Preferring to use CCI Blazer 40 grain LRNHS in 50 boxes, but knowing preferred brands are near unobtanium today, I thought I would compare accuracy and point of impact of four similar .22LR HS loads roughly rated at 1255fps.

They were:

CCI Blazer 40 grain LRNHS 50 box
CCI MiniMag 40 grain CPRNHS 100 box
Fiocchi 40 grain CPRNHS 50 box
Aguila 40 grain CPRNHS (called Super Extra) (250 round bulk pack)

Pistol:

Ruger Mk.II 6 7/8” Competition with UTG green dot

Rifle:

S&W AR15-22 with Bushnell TRS-25

Both were more or less well sighted in some time ago with CCI Blazer.  Shooting was from a sitting rest over a carpet roll appropriate to the pistol resting hands on the roll or the rifle resting the fore end hand on the roll.

The targets for the pistol were five 6” Shoot-N-See’s on a white board at 25 yards and the same for the rifle, but at 50 yards.  The 6” targets indicate the accuracy level and POI.

I fired 10 shots of each ammo at the four corner targets and then when done, refined the Blazer zero a little with the center target.

Pistol Target:



Rifle Target:



Comments:

1).  All four ammos were of about the same noise, recoil, ejection function, feel, etc.

2).  Neither gun was exactly zeroed for the Blazer, but all four 10 shot groups were shot with out sight change.  A couple clicks were adjusted later on the center target ending with it.  If the Blazer group in the center moved, every thing else would have been closer to center with the rifle.  The pistol was pretty close to start with.

3).  Group size was variable with the Blazer and Fiocchi making nice groups and the MiniMags and Aguila wandering about larger.

4).  The rifle sighted about a half inch up at 25 yards hits an inch or so high at 50 yards and then is close to zero at 75 yards.

5).  The pistol zeroed at 25 yards climbs and then drops down to about a 50 yard zero.

6).  After this shooting, the rifle, the pistol, and a Glock 44 were shot on 2” rocks in the berm sufficient to shoot about 300 rounds spread between the ammo boxes.  Every round fed, fired, and ejected in all three guns.  The Glock 44 sucks on 2” rocks at 60 yards.  The AR and Ruger both hit more than they missed.  A green or red dot is easier to see on white limestone rocks than it is visible on black bullseyes.

7).  The ammo functioned all guns well.  The group centers were all about in the same place.

8).  The powder used in the Aguila will open your sinuses with a distinctly biting acrid odor.  Like Cordite.

9).  The Fiocchi and Aguila do what a lot of brands fail at doing today:  They work semi auto guns properly.  So do the CCI items.

10). The Blazer and Fiocchi gave noteworthy accuracy on a 43F windy day.  

11). MiniMags and Aguila, not so much.    But they run 100%.

Fwiw when I was shooting competitions I found the Blaser to be VERY lot dependent. I had a couple of cases that would actually shoot better than cci standard and eley pistol match. But then the next case shot patterns. .22 is always kinda twitchy on accuracy in a given weapon.  

I found Eley and cci target ammo to be the most consistent lot to lot.

When testing for accuracy and changing types of ammo, it is recommended to blast 15-20 rounds to season the barrel to the change in bullet/ lube composition before settling in to do group testing.
The smell from the aguila is from the primer not the powder.I have found the Aguila the best inexpensive ammo available after CCI. I avoid Winchester and Remington like the plague.

same with my other favorite, cci SV.    The blazers can be made by cci or federal but put in cci boxes.  The lot number format and the trays were different.

Captain:

No arguement there, but if .22 ammo is that bore sensitive, it would take a way better gun than the plastic fantastic S&W AR15-22 to ever know the difference.  Its redeming value is proper AR controls and near perfect reliability.  It is usually used for 3-400 rounds at a time at 10-25 yards.  Minute of plate or A zone is what it is good for.

Steel:

Its my belief the Federal "Blazer" junk was always Blazer Bulk and the cases were always head stamped Federal "F", not CCI "C".

If Federal ever packed it as Blazer 50 box ammo much less faked the C headstamp, I am unaware of it.

The "test" was a user level check.  The groups were very clear building small compact ones or patterned shots here and there where you say that is not what I saw at the break when a bullet lands outside the diameter of the red dot.

The MiniMag brand ammo has never been very accurate.  It has consistent priming and always feeds, fires, and ejects.  It functions.  The Aguila seems similar and satisfactory.  I shot more of it today in the Glock 44 with perfect function.  It seems zippy.

Any of the four operate semi autos very nicely.  I would prefer any of them to the 36 grain CPHPs from Federal 525 and WW 333 that I have been shooting for fun lately.

This is true but only to a certain extent. I tested it just to see what happened. Switching between CCI, Federal, Aguila, and any other copper plated bullet there was no difference between the first group shot and the 5th group shot, all were well within the normal group to group variation. Switching from plated to lead bullets and back there was a very slight difference but only on the first group with one exception I'll go into a bit. Changing brands with plain lead bullets, again sometimes a very slight change in the first group with one major exception.
Now the exception. When switching to Eley ammo and even with a different type of Eley that uses a different lube, the first couple or three groups would be significantly larger than normal. Conversely, when switching from Eley to another brand, the first group or two tended to be tighter than normal. I know that Eley uses a different lube than the other makers, and also has a few different types they use on different lines of ammo so that I think explains a lot of this.

Really need to use  ransom rest to do a good test.

Go right ahead and post your results.

I have had similar experience with Blazer.  I had great results, was buying a couple bricks a week for $12, then $13..., 15, then $18 and stopped buying it.  Of course it was different lots and every lot was different.  

Then throw in if your Blazer rolled out of the CCI plant or you got a bastardizd Federal Lightning in Blazer boxes out of the Federal plant.  Lot number formats are the tell in addition to different styles of ammo trays in the boxes.


lol.  ETA.  I didn’t remember posting already.  

Could you expand or photo explain the CCI Blazer vs the Federal Blazer.  Bulk vs 50 boxes?

I, perhaps wrongly, thought the only Federal “Blazer” was bulk packed in Blazer bulk boxes, but with an “F” on the head rather than a “C”.

[email protected] did not know Blazer can be either CCI or Federal!  Learn new thing everyday.  I better take a look at my stash.

Thanks OP for the testing!

Just got some Aquila super extra to try out.

Thanks for the info, OP! I have never tried Fiocchi .22 and your results look great for that price range of ammo.

Aguila has always been nearly indistinguishable from similar CCI loads in my guns (M&P15/22, 10/22, MarkIII. ) I buy whichever is cheaper at the time, CCI or Aguila. Federal comes in a close second to those two brands.

Like you I have found CCI and Aguila to be extremely reliable in pistol and semi auto rifles. And I also avoid any form of Remington and Winchester unless it is for blasting rocks and pop cans.

I am going to keep an eye out for the Fiocchi!

I had excellent experience with Fiocchi Standard Velocity.

You can, or at least could at one time, find the Federal manufactured Blazer in 50rd boxes. The lot #, headstamp or lighter color lead were giveaways. The easiest way to tell Federal apart from CCI made Blazer is the cartridge divider. Federal uses the same light colored opaque divider as in their other 50rd rimfire boxes. CCI's Blazer has the brittle transparent divider used in so many or their products.

This is true.

Slight correction: Federal does use the "C" headstamp at times it seems. Another difference is the packaging. Notice the cardboard container differences. Embossed lot # on CCI circled, Federal visible on flap. 2021-03-08_10-06-57" /> 2021-03-08_10-07-08" />

Also Fiocchi rimfire is made by CCI. Fiocchi Standard Velocity is the exact same round as CCI Standard Velocity. The only difference is labeling. Lot # is what makes the difference in rimfire. Some(few) lot #'s of CCI SV will shoot with ELEY mid-grade(Club) while some are terrible. I have had some high end ELEY, LAPUA and SK shoot well, some not so much. Some lots of CCI Mini-Mag shoot well. You have to find which brand/type of rimfire rounds match favorably with your firearm and then chronograph the favored rounds by lot # for E.S. and S.D. to find rimfire accuracy. Precision with a rimfire is more difficult and more complicated than centerfire in my opinion. It is all about ammo quality(cost), firearm preference and the lot #'s when shooting rimfire. It is not a "cut and dried" affair.

I cant speed for pistol accuracy,  but my JP 22lr LOVES cci SV's.  If shot wolf gold and higher end 22 out of it and it does shoot it "better" but for the cost, I stick with the sv's.  That being said, when I tried about 10-12 different types of 22lr in it, it HATED any of the "cheap stuff." Like... bad.  I could shoot a 15 shot string of sv's at 50 yards at be the size of a quarter.  Try it with blazer, Remington, browning, ect and that group would open up to 2 inches easy.  Go back to SV's and back to a quarter size group.

Edit: i will have to admit, i was shocked by how much it didnt like electricity versions. Aguila was ok but smells horrible..