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Best .22LR Ammo For Every Occasion
It’s one of the best multi-use rounds of all time, and a great way to introduce new shooters to the sport. The .22LR is known for protecting farms, bringing food to the table, and providing hours of fun without breaking the bank.
As with any caliber, having a solid understanding of what makes good ammo is key to ensuring you have the best experience. Thankfully, .22LR is cheap and easy to get your hands on, so you can experiment with plenty of ammo without worrying about going broke.
If only bullets dropped from trees like the pine needles do.
We are going to go over some of the best .22LR ammo on the market right now to make it easier for you. But remember, many firearms can be picky with the .22LR ammo they like. Some can run for an entire ammo can, while others malfunction on every shot. That said, don’t buy any of these in bulk until you’ve figured out which ones work best in your firearm.
CCI Standard Velocity
CCI Standard Velocity is the go-to ammo for .22LR shooters, whether they are shooting with a pistol or rifle, suppressed or unsuppressed. It’s considered one of the best .22LR ammo options on the market today, owing to its cost-per-round and accuracy and reliability out of the box.
The M&P22 Compact and CCI Standard Velocity make a perfect pair.
Standard Velocity (SV) is made of a 40-grain bullet and house-made materials. It can be accurate out to 100 yards with groups of 1.9-2.3 MOA (rifle, of course) and does well in almost any applications you put it in.
CCI .22LR Standard Velocity 40gr Lead Round Nose Ammo
1 review
Price range: $4.99 through $369.99
Out of stock
SV is not your match grade ammo by any means, but if you’re plinking or getting rid of some varmint at closer ranges, and sometimes like to do so suppressed, then this is the ammo for you.
CCI Clean-22
CCI Clean-22 is one of my personal favorites, as it not only performs well but also uses an exclusive polymer bullet coating that reduces lead fouling in your barrel. That also translates to your suppressor, if you use one, helping extend the time between maintenance.
Can’t wait to get this Banish 45 to the range with the CCI subsonic ammo.
It comes in both high-velocity and subsonic variants, each featuring a 40-grain LRN bullet optimized for accuracy. Whether you’re a competitive shooter or just looking to keep your guns a bit cleaner when plinking in the backyard, this round is well worth checking out!
CCI Clean-22 .22LR Subsonic 40gr Lead Round Nose Ammo
2 reviews
Price range: $11.99 through $499.99
Out of stock
CCI Mini Mag
Again, with CCI, we have Mini Mag. These are the SVs’ less-accurate sibling. Not the best ammo for hunting varmints, but it finds its home breaking in picky .22 LR pistols and plinking with them.
You can find them with HP or RN bullets, both of which are copper-plated, allowing them to run cleaner in some firearms. If all you’re doing is plinking, I’d go with whichever you can find cheaper between these and the SVs.
Federal Gold Medal
Federal Gold Medal is one of the better .22LR loads on the market. Meant for tighter groupings and better overall accuracy than other ammo brands, these are also subsonic and do well at 100 yards with a suppressor. I wouldn’t say it is more accurate than CCI’s Standard Velocity, but it’s up there.
Federal makes its own propellants, caps, and primers and puts all of its best into the Gold Medal. This ammo prefers semi-automatic firearms but does not shy away from any completely. Again, while there are definitely more accurate loads, Gold Medal will give you a decent MOA spread at the distance.
Lapua X-Act
Now we’re getting fancy. We’re getting surgical. If you have built a .22LR for accuracy and want to see how well it can perform, then this is the ammo for you. However, you pay a reasonable premium for this quality of ammo.
If you see this box, you know the shooter is going for accuracy. Source
Lapua X-Act ammo is said to be Olympic-level quality, with accuracy hard to beat in .22LR. It has been tested by the world’s top small-bore competitors, and when feedback was provided, Lapua listened. This resulted in a house-made cartridge capable of shooting the tightest of groups.
Some have even reported sub-moa groupings at over 100 yards, which is tough to beat for a cartridge like the .22LR. You don’t need this level of round quality for plinking; it’s far better suited to a match round.
Eley Match
As for another top-quality match-grade round, we have the Eley match. This could be considered Lapua’s rival in terms of performance, quality, accuracy, and innovation. Professional competition shooters use it to achieve the best possible shot groupings on paper.
Eley uses their patented flat-nose bullet with in-house materials. Quality is consistent and aimed to be a round worth shooting from a high-quality pistol or rifle. The cost per round is high when compared to other rounds, but it’s expected for this type of performance.
If you’re looking for the utmost accuracy, Lapua and Eley are your go-tos.
Conclusion
.22LR remains one of the best do-it-all cartridges and one of the oldest that is still widely used today. The advancements seen over the past 100+ years are insane. I don’t think great-great-grandpa, who used .22 LR to get squirrels and rodents off the land, ever thought we’d get this far.
All of the ammo on this list will serve you well, but again, .22LR can be picky, and the same with the firearms. It’s essential to find out what runs reliably in your firearm so you don’t spend a ton of money on the wrong ammo.
Other than that, the stuff on this list is good to go for most firearms. Just make sure you test.
Be good and take care.
