd say that Eley is probably even more reliable, but most of it is too expensive to consider for what we do. The Eley Sport (made by Aguila in Mexico) has been very consistent, quite accurate and 100% reliable for me so far (about 1500 rounds). I actually had my first CCI SV dud ever today...solid hit too. It was only about 22*F, but I'm not sure that matters. R,

[steel1212]

I'm another that will vote for CCI SV or Mini-Mags....which one depends on the gun. Now, I'd say that Eley is probably even more reliable, but most of it is too expensive to consider for what we do. The Eley Sport (made by Aguila in Mexico) has been very consistent, quite accurate and 100% reliable for me so far (about 1500 rounds). I actually had my first CCI SV dud ever today...solid hit too. It was only about 22*F, but I'm not sure that matters. R,

Yup I run mini mags also.

[HS101]

My 22/45 loves the Remington Bulk Golden Bullets... CCIs tend to dive under the feed ramp / get deformed in mine. I think the CCis are too soft. You need to be extra careful to make sure the mag is all of the way seated... this makes a huge difference. Insert mag, then give it another good push.

Check the forums at Rimfire Central. There are some easy mods that will help it run more reliably.

Edited January 11, 2010 by HS101

[HRider]

CCI mini mags have always ran good in my MKII. I ran several thousand of them through mine without problems back when they came in the little plastic ammo cans. The Federal 550 pks have worked pretty good too. I am not impressed by the Remington Golden Bullet 550 value packs though. They don't ignite every time (they don't even work 100% in my Remington Speedmaster).

Hurley

[DougCarden]

Aquile is made on Eley equipment in Mexico, so the priming should be good.

DougC

[Jim Rusert]

My Ruger 22/45 runs best on CCI Mini Mags.

[hitman]

my 22/45 eats Federal bulk packs from wally world all day long with no problems.

[xcelr8hard]

Thanks for all the input. Looks like I will be trying the mini mags first.

Butch

[jimzim]

My son has the same model for steel and uses CCI min-mag copper-plated round nose. Feeds like a champ.

[BayouSlide]

Didn't have much luck with Blazer either in my Buckmark URX Contour, but no problems with over 2,300 rounds of Federal AutoMatch.

Curtis

[High Lord Gomer]

My Mark III 22/45 does well with Federal Bulk pack and Auto Match. It doesn't do too well with Winchester 333/555 and it hates the Remington Golden Bullets.

[Bigpike]

I've got a MKII which I've had for a number of years. Still remember when I first got it had difficulty finding ammo it liked. Finally got onto the bulk Federals (36 gr, copper plated hollow point) and have never looked back. It digests them all day long with no problems. A big plus is that they're a relatively clean bullet.

Bottom line is experiment until your gun finds something it likes and then stick with it.

[Duane Thomas]

Every .22 LR auto pistol is a law unto itself regarding which ammo it will and won't work with reliably. Having said that, I've had very good luck with CCI Mini-Mags and the 325 round bulk pack Federal Auto Match in a variety of guns.

[trodrig]

My daughter has shot about 700 rounds of mini mags without a single misfire. One time the bolt did not strip a round from the mag but I think it was because the mag was not fully seated.

The federal 550 bulk pack that is red in color rocks for practice ammo. No feeding issues and only 4 or 5 duds in the whole box. This has been the case for the last 4 boxes we've run through the gun. The last federal 550 pack that was blue in color was horrible!!! I mean I've shot thousands of rounds of 22s over the years but this was the worse box ever. Literally over 50 duds in one 550 bulk pack! I haven't bought the blue bx again since that one.

[Duane Thomas]

The Federal 325 round Auto Match .22 LR comes in cream (buff, tan, whatever you want to call it) boxes with some black areas, as well. Fairly awesome stuff, in my experience.

[LPatterson]

It appears .22's are far more finicky as they get dirty than when they are pristine clean. For some reason the Federal Match in the 325 pack gets my guns dirtier quicker than most other brands. A day at the range is usually a brick, like yesterday, mid 50's in January is not normal the only problem being the wind. Primary practice was transitions with a 22/45 with TacSol barrel and a C-More, first with 3' between A zone steel targets the 9' then 15'. Distance starting at 10 yards back to 25 yards. Have 11 magazines per practice run and did 4 runs, changed to a 617 and ran 240 rounds (finger got tired). Mark II Government Target with 1 power scope with Volquartson trigger parts, 25 yards 240 rounds (need more magazines). Big nasty cloud wiped out the sun and winds went up to 35-40 MPH.

Supposed to be 45+ all week so I'll be out there again today.

[DocMcG]

My experience with all of my dedicated 22LR and conversion kits:

+1 on the CCI Mini-Mags (Plated round nose) and Federal Auto Match 325 pack from Wal-Mart (lead round nose). They are number one and two respectfully on accuracy and function in all of my rimfire toys!

Cheers,

Kyle

Edited January 12, 2010 by DocMcG

[MichiganShootist]

My Ruger and the one owned by a shooting buddy... bothe function perfect on the bulk 550 pack of Federal LR. It's a little faster than some of the other "bulk" boxes.