.22 LR ammo

Steelie Ben · 03-11-2007, 08:55 PM

I got a ruger 10/22 a few weeks back, first "Rifle" for me!!!

I read through the instruction manual and noticed something I am not sure about. It says not to shoot "Stinger" ammo out of it! I have three boxes of CCI .22 LR stingers from a buddies gun I borrowed last year. I compared the overall bullet length and its the same as a standard .22 but the shell casing is just a smidge longer. Question, can I shoot these out of my gun or am I going to jam all day and get frustrated? Thanks for any advice.
Ben

24 on/ 48 off · 03-11-2007, 09:26 PM

Don't use them. One, they will jam in a heartbeat, and two- it voids your warranty.

--spud--

just_hunt'n · 03-11-2007, 10:49 PM

I have used some stingers in my 10-22 and had no problem with them loading and cycling. The reason they warn you not to use them is probably because they are a much hotter bullet. I went from shooting cheap Remington shells then switched to stingers and was consistently shooting over the target because of the extra punch in stingers.

There too expensive for me to shoot, but some friends of mine only shoot stingers through their semiautomatic marlin and browning .22's when we go varmint hunting.

just_hunt'n

Hog King · 03-12-2007, 05:56 AM

I've got an older 10/22 and just went through about 100 of the stingers without any problems at all.

stillwater97 · 03-12-2007, 06:12 AM

Ben,

Check out www.rimfirecentral.com. This is the ifish of all things .22.

They were a great help in doing some tweaks on mine.

My personal opinion is that it isn't the hot load that is the problem with the stingers, its the fact that the case is slightly longer than a traditional .22 long rifle. This causes the bullet to be seated further in the chamber and can lead to jams. I personally have not experienced it, but I know others who have.

I use the CCI velocitator most of the time. you are getting high speeds with a 40 grain bullet. It is vicious on rock chucks and jack rabbits. Total over-kill on sage rats.

Dan in Alaska · 03-12-2007, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steelie Ben

I read through the instruction manual and noticed something I am not sure about. It says not to shoot "Stinger" ammo out of it!

Wow. This is news to me. I have had a couple of older Ruger 10/22's and I have never had a problem shooting CCI Stingers. I've never had issues shooting Stinger out of ANY of my .22's. Did Ruger change the 10/22 somewhere along the line? Are they cutting the chambers differently? I wonder what's up?

stillwater97 · 03-12-2007, 12:55 PM

I don't think anything is different in the design of the 10/22. BUT... the case on the stinger is longer than the standard .22 long rifle and it sets the bullet further in the chamber than a standard .22 long rifle will. This is what lawyers call a CYA.

Mad Mikey · 03-12-2007, 04:04 PM

I've heard it's possible on some guns to jam up with Stingers. My Winchester takes them OK. I actually just tried them in the gun for the first time a few weeks ago but noticed they shot about 2" left and 4" low compared to the regular CCI hollow points at 30 yards.

No problem adjusting the scope for them but I"m not sure it's worth the switch over unless I decide to shoot Stingers exclusively. I've also heard the Stingers don't hold as good a group as their slower counterparts?

Thoughts?

elklaker · 03-12-2007, 04:11 PM

The twist on the 10/22 is conducive to firing most 22 cal rds. When a 22 is sent out of the barrel with higher speeds than the twist is designed for your result is bullet tumble occuring just after exiting the barrel. Which in turn makes for less accuracy as well as unnecessary throat erosion in the barrel.

raptorschild · 03-12-2007, 06:40 PM

They say not to use it for good reason i'm sure.

Ditch the Stingers, and go buy a brick of American Eagle ammo.

It comes in a red box. Its the best stock .22 LR ammo i've found and i've shot thousands and thousands of rounds through my remington .22 lr.

My buddies all shoot them thorugh ruger 10/22's and they do awsome. No jamming. Its fairly cheap comparatively as well.

Dr Strangelove · 03-12-2007, 10:02 PM

I have a target model 10/22 and before that a standard 10/22. The chamber on the target model is very tight and regularly FTF Remington Gold Brick HPs. I don't think the Stingers with slightly longer cases will work. My old 10/22 no problem. I really like Green Tag target ammo for the match grade dimensions, accuracy, and low report. Just like with ultra fast shotshells blowing their patterns, hyperspeed 22's are useless if you can't hit a rat's head under 100yds.

As yet un-named · 03-13-2007, 02:22 PM

Ben,
Every rifle is different. What you need to do is buy a box of every different ammo you can find and test it out. I got a 10/22 about a year ago and did that. Happily, it liked the Rem. cheapo bulk hp stuff that I already had. Mid-way through squirrel season I ran out of that box. Went to the store and got a new box and they didn't shoot nearly as good. Several buddies with 10/22's and they all prefer differnt ammo. A thousand dollars later, mine really like Eley Biathalon EPS now. $9 a box. But it is no longer a "minute of squirrel" gun. Now it is a "minute of squirrel eye" gun to ranges reasonable for a .22 rimfire. Even after all of that, actual 50yd groups with cheapo ammo is around 3/4 - 1". Best affordable ammo I've found in it is Aguila Super Extra with the 38gr. hp bullet. It's about 1.39 a box or thereabouts. Can't wait to zap some rats with them! Also, another suggestion is to go buy a brick of something fairly cheap, I like the american eagle suggested earlier and shoot the whole thing before you even bother with experimenting to find the best ammo for YOUR gun. This will help break in the action, trigger, and barrel and get you used to the rifle. Have fun. One more thing... With the 10/22 like many blow-back semi's the first shot is often a flier. This has been explained to me that closing the bolt with your hand isn't the same as the bolt closing under it's own power, thus a slight difference in how the bullet is positioned in the chamber, and a slightly different firing pin strike. So, when you are shooting it for groups, burn the first round out of a clip, or at least don't be stressed if it is to a different point of impact than the subsequent shots. Oh yea, yet another thing. I shot quite a few Stingers out of mine before the new barrel (which will not chamber stingers), and didn't have any issues. I did notice that they really slammed the bolt back and made some racket, which mostly went away after installing a bolt buffer. As always on the 'net YMMV

As yet un-named · 03-13-2007, 02:34 PM

Dr. Strangelove, you should (or maybe you shouldn't) try some "real" target ammo. Wolf match target, or match extra, or the Remington/Eley club extra or target rifle, or any of the Eley's, or the Lapua Midas... Some of these are too darn expensive to shoot squeeks with, but the rem/eley stuff and the wolf stuff are doable and incredibly accurate out of my gun and my buddy's who has the 10/22t. You'll never be the same though if you shoot some of the high end Eley or Lapua stuff though...

stillwater97 · 03-13-2007, 03:09 PM

great advice here.

shoot a bunch of rounds from different manufacturers and find what shoots best out of the gun.

accuracy is far more important than speed.

Ethical hunter · 03-13-2007, 03:44 PM

I like shooting my 10/22 at golf balls, they are a very reactive target.

EH

woolybuggerboy · 03-13-2007, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raptorschild

They say not to use it for good reason i'm sure.

Ditch the Stingers, and go buy a brick of American Eagle ammo.

It comes in a red box. Its the best stock .22 LR ammo i've found and i've shot thousands and thousands of rounds through my remington .22 lr.

My buddies all shoot them thorugh ruger 10/22's and they do awsome. No jamming. Its fairly cheap comparatively as well.

i have a 10/22 and can attest to the amazingness of this ammo. it shoots way better than cci mini-mags, which we used to shoot. we have a 50-rd clip and it won't jam until after about 500 rounds are put through it. after that, clean it and it shoudl be good for another 500.

SImudBogger · 03-13-2007, 05:23 PM

my nod goes to the american eagle as well. thousands of rounds have gone through my marlin 60 and an old tack driver bolt action savage. cheap, but very good quality. They're made by federal by the way.

Steelie Ben · 03-19-2007, 08:36 PM

Thanks for all the replies, it really helped me out. I have put a box of 500 of the federal ammo through it and it shoots alright. I am putting 1" groups at 50 yards so I am fairly pleased. Didn't try shooting the "Stingers" I guess I really don't need them!! What would be a reasonable range for a 10/22? I have had success out to about 100 yards, is it possible to shoot further, accuratly? Anyone been out bonking rats yet, lets hear the reports. Thanks again for the help.
Ben

ajfishfinder · 03-19-2007, 09:00 PM

I site mine in to zero at 100 yards. With a mil dot scope and a little bit of learning you can shoot out to 200+ yards without much trouble if the wind is calm.

SImudBogger · 03-20-2007, 03:06 PM

My bolt is sighted in at about 35yds. i can hold where i want to shoot out to about 60-70 yds and then i have to start holding high to compensate. the farthest purposely aimed shot i have made was probably 100-115 yds. i have gotten lucky on pop cans even further than that a few times

norms gone fishing too · 03-20-2007, 04:23 PM

my 10/22 is good to about 100 yards but after 75 or so i use the 17 hmr and after 175 its the 270 or 338mag

raptorschild · 03-20-2007, 06:29 PM

realistically i'd say 100 yards is about max for "really" consistant shooting with a .22lr. The wind that you can't feel 100 yards out will buck your bullets any farther than that and will lead to inconsistancy.

I took a few sage rats pushing 100 yards a couple weeks ago, but anything farther than that would be a pot shot for me.

Dogger · 03-20-2007, 06:45 PM

I just read the 10/22 manual and it states "Stinger cartridges are longer cased than 22 LR and can stick in the tighter chambers of target rifles. Mine is just a standard 10/22 and so it is OK to use the stingers.

jager · 03-20-2007, 08:26 PM

Ive shot hundreds of stingers in my 10/22 without any problems, but I have to say the remington yellow jackets shoot better in my gun and really devastate ground squirrels, and they are cheaper to boot. Just my .02 worth..

KingFisher85 · 03-21-2007, 04:29 AM

I did not know that...I've had 3 different 10/22s and don't remember ever seeing that. But then again, I never shot stingers out of mine. They fed alright but I never got any good groupings with.
The best out of all the guns was the American Eagle ammo! Shoots clean, and feeds clean all day long.

Maverick Maxcat · 03-21-2007, 05:13 AM

I have a 10/22 target model. Have never tried stingers. It shoots the cheap Remington brass-plated hollow points pretty well, just over an inch at 100 yds. The best ammo ever for this gun is PMC Zapper. I get 5/8" 5-shot groups at 100 yds! Unfortunately, my source dried up. This rifle hates all things Federal, go figure. 2-3" groups.

I consistantly kill rats to 150 yds or so. Not much energy left at those ranges, so lots of cripples crawling around. I sight in around 80 yds and use Kentucky windage closer or farther. As noted above, wind really moves these slugs around.

gerry · 03-21-2007, 06:34 PM

I second Maxcat's vote on the PMC Zapper's. Next to them, my best luck is with Win. Dynapoints.