M&P 22 - Most accurate ammo?

[Dlister70]

Let us assume that you could get any non match grade .22lr that you wanted. You are shooting a bulls eye match with your trusty M&P 22. You'll be shooting at various distances up to 25 yards. What ammo do you bring? No, you can't bring your Ruger 22/45 or Browning Buckmark.

I currently have the following:

Federal bulk (red boxes of 550)
Federal Game Shock (plastic box of 100)
Remington Golden
Winchester White Box (which this gun hates)
CCI mini mags in 36 grain hollow and 40 grain round nose
CCI Stingers

If there is another brand or type to try, I'll see what I can do to get it.

I used 36 grain hollow CCI Mini Mags for my last shoot out, but I'm almost out of those. I maybe have enough for one more match. Most of what I have is the Federal bulk, but it seems to be the least accurate of all of these.

I'm leaning towards the 40 grain CCI.. But the Remington Golden had a very similar grouping when I tested several out today. I just can't decide, so I thought I'd seek some advice from you knowledgable folks..

 

[agksimon]

I posted an ammo test here last year, bench resting my M&P22 on a sandbag at 25 yards. I shot 5 groups of 10 shots each. The CCI Mini-Mag 36 grain HP gave the best groups, which averaged 2 inches. The 40 grain Mini-Mags opened up about a half-inch more. They chronographed a standard deviation of 33 feet per second. The Federals, Winchesters and Remingtons chronographed an average of 100 feet per second standard deviation, which is why they had wider groups, averaging 4-6 inches.

 

[dullh]

CCI mini mags in 36 grain hollow

That's what mine likes the most.

Dealers on Gunbroker have this ammo in droves. If you don't have a Gunbroker account, a lot of these dealers have the same prices on their regular websites.

 

[Dlister70]

I posted an ammo test here last year, bench resting my M&P22 on a sandbag at 25 yards. I shot 5 groups of 10 shots each. The CCI Mini-Mag 36 grain HP gave the best groups, which averaged 2 inches. The 40 grain Mini-Mags opened up about a half-inch more. They chronographed a standard deviation of 33 feet per second. The Federals, Winchesters and Remingtons chronographed an average of 100 feet per second standard deviation, which is why they had wider groups, averaging 4-6 inches.

Excellent info, thank you very much!

Hopefully I can get some more hollow points soon.. I'm down to my last 60 rounds. Gander Mountain had the round tip last week, we'll see what they get this week. The contest is 20 shots per round with the bottom half scores dropping each round, but I don't know how many people are showing up to shoot, so I don't know how many rounds I'm going to need if I make it all the way to the end.

 

[Ranger17]

OP, i'm a BM owner here so I know what works best in mine may not in another, but besides the needed accuracy you're looking for do any of the rounds mentioned hang up or have cycle issues in your 22? Seems that would be a concern at a match, where one would want not only the most accurate ammo but the one(s) that had the fewest ftf/fte issues as well.

just thinking out loud.

 

[agksimon]

OP, i'm a BM owner here so I know what works best in mine may not in another, but besides the needed accuracy you're looking for do any of the rounds mentioned hang up or have cycle issues in your 22? Seems that would be a concern at a match, where one would want not only the most accurate ammo but the one(s) that had the fewest ftf/fte issues as well. just thinking out loud.

If you don't mind me answering this: Except for the Mini-Mags and Remington Golden; the Winchester and Federal cause me quite a few short cyclings of the slide. It would barely go back far enough to eject the spent round, but not enough to strip off a new round, hence an unexpected dry fire. The short cycle was caused by the inconsistency of the ammo, some being weaker and again, the wider group sizes. It was easy to spot the weaker rounds right away; the spent case only landed about 6 inches from the gun, where the stronger ones would kick out a few feet.

I shoot Steel Challenge with mine and I have to depend on a good quality ammo like Mini-Mags, as there are no excuses for ammo or gun problems in the match.

 

[Engineer1911]

CCI Blazers -- all the accuracy and none of the high cost of CCI Mini Mags IF YOU CAN FIND THEM !

 

[rdtompki]

I don't see a mention of the "regular" CCI Blazer 22lr. While my M&P 22 is much more accurate than I am, I have found absolutely no functional issue with this brand after about 1000 rounds. Can anyone comment on the accuracy of this ammo? (I see someone beat me to the CCI Blazer by about 30 seconds).

 

[agksimon]

I don't see a mention of the "regular" CCI Blazer 22lr. While my M&P 22 is much more accurate than I am, I have found absolutely no functional issue with this brand after about 1000 rounds. Can anyone comment on the accuracy of this ammo? (I see someone beat me to the CCI Blazer by about 30 seconds).

I won't use Blazers for the following reason: Many other users have stated that they get lead buildup, especially near the front of the barrel, when running a lot of unplated ammo through a small diameter barrel. The M&P22, the Ruger Lite, Buckmark Lite and Pac-Lite all have a small diameter inner barrel that heats up quickly. For the difference in price, I don't need the aggravation of cleaning the lead out.

 

[Ranger17]

If you don't mind me answering this: Except for the Mini-Mags and Remington Golden; the Winchester and Federal cause me quite a few short cyclings of the slide. It would barely go back far enough to eject the spent round, but not enough to strip off a new round, hence an unexpected dry fire. The short cycle was caused by the inconsistency of the ammo, some being weaker and again, the wider group sizes. It was easy to spot the weaker rounds right away; the spent case only landed about 6 inches from the gun, where the stronger ones would kick out a few feet.

I shoot Steel Challenge with mine and I have to depend on a good quality ammo like Mini-Mags, as there are no excuses for ammo or gun problems in the match.

Though it's been discussed often, just weird how .22 can vary so greatly from gun brands and even among different guns of the same type. I've had little luck with Remington but the Fed champ bulk (HP not lead) for me runs as good as the minimags (both are my go-to ammo when i have it).
Guess if you are lucky enough to get plenty of the .22 ammo you need that works best in your setup, then that's a big plus!

 

[shooter5112]

Let us assume that you could get any non match grade .22lr that you wanted. You are shooting a bulls eye match with your trusty M&P 22. You'll be shooting at various distances up to 25 yards. What ammo do you bring? No, you can't bring your Ruger 22/45 or Browning Buckmark.

I just can't decide, so I thought I'd seek some advice from you knowledgable folks..

Your best choice shooting Bullseye with non-match ammo is CCI Standard Velocity. There is nothing better without buying the pricey match ammo.

 

[Dlister70]

CCI Blazers -- all the accuracy and none of the high cost of CCI Mini Mags IF YOU CAN FIND THEM !

The first 150 rounds through this gun were CCI Blazers, and I didn't have any issues. Sadly, I haven't seen any for sale since then! It's easier to find mini mags than Blazer in my experience.

I clean the gun after each range trip, so I don't mind shooting non-copper tipped ammo, but as you mentioned, you just can't find these.

 

[Dlister70]

Your best choice shooting Bullseye with non-match ammo is CCI Standard Velocity. There is nothing better without buying the pricey match ammo.

I'll keep a lookout for standard velocity. I've been shooting the 1260 fps (36 grain) and 1235 fps (40 grain) stuff.

Just out of curiosity, why is the slower standard velocity ammo more accurate?

 

[Dlister70]

Though it's been discussed often, just weird how .22 can vary so greatly from gun brands and even among different guns of the same type. I've had little luck with Remington but the Fed champ bulk (HP not lead) for me runs as good as the minimags (both are my go-to ammo when i have it).
Guess if you are lucky enough to get plenty of the .22 ammo you need that works best in your setup, then that's a big plus!

I had 1650 rounds of Federal hp bulk red box ammo fire without a single issue, and it had me exclaiming that it was as good as CCI without the price tag. Then I cracked into my fourth box which was a different lot number and started having FTF issues a couple times out of every 100 rounds fired. So even the same brand in the same gun can have variations!

The Winchester White Box that I have is awful in this gun. It usually has at least one issue per mag fired, and I've actually had to hand cycle an entire magazine of it before. I've tried several lot numbers of it, and even the M22 black box Winchester, but my gun hates them all. I just stopped trying, and won't buy anymore of it. The Federal and Remington works fine enough for practice ammo, and they both show up at Walmart semi-regularly, so I don't need to bother with Winchester.

Remington Golden hasn't had any issues that I can recall, and I've shot 825 rounds of it so far. I'd buy more of it in a second. It does leave the gun fairly dirty though with gold flakes.

Thankfully my 9mm ammo performance experiences haven't been nearly as erratic! I've shot like 8 different brands, and they all went bang and fed properly.

 

[Ranger17]

I had 1650 rounds of Federal hp bulk red box ammo fire without a single issue, and it had me exclaiming that it was as good as CCI without the price tag. Then I cracked into my fourth box which was a different lot number and started having FTF issues a couple times out of every 100 rounds fired. So even the same brand in the same gun can have variations!

The Winchester White Box that I have is awful in this gun. It usually has at least one issue per mag fired, and I've actually had to hand cycle an entire magazine of it before. I've tried several lot numbers of it, and even the M22 black box Winchester, but my gun hates them all. I just stopped trying, and won't buy anymore of it. The Federal and Remington works fine enough for practice ammo, and they both show up at Walmart semi-regularly, so I don't need to bother with Winchester.

Remington Golden hasn't had any issues that I can recall, and I've shot 825 rounds of it so far. I'd buy more of it in a second. It does leave the gun fairly dirty though with gold flakes.

Thankfully my 9mm ammo performance experiences haven't been nearly as erratic! I've shot like 8 different brands, and they all went bang and fed properly.

it's gotta be just how finicky .22 ammo & guns are. I run the 525ct blue Fed with basically zero issues in my BM and actually rare an issue in my '50s era Colt. I've read that others despise that ammo lol. But i will agree on your last statement; I too am thankful everything i've tried in my 9c has been just fine as well.

 

[Ed333]

I'll keep a lookout for standard velocity. I've been shooting the 1260 fps (36 grain) and 1235 fps (40 grain) stuff.

Just out of curiosity, why is the slower standard velocity ammo more accurate?

Some of the most accurate Bullseye ammo is sub-sonic, avoids the buffeting of the sound barrier. With center fire distance ammo, you look for a load that stays supersonic the entire distance, dropping down to subsonic screws up the accuracy/consistency. Avoid hypersonic rounds and you don't have to worry about lead build=up, I never shoot copper jacketed rounds in my match .22 barrels. 40 gr. lead... for cheaper ammo, Federal AutoMatch in the 325 count box has been my go to, but CCI standard velocity does OK too. I avoid Remington for fte/ftf issues. If you are serious about bullseye, bricks of match ammo are readily available, and dont' cost 'that' much more, unless you are going for TenEx or Midas Plus, etc.