Low cost, minimal recoil, and relatively low noise make the .22 LR an ideal cartridge for recreational shooting, initial firearms training, small-game hunting, and pest control. Used by Boy Scouts in the United States for the rifle shooting merit badge, the cartridge is popular among novice shooters and experts alike. The rimfire round is commonly packaged in boxes of 50 or 100 rounds, and is often sold by the brick, a carton containing either 10 boxes of 50 rounds or loose cartridges totalling 500 rounds, or the case containing 10 bricks totalling 5,000 rounds. 22 LR ammunition is among the least costly cartridge ammunition available. A wide variety of rimfire ammunition is available commercially, and the available ammunition varies widely both in price and performance.

Suggested Use

• Predators
• Small Game
• Varmint
• Target

Performance

Bullet weights among commercially available ammunition range from 20 to 60 grains (1.3 to 3.9 g), and velocities vary from 575 to 1,750 fts (175 to 533 ms). Promotional loads for plinking can be purchased in bulk for significantly less cost than precision target rounds. The low cost of ammunition has a substantial effect on the popularity of the .22 LR. For this reason, rimfire cartridges are commonly used for target practice.

40-grain (2.6 g) lead: 1,082 ft/s (330 m/s) .22 LR subsonic

36-grain (2.3 g) copper plated lead: 1,328 ft/s (405 m/s) .22 LR high velocity

32-grain (2.1 g) copper plated lead: 1,640 ft/s (500 m/s) .22 LR hyper-velocity CCI Stinger.