With all the 22 sporter rifle shooting I do which includes Hunting, Trick Shooting, and Completive Target Shooting, over the years I have developed opinions not conducive with what most will tell you about 22 ammo performance. The general consensus advises each rifle “likes” a certain brand over others. I’m not buying into that one.
Testing brand after brand for decades in just about every sporter and target rifle made I find its the ammo and not the rifle. For example lets take three super sporter 22 Rifles, A CZ-452, Henry Lever Action and a Ruger 77/22. All three are proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. The standard is simple 5 shots, in a half inch circle at 25 yards, the accepted average distance a tree squirrel is engaged.
With a good shooter behind the rifle without some sort of a vise, the variants in accuracy will be very little using the 4 types of 22 ammo. These are Bulk Plinking, Standard Velocity, Extreme Target and Hunting. The three rifles and other fixed breach guns all past the 25 yards half inch test with everything fired through them. Notably, most members of a certain type of ammo will demonstrate the same performance. Target ammo will out perform bulk ammo as they are not in the same type class. Subsonic ammo sometimes is as accurate as standard velocity ammo but not always. Subsonic target ammo seems to be the most desirable for serious target work. Hunting ammo can be high speed or subsonic it depends on what you choose for the hunting situation.
22 ammo is subject to different methods of manufacturing standards depending on the type. At 25 yards I can kill a grey squirrel with a head shot with any 22 ammo made if the rifle will pass the 25 yard test. What I can’t do is take bulk ammo and win a Top Gun match with it. This is due to the rim thickness and total weight of the round. A rim gauge and bullet scale will show you in a moment just how ammo in the same box is not the same. The differences are hardly noticeable to the average shooter, they get a slight miss or flyer and ignore it. With all things being equal except the ammo, it will be the ammo that causes the flyer.
One example comes to mind The Junior Team Top Gun shooters faced off with the National Shooting Sports Foundation Junior World Champions. Both teams were equipped with very good rifles and scopes that made them equal, however the NSSF kids were using less than superior ammo. Some of my kids came to me before the match and said the other team doesn’t have a chance. They were correct because every junior on the Top Gun Team was well versed in the type of ammo used and they were very particular.
I have a buddy on the India Olympic Free Pistol Team, they all use different brands of custom pistols but they all use the same ammo, that should tell you something. In the hunting world of high speed hollow points the brands I tested were so close I was very pleased, I picked one for hunting but I could have changed, rezeroed and gone hunting without much worry.
For the small game hunter you want a round that will put the smack down on edible squirrels and rabbits without a lot of meat destruction; it all depends on the average distance and method of hunting. A straight up shot at a Fox Squirrel treed by a dog is not a long shot nor difficult but you don’t want to wound it and have it get in a den tree. A 6 pound Swamp Rabbit munching on your cabbage at the end of the garden may be 50 to 100 yards away and require a little more punch. This is where the high speed hollow point comes into play. The subsonic hollow point should be used at closer range no more than 35 yards but it has something little known in terminal ballistics. This is dwell time on target, as it moves slower it stays in the target longer expending more energy in the target. I have found this very effective on squirrels as long as it meets the accuracy standard.
On using hollow points as opposed to solid nose bullets for hunting. The head shot is most desirable on edible small game and the solid works just fine. However, perfect hunting situations only occur on the Outdoor Channel. In reality you may have to go behind the shoulder on a squirrel and the hollow point makes it happen right now. Everyone will develop a favorite hunting round it would seem, I have several.
In defense of the notion all rifles have a favorite round, with semi-automatic rifles it is general true. I avoid all this by using a bolt, lever or pump action repeating rifle and that seems to be fast enough. How the round functions the actions on various types of semi-autos can be unnerving when you have a round that is very accurate but wont operate the action.
In my state Louisiana, a 22 gets pressed into action for critters just a little bit bigger than rabbits and squirrels. Raccoons, Nutria, Coyotes, Alligators and Feral Hogs are encountered either deliberately or by chance and a cool rifle shot with the right ammo comes out on top. If not at least two of these critters can put you on the menu…..Pass it on.