Best 22lr ammo for short barrel revolver BUG

[Packard]

I have a S & W model 63 and I was amazed how fussy it was about ammo. Several brands would have the brass back out a bit from the chamber and would prevent the cylinder from rotating.

So, your revolver may have something to say about what you feed it.

But I would be disinclined to carry any rim fire gun as a back up. Of all the ammo I've ever shot, the rim fire has been the least reliable. They rely on centrifugal force to get the primer in the rim--not a perfect process in my opinion. Pretty good, but far less reliable than any center fire ammo. I'd rather carry a .32 from Keltec than a .22 revolver.

 

[revolvergeek]

thanks for the responses so far y'all!

Yeah, I was actually wondering about Aguila... not just the SSS but the interceptor and supermax as well.

I tried the Interceptor out of a couple short barreled 22s (a Ber 21A and a 34 2" ) and was very disappointed in it. Lots of unburned powder residue, lower blast than expected, felt more like standard velocity than hyper. It would not cycle the 21A reliably. Maybe I had a bad batch, I don't know, but it seemed like it was optimized to work better in longer barrels than short.

Velocitors are powerful (relatively speaking) and have shot well in all of my guns so far. Stingers have generally been pretty good performers also, but they can make quite a flash and boom out of a 2" gun. This can be good or bad depending on your goal. They don't sound like a .22 and draw a lot of attention, so that can be good in an emergency situation, but they also can be pretty hard on the ears for more mundane shooting.

That is the joy of rimfires though; ammo is still cheap enough to try lots of different loads and see what the guns really like.

 

[Packard]

...That is the joy of rimfires though; ammo is still cheap enough to try lots of different loads and see what the guns really like.

True. But check out the cost of .22 rimfire magnums. They seem to cost like center fire ammo. Strange.

 

[spotch]

I think we are on the same sheet of music.

I have both an LCR-22 and an LCR-357.

My LCR-22 works fine with Federal 550 PAK, and comparible ammo. Easy Ejection, and no function issues.

With CCI Stingers which I carry in my LCR-22, Ejection takes more effort. You need to wrap the ejector rod briskly, as the cases are stuck in the cylinder fairly tight. Not a big problem, and they function fine.

CCI Velocitors lock the cylinder up tight on the first shot. Experimenting with them is Over.

So far I have not tryed any other loads.

NOTE: I am practicing Speed Strip reloads with the LCR-22, as well as getting in Economical Quality Trigger Time.
I am using Tuff Products Model 1022 Quick Strips in Orange. I am loading the speed strips in pairs leaving a shell out between pairs for cylinder clearance. Note: The Orange Quick Strips are easier to find on the ground after a Practice reload.
This is how the ammo looks in the Speed Strip: OOxOOxOOxO
As you can see the Model 1022 Speed Strip loaded in this manner will only hold 7 rounds. I index the cylinder with the empty chamber under the hammer when I close the cylinder.
Loading your LCR-22 or 43C with speed strips is great practice for reloading your J Frame 38/357 or LCR 38/357.

Bob

yeah that sucks about the velocitors. Weird. I've heard as much. I've got speed strips on my wish list at midway now

 

[SJC3081]

My 21-A favors the Interceptor. Starting with a clean lubed gun I have fired 350 rounds in one session with zero malfunctions. No cleaning or extra lube during the session just rapid fire. I have never had a misfire with the Interceptor.

 

[Sprefix]

Yup!!

Aguila SSS 60 grain

Unstable, the long bullet tumbles making it the next best thing to a .38

This is the way you would want to go. Buy a bulk pack and carry-on.

 

[walkin' trails]

As far as 22 ammo goes, for practice, I'll use anything cheap that also goes bang. I bought a number of bricks of 22LR Remington 40 grn Golden Bullet before 1990 when they were around$10 a brick. Found that bullet was the most consistently reliable round out of any 22 I used, including a Beretta 21A that I carried on occasion. I didn't imagine that a hollow point out of a sub 2-inch barrel would even think about expanding, so I didn't worry about them. Fast forward 18-20 years and with kids to teach, I finally shot up my stock of Remington. I bought a couple of 550-pack Remington hollow points and found every bullet in both boxes was loose in the case. Pretty much all of them went bang, however. A later purchase found all bullets were tight. Go figure. I keep reading that CCS Stingers and Mini Mags are the most reliable now days, but have not personally experienced them. I want to say they didn't work well out of my Beretta 20 years ago, but I don't remember why. The one thing I did notice was that the Remingtons today are alot cleaner than they were 20 years ago. I can go a lot more cylinders from my 18 or 34 without having the ejection getting sticky as often as it used to. My dad loves the Aguila stuff, but I've never played with it. His 22s are the Jennings J22, the Beretta 21A, S&W 63, and most recently a couple of Walther P22s.

My best advise with the LCR is to go play with brands and see what your revolver favors and what seems to be the most consistently reliable. Also remember that RF is just like centerfire - each factory can get out of whack once in a while and turn out some ****. As long as the DA pull and hammer smack of your Ruger stays relatively close to factory specs, you should bust primers consistently. In terms of a defensive load, I can't imagine that short barrel performance of a 22 HP is any better today than it was years ago, so go with what your gut tells you.

 

[geoff40]

Echo: nothing from Remington. I think I'd stick with 40 grain solids. Go for penetration.

No 22LR ammo I know of is engineered for snub nosed revolvers, because of this I really don't think hyper velocity loads really do much in such a short barrel, except spit lots of partially burned powder, and make things especially dirty. In bullet performance I am very skeptical of any sort of gain from these made-for-rifles loads. A gain of maybe 100 fps isn't worth it in this example, it is questionable at best that HP ammo would have enough velocity to properly expand.

 

[ltxi]

Prefer CCI Stinger, but since you've written those off I'd go with the classic..40gr Winchester Super-X HP

 

[alwslate]

CCI Mini Mag 40 gr solids for penetration. Also I cannot remember the
last time I had a misfire with Mini Mags, something that can't be said
about any other brand. I have an old LLama 22lr "Especial" automatic
that looks like a scaled down Colt 1911 that likes CCI Mini Mags.
Some years ago I decided to record the reliability of this combo
and I ran 2,000 rounds through the LLama without a single jam or
misfire.

 

[terrier]

Have lots of handguns but I often carry the Heritage 4" birdshead and I have shot Velocitors in it with no problem so far. But you guys have me wondering so next time out to the range I'm going to give them and Mini Mags a test, thanks for the ideas. P.S. this little cheap gun is amazing, accurate and easy to carry. Minute of rabbit at 50' easy.

 

[Stainz]

I shoot the Federal 36gr HP 550 bulk packs from Wally World, nearly $20 now, in everything from my 3" 63 to my CZ-452 l-o-n-g rifles with great success plinking. They are not great grouping high dollar match ammo - but they have thus far all gone bang. I've shot over a brick from my 3" 63 & 4" 617 between cleanings with no feed/extract problems. On the other hand, shooting a box of fifty CCI Stingers from either revolver, whether initially clean or after an indeterminate number of my favorite Federal plinkers, is difficult to complete due to fouling. Still, as I keep speedloaders/moonclips ready with something defensive loaded for all of my safe-stored handguns, I keep my DS-10 speedloaders loaded with Stingers. Unlike the .22 WMR where you have a couple of short barrel designed ammo choices (I like Hornady 50gr 'Critical Defense' rounds.), I know of no such similar .22 LR ammo.

I sold my .22 bottom-feeder, the last of the rude case-tossers I'd owned, over four years ago. My wife still has her 4" Walther P22 - and it seems to like the Federal Auto Match 325 packs. I have never tried anything else in it. One part of my revolver only move was the matching ammo to the gun for proper action working is no longer required. The Fed A-M rounds work well in my revolvers, too... and in my one bottom-feeder - a Ruger 10/.22 gifted to me by number one son. Everything else in my arsenal is either a revolver or a bolt action or lever action rifle.

Stainz

 

[Clean Break]

Those 36 gr hollowpoint Federals had no problem penetrating the skull & dispatching full grown hogs (286 lbs) with one shot from my 6.5" Single Six. Hogs have thick, bony skulls. CB

 

[Groo01]

Groo here
If this is "not for self defense" I would try Wolf Match Target 22lr..
Their made on the same machines as the bigtime match stuff,but
cost much less.
Not hat a single missfire yet and ALL my guns like them...

 

[M3Stuart]

I carry stingers in my Bobcat - they cycle perfectly. Every time. 2nd choice, also cycling perfectly, are CCI RN mini-mags.

If it's the LCR, I'd use either of those plus Yellowjackets or CCI HP mmags.

+1 on who ever said 'Golden bullets'. Those are my first choice in my 34 because they don't lead up the barrel etc like the T-bolts and win bulk-pack HPs.

Edit: somebody posted their chrono results on a thread in this forum. I saved the data but, apparently, forgot to also save WHO the poster was. Here is that post in its' entirety:

"Twenty two wouldn't be my first choice but I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of multiple shots fired from one either. I would feel much more comfortable with the 317 snubbie than with no gun at all.

Here are some chron results that might be of interest:

2” Lady Smith Airlite 317-2 Chron Results – Temp 70 – 3 Paces from Muzzle (Approx 9’):

WW High Speed Hollow Point (100 Rnd Plastic Pack) 1,005 fps
WW High Speed Hollow Point (100 Rnd Plastic Pack) 941 fps
WW High Speed Hollow Point (100 Rnd Plastic Pack) 997 fps
WW High Speed Hollow Point (100 Rnd Plastic Pack) 973 fps
WW High Speed Hollow Point (100 Rnd Plastic Pack) 982 fps

CCI Mini Mag Hollow Points (100 Rnd Plastic Pack) 893 fps
CCI Mini Mag Hollow Points (100 Rnd Plastic Pack) 908 fps
CCI Mini Mag Hollow Points (100 Rnd Plastic Pack) 862 fps
CCI Mini Mag Hollow Points (100 Rnd Plastic Pack) 871 fps
CCI Mini Mag Hollow Points (100 Rnd Plastic Pack) 888 fps

CCI Stinger Hollow Points (50 Rnd Plastic Pack) 1,120 fps
CCI Stinger Hollow Points (50 Rnd Plastic Pack) 1,091 fps
CCI Stinger Hollow Points (50 Rnd Plastic Pack) 1,079 fps
CCI Stinger Hollow Points (50 Rnd Plastic Pack) 1,094 fps
CCI Stinger Hollow Points (50 Rnd Plastic Pack) 1,069 fps"

 

[BigBill]

There has been misfires in a lot of different brands of 22lr nowadays. I just purchased many cases of the CCI Blazer 22lr.

 

[Dark Cobra]

Well I know I'm late to the discussion but these days ANY .22LR ammo you can even find is a winner! Coast to coast nearly everything seems to have dried up. Personally, I have always peferred anything from CCI especially Stingers and Mini-Mags.

 

[Piston_Honda]

Groo here
If this is "not for self defense" I would try Wolf Match Target 22lr..
Their made on the same machines as the bigtime match stuff,but
cost much less.
Not hat a single missfire yet and ALL my guns like them...

I've used the following in my Ruger SP101:

Remington Subsonic
Aguila Match
Aguila Supermaximum Hyper Veocity
Wolf Match

The only one I had issues with was the Wolf Match. The casings expanded and got stuck in the cylinder. They were stuck so tight that the extractor could not push them out. I had to use a cleaning rod to force them out.

 

[fdw]

my wife carries CCI Stingers in her 22 LCR.