.22 LR ammo and guns are very picky.

[rogersmithiii]

I co-taught an introduction to handgun class for a group of newbie women this past month.

One lady showed up with a nearly new, Walther P22 Q CA pistol, and fed it with Winchester Wildcat .22s.

From the start of the class, the gun started having problems. Failure to drive the slide back far enough to pick up the new round out of the mag. Stove pipes. Failure to extract empty case from the chamber. By the afternoon, the gun turned into a single shot gun, with the student having to rack the slide manually to reload it.

We handed her a class, Taurus T-22, and that gun started having problems. I grabbed both guns from the student, and put rounds downrange. It wasn't the student. Both guns malfunctioned in my hands.

Since it wasn't the gun, and wasn't the operator, we grabbed some Remington Thunderbolt that someone had laying around, and the student was able to finish the class, and complete the qual. Not one misfire for the rest of the day.

Those Winchester rounds were 50 in a plastic box, so they weren't the economy, bulk packed stuff. Never the less, it was fascinating that the rounds failed to feed in the full sized Taurus, and the Mini Walther, while the Thunderbolts, that I always thought were loaded with recycled oak leaves (they were always filthy rounds whenever I shot them), fired without a single problem.

Go figure.

 

[LTCRN]

I have found that It is trial and error with .22 LR pistols. Not enough lubrication, to much lubrication, not enough powder to cycle the slide, the pistol became to dirty etc.
The exception was the POS Walther P22 that I bought as a newbie. It would malfunction no matter what alternatives or corrective measures I took. I was lucky enough that it didn't blow up or break apart like some of the video's on YT show. I replaced it with a practically mint used Ruger MK II. It is not perfect, but it is much, much better than the P22 or the Sig Mosquito that was available at the time. Today, I would probably buy a MK IV, SR 22, or 22/45 for a semi auto .22.

 

[Cartoons]

My 15-22 eats everything, except Federal...

 

[slap shot]

Winchester in the 100 ct plastic package might be the worst .22 i've ever used. worthless

 

[Tim_McD]

Gave up on Winchester and Federal for 22LR, not worth the aggravation of constant duds, failure to cycle and feeding issues

Both Thunderbolt and Golden bullets feed w/o issue in my SR22…but mostly I run CCI Mini Mag because they flawless

 

[Fezzik68]

Pistol ammo I would stick to CCI Std Vel.
Every .22 i have will cycle it and it is used in competition.
Mini-Mag is a bit snappier for newbies.
Aguila Standard or Super Extra might save a buck or two, cycles pretty good.
Anything cheaper use for Jr Rifles.

+1 for Ruger Mark III/IV for training.
Chews up & spits out everything & anything I feed it.

 

[PaulR]

Yep.
My Ruger eats only mini-mags.
Will not cycle any American Eagle at all.

 

[allen-1]

I've probably got 8 different kinds of .22 in the cabinet. Each one's labelled for the pistols that it works well in. .22's are finicky. I haven't found a single type of ammo that will run all of my .22's.

 

[Tim_McD]

I've probably got 8 different kinds of .22 in the cabinet. Each one's labelled for the pistols that it works well in. .22's are finicky. I haven't found a single type of ammo that will run all of my .22's.

Just curious, what rimfire doesnt like CCI Mini-Mags?

 

[LuvDog]

Semi-auto 22lr pistols are especially finicky. When it comes to 22lr, I think the only way to get reliability is to go revolver, bolt, or lever action

 

[PatMcD]

Winchester Wildcat has NEVER been good.

Are you the guy running the class? Was it your ammo you were supplying?
As soon as you have a student with a malfunctioning firearm, you tell them to box it up. It's done. Put a known, functioning gun in their hands. Nobody can learn if they are wondering "is this thing going to go bang?.

 

[greencobra]

cci mini group. the only ammo i shot when i was doing gbpl. accurate and reliable. it never made my pistol malfunction. now, i just plink and i'm still nibbling off the cases i had put away when i stopped shooting competition. i've tried winchester white box .22, very inconsistent with performance and gun functionality. federal bulk packs about the same. i've had good luck with remington though.

 

[Sf Becket]

+1 for CCI

 

[FC Magic]

+3. I shoot a Beretta Neos, a Walther PPQ .22, and a Beretta 96 with conversion kit. I have had virtually no issues with these .22's using CCI Mini Mags. Granted, the Beretta's both have open slide designs that allow for easy shell extractions, but the PPQ is a fairly straight forward design.

 

[allen-1]

Just curious, what rimfire doesnt like CCI Mini-Mags?

Sig Mosquito.
Only ammo i’ve found it likes is cci ar tactical.

Barney the prima donna pos.

 

[allen-1]

Fortunately 22 is cheap

 

[peterk123]

I have a Mark IV. Never had an issue. Eats everything.

 

[hminsky]

I have had great luck with a well broken in Ruger mark II , and three of the new Mark IV's. I have a Browning Buck Mark which is a little picky, especially when it is cold out
(maybe sliding parts compliance is too tight) but Mini Mags always work in every .22 semi auto I've tried.

 

[greencobra]

Just curious, what rimfire doesnt like CCI Mini-Mags?

my personal experience...mini's will make even the most finicky semi autos to function. accuracy is another thing. .22's are like any pistol, you need to find one your gun likes.

 

[PatMcD]

I don't know; I'm an "accuracy" guy with 22 pistols. If the only thing it functions with is mini-mags, I get rid of it.
Conversely, if it DOESNT work with cci standard, I get rid of it.

 

[steven grammont]

Just curious, what rimfire doesnt like CCI Mini-Mags?

Or SV

 

[steven grammont]

I don't know; I'm an "accuracy" guy with 22 pistols. If the only thing it functions with is mini-mags, I get rid of it.
Conversely, if it DOESNT work with cci standard, I get rid of it.

CCI SV is my personal choice as well. I've bought more expensive.22 ammo ,.and yes it's accurate and all , but SV CCI is pretty damn consistent and the best bang for my dollars.

 

[mikelawtown]

Ruger SR22 has been excellent with any ammo.
Had the Walther version P22 and was terrible

 

[tinhorn]

Huh. I've never had that problem with my single action wheelgun.

 

[Hetzer]

I don’t know why but I love that Remington Thunderbolt. Maybe it’s because people say it’s cheap and it sucks but it works just fine in any of the Mark IV’s that I’ve owned.

My only problem with it is finding it on the north shore and southern nh.

Other than that CCI standard, Mini Mags and even Quiet Semi-Auto are my go to’s.

 

[RKG]

Yes, .22 rimfires can be finicky. Some of the problems are ammo related; some derive from firearm design issues; and some are simply based on the fact that .22 rimfire ammo is dirty.

As for .22 auto pistols, I own a bunch of Ruger SR-22s, and every single one of them has been faultless. This includes one made in Prescott, Arizona and the rest made in Mayodan, NC.

As for ammo, I don't own a .22 rimfire auto (pistol or rifle) that won't function flawlessly with CCI "Standard Velocity" (sometimes a/k/a "Target") or Mini-Mags.

As to both rifles and pistols, yes, I do clean them after every outing.

 

[RB101]

Glock 44.