They don't make it like they used to (.22 LR)

[taylorkh]

Latest update...

My case of Mini-MAGs arrived Thursday - FedEx was a day early I tested some and they work fine. 16 boxes will fit perfectly in a 30 cal ammo can so I have put 4,800 rounds into storage so I know I have something to fall back on which will shoot. I ordered another case yesterday. $302 delivered - hard to beat that.

UPS picked up a couple of boxes of the Federal load 790 Wally World special to be returned to Federal for "evaluation." It will be interesting to see what comes of that.

Winchester sent me a call tag for 2 bricks of Super-X 40 grain round nose which I purchased in 2015. These experienced a 25% + failure to cycle rate in the Beretta test pistol. They offered a refund. That is nice but I would rather have some Super-X which I could trust. It was the first ammo I fired when learning to shoot a rifle ca. 1962. Shot NRA Jr Rifle with the same ammo in my Mossberg 144LSA.

I picked up a couple of boxes of CCI "Clean-22" which are polymer coated. I have used polymer coated cast bullets in handloading .38 Spl and .45 ACP. Less smoke that traditional lubed bullets. Not sure that the barrel stays any cleaner. Reviews of the Clean-22 say they are not as accurate as the plated bullets. I guess I need to setup for some accuracy testing. They DO cycle fine in the Beretta.

Ken

 

[swsig]

Just for grins, try some CCI Stingers. They're 32g, 1640 fps, big muzzle flash. They're the most accurate rounds I shoot from my old Ruger Standard, and I've never had a failure with them.

 

[taylorkh]

I have tried Stingers in the Beretta. Although they are FAST the light bulled does not provide enough momentum to cycle the slide. Given the 2 1/2" barrel I doubt they are making near the claimed velocity.

Recalling from High School Physics:

momentum = mass x velocity
energy = mass x velocity^2

A heavy bullet at a lower velocity will produce a heavier recoil than a light bullet at a higher velocity given the energy and weight of the firearm are the same.

That said, I tried the CCI COPPER-22 which have a 21 grain bullet and a fantastic claimed velocity. They did not cycle the Beretta although they did cycle the M&P 22 Compatct.

Ken

 

[swsig]

Have you tried CCI Velocitors? They are 40g, 1435 fps. My Ruger gets balky with low-powered ammo, but Velocitors work very well in it, as do CCI Mini-Mags.

 

[taylorkh]

The regular Mini-MAGs and the CCI Clean-22 polymer coated work fine in the Beretta. As I am now well stocked with Mini-MAGs and I have a case of Winchester Super-X 40 grain HV from 1990 which I have tested and I know to work I am in good shape. Except for dealing with 13k of Federal load 790 which they seem to have forgotten how to make.

Hopefully Federal will be back in touch once they receive the two boxes which were picked up by UPS on Friday. I have been testing another lot which I purchased just in the last 2 months. It will not cycle the Beretta reliably and I had 2 failures to eject with a Ruger 10-22 which is unusual. This afternoon I may try some in my Retro AR which I built from a Compass Lake Engineering barrel and modified M262 adapter. It will cycle fine with CCI standard velocity so it should work with the underpowered Fed 790. Otherwise it will take me a LONG time to shoot up all this ammo with my 617 - even with the Speed Beez loader

Ken