I shoot a lot of rimfires and have tried every ammo available in the United States. There are definitely some to avoid and some to keep.
CCI makes high-quality rimfire ammo that is reliable, clean, and accurate. CCI rimfire ammo is some of the most sought after by hunters and shooters because it offers dependable function at a practical price.
CCI makes dozens of lines of rimfire ammo. I’ve used them a lot and have some good things to report.
How Reliable is CCI Ammo?
CCI 22lr and 22Mag ammo are incredibly reliable. The failure rate is around 1 in 10,000. The state-of-the-art, automated manufacturing process ensures even and consistent priming and powder charging for reliability with every shot.
I’ve shot a lot of CCI ammo. I don’t believe I’ve ever had a failure to fire with it, ever. There are a lot of people who can say the same thing. It’s really good ammo. Here’s why.
The issue with rimfire ammo and reliability is mainly one of combustion. In other words, you shoot but no boom. If you’ve fired much bulk 22 ammo, you’re sure to have found some duds. The duds are pretty much all caused by one of two things.
Either a bad firing pin (not likely) or poorly primed ammo. Rimfire ammo is primed by shoving a wet compound into the case and forcing it down into the rim. sometimes, the priming compound doesn’t get completely into the rim and it will never go off.
CCI avoids that by using a closely monitored spin-priming process. After putting the priming compound in the case, It’s spun very fast to force the compound fully into the rim. That spinning process takes more time but makes the most reliable rimfire ammo. The other two manufacturers that use the spun priming method are ELEY and Aguila.
CCI is Accurate Ammo
CCI makes top-line competition 22lr ammo with outstanding accuracy. Shooters across the country trust CCI for the most accurate ammo on the market. It’s hard to beat the accuracy and precision of CCi ammo. I can walk into any rimfire shooting league and most shooters are using CCI ammo.
The local benchrest competitors here love the stuff. It may not be the most accurate ammo in your gub, but it’s one of the most common best accuracy brands on the market. I trust it completely.
Is CCI ammo Clean?
CCI ammo is incredibly clean. The cases are cleaned and unwaxed, and the bullets don’t have a waxy or greasy coating like some do. CCI gums up my guns far less than any other rimfire ammo I’ve tried. That’s what I like best about it.
Even some quality ammo like Aguila causes crud in the gun. Aguila is waxy and gums up in my actions quickly. CCI leaves both my barrel and action quite clean, even after shooting several hundred rounds. With CCI ammo, I can usually shoot a thousand rounds without having a problem in my semi-auto 22s.
CCI MiniMags are the Most Popular 22lr Target Load
The most popular line of ammo made by CCI is the MiniMags. They are high-quality and accurate. The MiniMags are more powerful than the average 22lr ammo. They come in round-nose for target shooting and hollow point for hunting. MiniMags are some of the most accurate 22 ammo on the market, and one of my favorites for squirrels.
One of the ways that CCI makes the MiniMaga more accurate than most 22lr ammo is with god packaging. Good ammo needs to be packaged individually so the bullets don’t bounce around and get scratched or dented. MiniMags are packaged with each bullet individually held in place so the bullets are completely protected from damage.
MiniMags aren’t the only ammo packaged like this, there are a few others. Any loose-packed 22lr ammo will have somewhat less accuracy. MiniMags comes in handy 100-round packs that stow easily. I usually keep a pack in the glove box of my car.
Stingers don’t always shoot well
Stingers are good ammo for pests and varmints but aren’t recommended for use in a semi-auto. They use a slightly shorter bullet and a slightly longer brass case. In a tight chambered semi-auto, they often hang up and don’t extract. Because of this, they are not recommended for semi-auto defensive handguns.
Some manufacturers recommend not using Stingers at all because they are extra pressure rounds. Regular use of stingers will cause excess wear on the action and throat of the barrel of your gun. They are fine to use once in a while. I would stick with a more normal velocity load for most shooting.
They’re still clean ammo and reliably go off. Stingers aren’t known for amazing accuracy though. The short, lightweight bullet doesn’t stabilize well on most 22lr barrels. Plus, most of the hyper-velocity 22lr loads just have trouble with precision and accuracy.
Even though it’s absolutely not advised, stingers are often used for defensive purposes. That’s not a good idea! These are high-speed, fragmenting, shallow penetrating loads designed for animals under 10 pounds. They don’t penetrate enough for defensive use.
CCI Velocitors are Amazing for Hunting!
Of all CCI 22lr ammo, the hollow point Velocitors are the most effective for hunting. They are full weight, hyper-velocity loads that fly decent, penetrate well, and reliably expand. It’s very good ammo, and about the most powerful 22lr you can get.
If you want a solid load for hunting with the 22lr, this is a good one. Velocitors are the type of ammo you’d keep stashed away with your 22 for emergency survival. It offers another 50 to 75-yards of good killing power past the normal range of standard 22 ammo.
