Difficult if not impossible to give an exact answer due to the finicky nature of the guns and ammunition. All I know is the best accuracy is almost always found in lower velocity ammo at higher prices. Sorry I couldn’t be more help. A process of elimination will be required trying some of the more expensive stuff.

 

I would try RWS HV Hollow Point and Eley HV Hollow Point and pick the best of those two in your rifle.

 

SLOOP have you tried any of the two?

 

your probably right Flys. What about the hv Eley? Just marketing hype?

 

The trade off between Mini-Mags and higher priced ammo for an accuracy improvement may not exist for your rifle. Before buying much of the better brands, check out just a couple of boxes of each. In Mini-Mags, I've never got the HPs to match the 40 gr Solids for accuracy. Close, but not equal.

And Rider357's right about the Standard Velocity offerings (almost 100%) being the most accurate when compared to the HV rounds.

But as to your question, I'm with FlysAlot, Mini-Mags.

 

CCI 40 grain round nose Tactical

Don't know if they still make them,They were designe for use in the SW at looking 22. The have a taller set of lubricatin ridges than a mini mag , and I found the more consitant . Which means more accurate.The come in boxes of 400; with separate bullet holders, like the mini mag chootems

 

Have you tried Eley Force. They are a 42 gr bullet and I think 1250 fps. Allot of guys shooting long range (200-300 yds) are having good luck with them.

 

When hunting and shooting offhand I don't think you will notice enough of a difference to justify the higher cost.

 

Ammo

I have had excellent results with CCI Velocitor, 100 yds about 3/4" 5-shot groups, CPC tuned VLEH, Kidd innards & trigger Titan stock, Leupold 6-18X40 AO Fine-Plex, for $6 or so, worth a try. At 25 yds, it makes one ragged hole w/5 rounds.

 

I have had excellent results with CCI Velocitor, 100 yds about 3/4" 5-shot groups, CPC tuned VLEH, Kidd innards & trigger Titan stock, Leupold 6-18X40 AO Fine-Plex, for $6 or so, worth a try. At 25 yds, it makes one ragged hole w/5 rounds.

+1 they are by far the best in my rifles, This may be in part due to the fact they stay supersonic at my elevation to about 125yds.While I don't get the 3/4" groups at 100yds. They will stay in the 1.25-1.5 range from my sporters. Which is plenty for all small vermin in here in Wyoming, which is all I use them for.

 

I'm with Wiley as I've gotten lesser (no huge margin) results in accuracy with the HP mini mags than with the solids as well. As far as something I could deem a hunting bullet that had very good accuracy, the sole box of CCI SGB's I had in like 2011 would be my pick. Granted I've shot 50 of them in my lifetime, but they grouped excellent for me (all I did with that box is shoot groups), and I guess its supposedly a small game bullet.

 

Do not overlook the new Segmented minimags, as these are different enough bullets to give different results through most rifles. I believe you will get great results from RWS or Eley HV as I did, but ugh, the cost! Terminal results are devastating.

 

I am normally dismissive of anyone who responds to these kind of questions with a shallow (i.e. single) experience base, but here goes.

It has been several decades since I bought anything high velocity, and that was a case of Aguila SE HP. Incredible accuracy from the lot I have, from any gun, out to 100 yds. And cheap! My background is as a competitive shooter, so I do know good, consistent accuracy when I see it. At the price, they're worth a look.

In recent years my HP loads have been SV by SK and Eley. I know it's not what you are looking for, but for comparison's sake, the SK and Aguila are equal on accuracy, Eley a little less so.

 

When Aguila first retooled to the new Eley prime and went to vertical tray packing from the older alternating style their ammo was phenomenally consistent. They made some of the last PMC 22 ammo and it was great stuff. I think the machines are a bit looser now and it's not as good as it was 10 or 15 years ago but is still much better than a lot of the domestic ammo including mini mag. I've got better lots of Armscore Hollow Points than some lots of mini mag. I've had good luck with 37 grain super X produced at least six or seven years back. Probably before they moved production. The lot I purchased a case quantity of without first testing will shoot honest half inch groups consistently from my Green Mountain 10/22 build and the round nose profile feeds smoothly. I got lucky. I haven't shot a lot of it in other rifles but it's a good lot. If you don't want to spend what it costs to test a lot of types, go RWS HP ammo. Otherwise, I would suggest you pick up some Aguila, Armscore and Winchester ammo and shoot it against your mini mag. Federal American Eagle Hollow Point may surprise you and is also something I would suggest you try.

Avoid the bulk pack ammo for this endeavor. It's not built for consistency but price. There is no substitute for testing, no perfect brand or type. What works best in one of my guns may or may not shoot well in yours. Generally if you can find a good lot it will shoot reasonably well in everything. A really bad lot will be pretty much craptastic in everything. Most 22 ammo made today can be counted on to shoot under 2 inches from any reasonably accurate 22 at 50 yards.

Lastly, the difference in accuracy potential in most instances comes down to the gun and not the ammo. Yes, the shooter counts too. A good CZ can do some amazing things with some of the cheapest ammo on the market. The same rifle will do even better with more consistent ammo. Take those same two lots of ammo and feed them to a stock 10/22 and one may be very accurate and the other unusable. Feed it to a CZ and it may meet your accuracy standard. rc

 

This doesn't answer your original question, but consider this: For plinking, shooting cans, bottles, Pine Cones, rats at the City Dump or whatever, it doesn't matter much if you make a bad hit. Or even a miss. However, for Squirrel Hunting a miss isn't good and a bad hit is even worse. Accuracy trumps Velocity and Energy every time. You can't kill what you can't hit.

That being said, the run of the mill Standard Velocity ammo is almost always a good choice. CCI SV is usually a good choice. Eley, RWS, SK and others are even better.

Do some range/bench testing and find what your rifle likes best and that's your ammo. God knows I've spent a lot of $$$ trying to get Mini-Mag HPs to shoot as well as the Solids. And an equal effort trying to get the Mini-Mag Solids to shoot as well as the SVs. Don't look like it's gonna happen.

 

You know, I think I have always shot hp. Over the years I have had to shoot some solids , but never put them on paper. I will try the solids and see. Thanks

 

Depends on what you are doing.

I personally don't like solids for hunting. For punching paper they are just as good or better than hollow points. If your primary goal is accuracy at the range, then yes solids. If not, just try several different types of LR HP. What kind of gun are you using? As I stated before, that has an affect on accuracy from each type of ammo. rc

 

I personally don't like solids for hunting. For punching paper they are just as good or better than hollow points. If your primary goal is accuracy at the range, then yes solids. If not, just try several different types of LR HP. What kind of gun are you using? As I stated before, that has an affect on accuracy from each type of ammo. rc

All for hunting and I shoot a CZ and a KIDD. The CZ is dedicated for sv and ss.

 

I think Minimags are the best HV ammo, but I also really like Aguila Super Extra HV 40 gr roundnosed copper washed ammo. It shoots very well in both bolt and semi-auto guns. :t

 

I second this statement, without any hesitation. I will also say that the Segmented MiniMag HPs will shoot a fuzz better in my rifles than the normal MiniMag HPs.

I can't say that will be the case with YOUR rifle, but in the five .22s I shoot on a regular basis, it is the case.

The Aguila will shoot right with the MiniMags on a daily basis, it's GOOD ammo for "popularly priced ammo", WAY GOOD ammo. On any given day, it will outshoot the MiniMags in my rifles. It makes me happy, at a decent price, too.

Blazers aren't bad, either, but I'd rather use the other two brands. I also use Velocitors or the new Browning BPR loads, that do pretty well in my rifles, but I don't use them often. They shoot well enough to hunt with, which is all I ask.

 

+1 on the CCI Velocitor; I tested quite a bit of HV (no RWS or Eley HV tho) in my CZ455 and was pleasantly surprised with the results having Velocitor on top; average 5-shot group sizes of 0.6" at 50 yds IIRC.

 

CCi Mini Mags, and Eley HV hp. Those are my top two.:bthumb:

 

for me the best is sk hv. but they don't make it anymore. in my 39a's that i use in nra lever action silhouette the best in order is: sk hv, sk hv hp, cci mini mag (40gr), federal 719, cci blazer. when i run out of my last case of sk hv i will use cci mini mags. lots of guys i know have mover over to the eley force. i will test some this fall to see how my 39a's like it. but for me it is sk hv. i am all way looking for some, but no luck now. the old federal 719 was great, but now the new stuff will give you flyers at the turkeys and rams.

 

Viewing what's available now, in regular "high velocity" hollowpoint loadings the RWS and Eley are it if looking for some sort of higher end loadings. You might want to read some in the Squirrel Hunters thread about ammunition selections; over the last few months, several of the regular posters in that thread got some of the new Eley HVHP and tried it out. Several were not happy with bullet expansion and resulting kills. The RWS seems to get high praise but it is awfully expensive and nobody around here carries it, so testing any would mean ordering in for me. It looks like most any copper plated hvhp, so I have never gotten any to form an opinion regarding it.

Accuracy fluctuates over time, with different lot numbers of ammo having varying accuracy. I have shot quite a few Minimags in the past but the last I got were not very good shooters out of my Kimber Hunter. One load that has most of the time is Federal #712; I've gotten a few boxes that were only good for plinking tin cans, but most that I've shot have been very good.

The areas that I have to hunt in have changed over the years and most people don't want to be woke up early with the sound of gunshots on their property, so I have been using subsonic hollowpoints. Have tried SK which is no longer available, RWS, CCI, and Eley, all with very good accuracy.

 

I have a Savage/Anschutz 141 that prefers Winchester Dyna Points. They are no longer available. I also have a Ruger 10/22 that didn’t like anything. Now it has a Green Mountain barrel and it prefers Remington Golden’s. I’ve always liked Mini Mags and some of the Winchester Super X, Super Speed in solid and HP but if the accuracy stinks you just have to try something else. We used to test them on chipmunks on my Uncles farm. Very educational.

 

best .22 ammo

Back in the 50's and early 60's, shooting target in NRA Jr. competition the old Remington green box Clean bore ammo, was the range standard. Due to work and other issues I packed away my Winchester model 52 C until about 3 years ago. I bounced through a bunch of different ammo, including some very expensive "target" ammo, before settling in on CCI Standard Velocity, which consistently delivered 1/3 minute 10 shot groups at 50 yards. Bottom line is different ammo for different guns, shoot what works. CCI Standard is the only ammo that would consistently give me under 3/8 inch at 100 yards.

 

In my three rifles and one pistol in .22LR, I have tried more than a dozen different loads. The HV load that always impresses is W/W Super X Power Point.

 

I've had pretty good luck with the Federal Premium Gold Medal HV Match in some of my rifles. The Minimags seem to be one of the more consistent HV rounds in more of my rifles though.

 

I have to use hyper velocity ammo in my E22 pistol, so I've had excellent luck with Winchester Super-X Hyper Velocity 40gr. HP. 1435 fps. They are also cheaper than Stingers ($10 per 100 vs. $8 per 50).