[David the Gnome]

I've heard a lot of talk about how great these things are supposed to be. At my local stores they are priced at about $4.99-6.99 for a box of 50 rounds. That's a lot more expensive than my 500 round bricks of CCI Blazers for $11.95. I decided to pick up a pack of 50 just to try it out.

I'll start off by saying that the quality of the Stingers is far superior to the Blazers. Each round looks precision machined, the hollow points are perfectly smooth whereas the Blazers were visibly rougher (you could tell they are poured in a mold). Each Stinger round was covered in some sort of lubricant, needless to say a failure to feed is not likely with these rounds (they wanted to practically jump out of the magazine). All in all you could tell which was the more expensive round.

I loaded my first mag with the CCI Blazers, the second mag I loaded with the CCI Stingers. I shot the 10 rounds of Blazer first, just to set a baseline. I then shot the 10 rounds of the Stingers and it was amazing how different the two rounds make my gun feel. You can actually feel the recoil on the Stingers. I was able to shoot a much better group with the Stingers versus the Blazers. There was also considerably more damage done by the Stinger hollow points versus the Blazer ball ammunition.

Just to sum things up, it made the gun feel like a much larger caliber than it really is; so much so in fact that I would begin to worry about how bad these have to be for my gun. Just from my limited experience with Rugers I can tell that Ruger way over-engineers their firearms to withstand much more than their intended use. I still worry that these rounds may be a little too hot for everyday use (although I must say that if I was going to hunt with this gun I would definitely want the Stingers over the Blazers).

Has anyone else had similar experience with these rounds?

 

[deputy125]

I've used stingers before and they are a bit hotter. Seems i read somewhere that if you depend on a .22 for self defense then stingers is the way to go.

My .22's however did not really like stingers, yellow jackets, or vipers in the accuracy dept.
My ruger mkII shot std cci mini mag hp the best while my t/c contender liked plain ole remington target.
My rifle seemed to like winchester "wildcat".
A general rule of thumb was if you shoot a semi-auto pistol then shoot a .22 round that has a "copper wash" on the bullet for best function--don't know if it still applies but it kept me out of trouble.
Each gun is an individual animal in its own likes and dislikes.

 

[sheepdog]

I've used Stingers since they were born in all my .22 revolvers and 10/22-don't think they can be beat for wallop-accuracy was OK for defense...I don't shoot target...Vipers and Yellow Jackets are me-too rounds I don't know much about...shot about a box of Yellow Jackets, but in the poorer days my High Standard Sentinel Snub boot gun always had Stingers...and I KNEW I could count on them...I think you can find them for under 5/50...will not hurt your Ruger...Rugers are made like they oughta make them all....

 

[deputy125]

Sheepdog
Use to have a HS sentinel---wish i still had it. About one handy trail gun. Now if ruger would buy the rights to that and start making it again with their casting technology!

 

[Song Dawg]

Yeah, the Stingers wallop real well. They have a slightly longer case and don't shoot in all guns. I've never had much success with Yellow Jackets ,Vipers or even the old Fed Spitfires!They're hyper but not very accurate in my experience.
However the CCI Velociters are worthy..... and pricey!

SD

 

[btrumanj]

Ruger cautions not to use Stingers in the 10-22 Target model because of the tighter chamber tolerances but they work just fine in my regular model and other .22s I have. They are pricey and some guns are not as accurate as with the cheaper(and slower) ammo.
Baker

 

[jimbo1096]

My Mark Standard loves the stingers and the mini-mags. But the 10/22's will throw them all over the paper. The 10/22's also won't shoot a lead bullet worth a darn and prefer the copper jacketed/washed bullets. The Yellowjackets are even worse in accuracy. They are fun to shoot in the RST-4.

 

[AZDG]

I shot stingers for a long time. They were never the most accurate, but accurate enough and they were good on small game. However, I found a CCI round a few years back called Velocitor. Heavier bullet and not as fast as the Stingers, but much more accurate and even more deadly on small game. Give them a try if you really want to be impressed.

Doug Gordon

 

[sheepdog]

Jimbo, you been beatin' the dog with that 10/22????? I've had 4 and always shot Stingers and Mini-Mags...lotta water moccasins gone to the Happy Slithering Ground behind those rounds....now, which eye I hit 'em in, I don't know...lots of guys say the Stinger's not accurate but it were for me...now that was the 70's...QC may have slipped some since then??????

 

[Thunderhawk]

I have shot Stingers and Mini-Mags for decades. They have worked quite well in my MKIIs and my Single-Six. They are especially handy on small critters.

 

[6 Clicks]

I just shot 100 MiniMags through my new 22/45 ss bull barrel last weekend. I was just plinking so real accuracy wasn't measured, but they ran through the gun perfectly and seemed to go right to poa. God I love that gun!!

 

[daizee]

Ammo testing

If it's quality and accuracy you're looking for, get some proper target loads. I buy RWS Target (red/black box) for $45 per brick of 500. They're cheaper than the hyper-velocity bullets. Almost all match ammo will have a waxy lube and no copper wash.

If it's hunting power you want, then Stingers for very small game (they're only 32grains), or CCI Mini-Mags or CCI Velocitors for larger critters. Velociters pack the most punch and have the best down-range ballistics due to the full-weight bullet. Your best velocity will be in a barrel from 16"-20". I cut down my CZ 425 from 24" to 20.5" and velocity went up with all loads except the target bullets (which was good). I also floated the barrel, and now even the high-impulse rounds shoot well, unlike before. Everything works better with a stiffer, unencumbered barrel.

I have some real-world velocity comparison numbers here somewhere...
Note that I've not chony'd Stingers recently, and didn't write it down. I recall them to be spec'd at around 1635fps or so. Sounds optimistic to me.

                                5-shot Avg. Vel.
                         4" SP101          22"? Win 9422    20.5" CZ 452 Lux  
                         ---------        --------------    ----------------
Federal Auto Match
Bulk pack $10/325rds     1009             1179              N/A
40gr solid

RWS Rifle Target
40gr lube solid          N/A              N/A               1060
$50/500

Federal Value Bulk
$10/550rds               1037             1227              1258
36gr copper-washed HP

CCI Velocitor
40gr copper-washed HP    1106             1344              1415
$7-$8/50rds

Energy at        1000fps    1100fps    1200fps    1300fps   1400fps   1600fps

                 -------    -------    -------    -------   -------   -------
   32gr:         71fp       86fp       103fp      121fp     140fp     182fp
   36gr:         80fp       97fp       115fp      135fp     158fp     N/A
   40gr:         89fp       108fp      128fp      150fp     175fp     N/A

Assuming accuracy and function are equal:
From this table it's clear that for *power*, at any velocity achievable by a heavier bullet, you should use the heavier one. However, there's a big velocity overlap which will be determined primarily by your barrel length. There are a bunch of practicalities, however:

1) it's unlikely you'll get more than 1150 or so out of a 4" revolver, even with the Stingers or velocitors, so unless they shoot better in your short-barreled gun, you're just making expensive extra noise. I'd go a minimum of 6"-7" before wasting the money on an expensive faster bullet when I could probably get a more accurate, heavier bullet for a lower price.

2) Out of an optimal length barrel, the Stingers will top the energy chart *at the muzzle*. However, they are SO light (20% lighter!) that the velocitors will probably overtake them very quickly downrange as far as energy is concerned.

3) Mini-Mags and 36gr high-vel's are a pretty good compromise in a handgun of any length too short to take advantage of the different interior ballistics of the hyper-vel cartridges.

4) the further downrange you get, the better terminal performance you'll get from a heavy bullet relative to the lighter ones. I.e slow-steady wins the race - if it's long enough. If you need to waste hoardes of vampire rats at 15 yards, get a semi-auto carbine and a brick of Stingers.

5) match ammo is amazingly consistent in velocity across barrel length - I guess it's coasting and drag hasn't caught up with it yet.

6) Long-seated or long-cased bullets may not chamber well in your gun. .22LR revolvers are particularly forgiving since the chamber is just a straight untapered hole due to the heeled bullet design of a .22LR. Match autos can be finicky, and tight-chambered bolts like my CZ may close with difficulty. I won't chamber a Stinger in my rifle. The Velocitors are stiff closing the bolt as the CZ has basically zero freebore, so the act of closing the bolt actually seats the driving bands of the bullet into the rifling.

7) Stingers are still so dang pretty in those long nickeled cases.

-Daizee

 

[madtown]

For some reason Stingers jam in my Mark 2, no other round I have ever tried does. I use them in my 10/22 for small game and I have had great luck with them. They do pack a bit more wallop because of the 36 grain bullet going 1640 FPS. I use the velocirapters in my old Remington model 34 bolt and that thing puts em right where I want them. The Stingers not so much. Of course for just rattling off 30 rounds in my 10/22 the Remington 525 box works for me.

 

[bentrod]

Is there any chance the higher velocities will hurt the MKII pistol, will they hold up to the extra recoil. I know some of the more expensive 22 target pistols will not.

 

[rantingredneck]

I've shot them in my old Marlin 60 and it didn't like them. Would feed jam at least once with every magazine. No other ammunition has ever jammed it on me. I suppose it was the longer OAL on the stinger rounds that did it.

I've shot them in an NAA mini revolver and they were "snappy" in that little platform , but if I had to rely on that little belly gun to save my sorry hide that's the ammo I'd want in it.

I never fired them in my 10/22 nor my MKIII22/45.

My 22/45 likes Aquila (yellow box) ammo and Federal Automatch. Remington Target also does well. My only complaint about the Aquila is how bad it stinks.

 

[biologicole]

As far as some of the lower priced ammo goes, my 10/22 and single six shoots the Remington Golden HP (36 gr) better than the Federal or Winchester rounds. They seem to be a lot more consistent and seem to use a cleaner burning powder too. For some of the higher priced rounds, the CCI Mini-Mags and Velociters seem to have an accuracy advantage over the CCI Stingers. All of the CCI's burn clean powder. I have never tried any of the more expensive match/target rounds. I mainly use the Mini-Mags for hunting and the Remingtons for plinking.

 

[Nathan Detroit]

I have used them only in the 10/22 and they are very good killer of small game like woodchucks. Had the need to displatch some groundhogs that were in the yard some time back. Moved into position and could only see three of the critters. Fired three shots and that was that. They never moved. A little shudder and that was it. I didn't spook the others since the ones that were hit never moved. Couldn't find the fourth one until I stood up and then it toook off.

 

[mudpuppy]

I have a 10/22 from the early 90's and it doesn't like stingers. They jam a lot. My 22/45 eats them like candy.

 

[Song Dawg]

I have a 10/22 from the early 90's and it doesn't like stingers. They jam a lot. My 22/45 eats them like candy.

They're a little longer and hotter. I stay away from them in my 1022's!

SD

 

[alaskanbill]

There real good at suppling you with ground meat if you use them to hunt