Thread: 22LR Supersonic Ammunition Accuracy Comparison

22LR Supersonic Ammunition Accuracy Comparison

“You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes
You get what you need!”

Keith Richards & Mick Jagger weren’t sing about ammunition supplies, but over the past couple of years that is exactly the situation.

An example of that is not being able to get CCI 40grn HP Subsonic for my Ruger 10/20 and having to use CCI 40grn Standard Target Solids.

But as you will be aware the “Slow Boat From China” (via America) came in a month or so ago, bringing stock to retail & now we are spoilt for choose, at least until the tide goes out again!

Before investing in a few thousand rounds I decided to do an accuracy test to see which high velocity round is suited to my Weihrauch HW60J. Rather than test every known Brand, I limited my choice to one supplier, who stocks Browning and Winchester:

1. Winchester 555 36grn HP Segmented @ 1280ft/sec
2. Winchester Super X 40grn HP @ 1300ft/sec
3. Browning BPR 40grn HP @ 1435ft/sec
4. Winchester Super Speed 40grn SOLID @ 1265ft/sec
5. Winchester Power Point 40grn HP @ 1280ft/sec
6. Winchester 555 36grn HP Segmented @ 1280ft/sec

Out in a farmers paddock I set up targets numbered 1 – 6 to correspond with the above list, at 30 odd metres & 75 metres. In the event I ran out of time and only shot the short range, but the results were pretty conclusive.

The target were shot with one round only, in sequence from 1- 6, with 60 seconds on barrel cooling time (action open) between shots, so as to avoid heat build-up & ensure the barrel was a consistent temperature throughout. That’s why I ran out of time….

My expectation was that each type would shot a 5 shot group (Because we all know that three shot groups are meaningless!) which would be thumb print sized……Not so…..

Results listed from tightest group, to biggest group:

1. Winchester Power Point 40grn HP @ 1280ft/sec 12mm
2. Browning BPR 40grn HP @ 1435ft/sec 20mm
3. Winchester Super Speed 40grn SOLID @ 1265ft/sec 22mm
4. Winchester Super X 40grn HP @ 1300ft/sec 28mm
5. Equal: Winchester 555 36grn HP Segmented @ 1280ft/sec / Winchester 555 36grn HP Segmented @ 1280ft/sec 30mm

Needless to say I have purchased and few thousand rounds of Winchester Power Point 40grn HP @ 1280ft/sec which I have been using for the past month & am very happy with the results.

NOTE – DISCLAIMER: These are the results which I achieved with my rifle, with my shooting technique. The results which you achieve with your rifle may differ, but the general principle of trying different Brands & Weights to see what best suits your rifle holds true for both rimfire & centre fire. Also note that there can be variations between manufactured batches, so the ammunition you buy in 12 months time may shoot differently to the ammunition you test this month.

“Good luck on your mission. As always, should you or any of your IM Force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape/disc will self-destruct in five/ten seconds. Good luck, Dan/Jim.”

Great writeup and photos.
The Win PowerPoint 40gn HP definitely performed better than the rest by quite a large margin. However, you seem to have mixed up the Win PowerPoint 42 gn with the Winchester 555 36grn HP Segmented - see number 6 in the ammo list and number 5 in the results test.

Couple of questions:
What scope is on your Weihrauch HW60J?
Have you compared the supersonic results with subsonic ammo?

Interesting you did no good with Winchester 42 grn...it's been a good load in the past.not sure about new batches.also interesting you have solids available.dont see them often.the HP superspeed used to be great load.

@Hermitage yeah, nah, bugger! Botched the text! Thanks for letting me know. Correction should read:

Test ammunition listed as per photos and targets:

1. Winchester 555 36grn HP Segmented @ 1280ft/sec
2. Winchester Super X 40grn HP @ 1300ft/sec
3. Browning BPR 40grn HP @ 1435ft/sec
4. Winchester Super Speed 40grn SOLID @ 1265ft/sec
5. Winchester Power Point 40grn HP @ 1280ft/sec
6. Winchester Power Point 42 Max 42grn HP @ 1320ft/sec

Results correctly listed: Results listed from tightest group, to biggest group:

1. Winchester Power Point 40grn HP @ 1280ft/sec 12mm
2. Browning BPR 40grn HP @ 1435ft/sec 20mm
3. Winchester Super Speed 40grn SOLID @ 1265ft/sec 22mm
4. Winchester Super X 40grn HP @ 1300ft/sec 28mm
5. Equal: Winchester 555 36grn HP Segmented @ 1280ft/sec / Winchester Power Point 42 Max 42grn HP @ 1320ft/sec 30mm both

@Hermitage
The scope in that photo is a Minox ZA5 3-15X42 with side parallax.
My other Minox scope is a ZL3 4-12X40 which I put on my first Weihrauch 22LR four years ago and haven't seen the need to change.
Both have BDC reticles.
I rate Minox as being very good, whilst still being economically priced.

With regards to your question, "Have you compared the supersonic results with subsonic ammo?" The answer is no, I don't see the point in comparing apples to oranges. By that I mean I have one Weihrauch set-up to shoot subs and the other set-up to shoot supers. This test was to ascertain the best supersonic round for use in the supersonic gun.

My first Weihrauch 22LR with the Minox ZL3 4-12X40 has been firing Winchester 42 Max Subsonic since day one. My theory on selection that round was, heavier bullet, more kinetic energy, more consistent, humane kills. With that combination of rifle, scope and ammunition my furthest ones shot kill is 162 metres. The heavy bullet seems to suit that rifle. Having said that, things change, and when I use up the last 1000 or 2 of the 42 Max Subs, I might just go back to square one and do an accuracy comparisons on 5 or six subsonic ammunitions.

Good post. I remember doing something similar a while back with subsonic ammo. My CZ 452 just loves CCI Subsonic, so I'll stick to that. Your comment about lack of availability got me Googling, especially after a 200 round plinking session yesterday! Seems widely available now.

For me, 22LR = subsonic. Never found a super accurate supersonic round for my rifle, but I haven't tied too hard. Love the quietness of subsonic. Never had a problem killing rabbits, but admittedly possums are harder to put down.

Originally Posted by MB

Good post. I remember doing something similar a while back with subsonic ammo. My CZ 452 just loves CCI Subsonic, so I'll stick to that. Your comment about lack of availability got me Googling, especially after a 200 round plinking session yesterday! Seems widely available now.

For me, 22LR = subsonic. Never found a super accurate supersonic round for my rifle, but I haven't tied too hard. Love the quietness of subsonic. Never had a problem killing rabbits, but admittedly possums are harder to put down.

when they looking at you...either right between the eyes or in the brown V of the chest..that will often exit between shoulder blades breaking spine after destroying lungs etc...

Interesting test - the Weihrauch HW60J is certainly an accurate rifle. Was given one to test review years back in 22 WMR and it was straight down to 0.2s and 0.3s at 50m.

The results are helpful in identifying for you best performing Winchester/Browning ammo, but the results themselves at 12- 30mm groups at 30 meters are less than you can expect from the Weihrauch. These groups might equate roughly to 20-50mm groups at 50m, which suggests none of those HV ammos are ideal for this rifle. With right ammos I'd expect 0.25 - 0.4" even with hunting HV ammos. One problem is the very good quality Winchester from the past was often made in Aus - eg orange packet HV powerpoint, and this round is no longer available as all ammos now US sourced - so far as I know. Orange Powerpoint in my sporter 22s could average down to just under 0.3" for four consec 5 shot groups at 50, and earlier high quality Aguila/Fiocchi HVs could easily shoot 0.3 - 0.4s consistently.

The struggle today is finding good factory 22 hunting loads - I don't know of any to match the excellent earlier stuff. Perhaps someone up near Wgtn can supply you with a packet or two of older Aus orange packet Powerpoint to experiment with, and CCI minimag HV is also a useful round. My little Marlin 795SS semi shot 3 consec groups averaging 0.48" at 50m with it.

Keep up the experimenting HS - and please let us know what does perform well.

Cheers Mudz

Many moons ago when I bought my 10/22 I bought a pack of most major subsonic brands and found that it liked CCI the best

I well understand the logic of testing what you can get rather than unicorn poos

And all 22 ammo has a high variation from group to group, let alone lot to lot.

If one looks at the results of Rambo6mmrems 22 competion (under events) there are many targets demonstrating excellent shooting with very accuate rifles. What is interesting is that even with this combination most sets of groups have quite a wide range in group size even though the average might be very nice.

All this means is that your results might vary quite a bit if you shoot multiple groups with each ammo.

Well you did OK with BPR.
Bought some to try couple of years back. Some went crack, some went pop. Don't remember groups as such, I did comment about it on here, but the velocity variation was wild. I have a sneaky suspicion one or two might not have even gone off

RWS high velocity Hp has been the best in both my 22s by a country mile. The RWS subsonic hp is also very good, Ill use it over cci, its a genuine sub and dosnt have the horrible velocity spread Iv found with cci .
The hardest part of testing rimfire ammo is finding a totally windless day that wont affect results to much.

Originally Posted by Hugh Shields

@Hermitage
The scope in that photo is a Minox ZA5 3-15X42 with side parallax.
My other Minox scope is a ZL3 4-12X40 which I put on my first Weihrauch 22LR four years ago and haven't seen the need to change.
Both have BDC reticles.
I rate Minox as being very good, whilst still being economically priced.

With regards to your question, "Have you compared the supersonic results with subsonic ammo?" The answer is no, I don't see the point in comparing apples to oranges. By that I mean I have one Weihrauch set-up to shoot subs and the other set-up to shoot supers. This test was to ascertain the best supersonic round for use in the supersonic gun.

My first Weihrauch 22LR with the Minox ZL3 4-12X40 has been firing Winchester 42 Max Subsonic since day one. My theory on selection that round was, heavier bullet, more kinetic energy, more consistent, humane kills. With that combination of rifle, scope and ammunition my furthest ones shot kill is 162 metres. The heavy bullet seems to suit that rifle. Having said that, things change, and when I use up the last 1000 or 2 of the 42 Max Subs, I might just go back to square one and do an accuracy comparisons on 5 or six subsonic ammunitions.

I would second that for the earlier Minox gear that was European optical components and assembled in the US I think - the later examples were if I recall Japanese optical parts and assembled somewhere else? Mine is a ZA5 2-10x40 BDC and it is as good as anything else I've tried in a comparable size.

Really interesting in that you find the Powerpoint black the better of the lot, like Mudgripz I really rate the Aussie orange box Powerpoint and found the US stuff to be about double in terms of group and variation on target from the same rifle. Its a shame, the Aussie product was the ducks nuts in everything I tried it in (with the exception of a couple of semi's which didn't like the truncated cone bullet). Also, the same bullet was in the Aussie subsonic .22 ammo - that was exceptionally effective.

Originally Posted by csmiffy

Well you did OK with BPR.
Bought some to try couple of years back. Some went crack, some went pop. Don't remember groups as such, I did comment about it on here, but the velocity variation was wild. I have a sneaky suspicion one or two might not have even gone off

Yup. On another session I did at 100m the BPR had an A4 page spread!!!! I've taken to inspecting the BPR and some, straight out of the bix, were BENT like bananas ��?????

I must be very dense. I read your post thrice and still cannot work out your groups are at 30m or 75m.

Can you clarify?