Long live the .22 Long Rifle, .22 LR, .22, or whatever else you might care to call the world’s most affordable and available chambering of all time. Sure, there have been shortages in the past, but there’s no reason every shooter shouldn’t have a healthy supply of LR ammunition. 

But what kind should you buy? While any ammo is good ammo to have, a more correct answer depends on your firearm, intended purpose, and budget. We break it down by categories: budget plinking, hunting, precision, and subsonic. 

Budget Plinking

Let’s face it. The majority of .22 LR rounds are likely fired purely for fun at backyard ranges. How many of us cut our teeth shooting pop cans and makeshift targets around the home or farm? Lots of hands raised, I see. 

Few remember the type of ammo they shot – just that it fired. To that end, for budget plinking, any reliable affordable type of ammo will suffice. A few of our favorites involve buying in bulk, which almost always saves money and provides a range-worthy container full of gun food. 
 

Hunting

This is one area, even in the rimfire world, where ammunition and bullet type matter the most. Though in most cases the target is undesirable vermin, making the choice to hunt any animal means making the best choices for a clean and quick kill. To that end, some bullet types are more well suited for hunting. In .22 LR, that’s generally a hollow point with sufficient speed to harvest with ease. A few of our favorites? 

Precision

Any quality rimfire can shoot hole on hole at close enough distance. However, serious competition shooters are stretching the range limits of the .22 LR further than perhaps ever before and doing so with impressive accuracy. To get stellar results usually requires not only a quality firearm and optic, but higher-quality ammunition that has been loaded with premium components and greater attention to detail that minimize otherwise sloppy tolerances. 

Because of that, we’ve seen serious competitors weighing each round from a single box of ammo and grouping them accordingly. While you likely won’t go that far, buying premium rimfire rounds often comes at a cost far greater than its budget brethren, but discerning shooters will notice the difference. Here are a few solid picks: 

Subsonic

As suppressor use continues its meteoric rise, more and more shooters are adding cans to their rimfires. To get the most from that suppressor, though, involves firing subsonic ammunition. These rounds are built to function below the sound barrier, thereby eliminating the supersonic crack. Of course, they must also remain accurate, practical, and ideally function without leading-up the can unnecessarily. Here are some we’ve fired with quietly pleasing results:

Final Thoughts

The best ammunition – .22 LR or otherwise – is the one that your gun likes best. After that, it’s all a matter of availability, price range, and purpose. At the end of the day, you’re rich if you’re prepared, and that means being stocked up on enough ammo to enjoy range days, hunts, and responsible gun ownership with your family and friends. Few rounds do that better than the lowly, lively .22 LR.