Decent .22 LR ammo. Any suggestions?

[Rcher]

I always stocked with CCI MiniMag 40gr RN.
Also tried Aguila SuperExtra High Velocity 40 gr RN. The accuracy is very decent and comparable with MiniMags, but so many misfires !!!
20% of rounds don't fire first time, and some of them are fired only from the 3rd attempt. I'm not sure if I buy Aguila again.

All my .22lr results are for Witness .22lr kit. I also load Aguila .22 Colibri as a last shot to indicate that there're no more rounds cause slide never locked on the last shot.

[JRR]

In my 452 ultra lux SK Standard Plus and Geco Match are stellar from 50 ft. to 100 yards.
In my Kadet 2 on a 75B SA, Geco Semi Auto and Match, SK St+ and Pistol Match, Norma Tac22 all work well and with excellent accuracy.
My Ruger Mk 2 likes all the above.
The 10-22 likes all the above as well.

[SoCal]

My Browning Buckmark is not very picky but the Browning  40 GR  shoots the most accurate of non- match ammo.  $18 for 400 at LAX Ammo.

[painter]

You might give SK Std+, and Geco bolt, a try.

If you like the SK you can then try the SK Magazine which is a 500 rd bulk pack with similar performance to the Std+.

Geco is the Norma Tac-22 rejects. That is also good ammo.

I used to use a lot of CCI Std velocity. The wax lube is so heavy it builds up on the feed ramp and will cause light strikes when a round pulls a chunk up to the chamber face.

[eastman]

I always stocked with CCI MiniMag 40gr RN.
Also tried Aguila SuperExtra High Velocity 40 gr RN. The accuracy is very decent and comparable with MiniMags, but so many misfires !!!
20% of rounds don't fire first time, and some of them are fired only from the 3rd attempt. I'm not sure if I buy Aguila again.

All my .22lr results are for Witness .22lr kit. I also load Aguila .22 Colibri as a last shot to indicate that there're no more rounds cause slide never locked on the last shot.

That's odd. I've shot a few thousand rounds of Aguila rimfire and have never had a fail to fire on the initial strike.

[Wobbly]

You really need to keep about 10 brands on hand and simply try it. Each rifle is vastly different. My last Anschutz 1907 loved Fiocchi 320, the new one not so much.

Besides Thunderbolt, Remington also offers Remington Target in the transparent yellow 100 rnd box which is OK. Not as good as Federal Auto Pistol in the bulk pack.

Lots of shooting clubs I talk to are using Aguila Match. The accent seems to be on 40gr standard velocity. Lots of 36gr stuff out there now.

[M1A4ME]

My .22's love Remington Thunderbolts and Golden Bullets.  I shoot them in the Ruger Mk1 5.5" bull barrel, the SIG 522, the Winchester 52B and the 10/22 (the 10/22 does better with the Golden Bullets.

My son thought he got better groups in his AR15/with .22 conversion kit from the Federal bulk pack .22's but they leaded the hell out of his barrel.  Took days to scrub the lead out.  Ruined several brushes, left a pile of dirty patches, tried multiple liquid/spray bore cleaners, finally went through almost a hole pack of a special lead removal patch material (whatever it was soaked in stunk pretty bad but worked pretty good.)

Never had much luck with Winchester .22 ammo.

The SIG 522 doesn't mind Federal .22 ammo and does almost as well with it as the Remington ammo.

I bought a brand new brick of Thunderbolts a couple months ago at Walmart and took the 522 to the range.  100% funtion in the SIG.

As recommended above, buy different brands/bullet weights and shoot them through your gun.  Yours may "like" something that doesn't work well in other guns.  .22's are "funny."

[SI VIS PACEM PARRABELLUM]

Maybe Remington has improved the Thunderbolt ammo in recent years but I had more than enough negative experience with it to NEVER buy anymore of it. The Gold ammo is good stuff,never had a problem with that.
Winchester Wildcat is another hideous cheap .22 rnd. 

[M1A4ME]

My Thunderbolts are very old (30 plus years) and very new (bought in the last 3 or 4 months.)  I have no experience with the Thunderbolts made since the Sandy Hook thing that got the "run" started on ammo and .22 ammo in particular.

[SI VIS PACEM PARRABELLUM]

My Thunderbolts are very old (30 plus years) and very new (bought in the last 3 or 4 months.)  I have no experience with the Thunderbolts made since the Sandy Hook thing that got the "run" started on ammo and .22 ammo in particular.

Sandy Hook has nothing to do with it. My experience is with the 30 year old stuff and it was inconsistently loaded ranging from rounds that functioned just fine to near squibs. My auto loaders wouldn't run reliably on them and they leaded the barrels in everything to the point of destroying accuracy. I tried some again 10 years ago and sadly they were no better and even more sad is that I bought a large quantity since the price was right,you get the junk you pay for.
If you've had good luck with them more power to ya. I lived and I learned. No more.

[Rcher]

I always stocked with CCI MiniMag 40gr RN.
Also tried Aguila SuperExtra High Velocity 40 gr RN. The accuracy is very decent and comparable with MiniMags, but so many misfires !!!
20% of rounds don't fire first time, and some of them are fired only from the 3rd attempt. I'm not sure if I buy Aguila again.

All my .22lr results are for Witness .22lr kit. I also load Aguila .22 Colibri as a last shot to indicate that there're no more rounds cause slide never locked on the last shot.

That's odd. I've shot a few thousand rounds of Aguila rimfire and have never had a fail to fire on the initial strike.

Well, it might be an issue with a firing pin. I experience light strikes with CCI-MiniMags too, but not so often. I cleaned firing pin channel, polished firing pin and even cut firing pin spring a little bit, but ?. At the same time I never had light strikes for 9mm on the same frame and trigger-hammer system.

[M1A4ME]

Very good "luck" with them.  I used to squirrel hunt with the Ruger Mk1 5.5" and it was head shots (did hit one through the shoulder once).  Killed a couple ground hogs with it (easier head shots - bigger head).  When I'd get the old M52B out my father-in-law would get mad and try to talk me into shooting one of his .22's because he said it wasn't fair (shooting the M52B at the honey bees, dandelions, acorns in the oak trees out back, etc.)

I wonder if there is more than one Remington factory making rim fire ammo?

Then again, there is a difference in guns.  Barrels, firing pins, etc. all play into what ammo does well in which gun.

[ZanderMan]

Rem Golden Bullet or CCI Mini-Mags are my go-to.

I stopped buying Thunderbolt a few years ago.


Eley Edge is da bomb.

Here is a sampling of the various .22LR ammo I have had on hand.

[SI VIS PACEM PARRABELLUM]

I wonder if there is more than one Remington factory making rim fire ammo?

Then again, there is a difference in guns.  Barrels, firing pins, etc. all play into what ammo does well in which gun.

My issues were/are not gun related. The thunderbolts were not LOADED consistently in many cases and many were nearly squibs weak enough to not cycle the action of a semi auto.That's ammo not the gun.The leading problem is an alloy issue with the bullets they used and a possible lack of lubrication as well. How hard a firing pin strikes has nothing to do with the power of a round or how powerful the primer action is. If the primer detonates it will be with all the power it has and the accompanying powder charge.
If you were closer to were I'am Id make you a good deal on some Thunderbolts. I still have a couple K of this yuk. Last time out with the .22's we set some up on a post and used them as targets. More fun too shoot at them then with them.

[M1A4ME]

You sound like my grandpa.  My uncle used to tell a story about him shooting matches out of the top of fenceposts.  They (uncle and a high school friend) that his old .22 wouldn't shoot good and they were missing squirrels.  He had them stick some matches in the cracks in the top of some fence posts.  Then he stood there in the yard, shooting offhand and took the heads off the matches one by one.  Then shot the matches in two near the fence post.  He gave them the rifle back and told them the problem wasn't his old Western Field singles shot rifle.