22 Revolver for self defense--ammo selection

[JaegerOne]

CCI Velocitor.

[John123]

Lapua SK High Velocity 40gr Hollow Point. I keep it in my M&P 22 and Ruger 10/22 for coyote work.

[johnnywitt]

I have a High Standard Sentinel MK III 9 shot .22 magnum. I've had it since 1976. It is my go to gun when I go to the farm. (varmints and rattle snakes) I see them every so often at gun shows usually around $125. It really shoots the Winchester Rimfire well. The WRF is not a magnum .22. It's the round that is longer than a long rifle but shorter than a .22 magnum and shoots the same diameter bullet as the magnum .22.
kwg

When I said that .22 Mag was just a noisemaker, I was referring to short 1 7/8" to 3" barreled guns. .22WRF & especially .22 Mag is a pretty kick ass round out of a longer barrel. It's my understanding that out of a 4" barrel it starts to equal .22LR rifle velocities. It also has true jacketed bullets available unlike the .22LR cartridge. I love my RF Guns & .22 is my favorite round by far. It's the most fun round to shoot for me and my wife and kids and a person can get really proficient because they can afford to shoot so often (current .22 hoarding shortage notwithstanding). You also have the ability to shoot suppressed in areas, while being strictly legal, might be unsettling and unneighborly to Folks that live close by, especially if you are always blasting.
Sorry for the thread drift.

[Shao]

Aguila SSS 60gr. all the way. Seriously. In my .22 penetration tests, it fared the best and practically sounds like a cap gun when you pop one off. Plus I've heard that it tumbles like crazy once it hits flesh.

[johnnywitt]

Aguila SSS 60gr. all the way. Seriously. In my .22 penetration tests, it fared the best and practically sounds like a cap gun when you pop one off. Plus I've heard that it tumbles like crazy once it hits flesh.

I shoot that Aguila 60gr SSS out of my S&W 41 with a Bully Barrel a lot. The BB has a faster twist rate and shoots that round with extreme accuracy. I used to think the penetration was more than a regular standard velocity .22LR, but surprisingly, while shooting at some propane tanks behind the house one day, i found that the SSS wouldn't penetrate all the way through, while CCI Std Vel would. Go Figure. If you are shooting stuff like bowling pins, or steel it does definitely whack stuff harder, which is why I thought it would have more penetration, at least with regard to propane tanks.
You have to be careful shooting that stuff suppressed unless you have a special barrel with a faster twist rate, or the bullet won't stabilize and will jack up your suppressor with baffle strikes.
That stuff is excellent out of your 5.56 AR with a .22 conversion kit, btw, exactly because the faster AR barrel twist rate will USUALLY (ha!) give good accuracy with this round.

[Shao]

I shoot that Aguila 60gr SSS out of my S&W 41 with a Bully Barrel a lot. The BB has a faster twist rate and shoots that round with extreme accuracy. I used to think the penetration was more than a regular standard velocity .22LR, but surprisingly, while shooting at some propane tanks behind the house one day, i found that the SSS wouldn't penetrate all the way through, while CCI Std Vel would. Go Figure. If you are shooting stuff like bowling pins, or steel it does definitely whack stuff harder, which is why I thought it would have more penetration, at least with regard to propane tanks.
You have to be careful shooting that stuff suppressed unless you have a special barrel with a faster twist rate, or the bullet won't stabilize and will jack up your suppressor with baffle strikes.
That stuff is excellent out of your 5.56 AR with a .22 conversion kit, btw, exactly because the faster AR barrel twist rate will USUALLY (ha!) give good accuracy with this round.

Interesting. All of my penetration tests were done on phonebooks. . Good to know about the propane tank thing. This stuff cycles flawlessly through my dedicated .22 upper and is extremely accurate. I'm glad I managed to snatch up cases of it before it all disappeared.

EDIT: Maybe CCI's mystical copper coating helped penetration. But in all likelyhood, it was velocity over mass. Like a 9mm will punch a plate that a .45 wont.

[johnnywitt]

Interesting. All of my penetration tests were done on phonebooks. . Good to know about the propane tank thing. This stuff cycles flawlessly through my dedicated .22 upper and is extremely accurate. I'm glad I managed to snatch up cases of it before it all disappeared.

EDIT: Maybe CCI's mystical copper coating helped penetration. But in all likelyhood, it was velocity over mass. Like a 9mm will punch a plate that a .45 wont.

Yeah Shao, I love that stuff. The Eley Prime makes it smell funny, but its some of the best RF Primer out there. Really, that round is just a .22 Short Case with a .22 Short HV powder charge driving a 60gr bullet.

For Greg Bell's benefit, I've shot those Aguila SSS out of both of my S&W J Frame 317's and got poor accuracy and with some rounds keyholing, even at close 3yrds. I practice with my Lightweight J Frames from contact range out to 7 yards mostly.

[Shao]

Yeah Shao, I love that stuff. The Eley Prime makes it smell funny, but its some of the best RF Primer out there. Really, that round is just a .22 Short Case with a .22 Short HV powder charge driving a 60gr bullet.

For Greg Bell's benefit, I've shot those Aguila SSS out of both of my S&W J Frame 317's and got poor accuracy and with some rounds keyholing, even at close 3yrds. I practice with my Lightweight J Frames from contact range out to 7 yards mostly.

That would explain why I've never had one fail to go bang. Honestly, I've shot it out of a 1/16" twist barrel and it didn't keyhole at all at 50 yds. The only keyholing I've noticed is when I shoot it out of my NAA mini-revolver. But what's weird is that even though it keyholes at short distances, it's the most accurate
round that I've found for that gun - but I haven't tried shooting it past 20 ft or so.

I bought most of mine when it was $35 for a box of 500 and I thought that I was paying too much! If I only knew how things would have turned out.

[johnnywitt]

That would explain why I've never had one fail to go bang. Honestly, I've shot it out of a 1/16" twist barrel and it didn't keyhole at all at 50 yds. The only keyholing I've noticed is when I shoot it out of my NAA mini-revolver. But what's weird is that even though it keyholes at short distances, it's the most accurate
round that I've found for that gun - but I haven't tried shooting it past 20 ft or so.

I bought most of mine when it was $35 for a box of 500 and I thought that I was paying too much! If I only knew how things would have turned out.

Just goes to show that with .22RF Rounds, one can expect wildly divergent results, even with the exact same make and model weapon. I've experienced this over and over throughout the years.
Man Shao, I've still got a about half a case. I'm not looking forward to the day I run out. It's one of the most fun rounds to shoot. Those things will flat out slap the shit out of a plate or a bowling pin.

[Shao]

Just goes to show that with .22RF Rounds, one can expect wildly divergent results, even with the exact same make and model weapon. I've experienced this over and over throughout the years.
Man Shao, I've still got a about half a case. I'm not looking forward to the day I run out. It's one of the most fun rounds to shoot. Those things will flat out slap the shit out of a plate or a bowling pin.

Get on all of the e-mail notifications that you can for it - I managed to pick up one more case a few months ago for $60 or so (limit one, bastards). They sold out in about 3 hours though. The Armory used to always have it stock for cheap, along with all of the other Aguila loadings. But now they're out of stock and it looks like when they do have it in stock, it's $90 a case!!! I hope they don't stop making it. It really is a unique, misunderstood round, and I can only imagine what it must sound like out of a suppressed gun. I must hoard all that I can find!