SAR 18#6

.22 Long Rifle
CONVERSION FOR THE BLACK RIFLE PART 2
By Christopher R. Bartocci
Without a doubt, the .22 Long Rifle caliber
ammunition is the most popular in the industry.
Rifles and handguns are made in every configuration
possible making it a universal caliber. For
the occasional plinker there is a gun and ammo
combination and for the competitive shooter
there is a rifle and ammunition combination as
well. Hunters love the caliber for small game.
All of the major U.S. ammunition manufacturers
make multiple loads in this popular caliber.
Ammunition is broken down into 4 categories
for the most part. First is subsonic, which is normally
1,050 fps or less. This is good for use with
suppressors as well as when noise is desired
to be reduced. The second is standard velocity,
which is normally around 1,150 fps. This is often
target and match ammunition. The third is high
velocity, which is usually around 1,280 fps. This
is often for target and hunting ammunition. Also,
this is preferred in semiautomatic firearms to reliably
cycle the action. The fourth is hyper velocity,
which is around 1,500 fps. This is normally
a hunting load. Projectiles for the .22 Long Rifle
are basically lead round nose or hollow point. Often
they will be copper plated to keep the bore
from leading. Some are truncated cone shaped
such as the Remington Viper and Yellow Jacket.
These truncated cone shaped projectiles often
encounter feeding problems in semiautomatic
firearms. There are specialty bullets as well is
various subsonic loads.
For instance, Federal Cartridge Company
offers standard (Champion), subsonic (American
Eagle), match (Gold Medal) and high velocity
(Champion and Game Shok) hunting rounds.
Remington offers a wide range of loads. In standard
velocity they offer a .22 Target Load. In high
velocity they offer the Cyclone, Thunderbolt and
Game Load. In hyper velocity they offer the Viper
and Yellow Jacket. CCI offer one of the largest
selections of loads. In subsonic they offer the
Subsonic HP and Quiet .22. CCI offers Standard
Velocity with the STR VEL, Green Tag Match,
Pistol Match and Select. High velocity offerings
include SGB, Mini-Mag and AR Tactical. CCI offers
hyper velocity rounds in the Stinger, Velocitor
and SRG. Winchester offers a significant number
of options as well with one in particular that is
pertinent to this article. It is called their M22 load
which is a 40 grain Black Copper Plated round
nose projectile fired at 1,255 fps. This was specifically
designed to burn cleaner in AR-type .22
Long Rifle rifles.
SAR Vol. 18, No. 6 64 Nov., Dec. 2014