Shooting is the only way to determine which loads a rifle favors. 22 shells were sporadically available-or did without.Īvailability of ammunition has vastly improved, and with that come more choices, as every. We either paid the often exorbitant price when. During the years of rimfire ammunition shortages, there was scant choice. However, we don’t want to pay all that much for shells. 22 LR cartridges to dependably feed and fire through all types of actions, and with satisfactory accuracy to propel pine cones and crunch clay targets. However, its 45-grain round nose bullets, with a muzzle velocity slightly slower than 1000 fps, did not expand in water-soaked paper.įor casual shooting, we expect. However, Quiet-22 40-grain Segmented Hollow Point bullets split into three pieces on contact when they hit ground squirrels.įederal’s American Eagle Suppressor Subsonic loads were also fairly quiet. CCI Quiet-22 40-grain Round Nose bullets fail to expand much. My son will tell you the bullets wreak ruin on ground squirrels out to 40 yards. 22 LR shells, but with the addition of four shallow slits around its hollow point to initiate expansion. The 33-grain Lead Truncated Cone Hollow Point bullet loaded in Remington CBee cartridges is essentially the same bullet loaded in Remington’s Yellow Jacket. Getting bullets to expand can be difficult at these slow velocities. Remington CBee 22 Low Noise 33-grain HP bullets only fly about 850 fps. But I don’t tell him my Cooper is shooting Lapua X-ACT cartridges. 22 target rifles ever made and the CCI Mini Mag shells he shoots are great for shooting ground squirrels. To soothe his ego, I tell Gene his Winchester is one of the finest. The rules are simple, with 10 contestants firing one shot apiece at a + in the center of a 1-inch circle at 50 yards and the closest shot to the + wins a frozen turkey. My cousin refuses to believe my Cooper Model 57-M can beat his Winchester Model 52 at the local turkey shoot every fall. Values are the average of two 5-shot groups. 22 LRs are loaded with a variety of bullet weights and styles for everything from small-game hunting, to plinking on a pleasant afternoon.Īll testing conducted with a Cooper Model 57-M rifle, and Leupold VX-2 Rimfire 3-9x33 mm scope. Subsonic target loads are the key to decisive accuracy on targets, while hyper-velocity cartridges provide striking bullet expansion on small varmints. 22 LR loads, though, turns a person’s head every which way. Many of the selections on this list will behave differently out of different rifles and even behave differently when used in the same rifle.Wh en the sun finally shines, a marksman’s fancy turns toward shooting a. A lot of you probably grew up using 22LR as your first hunting round probably on squirrels and other small varmints. These rounds are all going to be reliable, consistent, and specifically designed for hunting small game and varmints.Īlthough not as popular in the United States as it is in other parts of the world. Today I’ve gathered what I considered to be 5 of the best 22LR hunting ammunition offerings currently available on the market.
![22 lr subsonic rounds 22 lr subsonic rounds](https://d3s1gm5djwyp3q.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/cache/7/image/1000x/296f00469865de3f6fad514f8700555e/8/0/803da8fc4959aa1a7469cc211147cf80.jpg)
As small as the 22LR is, the little round can still pack a punch and put down a bunch of four and two-legged animals that we find here in North America – a vast majority of which are considered varmints. Not only is it fun to plink targets or practice your accuracy on a budget, but it also happens to be one of the most widespread small game hunting calibers in the world. 22LR is one of my favorite cartridges to shoot with.