Small But Mighty: The 5 Best 22LR Hunting Loads on the Market

Created with the inspiration and name of well-known hunter Steve Rinella the CCI MiniMag “Meateater” lineup of 36-grain hunting ammunition features a reasonably fast 1,260 fps bullet velocity out of standard 16″ barrels. The Meateater lineup uses a 36-grain copper-plated hollow point and in my experience, these feed well out of all my semi-autos and are great out of rifles with even longer barrel lengths. CCI ammunition 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 ammunition on the market and they also have one of the better non-hollow-point 22lr hunting ammunition out there as well. Federal’s Game Shok ammunition features a 40-grain copper-plated round nose bullet that packs 137 ft-lbs of muzzle energy. This ammo is great for longer-range shots on small game like groundhogs, or even pest birds. Best of all, Federal’s Game Shok is pretty light on the wallet in terms of hunting ammunition.

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

Winchester 42 max has been one of my favorite types of rimfire ammunition ever to exist. Sadly it is fast disappearing from shelves and stockroom but occasionally you can still find it out there in stores and online. The Subsonic variant of the 42 max features a heavier bullet and a consistent trajectory regardless of distance meaning your shots are more predictable than supersonic hunting ammunition at longer ranges. Finally, the 42 max works well out of nearly every semi-automatic 22LR firearm.

Featuring one of the industries only fragmenting 22LR rounds. the CCI Segmented Hollow Point is a subsonic offering that allows for maximum stopping power on small targets. These fragmenting rounds a great for ensuring a clean and quick kill on most small game but the round does limit your kill range to within the speed threshold where the bullet will consistently fragment. Being a subsonic round this is further reduced but the reliability of this ammo when it comes to putting down targets quickly is why it made it on this list.