.22 Mini-Mag - What's the diff?

[Jumphouse]

Hey all,

Fairly new to the forum here. A few days ago I picked up my new Sig Mosquito from my local gun shop. The guy asked me if I needed ammo and I said I already had some and he said it probably won't work in the Mosquito. He went on to tell me that Sig designed this pistol around the CCI .22 LR Mini-Mag load. One, I was skeptical at first and two, I had never heard of the "mini-mag" designation before. So I bought a box of CCI from him. Sure enough there is a card that was in the hardcase that says "Your pistol has been successfully tested with CCI Mini-Mag".

So my question is how is this different from say a Remington branded .22 LR or Super X LR? I am familiar with Long, Short and Magnum. But not Mini-Mag.

[XDRoX]

Hey all,

Fairly new to the forum here. A few days ago I picked up my new Sig Mosquito from my local gun shop. The guy asked me if I needed ammo and I said I already had some and he said it probably won't work in the Mosquito. He went on to tell me that Sig designed this pistol around the CCI .22 LR Mini-Mag load. One, I was skeptical at first and two, I had never heard of the "mini-mag" designation before. So I bought a box of CCI from him. Sure enough there is a card that was in the hardcase that says "Your pistol has been successfully tested with CCI Mini-Mag".

So my question is how is this different from say a Remington branded .22 LR or Super X LR? I am familiar with Long, Short and Magnum. But not Mini-Mag.

Your pistol will take any standard 22 long rifle round, which CCI mini-mag is.
It's just a name of a round that CCI sells.

They make a great little round. Slightly hotter than most. Most 22 guns love mini mags and function 100% with them. That Sig is known to not function 100% especially when it's new. That's why he suggested you use mini mags.

If I were you I'd break it in with mini mags, maybe 500 or so and then switch to Walmart bulk. After 1k rounds it should function 99% of the time on anything.

[Broccoli Killer]

Mini Mag is just the name/designation of CCI's high velocity ammo.

I don't own a Sig Mosquito, but I've heard that they tend to be very picky with ammo, and CCI Mini Mags supposedly feed the most reliably in it. Lower velocity ammo seems to lack the energy required to complete the feed action, feed problems.

Hope that helps.

EDIT: Ahh, I guess XDRoX beat me to the punch.

[Jumphouse]

Excellent guys. Thanks for the information. The CCI mini's are dirt cheap so I will use those exclusively to get started. Thanks.

[Clownpuncher]

My buddy has a mosquito. Great little gun but when using regular 22LR ammo there are some that don't cycle very well in it and he'll get jams. Since the mini mag's are a bit hotter than some, that is probably why they recommend them. He has found that the remington thunderbolts are good but there were some, sorry I don't remember which, that he can't use.
So, if you do end up using other than mini mag ammo, I'd only buy a small box to test it. Nothing worse than buying a brick and finding out it's one that won't cycle your gun.

[sofbak]

Using rimfire kits on three .45 pistols, I have found that two key elements seem to be the success formula regardless of brand. Those two elements are; 1) a muzzle velocity between 1200 and 1260 fps, and 2) A 40 gr round nose projectile.

I've tried other combinations, and the bulk hollow point ammo just doesn't feed reliably, and lower velocity stuff sometimes leads to failure to eject.

If you can find it, the blazer bulk with the 40 gr projectile is almost identical to the mini-mags but a little cheaper. Only real difference that I can find is that the mini-mag is a copper washed bullet and the blazer is wax coated lead.

[M27]

the 22lr I have found to cycle most reliably and be most accurate is this stuff right here

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/1836114191/fiocchi-ammunition-22-long-rifle-40-grain-lead-round-nose

[sofbak]

the 22lr I have found to cycle most reliably and be most accurate is this stuff right here

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/183...ead-round-nose

Well, there you go-1246 fps and a 40 gr round nose boolit-that's the ticket.

I just bought a brick of another brand that holds promise. It's aguila super extra-1255 fps and a copper washed 40 gr rn. Pretty economical too-$27 for a brick. Just have to get the time to try it out, but from reviews, and feed back from other CG'ers here, it should do well.

[jph]

FWIW, i've tested various brands and types of 22lr ammo in my sig mosquito
and so far, the aguila interceptors were 100% reliable, and shot the most accurate.
followed by the cci stingers (also 100% reliable) slightly less accurate, but very "flashy"
remington vipers seems to function OK, but accuracy wasn't that great, and they seem rather dirty.


J.