I was attracted to the Aguila Sniper Subsonic .22 ammo for a Smith lightweight snubbie used by my wife for home defense. The Avila has a big (for a .22) 60 grain bullet and a relatively low 950 FPS MV. I figured it would have some punch up close, while being light on recoil and low on noise... the goal being to encourage my startle-reflex-afflicted wife to practice more. I've NEVER been more disappointed in any ammo I've purchased, including WWII surplus ammo..
While I don't doubt you could pump rounds into the center of a body mass from five feet away with the Aguila SSS, I'd otherwise call it "broadside of a barn" accuracy at best. I shot it against several other brands and types of .22LR ammo and the SS was by far the most inconsistent. You could generally say it shot high and left at any distance, but the farther away from the target you got (I was never more than 50 ft), the more erratic it was and at 50ft, you were lucky to stay on the paper. I won't hold that too much against it, since short barrels are very dependent on a great many ammunition factors and it's clear the large bullet and relatively low muzzle velocity doesn't work with this short-barreled gun.
The real gripes start with the smoke. Did Avila revert back to black powder and not tell us? I have never seen more smoke except in black power weapons. Odd smelling too. Lots of black stains on the pistol (and my hands) after just 100 rounds. Lots of unburned powder in the cylinder and barrel. So much so I had to periodically brush out the barrel and cylinders or I could not insert new cartridges.
Once the cartridges were fired, the shells were very difficult to eject from the cylinder. At the time, I though it was the power residue or the lead fouling (more on that below) but in looking at the shells with a magnifying glass, it looks ike when the hammer hits the rim, it distorts the shell just enough to lightly jam it into the cylinder. At one point if got bad enough that the primers of one load were so distorted the cylinder would not rotate nor would it swing out.
Misfires: There were 10 in one hundred rounds. Lousy! They all fired on the second try, but still!
Lead Fouling: OMG! What a nightmare to clean up after when you have an aluminum cylinder. Unjacketed bullets have these tendencies, but this was beyond my experience. It was so bad that after the first mild brushing, a regular LR cartridge (which has a longer case) still would not fully seat. I suppose I "shoulda known" but I have fired unjacketed .22 in other stuff and not had any where near this degree of trouble. And just 100 rounds! Fortunately, I shot the regular .22 ammo first or I would have had to clean the pistol between firing the different brands of ammo.
In short, I think the Aguila SSS .22 ammo sucks and I intend to destroy/discard the 100 rounds I have left. I don't know anybody I dislike enough to give it to. Though I've had them all my life and served in the Army, guns have not been an all-comsuming hobby, and I cannot really call myself much of an "expert." You can likely pick this review apart and find flaws in my logic or observations. You could also say I "shoulda known" this ammo would be a bad match for a snubbie revolver. Fair enough, but I'm so soured at this point (even if you take out the expected accuracy problems) that I'm not really interested in being open-minded. There is plenty of ammo out there I KNOW works. I don't know if this was a one-time QC issue or if this is "normal" for Aguila ammo but it will never be shot by me or mine again.
While I don't doubt you could pump rounds into the center of a body mass from five feet away with the Aguila SSS, I'd otherwise call it "broadside of a barn" accuracy at best. I shot it against several other brands and types of .22LR ammo and the SS was by far the most inconsistent. You could generally say it shot high and left at any distance, but the farther away from the target you got (I was never more than 50 ft), the more erratic it was and at 50ft, you were lucky to stay on the paper. I won't hold that too much against it, since short barrels are very dependent on a great many ammunition factors and it's clear the large bullet and relatively low muzzle velocity doesn't work with this short-barreled gun.
The real gripes start with the smoke. Did Avila revert back to black powder and not tell us? I have never seen more smoke except in black power weapons. Odd smelling too. Lots of black stains on the pistol (and my hands) after just 100 rounds. Lots of unburned powder in the cylinder and barrel. So much so I had to periodically brush out the barrel and cylinders or I could not insert new cartridges.
Once the cartridges were fired, the shells were very difficult to eject from the cylinder. At the time, I though it was the power residue or the lead fouling (more on that below) but in looking at the shells with a magnifying glass, it looks ike when the hammer hits the rim, it distorts the shell just enough to lightly jam it into the cylinder. At one point if got bad enough that the primers of one load were so distorted the cylinder would not rotate nor would it swing out.
Misfires: There were 10 in one hundred rounds. Lousy! They all fired on the second try, but still!
Lead Fouling: OMG! What a nightmare to clean up after when you have an aluminum cylinder. Unjacketed bullets have these tendencies, but this was beyond my experience. It was so bad that after the first mild brushing, a regular LR cartridge (which has a longer case) still would not fully seat. I suppose I "shoulda known" but I have fired unjacketed .22 in other stuff and not had any where near this degree of trouble. And just 100 rounds! Fortunately, I shot the regular .22 ammo first or I would have had to clean the pistol between firing the different brands of ammo.
In short, I think the Aguila SSS .22 ammo sucks and I intend to destroy/discard the 100 rounds I have left. I don't know anybody I dislike enough to give it to. Though I've had them all my life and served in the Army, guns have not been an all-comsuming hobby, and I cannot really call myself much of an "expert." You can likely pick this review apart and find flaws in my logic or observations. You could also say I "shoulda known" this ammo would be a bad match for a snubbie revolver. Fair enough, but I'm so soured at this point (even if you take out the expected accuracy problems) that I'm not really interested in being open-minded. There is plenty of ammo out there I KNOW works. I don't know if this was a one-time QC issue or if this is "normal" for Aguila ammo but it will never be shot by me or mine again.
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