Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm universe. Last week, we looked at the unique and exciting MK4 Carbine Upper Receiver Firearm, a joint venture between competitive shooter Wade Reed and MaddMacs Precision. A lot of you thought the design was quite inventive. In contrast, others kinda turned their noses up at it in favor of the already compact Ruger 10/22 Charger which does have the benefit of having a bit more modularity and magazine capacity but is undoubtedly much heavier and bulkier than the MK4 Carbine can be. Personally, I thought the MK4 Carbine was a neat idea and it would honestly be a great backpacking gun – especially if there was a way to get more than 10-rounds to a magazine in it. Loaded up with some hot ammo, the MK4 could be a great hunting or even a self-defense firearm in a pinch. Speaking of hot ammo, we’re back again this week doing another ballistic gel test, this time featuring CCI Stinger 36-grain Hollow Points. A lot of you had requested that we test out these hot little cartridges to see how well they’d perform out of a handful of firearms ranging from pocket pistols up to the 10/22 rifle. So today we’ll be taking a look at the data I collected for the CCI Stinger cartridge and see how it stacks up to our previous 22LR ballistic gel tests.

More Rimfire Report Articles @ TFB:

• The Rimfire Report: Pondering the MK4 Carbine from MaddMacs Precision
• The Rimfire Report: CCI Velocitor As A 22LR Self-Defense Cartridge?
• The Rimfire Report: Review of Federal Punch 22LR Personal Defense Ammunition

The Rimfire Report: The Ultra Hot CCI Stinger In Ballistic Gelatin

CCI Stinger 32-Grain CPHP Product Specifications

• Caliber: 22LR
• Grain Weight: 32-grains
• Muzzle Velocity: 1,640 (Presumably a 20″ barrel)
• Bullet Style: Copper Plated Hollow Point
• Ballistic Coefficient: 0.084
• Package Quantity: 50
• Intended Usage: Hunting
• Price: $8.49 From Sportsmans Guide ( ~0.16 cents per round)
• Product Link: https://www.cci-ammunition.com/rimfire/cci/stinger/6-50.html

Just like before, we’ll be doing a raw data dump followed by a brief discussion of said data. We’ll also be using the same setup and firearms as last time for consistency. Some of you griped that I didn’t put a charger length barrel in there but the problem is the gel blocks don’t keep well and this makes storing multiple gel blocks a logistical nightmare (at least the homemade ones). We’re currently working on getting a hold of some Clear Ballistics 10% FBI spec gel blocks so you can also see into them better. For the time being, we’ll have to deal with the somewhat opaque homemade Knox Gelatin blocks I’m currently able to make. Like last time, we used four layers of 5.11 jeans as our stand-in clothing.

Test Results

Taurus 942:

• Avg Vel: 1,028-fps
• Max Vel: 1,051-fps
• Min Vel:   989-fps
• Extreme Spread: 62-fps
• Std Dev: 27-fps
• No. of Failures: 0
• Min Penetration Depth: 16-inches
• Max Penetration Depth: 16-inches***
• Average Penetration Depth: 16-inches
• Expansion: No rounds expanded**
• Weight Retention: 100%

Similar to the CCI Velocitor 40-grain projectiles, the CCI Stingers didn’t have enough ass behind them to expand. Instead they simply just cruised through the gel block and straight into my Level III ballistic inserts and ended up getting deformed slightly. While penetration is good for the 22LR round in a self-defense situation, you’re dealing with a lot less mass here than either of the previous two ammo types we’ve tasted before so I think this might be your last choice for this particular gun with this specific ammunition. Worthy of note is that we are also seeing less standard deviation as well as a reduced extreme spread out of the Stingers than the Velocitors when fired out of the Taurus 942.

Ruger LCP II Lite Rack:

• Avg Vel: 1,062-fps
• Max Vel: 1,077-fps
• Min Vel:  1,034-fps
• Extreme Spread: 43-fps
• Std Dev: 16-fps
• No. of Failures: 0
• Min Penetration Depth: 8-inches
• Max Penetration Depth: 9-inches
• Average Penetration Depth: 8.6-inches
• Expansion: 0.3690-inches average expanded width
• Weight Retention: 100%

I’m going to be honest, after doing a couple of these gel tests I was surprised that the CCI Stinger rounds actually managed to expand out of the tiny little barrel that the LCP II Lite Rack has. However, in contrast, the rounds did not penetrate to a sufficient depth and we only got an average of about 9-inches (two rounds curved out of the sides of the gel block). The expansion, on the other hand, was quite significant so I’m not really sure what to make of this. Expansion is good, but penetration might be more important. I’ll let you guys discuss it in the comments below.

Beretta 21A Bobcat Covert:

• Avg Vel: 1,040-fps
• Max Vel: 1,054-fps
• Min Vel:  1,023-fps
• Extreme Spread: 31-fps
• Std Dev: 11-fps
• No. of Failures: 0
• Min Penetration Depth: 8-inches
• Max Penetration Depth: 16-inches***
• Average Penetration Depth: 8.5-inches (expanded rounds only)
• Expansion: expanded rounds = 0.3535-inches, 3 rounds did not expand
• Weight Retention: 100%

This was an interesting result and one that I’m actually kind of grateful for as it gives us a near-exact point at where CCI Stingers will start to expand. Out of the 5 rounds fired, only two expanded and we know from our test data that the two highest velocities were 1,054 and 1,045 feet per second. The next lowest velocity from there is clocked at 1,034 fps so we know that right around the 1,050-fps mark Stingers will start to expand when shot from a distance of 10 feet. Just like last time, despite the Bobcat Covert having a slightly longer barrel, it’s still getting a slightly lower average velocity than the LCP II Lite Rack.

Ruger 10/22 Carbine:

• Avg Vel: 1,541-fps
• Max Vel: 1,689-fps
• Min Vel:  1,475-fps
• Extreme Spread: 214-fps
• Std Dev: 85-fps
• No. of Failures: 0
• Min Penetration Depth: 11-inches
• Max Penetration Depth: 13-inches
• Average Penetration Depth: 12.5-inches
• Average Expansion: 0.3100-inches (two rounds fragmented)
• Weight Retention: Unfragmented rounds = 100%, Fragmented rounds = 70% weight retention

Another interesting result in my opinion. The Stingers completely folded over on themselves into the forms you see below with two of the rounds actually fragmenting inside of the gel block and leaving the fragments somewhere around the 8-10-inch mark. It’s no wonder why these rounds are favored by hunters as these velocities combined with the weight and brief expansion period (which takes place over the first 5 inches or so of the target) make for an absolutely devastating effect on the target. Out of a rifle, we see that the rounds met the FBI penetration depth but unless you’re Andre the Giant, I don’t think you’ll be packing a 10/22 carbine in your pants anytime soon.

Conclusions

Keep in mind that these are indeed varmint loads intended to be shot from a rifle. That being said, I’m not completely disappointed in the results we got out of the LCP II and the Beretta Bobcat. I think out of something like the SIG P322 or the Taurus TX22, these rounds would perform much better while still giving you a concealable and lightweight package to defend yourself with.

However, I have to wonder if the performance metric of expansion is worth the squeeze with a 22 caliber round. Even though the rounds did expand out of some of the pistols, they were still only managing to expand to sizes around what a 9mm ball round would be. Combine that with the relatively short penetration depth and you’re looking at some pretty piss-poor terminal ballistics if lethality is what you’re after.

With all the testing so far, I still begrudgingly think that the super expensive Federal Punch 22LR ammunition is the current king of defensive 22LR loadings. What about you? Is there a reason you’d pick either CCI Velocitor or CCI Stinger to pair with your 22LR pistol for self-defense? Let us know down in the comments. I’m currently trying to work up another batch of ballistics gelatin for some more tests and on deck for the next set of tests will be CCI Mini Mag, as well as some Winchester Silvertip 37-grain Segmenting Hollow Point ammunition. Like the Federal Punch, the Winchester Silvertip is optimized for short barrels, but unlike Punch, it also features a hollowpoint design. Stay tuned to The Rimfire Report to get a read on those test results in the coming weeks. As always, thanks for stopping by to read The Rimfire Report and we’ll see you again next time!