Preferred 22 Magnum load

[waimo]

What 22 magnum load are you guys using . Old favourite , the winchester 40 grain jhp is not what it used to be with half a dozen failures to fire in each packet of ammo .After a good all round load for rabbits , possums and red necked wallabies here in nz.

[bladeracer]

What 22 magnum load are you guys using . Old favourite , the winchester 40 grain jhp is not what it used to be with half a dozen failures to fire in each packet of ammo .After a good all round load for rabbits , possums and red necked wallabies here in nz.

You pretty much have to test everything you can find until you determine which ammo the rifle shoots best with, then stick with that.

Failures could be down to issues with the rifle rather than the ammo. Do they fire if you hit them a few more times? Do they fire in a different rifle?

[Shootermick]

Hornady 30gr V max.

[mchughcb]

Any 30 gr Vmax or remmy 33 vmax.

Or 50gr federal hp.

[bigrich]

In my experience Winchester ammo in general is cr@p . Federal 50 gn loads have shot well in every 22mag I’ve owned. A lot of the 30 something grain loads shoot exceptionally well, the 45gn hornady ammo has been great too. But rimfire can be picky , so it’s anyone’s guess as to what shoots well in yours

[Wapiti]

The CCI A22 mag load, (is it 34gn, I'm too lazy to check the ammo container?), is a ripper.
It has a little jacketed, hollowpoint projectile which in our experience mushrooms incredibly uniformly and shoots one-hole groups in our Ruger 77's, American and the wife's autoloader Volquartson.
It's one of those high-velocity loadings, but it has a decently constructed projectile.

It sits in between the 30gn VMax loadings, which are really only a "varmint" load, and the 40gn CCI softpoints.
You don't see it around much, Cleavers had it in bulk packets and after trying it, I bought up big on a trip down that way for something else.

I tried the 50gn loads, for shooting pigs in a pig trap, and really, for the extra money are only performing like the 40gn CCI maxi-mags. At the end of the day, a 22mag is a 22mag and 50gns won't make it bigger.

[Jorlcrin]

I've got the most consistent results with the 30gn CCI (VNT) and Hornady V-Max ammo.,
Had bad results with the 30gn CCI Maxi-Mag HP loads; the CZ455 gets the 'step' on the HP jammed as they feed into the chamber from the mag.
Supposed to be a tweak you can make to the mag follower to negate it, but didnt seem to work for me.
Tempted to 3D print a different mag follower to see if that fixes it, but mean-time, I'll avoid the Maxi-Mags for this reason.

Had zero problems with the VNT/Vmax 30gn loads, and they shoot really well.
Quite a few crows around here have 'CAW!'d their last as a result..
Also nailed quite a few rabbits and cats with them as well.

[NTSOG]

Hornady 30 gr V-Max for me out of my Weihrauch 66P. I find them accurate and hit reasonably hard out to 120 yards. I do get some 'runner' foxes if I don't hit them exactly right.

Jim

[Sean]

30 g CCI has been the most accurate in mine. Winchester has s**t crap

Bloody $49 a box of 50 is disgraceful though

[bigrich]

Hornady 30 gr V-Max for me out of my Weihrauch 66P. I find them accurate and hit reasonably hard out to 120 yards. I do get some 'runner' foxes if I don't hit them exactly right.

Jim

How does your weihrauch shoot ?

[NTSOG]

G'day bigrich,

The Weihrauch is very accurate, more so since it was bedded and pillared. It's good for 1/2" groups at 100 yards off the bench. I tend to use it more around my property from a noise perspective as there has been a bit of subdivision of the original farm off to the east side into 10 acre blocks bought by city people. Mine has the two-stage trigger and is set about 8 oz. I believe that rifles with this trigger are no longer being imported by Alcocks due to some regulation. My hands/fingers are pretty damaged, and a light single stage trigger is beyond me to control with any finesse.

Jim

[bigrich]

G'day bigrich,

The Weihrauch is very accurate, more so since it was bedded and pillared. It's good for 1/2" groups at 100 yards off the bench. I tend to use it more around my property from a noise perspective as there has been a bit of subdivision of the original farm off to the east side into 10 acre blocks bought by city people. Mine has the two-stage trigger and is set about 8 oz. I believe that rifles with this trigger are no longer being imported by Alcocks due to some regulation. My hands/fingers are pretty damaged, and a light single stage trigger is beyond me to control with any finesse.

Jim

I’ve had a couple in the past and made the mistake of trying too much pressure on the action screws. It upset the accuracy. Should’ve pillar bedded them.
Did the same thing to a krico in 22lr recently. I’ve ended up fully floating the barrel and trying various pressure on the barrel in the front of the stock. With neutral pressure, just supported, it went back to shooting small consistent groups again. So I’m going to put a little bed of devcon in the fore end. The krico has a lovely crisp 2 stage trigger that breaks at 2 1/2 pounds. I’m not going to play with it too much more except for the devcon. I don’t really have too much use for a 22mag but am considering getting another weihrauch hw60j and getting it pillar bedded from the get go.

[NTSOG]

The Weihrauch 66P is sensitive to action screw torque. After it was bedded I played around with the tension screws, but ultimately found that less is better: 22 in. pds. front and 18 in. pds. rear. I have a 60J [.222 Rem.] and it has the two stage [8 oz.] trigger. It's also pillared and bedded. It's also very accurate.

Jim

[bigrich]

The Weihrauch 66P is sensitive to action screw torque. After it was bedded I played around with the tension screws, but ultimately found that less is better: 22 in. pds. front and 18 in. pds. rear. I have a 60J [.222 Rem.] and it has the two stage [8 oz.] trigger. It's also pillared and bedded. It's also very accurate.

Jim

with my old krico , after a bit of tuning at the range , i discovered it likes 15 on the front screw , 10 on the rear . they are really small screws, probably M4 thread . one of the good things about weihrauch they went up in screw size after they bought krico . i had a 1972 krico 22 hornet , bolt was identical to my Weihrauch . trigger gaurd is more than similar as well . germans make good guns .....

[Fester]

The last Winshitter ammo I bought was Aussie-made 22lr 40gr subs, which go well on bunnies and are pretty accurate. Why anyone would buy any now is beyond my comprehension.

I like how the 30gr ammo shoots flatter out of my CZ515 and the Fed premium was one of the best groupers.
Cheap Armscor 40gr came in a close second and 40s should be the pick for any larger critters.

I caught a couple of 30gr pills in one milk container of water shot through the lid lengthwise.
Pills were near flat like a coin. Nothing else has ever had that little penetration so far.

Will put a few in my home made ballistic gel one day.

I don't waste 22mag ammo testing anymore as I could have to buy more at the stupid prices.
They are all shooting well enough including the CCI.
Getting some V-maxes next week but wouldn't pay shop prices for them, will shoot a couple of groups to see.

[NTSOG]

Fester: "I caught a couple of 30gr pills in one milk container of water shot through the lid lengthwise.
Pills were near flat like a coin. Nothing else has ever had that little penetration so far."

I shot a hare a couple of years ago at a range of about 95 yards from front right shoulder length ways back through its body. When I butchered it for dog food, I found the remains of the bullet flattened and somewhat expanded as you describe at the very back of the abdominal cavity. 30 grs. at 2200 fps makes the Hornady V-max in .22 magnum pretty effective.

Jim