Perfromance of CCI Stinger - .22LR Hyper Velocity

[Evilv]

Lately I've been experimenting with stingers in my CZ 425. I have a fair bit of pest control and I felt like I needed a flatter shooting round than the outstanding Eley subs that I'd used since I bought the gun in 2006. The Eley is supremely accurate and quieter than an air gun with a sound mod on the barrel, but at longer ranges with variable terrain, I sometimes have problems judging the holdover required. On paper, the more or less half inch rise and fall between 35 and 75 yards in a rifle zeroed at 70 yards of this 1640 fps round seemed to make this cartridge fit the bill. I can judge whether a rabbit is somewhere between 35 and 75 yards and put the cross right in the middle of his head, but how would it perform in the field?

 

I bought a few boxes and fired most of the first one just zeroing the scope. This round has a poi about 2.5 inches higher than an Eley sub at 50 yards. Part of my problem was that the Tasco scope I have seems to have an interaction between the horizontal and the vertical elements in the reticule. Get it right for elevation, then move it a touch left and the bloody thing starts hitting off the target so start again bonny lad. I'm sure it's a fault and not endemic in the scope itself.

 

Once zeroed, I set about testing the groups. The stinger is not as accurate a round as the Eley Sub. Well you all knew that anyhow. How could it be? The sub will give a ragged hole at fifty yards on a calm day, whereas the stinger is about an inch at fifty yards as far as I'm concerned anyway. It is also a LOT louder. Surprisingly, it doesn't scare the rabbits as much as you might think, especially the longer range ones which suddenly become easy prey with the shiny silver cartridge. Where the stinger really counts though is in its phenomenal knock down power. It literally blows up the heads of young rabbits so you end up finding two ears dangling either side of a red pulpy mess that used to be the head. This is not that surprising when you consider the velocity difference. At sixty yards, the Stinger has 122 foot pounds of energy and is still traveling at 1309 fps. The energy at 120 yards is about the same as an Eley sub is at the muzzle.

 

On Monday afternoon, I went out to one of my favourite shoots, four small farms in the North Pennines that are crawling with rabbits. During a lull, while having a cereal bar, I set up a target sheet on an earthen bank sixty paces from a nice little mound that made prone shooting a breeze. I fired off five rounds and got a pretty good group nicely centred on the target. When I inspected the results, I realised that I would be able to recover the bullets from the sandy turf behind the card. They had ploughed their way deeply into the ground about two inches below the surface and I probed away with my fingers down the mouse hole sized cavity and managed to find three of the bullets. It was a surprise how far they had penetrated, the last was at least a foot into the ground, though admittedly, it had an easy start, shooting down the hole already made by the earlier rounds. The photograph below shows the target in situ, with the excavation of the bullet channel visible behind the top right target. The other thing to notice is that even though the bullets had mushroomed into a very lethal shape, they had retained all their mass. This is the big problem with the .22LR round, the bullets stay together and ricochets are likely and consist of a full weight bullet even if it is flat as a pancake

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, I like this round and will be buying more, even though they do cost a good bit more than some others. Always annoying to me is that when you google Stinger or any other American shooting product, you'll find it on sale over there at about half the cost we Brits are asked to pay. I was looking for a Henry Varmiter Express the other day. On sale in America at £258, but here, £406. What a ripoff that is, same as the ammo, only the ammo is worse since it doesn't need to be sent off for proof like a rifle does.

[THEINVISIBLESCARECROW]

I've tried CCi Stingers, Velocitors, Mini Mags, Eley HV, RWS, Remmy Cyclones, Yellow Jackets & Winchester Lasers.

Agree the Stingers could be better & not a bad round to use. .22 HV's have there uses.

Have you compared against HMR or HM2 for longer range shooting.

[Evilv]

I've tried CCi Stingers, Velocitors, Mini Mags, Eley HV, RWS, Remmy Cyclones, Yellow Jackets & Winchester Lasers.

Agree the Stingers could be better & not a bad round to use. .22 HV's have there uses.

Have you compared against HMR or HM2 for longer range shooting.

 

No - I haven't any experience of them at all. I'm thinking of applying for a 17 HMR variation. I fancy the Henry Varmiter Express rfile in HMR. Only trouble is the cost of the ammo. It looks like £13 a box at the local dealer which is well over twice the Stinger cost. I know the HMR is very accurate and flat... I just need to weigh up the advantages over the cost. I used to shoot .22 WMR which was a lovely flat shooting round, but again, really expensive. To be honest, the Stinger has extended my reach pretty well, and is a cert at 80 yards. It is more prone to wind which is a pity since my most productive shooting is at 1000 to 1300 feet above sea level on windy northern hillsides. The HMR would be affected by wind too, so I'm not sure it would be that advantageous. It is wind and the variability of it that usually limits my shooting range. How do you factor in a gusty 18 mile an hour side wind at 75 yards? This target shows the side drift of a 15 mph wind at 75 yards. I was shooting at the left hand upper target, then the wind lulled for the final shot and it came in an inch to the left of the others.

 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2008 by Evilv

[rabbithunter]

Never been a big fan of HV 22,s as you said there not as accurate as 22 subs and a lot louder ,If your needing something with a bit more range then the HMR is the way to go and i think you would be surprised how little the HMR does drift in the wind if keeped @100 yards . I shooting on a farm right on top of the hills where its always gusty and have never had any problems hitting rabbits with a 17HMR .Yes they do cost a little bit more then 22 ,s But there a lot more fun

Edited July 16, 2008 by rabbithunter

[Evilv]

How much are you paying for HMR Rabbithunter? Also, what's the price of HM2 if you can help out with that ?

 

 

I'm quite interested in the Henry Varmiter Express. To my mind it's a lovely looking rifle and quite well thought of in the States. Kind of reminds me of the old Winchester 9422 I used to have in .22WMR back in the mid 1980s. I sorely wish I'd kept that gun, but I sold it one winter when I needed some cash for a stupid project I had going.

 

The Henry comes in 17HMR and is something I think I would enjoy owning and using. It wouldn't take a mod but then I don't suppose there's any point in putting a mod on an HMR because the sonic crack would be loud anyhow. Anyhow, I find my further off rabbits don't seem to react to the stinger's loud crack that much. I had a couple with it that were sitting side by said the day before yesterday.

 

 

I see you and I share the same county Rabbithunter.

 

 

Edited July 16, 2008 by Evilv

[rabbithunter]

There about 12.50 for 50 but if you get them in 500 works out a little bit cheaper ,no idea about HM2. That Henry Varmiter Express does look the part is it tube feed ? if so how many rounds .I,ve tryed my HMR without a mod on and believe me you,ll what a mod on it ! Think that would spoil the looks for the Henry Varmiter Express .

Edited July 16, 2008 by rabbithunter

[Evilv]

There about 12.50 for 50 but if you get them in 500 works out a little bit cheaper ,no idea about HM2. That Henry Varmiter Express does look the part is it tube feed ? if so how many rounds .I,ve tryed my HMR without a mod on and believe me you,ll what a mod on it ! Think that would spoil the looks for the Henry Varmiter Express .

 

Yeah - I love the look of it. It is tube fed and it holds eleven rounds. Viking Arms the importer say the recommended price is £408, but it is up to the dealer and discounts can be had.

 

25 pence a shot then.... It's a bit much for the number of rabbits I'm shooting just now. I can knock off forty a day easily and when I say day, I'm talking maybe three hours or four. However, I'm easily able to get those with the 22LR. The Henry would be for long ones and if I'm honest, because I want one.

 

Yes - on the mod. The whole idea of that cowboy gun would be ruined by a mod. Doesn't do a lot for my CZ either. I got the rather quaintly styled European stock, long barrel and shnurle fore end.

 

Edited July 18, 2008 by Evilv

[bullet boy]

In HV thats all i use is Stingers.

[bob300w]

RRP of .17 Mach 2 is £18/100 for Remington 17grain.

[bullet boy]

Stingers are 10p a shot and worth every penny in my opinion!

[Evilv]

Ah - thanks for that Bob.

 

It's peeing down here or I'd be out shooting rabbits instead of wasting time on the couch.

Edited July 19, 2008 by Evilv

[Evilv]

Stingers are 10p a shot and worth every penny in my opinion!

 

I agree with you. I went out last night and shot 13 rabbits in a bit over an hour. All of them were at 65 yards and over including an 80 yard off hand shot at a rabbit that died in an instant hit in the chest. I could not do that with the more accurate eley subs because the hold over issue in the late evening becomes harder as you lose distance cues and have to start guessing. They are pretty loud, but even so, I got four adult rabbits from the river bank that were sitting in a field 70 yards from me and thinking that since they couldn't see me, I couldn't be there. Unfortunately for them, I was and they just keeled over stone dead one at a time. The stinger is an instant killer with a chest shot. The heart and lungs are totally smashed by the 1640 fps hollowpoint. That troublesome Irish guy Rick O'Shay is an ever present issue though if the ground is hard. Fortunately after the rain we've had not one did anything but pass through the rabbit and bury itself in the dirt.