Recommendation please

[snert]

I do not shoot competition. I shoot tree squirrels from 12 feet to 50 yards in "sensitive areas" where noise is an issue. I have a Remington 541T and a Leupold EFR 6-20.
I have come to the end of my 1979 stash of Winchester T22 I have used it for decades for squirrel hunting. When that rodeo ended I got a brick of Remington Sub-sonic and was VERY surprised that it shot ok. I got another brick recently and it SUCKS. One will "crack", the next will "pffft" and three will bug hole at 25 yards. But you never know what three.

I am,NOT aware of what is out there, as far as decently made, AVAILABLE, ammo to test for my application. My experience has been that pretty much any accurate ammo that is of target velocity will do the deed on Mr. Squirrel, so I am asking for:

Three suggestions of make and "model" that has worked ok for you and can actually be bought.

Caveat Emptor: I KNOW what works for one gun may or may not for mine, and lots matter ...eg., Rem Subsonic.

I don't need, and can't afford, really expensive stuff.

Thanks in advance

Snert

 

[1Merlin]

SK Standard or Norma Tac 22 would be a great place to start.

 

[K22]

I shoot CCI Standard Velocity out of my Tikka T1X and it is very capable on head shots on squirrel out to 50 yards assuming the shooter can make the shot from whatever improvised field rest is chosen.

This ammo is readily available around here, isn't expensive and offers excellent reliability and good hunting accuracy. I am not claiming that you won't get an occasional flyer, but they are the exception rather than the rule. For example, out of brick, I typically get one to three flyers that I can attribute to the ammo.

While this ammo isn't terrible noisy, it may be too much in the areas you described. Therefore, if noise is an overriding factor, I would consider a suppressor which could open up a wider selection of ammo choices to test.

 

[Straightshooter1]

I do not shoot competition. I shoot tree squirrels from 12 feet to 50 yards in "sensitive areas" where noise is an issue. I have a Remington 541T and a Leupold EFR 6-20.
I have come to the end of my 1979 stash of Winchester T22 I have used it for decades for squirrel hunting. When that rodeo ended I got a brick of Remington Sub-sonic and was VERY surprised that it shot ok. I got another brick recently and it SUCKS. One will "crack", the next will "pffft" and three will bug hole at 25 yards. But you never know what three.

I am,NOT aware of what is out there, as far as decently made, AVAILABLE, ammo to test for my application. My experience has been that pretty much any accurate ammo that is of target velocity will do the deed on Mr. Squirrel, so I am asking for:

Three suggestions of make and "model" that has worked ok for you and can actually be bought.

Caveat Emptor: I KNOW what works for one gun may or may not for mine, and lots matter ...eg., Rem Subsonic.

I don't need, and can't afford, really expensive stuff.

Thanks in advance

Snert

CCI Standard Velocity
Federal AutoMatch
SK Standard Plus

 

[Dgd6mm]

A couple of months ago I picked up 6 boxes of Federal Auto Match for $20.30 after tax from Walmart.
My 10/22 and a couple other rifles and pistols shoot this ammo well. It's definitely accurate enough for squirrels out to 50 yards. I've shot them with it.

 

[INShooter]

Eley sub-sonic hollow point. Excellent squirrel ammo.

 

[Ccrider]

Norma Tac 22.

 

[webfoot56]

For what you have posted and squirrel shooting tac 22, cci standard, and winchester power point and if you want to up your cost sk standard plus and sk pistol match

 

[jepp2]

I am,NOT aware of what is out there, as far as decently made, AVAILABLE,

T22 is really not what I would even consider quality 22 ammo. You say you don't shoot competition, but basically every shot you take is you vs mr squirrel. At 50 yards, with a woods rest, I would want the ammo that shoots best out of my rifle. Head shots on squirrels have a less than 1" death zone. If your rifle can group well under 1/2", that just gives you more margin for hold error.

I don't know how much you shoot, but a brick of ammo would last you several seasons I would expect. So the ammo cost is almost irrelevant. I don't know what happened with the Remington subsonics you shot. But I have shot many and never experienced what you did.

Basically all the target ammo is subsonic. So noise will be minimized. I used CCI 22 quiet (about 700 fps) for shooting rabbits in my back yard in the city. But you don't need something that quiet. As suggested, CCI standard will probably do what you want and be better than your T22. But if it were me, I would go better grade of target for the reason I mentioned. In several of my rifles Eley black box and Lapua Center-X shoot better than the rest. My guess is both of those will greatly out shoot your T22. Even if they are $15 per box, that is 30 cents per squirrel. You may be able to cut that to less than $10 per box, or 20 cents per squirrel. My order based on what shoots best in multiple rifles:
Lapua Center-X
Eley Black Box
SK Rifle Match
SK Std Plus

I shot some of the better grade 22 ammo in my Annie vs my Kidd. Here are the 50 yard group size comparison.

 

[snert]

T22 is really not what I would even consider quality 22 ammo. You say you don't shoot competition, but basically every shot you take is you vs mr squirrel. At 50 yards, with a woods rest, I would want the ammo that shoots best out of my rifle. Head shots on squirrels have a less than 1" death zone. If your rifle can group well under 1/2", that just gives you more margin for hold error.

I don't know how much you shoot, but a brick of ammo would last you several seasons I would expect. So the ammo cost is almost irrelevant. I don't know what happened with the Remington subsonics you shot. But I have shot many and never experienced what you did.

Basically all the target ammo is subsonic. So noise will be minimized. I used CCI 22 quiet (about 700 fps) for shooting rabbits in my back yard in the city. But you don't need something that quiet. As suggested, CCI standard will probably do what you want and be better than your T22. But if it were me, I would go better grade of target for the reason I mentioned. In several of my rifles Eley black box and Lapua Center-X shoot better than the rest. My guess is both of those will greatly out shoot your T22. Even if they are $15 per box, that is 30 cents per squirrel. You may be able to cut that to less than $10 per box, or 20 cents per squirrel. My order based on what shoots best in multiple rifles:
Lapua Center-X
Eley Black Box
SK Rifle Match
SK Std Plus

I shot some of the better grade 22 ammo in my Annie vs my Kidd. Here are the 50 yard group size comparison.

View attachment 1503125

Jepp,

Thank you very much for this insightful work up.

Back in the day, T22 was "decent". I used it for sillouette in a couple 40X rifles. It shot "gud nuf" for my purposes. It eventually served as squirrel fodder. I was satisfied with the Rem Subsonic till this last brick, which totally sucks. In fact just for giggles I went to the range today with the partial boxes of stuff I have had laying around.
I shot at 25 yards (since this is the average distance of my shooting in early season).
Super X ten shot group at a standard 100 yard centerfire BR square and circle target, assuming the circle being the head and the square the chest...IIRC 6 of the 10 would have missed entirely.
Rem subsonic would have given me 7 of ten but not all head shots.
The holy grail Federal dimpled base Gold Match put all ten in a hole that barely looked as though maybe two bullets went there. If I only had a case of that stuff! But, alas, I had only 20 left of the box of 50 that somehow found it's way to me yers ago.

I found a dealer of target ammo nearby and I plan to visit him on Monday, taking into account the advice you have all given me. As someone once said...only accurate rifles are interesting. And good ammo the gun likes is a key. I will buy some samples and sally forth...

Including sitting at the bench and funning around, I imagine 4-5 bricks will last me the rest of my useful life.

 

[snert]

Eley sub-sonic hollow point. Excellent squirrel ammo.

The local dealer mentioned this as his first thoughts. I will likely buy several boxes of different ammo and test

 

[Blowback]

I still have a couple of bricks of 70's T22 and it is very good. It was marketed as target ammo and it lived up to it's name. The modern stuff, not so good. Now my go-to is the Norma Tac-22, the price is right and the accuracy is excellent.

 

[snert]

Here are the targets I shot with Super X and with Federal Gold...these targets are 6 shot groups, since that is what fits in my magazine

 

[snert]

Tonight I think I slipped down into the rabbit hole...

I heard rumor of a place that sold 22 target ammo. I found it. An old garage. Open 2 hours a week.

Parking lot full. Stepped in and was surrounded by position and BR shooters. Guys in thier retirement.
Conservatively there were 100 cases of 22 ammo. Lapua, SK, and Eley IIRC. Mostly LApua. Pallet of Midas.

Owner just had a knee done so he isn't shipping now. But had customers from maryland and Virginia buying 5-6 cases at a time. Yup, way outta my pay grade!

Guy was very kind to me. I bought some Eley green, orange and yellow to test. I would have tried SK and LApua but it only sells by the brick and I am testing. I am sure it will outshoot the Walmart stuff I have used recently.

I think I will visit again just to meet people, as they hang out and talk and it was like being in 1970 again.

 

[snert]

Well Here is the follow up to my original post. Thank you to every one of you who gave advice. I mentioned I was able to find Eley by the 50 round box to test. I would have tried SK but it was buy a brick...and I couldn't do it on my very limited budget.

Here is the results of groups at 25 yards (again my average squirrel distance) of Eley Sub-sonic HP, Club and Target. I shot ten rounds of each between target record strings to get the barrel settled down. No flags but no wind to mention.

As you can see the HP shot best, the CLub very close, the Target a distant third. I will be buying a couple brick of the Subsonic HP in the same lot #.




The HP shot better than me. I waffled the lower group.

Thanks again to all who offered help

 

[Rem72043722]

Jepp,

Thank you very much for this insightful work up.

Back in the day, T22 was "decent". I used it for sillouette in a couple 40X rifles. It shot "gud nuf" for my purposes. It eventually served as squirrel fodder. I was satisfied with the Rem Subsonic till this last brick, which totally sucks. In fact just for giggles I went to the range today with the partial boxes of stuff I have had laying around.
I shot at 25 yards (since this is the average distance of my shooting in early season).
Super X ten shot group at a standard 100 yard centerfire BR square and circle target, assuming the circle being the head and the square the chest...IIRC 6 of the 10 would have missed entirely.
Rem subsonic would have given me 7 of ten but not all head shots.
The holy grail Federal dimpled base Gold Match put all ten in a hole that barely looked as though maybe two bullets went there. If I only had a case of that stuff! But, alas, I had only 20 left of the box of 50 that somehow found it's way to me yers ago.

I found a dealer of target ammo nearby and I plan to visit him on Monday, taking into account the advice you have all given me. As someone once said...only accurate rifles are interesting. And good ammo the gun likes is a key. I will buy some samples and sally forth...

Including sitting at the bench and funning around, I imagine 4-5 bricks will last me the rest of my useful life.

You were apparently at Bert's Garage in Beaver. He is a good guy to deal with..--bit of a character. I buy from him too.

 

[snert]

Yes I was!

Headed back in three weeks