4411 Mercury St, Suite 103 · Kearny Mesa, San Diego
Rimfire · the cheapest trigger time there is
Standard velocity, high velocity and subsonic, round nose and hollow point, by the box or the brick, over the counter in Kearny Mesa. .22 is the one caliber where the right load depends more on your gun than on you.
Start here
Three questions decide it: what the gun is, what it will cycle, and what you are shooting at.
Centerfire ammunition has a primer in the middle of the case. Rimfire has its priming compound spun into the rim, and that one difference explains almost every .22 complaint we hear: an occasional round that clicks instead of firing, and pistols that run one brand and choke on another.
Nothing is wrong with the ammunition or the gun in most of those cases. They just have to agree. That is why the best advice we give on .22 is to buy one box of something before you buy a brick of it.
The number on the box
The bullet weights barely change in .22 LR — almost everything is 36 to 40 grain. What changes is how fast it leaves the barrel, and that decides whether it cycles, how it groups and how loud it is.
About 1,050–1,080 fps · 40 grain
Target ammunition. It flies close to or under the speed of sound, so it does not go through the sonic transition on the way downrange, which is a large part of why it groups tighter. Some semi-autos will not cycle it reliably; bolt guns and revolvers do not care.
About 1,200–1,300 fps · 36–40 grain
The bulk brick, and what most semi-auto .22s are designed around. Enough energy to run the action every time, flat enough for plinking at practical distances. Copper-plated round nose for general use, hollow point for pests.
Under ~1,125 fps · sometimes heavier
Slowed down on purpose so the bullet never makes a sonic crack. Quieter out of a long barrel, and the natural pairing for a suppressed .22 — though California being what it is about suppressors, most buyers here want it for low noise and low recoil at the range.
Velocities are approximate
The numbers on the card are typical of each class out of a rifle-length barrel. The same box loses real velocity from a short pistol barrel, which is one more reason a pistol can run a load a rifle ran perfectly and still stutter. The box states the velocity its maker measured; trust that over a chart.
Counter mistakes
Several cartridges share the number twenty-two. Only one of them is .22 LR.
.22 Long Rifle, .22 Short and .22 Long are different lengths of the same rimfire family; .22 WMR (the Magnum) is a longer, larger-diameter case, and .17 HMR is a .22 Magnum necked down. None of them are interchangeable with .22 LR, and a Magnum round will not chamber in a .22 LR gun. Read the barrel, then read the box — the whole box, not just the number.
Copper-plated round nose feeds most smoothly and keeps a semi-auto cleaner. Bare lead round nose is common in standard velocity target loads and is perfectly good ammunition — it just leaves more lead on your hands, so wash them after. Hollow points are for pests and small game, not for paper. For self-defense, .22 LR is a distant last choice; talk to us about a centerfire caliber instead.
A rimfire round that does not fire the first time will sometimes fire when rotated and struck again, because the compound in the rim is not always perfectly even. Keep the muzzle pointed downrange and wait before you open the action. Frequent misfires across several brands point at the gun — a weak firing pin spring or a dirty chamber — more than at the box.
.22 LR comes 50 or 100 to a box, a brick is usually 500, and bulk packs of a few hundred loose rounds are common. Once you know your gun runs a load, the brick is how to buy it. Before then, buy the box. The bulk ammo buying guide covers when a case pays off in any caliber.
On the shelf in Kearny Mesa
Real boxes that have been across this counter and on the deals board. Pictured as printed, so you know what you are looking for on the shelf.
Recent .22 LR boxes on this counter came from Winchester, CCI, Norma — and that is a record of what we have sold, not a promise of what is on the shelf today. The shelf moves daily and this site is updated by hand, so call or text before you drive out and somebody will go and look.
Why there is no price on this page
Ammunition pricing moves with the wholesale market, and a figure printed next to a caliber is wrong within weeks. So we quote .22 LR on the phone, with a number that is true today. The one exception is the deals page, where a fixed price on a fixed quantity runs for a fixed week.
Before you drive out
Buying .22 in California takes a few minutes longer than buying it anywhere else, and one question is unique to this caliber.
Ammunition and accessories only — no firearms, and no shooting range at this location. If you need somewhere to shoot what you buy, we keep a list of ranges around the county. Se habla español.
Common questions
Real questions from real customers, answered the way we answer them in person.
High velocity copper-plated round nose, roughly 36 to 40 grain, is what most semi-auto .22 rifles and pistols are built to cycle. If a gun jams on one brand, try another before blaming the gun — .22 pistols in particular can be particular about the load. Buy one box of something new before you buy a brick.
Usually, yes. Standard velocity loads fly close to or below the speed of sound, so the bullet does not pass through the sonic transition on its way downrange, and target shooters generally group tighter with it. The trade-off is that some semi-autos will not cycle it reliably. Bolt actions, revolvers and single shots do not care.
Not .22 Magnum: it is a longer, larger-diameter case and it will not chamber in a .22 LR gun. .22 Short and .22 Long will chamber in many .22 LR guns but usually will not cycle a semi-auto, and they can leave a carbon ring that makes .22 LR harder to chamber later. Check your owner's manual; the safe answer is to shoot what the barrel is marked for.
Rimfire priming compound is spun into the rim rather than sitting in a primer cup, so an occasional misfire is part of shooting .22. Keep the muzzle pointed downrange, wait before opening the action, and sometimes rotating the round and striking it again will fire it. Frequent misfires across several brands usually mean the gun needs attention, not the ammunition.
Call us before you drive out. California sets 21 as the minimum age for handgun ammunition and 18 for rifle ammunition, and .22 LR is fired from both. The law leaves that judgment to the vendor, so we would rather talk it through on the phone than turn somebody around at the register.
Call 858-987-0509 or text 310-499-3499 and we will quote today's price and check the shelf while you are on the line. The catalog carries no prices because ammunition moves with the wholesale market, and when .22 is on the weekly deals board, the price is published on the deals page. This site is updated by hand, so treat nothing on it as today's inventory.
Stock & deal questions
Text is usually faster than a call for this. Send the make and model, whether it is a rifle or a pistol, and what you are shooting at — somebody will tell you what on the shelf it should run.
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Keep reading
Closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
Calls only
310-499-3499Text only
Text anytime. Anytime — immediate during business hours, forwarded after hours.
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