This page is for .22 Long Rifle ammo, also known as .22 LR or 22LR. This is almost always what people are talking about when they just say 22 ammo.
Note, however, that .22 Long is different (and there's also .22 Short which is also different)!
These links show each website's list of prices for .22 LR ammo of all types.
| AmmoSeek | WikiArms | AmmoSpy | GunBot | Gun.Deals |
| Type of Ammo | AmmoSeek | WikiArms |
|---|---|---|
| CCI Standard Velocity | CCI?ikw=standard%20velocity | q=CCI+Standard+Velocity&caliber=1&source= |
| CCI Standard Velocity 0032 | 22lr/CCI?ikw=0032 | q=CCI+0032&caliber=1&source= |
| CCI Green Tag | CCI?ikw=Green%20Tag | q=CCI+Green+Tag&caliber=1&source= |
| Eley Club | Eley?ikw=club&ekw=Xtra | q=eley+club&caliber=1&source= |
| Eley Target | Eley?ikw=target | q=eley+target&caliber=1&source= |
| Federal Gold Medal Target 711B | Federal?ikw=711b | q=711b&caliber=1 |
| Norma (Tac-22 & Match-22) | Norma | q=norma&caliber=1 |
| SK Standard Plus | SK?ikw=standard%20plus | q=SK+standard+plus&caliber=1&source= |
| Wolf Match Target | Wolf?ikw=Match%20Target | q=Wolf+Match+Target&caliber=1&source= |
| Wolf Match Extra | Wolf?ikw=Match%20Extra | q=Wolf+Match+Extra&caliber=1&source= |
There are also some shooting-supply places that cater to competition shooters. They sell match-grade ammo, but they don't show up on the above lists:
| Store | Eley Club | Eley Target | Sk Standard Plus | Wolf Match Target | Wolf Match Extra | Federal 711B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Killough Shooting Sports (KSS) | Eley Club | Eley Target | ||||
| Champion's Choice | Eley Club | Eley Target | SK Standard Plus | Wolf Match Target | Wolf Match Extra | |
| Champion Shooters Supply | Eley Club | Eley Target | SK Standard Plus | Wolf Match Target | Wolf Match Extra | Federal 711B |
What constitutes "medium-grade" 22LR ammo... When I'm shooting in competitions, or doing serious practice, I use a better grade of .22LR ammo. For my purposes, "better" means "more accurate and more reliable". But .22 caliber guns are notoriously picky about ammo when it comes to accuracy. One gun will shoot ammo A well and ammo B only average, and then another gun of the same make and model, will shoot ammo B well, and ammo A only average. So, to find out what ammo your gun likes, you just have to buy some and shoot it side-by-side with other brands. Also note that when you get really serious, even for a particular type of ammo, it can vary a little bit from lot to lot, so serious competitors will find a particular lot of ammo that their gun likes, and buy several thousand rounds of that lot, so they can shoot known-to-be-good-in-my-gun ammo for a year or more.
Why I like the ammo that I like... In my experience, my Browning Buckmark Target 5.5 pistol does indeed shoot certain types of .22LR ammo noticeably better than others. Of the ammo I've tried (which is mostly standard-velocity stuff that costs less than $10 per box of 50, or 20 cents per round), it tends to shoot the best groups with Eley Club, Eley Target, Federal 711B, and SK Standard Plus. It shoots ok, but not great, with CCI Standard Velocity (0035 or 0032), CCI Green Tag, Wolf Match Extra (which, yes, I know, is supposed to be the same as SK Standard Plus), and RWS Pistol Match. And it shoots noticeably less well with Federal AutoMatch (AM22), Federal 510, or CCI Blazer (which is not surprising, since those are some of the cheapest types of .22 ammo available). Because I dislike the oil-like lube used on SK Standard Plus (because it gets on my fingers when loading the magazine, and is then annoying when shooting), and Federal 711B sometimes has extraction/ejection issues, I prefer to use Eley Club and Eley Target, which use a drier lube, and don't have reliability issues.
What's the best 22LR ammo... Are the ones listed above the best .22 ammo available? Absolutely not. There are many more expensive types of .22LR ammo than these, like Eley Tenex, Eley Match Pistol, Federal Gold Medal Match 922A, Federal Gold Medal Ultra-Match UM22, Lapua Center-X, Lapua Midas+, RWS R50, RWS R100, and others. Why not use the best? For me, it's because cost IS a factor. Most of the ammo that I describe as "better" 22 ammo above is in the range of 10-18 cents per round in 2015 - 2017. But the really good stuff is in the 33-60 cents per round range. No big deal for a single box of 50, but if you're shooting 5000 rounds per year (~100/week), 13 cents per round costs $650/yr, but 42 cents per round costs $2,100/yr! For my shooting budget, that's a big deal.
A note on CCI Standard Velocity ammo... It's confusing, but there are 2 different types of ammo that CCI labels "Standard Velocity". One type comes in either 50-round paper boxes or 500-round bricks containing 10 of those 50-round paper boxes, and has a model number of 0035. The other type comes in 100-round plastic "sleeve" containers with a sliding top, and has a model number of 0032. If you email CCI (I did), they will tell you that they are the same ammo. But they are not. If you pull the bullet out and dump out the powder, they are clearly using different powder. I've been told that they are made in different factories, too. But, most importantly for me, they tend to use different amounts of lube. The ones that I've tried in the paper boxes (0035) tend to have a lump of wax at the tip. This sometimes also happens with the ones in plastic boxes (0032), but not nearly as often, in my experience. The problem with the lump of wax is that, when the rounds are loaded into the magazine, that wax rubs off the bullet, and accumulates on the inside front of the magazine (where the bullet tips touch the inside of the mag body). If you aren't diligent about cleaning the accumulated wax out of the magazine (a Q-Tip works great for this), it will eventually lead to failure when the magazine doesn't feed the next round reliably. So, given the choice, I prefer the 0032, and avoid the 0035.
A note about Wolf .22LR ammo... Unlike most ammo of the Wolf brand, their .22LR ammo is NOT made in Russia with unusual cases, primers, and powders. Wolf .22 ammo is made in Schonebeck, Germany, in the same facility where Lapua and SK .22LR ammo is made. Lots of people use it and like it. It's good stuff.
A note about Federal Champion 510... I do not know why, but this ammo did not feed reliably in my old Buckmark. So I tried it in another, brand new Buckmark, and got the same thing... occasional failures to feed. It worked fine in my Remington 550 semi-auto rifle and CZ bolt action rifle. I have tons of Federal Auto-Match, and have had pretty good experience with it, so I'm not just bashing all Federal ammo here. Federal Gold Medal Target 711B ammo is very accurate in my Buckmark, but it sometimes has extraction and/or ejection issues, I think because it has a lighter-than-normal powder charge for a 22LR. Just another reason to try an ammo in your gun before you buy a bunch of it.