Is .22 ammo even available? It was a pain in the ass last I looked. But I'll admit that was quite some time ago since I don't have a .22 myself.
Is .22 ammo even available? It was a pain in the ass last I looked. But I'll admit that was quite some time ago since I don't have a .22 myself.
Yeah, the ammo crisis is residing. Either people aren't as 'fraid of The O and The D's, or they have spent every single penny they have on ammo. Or maybe both. Take your pick. Anyway, Wally World has the little 550 or 555 bricks available these days. In fact, the last time I looked, the ammo locker at Wally World actually was pretty well stocked. And the online sellers have plenty as well, I think. The local Wally World even has Federal 9mm for $9.47/box of 50. I don't think you can make them yourself for that.
Woody wrote: Think of the 10/22 like a Chevy 350. It's not the best out there, but it's cheap and there are more aftermarket upgrades out there for it than for any other gun in the world.
Yeah, no. You forget the .45 auto has the most amount of upgrades and modifications available to it.
Dr. Hess wrote: Yeah, the ammo crisis is residing. Either people aren't as 'fraid of The O and The D's, or they have spent every single penny they have on ammo. Or maybe both. Take your pick. Anyway, Wally World has the little 550 or 555 bricks available these days. In fact, the last time I looked, the ammo locker at Wally World actually was pretty well stocked. And the online sellers have plenty as well, I think. The local Wally World even has Federal 9mm for $9.47/box of 50. I don't think you can make them yourself for that.
Nice to know. For a while I had a buddy who had me looking every time I went anywhere it might be found.
Have been looking at getting something to go plinking that takes cheaper ammo (cheaper than .303), but the unreliable availability of .22 made it not worthwhile. Then it sort of got back-burnered until this thread came up and reminded me.
About the best deals in center fire rifle ammo right now is Russian/(former) East Block 7.62x54R at around a quarter a pop and 5.45x39 at around 15 cents. The Mosin's are still cheap, but an AK will set you back about 4 bills. For under two bills, you can get a mosin and 440 rounds of ammo and still be cheaper than buying 300 rounds of 303 ammo.
http://www.jgsales.com/index.php/c/ammo-for-rifles/cPath/12?osCs
Even when it is expensive .22 LR is cheaper than anything else. Currently it runs 2.5 cents to 7 cents per round in my part of Michigan
pilotbraden wrote: Even when it is expensive .22 LR is cheaper than anything else. Currently it runs 2.5 cents to 7 cents per round in my part of Michigan
It wasn't a matter of being expensive. It was a matter of (at the time) it being damn near unavailable.
I believe that's why the doc specified center fire.
On that note, I do keep kicking around the idea of a Mosin as well, but just because I want one, not due to cheapness (though they are nice and cheap). On the other hand, I didn't realize the prices of 5.45x39 was that good as well.
Considering Mosins were brought up again I'll show off mine (again). This was a Valentines day present from my girl friend and it set her back $150 with the synthetic stock and scope setup (came with the wood stock as well though there is a crack in it). This is a M44, the short barreled carbine version. At some point I still want to get a 91.
Great little gun and a week later I had a crate of 880 rounds of Russian steel core ammo delivered to the house (nicely packed in spam cans).
For a Grassroots alternative to Hoppes,Breakfree,etc. make up some Ed's Red. Don't have a link to the formula but it's easy to google.
Is this what I should be buying? I got a gift card to Cabela's too 
You don't need that. You need http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp;jsessionid=EB5YYZHOBIGRRLAQBBISCOFMCAEFEIWE?id=0059345290141a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntt=break+free&Ntk=Product_liberal&sort=all&Go.y=0&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form1&Go.x=0
and I just suck it up and buy a gallon when I need it (every 10 years). Works great for other stuff too. What you have linked you'll likely never need for your 22. Some of this: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/standard-pod-wrapped.jsp;jsessionid=QTZL04JOGKJKTLAQBBKCCOVMCAEFKIWE?id=0059422&navCount=1&parentId=cat603834&masterpathid=&navAction=push&cmCat=MainCatcat602007-cat603831-cat603834_TGP&parentType=index&indexId=cat603834&rid= for when it's really, really, really gunked up. A general cleaning kit like: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp;jsessionid=GU1ZXDFVGXZVPLAQBBJSCO3MCAEFIIWE?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat602007-cat603831-cat603833&id=0059424222258a&navCount=1&podId=0059424&parentId=cat603833&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=2UG&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat601233 is pretty handy and has everything except the Break Free in it.
Tom Heath wrote:joey48442 wrote: Get some hoppes number 9, a bore brush, some patches and a cleaning rod.Best scent on earth.Someday, Estée Lauder will catch on.
I always thought of it as smelling like toxic bananas.
Joey
Dr. Hess wrote: You don't need that. You need http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp;jsessionid=EB5YYZHOBIGRRLAQBBISCOFMCAEFEIWE?id=0059345290141a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntt=break+free&Ntk=Product_liberal&sort=all&Go.y=0&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form1&Go.x=0 and I just suck it up and buy a gallon when I need it (every 10 years). Works great for other stuff too. What you have linked you'll likely never need for your 22. Some of this: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/standard-pod-wrapped.jsp;jsessionid=QTZL04JOGKJKTLAQBBKCCOVMCAEFKIWE?id=0059422&navCount=1&parentId=cat603834&masterpathid=&navAction=push&cmCat=MainCatcat602007-cat603831-cat603834_TGP&parentType=index&indexId=cat603834&rid= for when it's really, really, really gunked up. A general cleaning kit like: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp;jsessionid=GU1ZXDFVGXZVPLAQBBJSCO3MCAEFIIWE?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat602007-cat603831-cat603833&id=0059424222258a&navCount=1&podId=0059424&parentId=cat603833&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=2UG&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat601233 is pretty handy and has everything except the Break Free in it.
If I already have the boresnake coming do I need the whole cleaning kit too? Does it matter between the aerosol and the liquid or is it just a matter of convenience?
On the feeding of your rifle i can recommend several different bullets. My Wal-mart stocks several different bricks of 22lr. When i buy a brick i buy Federal Auto Match. HV 40gr. Around 1200 out of a rifle. $15 for 325 bullets. Not the cheapest but i can afford it. The price is good for the accuracy you get. I would recommend staying away from Remington Golden bullets as they have "somewhat" of a rep for being very dirty, not so accurate in most guns (though you never can tell, some guns like some stuff others don't), and they will lead a barrel quicker. CCI is very good, i like their mini mags for hunting, they lube their bullets so they have a good rep for being a reliable cycling round though the Marlin 60 should eat just about everything. CCI makes some hyper velocity rounds, as do a few other manufacturers, such as the stinger 1600fps and Velociraptor 1400fps. I would stay away from these rounds. SOME guns don't have the springs to shoot a lot of these rounds, the 60 should be fine but their is no real reason to buy them. Anything you can kill/hit with them you can do just as well with a cheaper bullet. They also cost about $8 for 50 where a 100 round box of mini mags costs five and change.
If you wanted to see just how well you gun can shoot i would buy a real match bullet like Federal Premium Match, Wolf Target, CCI Green Tag, Remington Elay, Fiocchi Match or the like. These are TOP shelf choices that will run about $6-8 per 50. My Savage shoots under a 1/2 inch with any of the above.
Everybody needs a conventional cleaning rod. The boresnake thingies are interesting and all, but some things just need to be around the house. What if you have a stuck case? Unlikely in that rifle, but you never know. You ain't gonna tap it out with a bore snake. You can also use it to clean out oil passages on motor blocks, so consider it multi-purpose. A really good one to get is a military surplus M16 cleaning rod. 22 caliber, breaks down into a small package, easy to fit in a tackle box, etc. Sells for like five bucks.
The Brake Free aerosol spray versus the squirt bottle is a matter of preference and cost. I've used both, but buy the gallon jug liquid size for reduced cost and just fill up a little hand sized squirt bottle with it. I think they still make "Tri Flo," which is a similar product.
I once bought a case of 5000 Russian 22's. Man, those things were accurate. Really nasty, though, with this thick grease all over them, and "standard velocity," so pretty slow, but really, really tight groups out to 75 yards from a 10" barrel Contender, then they just ran out of steam by 100 and I was losing Rams that wouldn't go down when hit.
I buy the Remington golden bullets. The are certainly bottom of the line stuff, and I get maybe 2-3 that don't go boom per box, which is really sad, because you never saw that happen with US made ammo even 15 years ago. If you take them out, rotate them 180 degrees and try again, they will usually go off. They're cheap, though, and otherwise work well in my semi-autos.
A couple of thoughts:
If you're not experienced with firearms, find a local instructor. My first and best instructor's name was "Dad".
Get the manual, and read it. It's online.
Cleaning the gunk from the receiver and bolt goes a long way to keeping .22's running. Get one of those double-ended toothbrush-looking cleaning brushes, some long non-metal picks and go to town.
Duly noted Dr. Hess and slantvaliant. Just noticed that the kit you linked doesn't include brushes. Are those universal or does each brand have a proprietary design?
You shouldn't need a brush for a long time, if ever. Then you only want to use a soft brass brush, and only on a really leaded up barrel, which on a 22 is not a frequent event. Brushes are available anywhere accessories are sold.
The comercial cleaning rods all have the same thread, so any brush, jag, tip you buy at the store will fit them all. The military cleaning rods have a different thread, so you have to use ends specific for them, which usually means whatever came in the kit. Adapters from military thread to comercial thread are available, but hard to come by.
Here's the M16 kit: http://www.amazon.com/MILITARIA-AR-15-M16-Cleaning-Kit/dp/B0000C2QLN I picked up an extra center section for long barrels. Gun shows are great places to buy that kind of thing. I now have a carbon fiber rod, though, so I use that at home.
Yep. And a brick or three of .22LR.
Enjoy, safely.
Done deal
Get a bunch of these, just because they're so cute.
You'll need to log in to post.
