I just picked up a nice CZ 457 Varmint w/chassis (thank you OB for the rec!) for my daughters.

We'd like to both hunt (dillos, etc.), long distance plink, and ease into competition.

I know I'll have to try out many different kinds of ammo that this particular gun will "like", but are there any favorites?

My guess are:
-Eley Tenex (for long distance target, maybe competition)
-CCI Velocitor (for hunting)?
-There are so many different CCI types, I don't know which.

I use the Eley 38gr subsonic hollow point in my two CZ455s. The CCI 36gr subsonic HP also shoots well. Both rounds have done well on rabbits for me.

Trigger06 said:

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I use the Eley 38gr subsonic hollow point in my two CZ455s. The CCI 36gr subsonic HP also shoots well. Both rounds have done well on rabbits for me.

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Would agree w/the above. IMO accuracy is more important than power when hunting small game that is suitable for .22lr, and you will typically see better accuracy with standard or sub. And of course these are better if you want to run suppressed. Even relatively inexpensive CCI standard-velocity will most likely provide very good accuracy in your rifle. Even if it isn't an Anschutz. ;-)

If you want to try the Eley but can't find it, you might the Champion's Choice website. Be warned - don't start browsing the firearms and airguns there. It will make you wish you had an extra ten grand in your bank account.

C

If you are lucky, regular .22 HP's will shoot good enough out of it consistently to work for hunting rounds.

I've always found subsonic rounds to be more accurate across the board personally, and most match .22 ammo is subsonic.

CCI segmented HP's are straight brutal on small game. For target stuff, most of the guys down here are shooting matched lot SK Standard (Yellow box) or Tenex.

There are a lot of options in between the tenex and cci price points. I like RWS special match. Also had good luck with some of the SK stuff. Wolf match extra is decent as well.

About 12 years ago, I wanted to get out and shoot more but didn't have a lot of cash. I bought a used Schultz & Larsen club gun from Military Gun Supply in FtW (now living at the bottom of the Gulf, unfortunately). Single shot bolt action in .22 LR. The goal was to purchase as many different types of .22 LR ( as it was readily available and fairly inexpensive at the time) and use a scientific method to 1) find the best round for my particular rifle, and 2) determine if a $20 box of Eley was really 4x better than a $5 box of plinking ammo. Tests were conducted at 50 yards and the paper was scored for group size. I also recorded velocity on a chrono for each round. Testing was done from a concrete bench with bags, outdoors. A few takeaways:

-I really, really liked the Wolf ammo (it was not their 'match' ammo, but their #2 offering). Best bang for the buck. At the time, it was about $8 /box.

-CCI Green Tag, Eley Tenex, scored just as high or slightly better, but it was in the $20-$30 range.

-the 'high velocity' stuff (Velocitor, Mini Mag etc) did not score well, nor was it very consistent (relative to my test group) on the chrono. Maybe they are better for hunting, but they did not group as well. I did some research on the subject and it seems that supersonic projectiles, when exiting the barrel and breaking the sound barrier, are subjected to some difficult to measure physics that act on trajectory.

-check on the velocities of the 'match' grade ammo, they are all generally in the 1030-1070 fps range, which is technically subsonic. Not a coincidence. Speed of sound is ~1133 fps, and there is some disagreement on the exact number.

-Anything I tried that was marked as 'Subsonic', regardless of price, did not score particularly well. They clocked in the 700-800 fps range. Stan Dev was the worst and they tended to group vertically.

-Aguila makes some really cool and fun stuff, but I would not consider anything they make to be overly accurate or repeatable.

-Rem Yellowjackets were the worst overall.

-Nothing that came in a bulk packaging (ie milk carton) did very well.

-it's entirely possible that the hi velocity stuff performs well in an autoloading platform, I just didn't test for that.

-I attempted to repeat some of these tests at 100 yards, but it was difficult to hit a 1 inch circle with iron sights at that distance. I feared there were too many variables out of my control at that distance and invalidated my findings. Maybe a tunnel and a scope...

-as I mentioned, this was over a decade ago. Maybe recipes have changed.

TLDR- buy something in the 1050 fps range for accuracy / repeatability; the 1200+ fps rounds will delivery more energy downrange, but with SOME degradation of accuracy/repeatability.

EFE said:

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CCI segmented HP's are straight brutal on small game. For target stuff, most of the guys down here are shooting matched lot SK Standard (Yellow box) or Tenex.

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What this guy said. But just like anything else, it's probably impossible to find right now.

CMP has Eley 22 lr ammo in stock

Mr. Dubi said:

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CMP has Eley 22 lr ammo in stock

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Thanks, I checked and indeed it is in stock. Am I missing something? It's from $2-$3/round. I know it is quality, but just seems weird for .22LR.

Those are bricks. They show 50 round boxes but the price is for 10 boxes.

Now that is an example of a dang good post. Really helpful.

And I don't even shoot .22lr for accuracy or anything serious.

But now I'm interested. .308 and 6.5 CM and Grendel are draining my account dry.

This thread has me examining my 22 Ammo. Plenty of different types as I have just bought what was in stock the past few years. Plan on using it for range fun for a while after using 400 rounds of 556 while the relatives were here over the holidays.
One type I have is CCI Stinger LR Ammo. The boxes read copper-plated hollow point, 32 grain, 1640 FPS printed. Strange being the high velocity, light grain, and they are clearly a little longer cased shell than my other 22 lr Ammo. Wondering how they will shoot in the s&w 15-22 pistol.

I experimented a little with my Buckmark at 25 yards. It was difficult for a number of reason:

-the act of shooting is a system, a combination of human skill, equipment, ammo quality, and environment (temp humidity, WIND, etc). I was attempting to hold all these constant and only vary the ammo, so changes in the final results are directly caused by changes in the ammo. The purpose of the rigid concrete stand and sand bags was to prevent my shooting skills (or lack of) from influencing the final results.

-I just could not 'chuck up' my Buckmark on the bench in a repeatable way without some expensive fixturing, which was well outside of my budget at the time.

-understand that a good group with the rifle was 10 shots touching in a ragged hole (and maybe a flyer), well below 1/2 inch group. With a pistol, I was looking at 2/3/4 inch groups at 25 yds. I was a surgeon with a scalpel and now I have a butter knife. It just didn't hold my interest.

-I think a Contender with a 10in barrel and 2x or 4x scope would be a good platform for testing pistol.