Rimfire Ammunition for the Suppressor Age

You’ve no doubt noticed that suppressors have become more and more popular in recent years, and now that the $200 federal tax stamp is no longer applicable, we’re truly entering the golden age of suppressed shooting. And why not — reduced noise saves the shooter’s hearing from damage and often results in less spooked game. It’s no wonder that more and more hunting rifles are wearing suppressors these days, and those numbers just continue to grow.

What many hunters don’t know when they buy their first suppressor is that they won’t realize all the benefits of shooting suppressed unless their ammo is optimized for suppressor use. There are myriad reasons for this, but you don’t have to dig into the weeds to figure it out. One manufacturer in particular has done the work for you when it comes to rimfire ammunition optimized for suppressors: CCI.

Long considered an industry leader in rimfire ammunition, CCI has remained on the cutting edge and developed an entire Suppressor family of ammunition optimized for shooting .22LR through suppressed firearms. Whether you’re plinking, competing or hunting small game, CCI’s family of suppressor-friendly .22LR ammo has something that’ll suit your needs — all made with quality components to give you the high-performance edge CCI is known for.

Suppressor 22 LR is a subsonic load with a hollowpoint bullet that’s designed to expand reliably, making it perfect for hunting. It uses CCI’s reliable priming and clean-burning powders, and the 45-grain bullet is designed to expand consistently even at low velocities (in this case, 970 fps). A 50-round pack retails for $9.99.

Similarly, Suppressor Max, the newest ammo in the CCI Suppressor family, also uses a 45-grain hollowpoint bullet, engineered to break into three equal pieces on impact even at subsonic velocity.  Suppressor Max has a  subsonic muzzle velocity of 970 fps, making it comfortably quiet to shoot. It’s specifically designed for best-of-the-best accuracy and terminal performance. This ammo is optimized to perform well out of a pistol or a rifle, and it even works out of a semiauto — unlike many other subsonic .22LR rounds on the market, which often fail to cycle reliably. It’s an ideal small-game round, creating large wound channels and delivering devastating terminal performance that stops small game in its tracks. It is sold in a 100-pack that retails for $18.99.

The third member of the CCI Suppressor family is Clean-22 Suppressor, which was designed to shoot cleanly to address one of the major problems with rimfire suppressors — all the fouling that builds up inside the baffles of a suppressor. Suppressors can be time-consuming and complicated to clean, so the longer you can go without having to undertake that chore, the better. Clean-22 Suppressor uses a 45-grain lead round-nose bullet with a polymer coating, and that coating is the magic ingredient that leads to up to 60% less fouling inside your suppressor. All of CCI’s Suppressor ammo uses clean-burning powders to reduce maintenance requirements, but the coated bullet in Clean-22 takes things to the next level. This is a target load with a muzzle velocity of 1,000 fps (subsonic), and it’s also designed to cycle reliably in any appropriate suppressed firearm. Shoot longer, clean less — what’s not to love? A 200-round carton retails for $40.99

Do you have to shoot suppressor-optimized ammo out of your suppressed .22LR? Not necessarily, but understand that not all .22LR ammo is subsonic, which means that when you fire it, the suppressor will muffle some of the sound, but you’ll still hear the sharp crack of the bullet breaking the sound barrier. To really make the most of your suppressed firearm and shoot quietly and comfortably, you need subsonic ammo. And to ensure you get the target performance, reliable cycling, and reduced fouling you’re looking for, you need one of CCI’s carefully optimized Suppressor loads. Check out Suppressor 22LR, Clean-22 Suppressed and the new Suppressor Max today.