Answer Me This

Been shopping around for some more .22LR, as I’ve been going through it like gangbusters lately.  Normally I shoot high velocity out of the 10/22, but I want to switch to standard velocity.  Main reason is accuracy.  With high velocity, shooting at 100 yards, you can get some buffeting on the bullet as it crosses the sound barrier on its way to sub-sonic velocities.  I don’t want to shoot match ammo, because it’s more expensive, and my shooting skills aren’t really worth match ammo.

But here’s a question.  Why, almost universally, is high velocity ammo copper plated, but standard velocity is just lead round nose.  Even the match ammo is just lead round nose.   I have no idea why this is.  Do any of you?

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8 thoughts on “Answer Me This”

  1. I am sorry to say I can not answer your question but my 10/22 will only feed the copper plated ammo. I always thought it was because of the copper plated bullet….mabey it just likes high velocity ammo?

  2. Copper plating is just a “wow, looks cool” sales gimic. It does nothing for ballistics or accuracy. If you’ve tricked out your 10-22, then I suggest picking up various “target” grade ammo for practice, but using something like Eley 10X for competition.

  3. I’ve had fantastic luck with the Remington “Golden Bullet” in my Ruger Mark III 22.45. Very few jams and feeds very well. On my no-name rifle, it works fairly well. In both, the ammo is accurate for what I use it for. At 100 yards on the rifle, open sites, I can hit the target. I’m sure if I used bags or a Lead Sled I could have decent groupings, but I prefer to hand hold because in a SHTF moment, I doubt I’m going to be in a prone position.

    CCI high velocity suck the life out of my pistol. I’ve not shot them in the rifle.

  4. I’ve found that some autoloaders don’t do well with lead ammo, since it is soft and can sometimes snag when feeding. Never had that problem with jacketed.

  5. The higher the velocity, the more leading becomes a problem. The copper wash may help control it.

  6. That’s what I heard GeorgeH, but that seems to imply it’s still a problem with standard velocity. So why not plate standard?

  7. Actually it is because of leading. As you push the bulklet down the barrel faster you get maore friction/heat and more leading. The copper wash does help to reduce that. Subsonic and Match don’t often have this since the velocities are lower and don’t lead to as much leading. The reason for not copper washing standard and subsonic rounds is simple economics. The cost of mass producing copper washed bullets even at fractions of a cent per round get big when you are making billions of rounds.

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