Cheap Ammunition Brands, .22LR

Unless you're fully sponsored by Lapua, you can't always shoot the best ammunition, especially when you're just shooting for fun (as opposed to training or competing).

I have used a bunch of non-match grade ammunition that are practically dirt cheap. The two cheapest ones I've come across so far are:

• .22LR Remington Thunderbolt ($0.04/Cartridge)*
• .22LR CCI Blazer ($0.04/Cartridge)*

The Remington Thunderbolts is perhaps the worst ammunition ever encountered. The primers in these rimfire rounds are unreliable, as they misfire quite often. When fired, there is TONS of residue left over. Needless to say, they should only be used for non-precision shooting.

CCI advertises the fact that the Blazer ammunition does not misfire at all. As advertised, I have been through two thousand rounds (roughly) and have never had any issue with misfires or hangfires. Another great thing about this ammunition is that it burns very clean, therefore there is little residue left in the bore.  At 50 metres, they have a grouping of roughly an inch, which doesn't cut it for precision shooting. I wouldn't use them for biathlon either, as they are technically high velocity (1235 fps at muzzle). However, they are great for beginners and recreational shooters on a budget. Overall, I'm impressed with CCI Blazer for their performance to price ratio.

All of these results are based on an Izhmash 7-3 (Russian Biathlon Rifle) and every rifle tends to like different ammunition better, but this should give you an idea of the quality of ammunition these low-price brands provide.

*Canadian retail prices for 500 rounds, US prices are way cheaper