CCI .22lr AR Tactical in a pistol?

blackdeuce · Jun 10, 2012

I went to the sporting goods store to buy some CCI mini mags for the new .22 conversion kit that I bought for my SIG P226. They didn't have the mini mag, so the saleman recommended the AR tactical.

We installed the conversion kit on my new P226 and my son's older P226. On both guns, the conversion kit performed perfectly, except there were several shells that did not fire. All of them had significant dings from the firing pin.

Is this ammo not a good choice for a semi-auto pistol, or did I just get a number of duds?

I found several posts on this ammo, but none as they relate to use with a pistol.

Thanks for any feedback.

APS · Jun 10, 2012

That ammo is supposed to be designed for rifles but it's probably just marketing. Since this is a new kit, you just need to find out what works best in it. Did the rounds go off when you recocked the hammer and hit them a second time?

blackdeuce · Jun 11, 2012

APS said:
That ammo is supposed to be designed for rifles but it's probably just marketing. Since this is a new kit, you just need to find out what works best in it. Did the rounds go off when you recocked the hammer and hit them a second time?

Thanks for the response. We didn't try to recock the hammer. When we opened the slide, they ejected and I put them in my pocket.

The shells that did not fire had substantial dings from the firing pin. I can't imagine why they didn't go off unless this AR stuff is designed to be hit harder by the firing pin. Maybe I just got a box with some duds.

Doug M. · Jun 11, 2012

As I understand it, the way priming is distributed in rimfire cases can be inconsistent and it is pretty hard and expensive to overcome that. My guess, worth exactly what you paid for it, is that these were more or less duds.

blackdeuce · Jun 11, 2012

Doug M. said:
As I understand it, the way priming is distributed in rimfire cases can be inconsistent and it is pretty hard and expensive to overcome that. My guess, worth exactly what you paid for it, is that these were more or less duds.

Thanks for the reply.

That's what I'm thinking. Maybe one of our other guns will like this ammo better.

Texas Star · Jun 11, 2012

Unless the priming compound is evenly distributed all around the case head, you'll get misfires and duds.

Usually, CCI is better about this than some brands. If the firing pin strike is evident, I don't think it's the fault of the gun.

What really disturbs me is how few stores today stock a good selection of .22 ammo.

blackdeuce · Jun 11, 2012

Texas Star said:
Unless the priming compound is evenly distributed all around the case head, you'll get misfires and duds.

Usually, CCI is better about this than some brands. If the firing pin strike is evident, I don't think it's the fault of the gun.

What really disturbs me is how few stores today stock a good selection of .22 ammo.

You're probably right. I probably got some duds. We were mostly shooting 9mm, so we didn't shoot a lot of the .22 ammo. There were 6-8 duds out of about 50 rounds of .22 fired. Pretty high percentage, I think.

I've had better luck with the cheap bulk .22lr ammo than we did with this CCI, but it was in different guns. There is a big dent in the brass, however, so I'm inclined to think the problem is the ammo.

APS · Jun 11, 2012

Next time it goes click, recock the hammer and hit it again. If it doesn't go off it's the ammo. If it does, then it could be a number of other issues related to the gun. Thankfully 22 is cheap enough to try a couple of different brands. I'm surprised SIG didn't put recommended brands in their manual.

blackdeuce · Jun 11, 2012

APS said:
Next time it goes click, recock the hammer and hit it again. If it doesn't go off it's the ammo. If it does, then it could be a number of other issues related to the gun. Thankfully 22 is cheap enough to try a couple of different brands. I'm surprised SIG didn't put recommended brands in their manual.

The skimpy manual that came with the conversion kit recommends "high velocity ammunition". They don't mention any particular brands.

I had heard good things about CCI mini mags, but the store didn't have any. I checked at Walmart, too, and none there. The salesman told me that the CCI AR tactical was good stuff.

66f100 · Jun 11, 2012

I use cci tactical in my 1911 Marvel conversion. Went though two box's 750 rounds, not one misfire or any FTE and it shoots the best groups too.

Texas Star · Jun 11, 2012

Why is it called "Tactical" .22 ammo? Can I
shoot ii in my Ruger MK II pistol and Marlin M-795SS?

ANY basic ammo should be made to commercial standards high enough that it will fire safely in a gun chambered for it. ( I know; older guns sometimes shouldn't fire modern loads.)

Try this lot in other guns, and let us know if it's a bad batch of ammo.

hatt · Jun 11, 2012

Wow, tactical .22 LR ammo now. Where have I been lol. Is the zombie stuff out yet?

To the OP, I'd just try some other stuff. Start with the cheapest.

blackdeuce · Jun 11, 2012

Thanks for the replies.

I found some old posts on a S&W that was having problems and there were lots of comments about cleaning and oiling the gun. This conversion kit was right out of the box and i didn't have any means for cleaning or oiling it with me. It looked pretty clean, though, and it wasn't caked in sticky oil like some guns. When I cleaned my P226 for the first time, I didn't get much packing gunk. I'll take care of that and see if it improves.

Below are some pics of the misfires. The pics aren't great, but it seems to me that the ding in the primer is pretty substantial.

I'll shoot the ammo in my son's Beretta and several other guns and see what happens.

CCI .22lr AR Tactical in a pistol?

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