After testing ammo a while back, I decided on Remington Golden HP ammo for my critter eradication. Round nose ammo that I had on hand, like CCI Blazer, was more accurate, but in exhaustive ‘testing’, it didn’t perform as well on selected critters as the HPs did. I was using the Remington ammo out of an old 500 count box, and it shot really nice groups at 50 yards, in my Tikka T1X with an Athlon 22 rimfire 4-12 scope. Well, here it is springtime and I’ve been using a good bit of that ammo, and am starting to run low. So, I broke open a 500 count newer box of the Goldens to see if they had the same impact point, or if I’d have to adjust the scope. Good news is that the scope needed no adjustment, but the new ammo isn’t as accurate as the old stuff. That’s disappointing, but it’ll do for what I need.

I had read that old 22 ammo was more accurate than the newer stuff, but I had never had any reason to test it out for myself. Now, maybe it’s just this lot of ammo, and another box might be as accurate as the old stuff.

This gives me some desire to buy another box of HP ammo, so I’m open for recommendations. Don’t say to buy Herters, cause I already did that and I’ll give you a box if you’ll drive over to get it. Just not good enough to suit me. What mass produced 22LR HP ammo do you get best accuracy from?

Not the best shooting rounds, but for HP's my Ruger 77/22 likes Mini Mags. The best shooting rounds for me are CCI SV or FGMM HV.

In the old days ('80s) I liked CCI MiniMags for killing jackrabbits but I had not really tested it for accuracy. In the '90s I found American Eagle hollowpoints to be very accurate in my Remington 541T, but I don't think the stuff they made after 2001 was as accurate. I was getting great accuracy out of Auto Match bought before 2009 in my Winchester 52, but stuff I bought after 2012 just didn't seem to be as good. I am not sure the latest Wolf Match Target is as good as it was fifteen years ago, I need to test.

I think quality does vary over time. I could easily be convinced that's just how they plan things out: introduce a very good product and build reputation on the name, capture market, then let quality slide to maximize the bottom line. I don't know it for a fact, but as I said---I could be easily convinced.

Remington's propotional "Thunderbolt" has been consistently bad each time I shot any of it, no matter when it was made or purchased.

Next time I’m in Waco, I’ll get some mini-mag HPs. Last time I tried them in my rifle, they didn’t shoot as well as the Remington Golden HPs. Another try seems reasonable. I gave away all of my Thunderbolts, so restocking with something accurate is my aim (no pun intended).

Could be that newer ammo is less accurate and it could also be that the load Remington uses changed slightly and now your gun doesn't like it as much.

My 10/22 target shoots 40gr solids really well so that is what I use mostly. As far as cheap bulk hp I used to get pretty good stuff with the Winchester 333 boxes.

Mine didn't like the 'golden' value pack much but the rem 333 from WM does pretty good.

Boy, isn’t that the truth. The best you can say about it is that it will usually go bang.

I had bullets falling out of the 'thunderbolts'.

I’ve got many thousands of golden bullets. Several of the buckets they made too. All are about 20 years old kept in a climate controlled gun room. If you’re ever around my area I can make you a deal on plenty of them.

I’ll consider that. You aren’t that far from me. First though, I’ll pick up some small boxes of other HPs and test them out. I’ll do that as soon as I can.

Gotta say though, a bucket of those Golden hollow points might be just the thing. Thanks for mentioning it, and I’ll respond before too long.

In my experience, I have found that CCI is the most consistent brand of regular 22 ammo without going to the high dollar match grade ammo. But then again, the high dollar match grade ammo is typically round nose, not HP, so it does not fit your needs either. If you find something that your gun likes, buy a whole bunch of the same lot.

CCI Subsonic HPs are what my CZ 457 is sighted in with. My Winchester 190 is sighted in with the Aguila Super Extra HV HPs, Aguila usually punches well above its price so that's my go to for bulk ammo. Aguila SV round nose isn't too shabby the accuracy department considering the price, shoots a little better than CCI SV for me.

On the way to the NAPA store (Yamaha ATV issue) this morning, I stopped off at the local gunshop and picked up some HP Mini Mags, some CCI and some Federal HPs. I’ll shoot em up this afternoon or tomorrow at 50 yards. Front and rear bags. Might be a problem though, since the wife is mowing, which means she’ll want US to weed eat. In this sort of activity, US means ME.

If I need a HP to kill something, I usually reach for the CCI MiniMags. They've been the best over time, for me.