Great .22 LR Rimfire Ammo Comparison Test — 31 Types Tested

December 27, 2022. This is a must-read article for.22 LR rimfire gunners. Shooting Sports USA (SSUSA), October 2018 issue, includes a great article that provides data on 31 different types of.22 LR rimfire ammunition. There are three types of ammunition: standard, low-speed, and high-velocity. There are also options for plinking, varminting and target applications. Aguila, American Eagle and CCI, Federal were tested. CCI Quiet-22 Lead-Free HP was the slowest ammo and ran 727 FPS. CCI Short-Range green Lead-Free HP was the fastest ammo and ran 1735 FPS. This is 2.4 times faster than the Quiet-22. Lapua Center X LRN was the most accurate ammo, with a 0.37? Average 50-yard group size. Lapua X-ACT RN LRN was second at 0.42?. Ammo was tested on a bench using a Cooper Model 57M rifle with a 3-9x33mm Leupold VX-2 scope. The ammo was divided into three categories: (1) Varmints/Small Game, (2) Target, and (3) Plinking. (See ammo table below.)
Click to enlarge the page. Different types of.22 LR (Long Rifle), rimfire ammo have various applications. Subsonic ammo is best for 25m- 50m target work using precision rimfires. Hi-Velocity.22 LR ammunition provides a flatter trajectory at longer ranges. SSUSA explains that the array of.22 LR loads can turn a person’s head in every direction. Subsonic target loads provide decisive accuracy on targets while hyper-velocity cartridges provide impressive bullet expansion on small varmints. Standard and high-velocity.22 LRs can be loaded with a variety bullet weights and styles to suit different purposes, such as small-game hunting or plinking [.]”. READ Full SSUSA.22 LR Rimfire Ammo story.