.22 LR ammo tests in Mini, Shotshells, Aguila etc.

[stantheman86]

Did some ammo testing today with my .22 LR Mini 1 1/8", mainly to test some Winchester Super X shot shells.

In the pic, at 2 yards the entire paper was covered with a spread of pellet hits.

On the other pic, the pattern on the Bullseye was about 6 inches, the blast on the right was about 2 inches and the left hole in the paper was muzzle contact.

The Super X felt a bit hotter than CCI Shotshells.

The pellets did penetrate about 1/4 of cardboard backing.

These would be good on snakes at maybe 2-3 feet, beyond that the spread isn't dense enough to kill anything IMO.

Would I recommend these for defense? No, not enough power. It might make a mess of a BG's face, probably blind him, maybe if you press the muzzle into an ear, eye nose or throat it might be lethal.
Shotshells won't turn your Mini into a micro sized Judge:)

I also tested some Aguila Super Maximum Hyper velocity and they didn't seem any hotter than Stingers or Velocitors. For defense I'll stick with CCI. I'd rather have better primers than an extra 50-100 fps.

The Aguilas were notably accurate at 10 feet though, I'll probably use the remaining 80 rounds for plinking. The Aguila also did not function well at all in my Beretta Bobcat .22, numerous FTE and misfeeds.

I have 100 Velocitors on the way and just bought 50 Stingers. The Stingers will go in my Bobcat and the Velocitors in my Mini. A few rounds of each to test fire for function and that's what I'm sticking with.

[Goatpacker]

The CCI shotshells will take the aggression out of them so you can put a hollow point in their head!!! Actually the shotshell will kill them but just not fast enough for me!!!

[stantheman86]

I used to load 2 CCI Shotshells and then 3 Stingers when I would carry the Mini when I was jogging. I figured 2 for snakes and if I went through those I must be facing something that needs a bullet, like a wild dog or raccoon.

I figure Shotshells would work for defense against 2 legged foes if absolutely needed at point blank contact range. Back before I knew better I used to put 5 Shotshells in the mini for CC and then realized I might as well just load it with blanks for all the good that would do.....

I saw the light when I shot a groundhog at about 4 feet with a rifle and a CCI shotshell load.....right in the face, all that did was knock one of his eyes out. I saw the same groundhog days later and killed him with several Mini Mags, again, at 30 yards from a rifle I did not get a one shot stop with hot .22 on a maybe 15 pound groundhog ..... it took several to finally kill him.

Many times I have hit groundhogs with bulk pack .22 like CCI Sidewinder and they haven't even slowed down, it would just wound them. It felt in humane, but I can't use anything bigger and they damage my barn. In fact rarely did I drop a groundhog with one .22.....

This shed some light on .22's for defense.....better make them hot and go for a vital shot...

[I]

Squishing pests with various rounds from an NAA mini, I've even used the near zero-powered CCI CB caps to kill snakes with a headshot.

If you don't catch them just right, it won't work.

I should have stocked up on .22 lr shotshells 2 years ago. I think I've got 15 of them left. I've been shooting snakes with CB caps as carry ammo instead. How sad is that?