Would you recommend avoiding lead solids and using only plated HP's, in general? Does it really matter? At this stage of 22LR shortage, I suppose buy whatever you can get your hands at.

A 617 will shoot anything you put through it. If you're competitively shooting go with CCI, or Eley, plinking what ever you can get

My two no-dash 617s and my 22A-1 shoot best (given my limited ability) with CCI MiniMag 40-grain plated solids or Federal GameShok 38-grain plated hollow-points. For some reason, domestic "match" loads don't do as well; I never tried the imported stuff.

Ed

If it fits in the gun, shoot it. Don't create non-issues to be concerned with.

My 617-6 is really picky. With non-plated loads I got a lot of lead build up around the forcing cone, in the chambers, and even in the barrel. And that would be just after a few cylinders. I haven't found any CCI mini-mags yet, but any copper or brass plated round seems to do much better. I've been using Winchester copper plated hollow points and Remington brass plated hollow points. 45 bucks for a box of 500 rounds isn't bad either.

Mine shoots unplated lead bullets the best. Plated leave me a real mess around the forcing cone. Go figure. I'm refering to bulk type ammo.