Top 5 22LR Hunting Loads on the Market

Created with the inspiration and name of well-known hunter Steve Rinella, the CCI MiniMag “Meateater” line of 36-grain hunting ammunition features a reasonably fast bullet velocity of 1,260 fps from standard 16″ barrels. The Meateater line uses a 36 grain copper plated hollow point and in my experience these feed well on all my semi-autos and are great for rifles with even longer barrel lengths. CCI ammo always uses the cleanest propellants and primer material, so this ammo is also great for keeping your gun clean, even when you practice with it.

Federal has some of my favorite self defense ammo on the market and they also have some of the best non-hollow point 22lr hunting ammo out there. Federal’s Game Shok ammunition features a 40-grain copper-coated round-nose bullet that packs 137 foot-pounds of muzzle energy. This ammo is excellent for longer range shots at small animals like groundhogs or even pest birds. Best of all, the Federal Game Shok is pretty light in terms of hunting ammo.

This 40 grain flat point bullet features the same ballistics as the standard 40 grain CCI lead round point. This means you’ll get good speed, trajectory, and the same point of impact so you don’t have to make any adjustments to your optics or sights to get accurate hits. The flat nose bullet means you’ll be sure to get a good amount of spread up to 50 yards away and make sure all the energy hits your target instead of going through it.

Winchester 42 max has been one of my favorite types of rimfire ammunition that has ever existed. Sadly, it’s fast disappearing from shelves and stock, but can still be found occasionally in stores and online. The subsonic variant of the 42 max features a heavier bullet and a constant trajectory regardless of distance, meaning its shots are more predictable than supersonic hunting ammunition at longer ranges. Finally, the 42 max works well with almost all 22LR semi-automatic firearms.

With one of the industries that only frags 22LR rounds. the CCI Segmented Hollow Point is a subsonic offering that allows maximum stopping power on small targets. These frag rounds are great for ensuring a clean, quick kill in most small games, but the round limits your kill range to within the speed threshold where the bullet will consistently frag. Being a subsonic round this is further reduced, but the reliability of this ammo when it comes to taking down targets quickly is why it is on this list.