SR 22 and/or Browning HV ammunition

[RickClark28]

Good turn around. Hope it all works out for you. Good luck.

[frogwalking]

The new SR-22 Ruger sent me shoots more makes of ammo better than my original did. No Browning or Winchester though.

[frogwalking]

Laura at Ruger said that CCI Minimag are the best for reliability in the SR-22. but they (ar Ruger) also use Ely 42 grain high velocity and Federal Gold Medal. I ordered some of the latter from Midway, but they have not yet arrived.

[DrewBone]

Originally Posted by frogwalking

Laura at Ruger said that CCI Minimag are the best for reliability in the SR-22. but they (ar Ruger) also use Ely 42 grain high velocity and Federal Gold Medal. I ordered some of the latter from Midway, but they have not yet arrived.

Many people automatically suggest CCI Mini Mags for reliability, but I run CCI/Blazer 40 grain ammo in my SR22 with a Dead Air Mask suppressor, and much to my surprise I've yet to experience any functioning issues with this particular pistol/suppressor/ammo combination.

Does this mean that I need to shoot more?

I hope your new SR22 remains problem free and that you can keep it fed with suitable ammo

[amd6547]

I bought my SR22 shortly after they were announced...it is old enough that it reads “SR22 PISTOL” on the slide. The early problems with the locking latch concerned me, so I started running an O-ring on the recoil spring as a recoil buffer...it has never caused a problem, and it’s still on there to this day. I keep a close eye on that locking latch.
I have shot this pistol a lot. All I shoot is CCI minimags, Stingers, Velocitors and Blazer bulk. Also, I have been shooting a brick each of Aguila Interceptor and Supermax.
It has never jammed in the thousands of rounds I’ve shot. It shoots the “hyper” stuff like it was made for it.
Just last week, I put 50rds of the Aquila Interceptor through the SR22.

[noyfb411]

Originally Posted by frogwalking

I have been an engineer for over 30 years. I am a little unusual in that I am always prepared to learn. I took out a new box of the Browning cartridges being discussed, put on my magnigyng visor and carefully read every word on the package. I have never known a .22 rimfire to go over 1300 fps, so assumed you are right. The box has no statement of special precautions required or recomended. It says nothing about semiauto firearms. Brcause of what happened, it appears that you are right, and Winchester/Browning need to do a little more homework.

What about my steel-framed Colt New Frontier revolver? I have 900 of these cartridges left, and it will take the rest of my life to shoot them out of a singlr action.

The box doesn't have any special precautions written on it because it isn't needed. The issue you had stems more from quality control of the ammo. The round that blew either had a defect in the case, double powder charge, or issue with primer compound.

Another post on here said using hyper velocity ammo will void your warranty. I'll go out on a limb and say there isn't one manaufacturer out there that has in their owner's manual using hyper velocity rimfire ammo will void the warranty. The only warning you will find is for Stingers due to case length and not using subsonic because it may not cycle the action.

CCI has a 22lr cartridge out that is rated at 1850 fps. It shoots fine from my SR22, Taurus TX22 and my 10/22. As long as the cartridge is loaded correctly, shooting this ammo from any modern semi-auto is perfectly fine. Might not be the most accurate, but it works fine. If you do get malfunctions from shooting this stuff (not blown case), you may need a new recoil spring or the round is cycling your bolt too fast causing hickups (aftermarket bolt buffer in 10/22 helps).

I had a similar situation with a 10/22 and some wonky PMC Zappers back when they were still being made. Case ruptured just like yours. It didn't happen because the ammo was too hot for the rifle, it happened becasue of faulty QC when the ammo was made. Out of the 1000s of Zappers I had shot, I just happened to get a bad batch (they were made in Korea I believe).

I've also shot many Aguila Supermaximum that is rated at 1700 fps out of all my semi-autos with no problems.

They only side effect I've had from all of this ammo over the years is my 10/22 will now cycle subsonic ammo reliabily which is great when shooting suppresssed. One caveat to all of this is I replaced my bolt buffer in my 10/22 with an aftermarket one due to clanking in my ear was annoying with all the ammo I shot, not just hyper stuff.

[frogwalking]

Thanks 411. What you say makes a lot of sense. I do wonder why Ruger replaced the pistol so quickly. I certainly do not want to think of anything nefarious going on as they were super-nice about the whole issue. When the base blew on the offending case, I felt something brush the lower palm of my right hand. I surmise it was gas blowing through the mag well and nothing else. I still have 8oo rounds of Browning ammo and would like to be able to shoot it from the SR-22. Life is too short to shoot it all through the single action Colt. On the other hand, I found CCI MiniMag solids at the local USA Superpawn. I just stopped by to check and left with 8oo. I understand the current dearth of ammo is due to the Covid situation. It should break early next year. Shooting every other week, I have enough .22s to easily make it through (if I can shoot the Brownings.) Maybe I should dig out my old but great Mark II for the latter. I seldom target shoot any more, so normally prefer the SR over the Mk II. (I shoot in a combat style these days. The SR is great to simulate the smaller 9mm defense guns.

Thanks all.

[Dranrab]

I was very surprised the first time I pulled the trigger on the Browning stuff. It was on a range day where I was shooting a variety of ammo. With ear plugs in it was noticeably louder than any other ammo I was shooting, some of which was high velocity.