Ammo for a Pardini SP22

[trevorw]

Anyone have preferencss or know of a cheaper brand than SK that works fine in this pistol

Thanks

[Tom]

Hi,

Search through my threads, I did at least 2 long postings on ammo for the Pardini's.

Tom

[yana]

Mine hates CCI, doesnt function well. Likes (rebrand)of Wolff.
Eley, RWS all group less.

[networkguy3]

Mine eats CCI with no problem. I've also shot Wolf Target in it. Essentially the same group size at 25 yards, although I confess to not having made the comparison at 50.

[trevorw]

Thanks I've heard varying reports about CCI presently shooting SK no problems but it's $7.50 a box(50) here so looking for something cheaper that works for practice sessions

[tedbell]

I tried most of the primary options out there in a very disciplined comparison when I first got my Pardini. Mine preferred Wolf Match Target over all the others. I've been shooting it exclusively ever since.

Thanks,
Ted

[orionshooter]

My experience is the same as Yana's.....mine will eat Eley purple box all day long. Wolf also works flawlessly. CCI just wont work nor will Aguila.

[ghillieman]

I use Aguila Rifle Match in the black box, it shoots great. It printed a 3/8" 10 shot group at 50 yards and I've shot an 881 with it. A case cost me $335. I use it for practice and matches.

[Coastwatcher]

I compete with SK and practice with CCI std vel. The problem with CCI is that there is a lot of variation in the length of the rounds. Some of them are well above SAAMI maximum length and they jam in the magazine. If they don't hang up in the mag they shoot well in my SP.

[networkguy3]

That is interesting. I do have to be careful about how I load the Pardini magazines with CCI. I make sure the ammo will move freely up and down in the magazine, and then I have no trouble. If I load the magazine carelessly, I'll have a FTE every few hundred rounds.

[kirtar]

The club that I'm a part of exclusively uses CCI SV for practice and competition for both rifle and pistol teams because it is about the cheapest option that functions reliably in all of our guns (including 2 Pardini SP). As of yet I've only seen FTEs and the like on everything except the Pardinis when it comes to pistols. We probably don't put as many rounds through them as some people on here (maybe 100-200 a week excluding competitions). As for grouping, I doubt we'd see much of a difference because we shoot at 50 feet.

I should probably also mention that I saw someone putting minimags through one of the pardinis -_-. Hopefully that doesn't happen too often.

[ronpistolero]

Perhaps CCI has varying production batches that produces such troublesome ammunition? We have never encountered such problems here in the Philippines. Would it be possible for those who have experienced this to try other batches? Just a thought.

[The Bear]

I have had the same experience as Coastwatcher. I know that if I feel any resistance while loading the magazine, I will clean the mag of wax build up, then put a drop of oil on the nose portion of the mag and this helps up to a point. With that said, I will only use CCI in Practice. I have had no problems with Federal, PMC, Aguilla, Wolf, SK or Eley Sport.

[Spencer]

Perhaps CCI has varying production batches that produces such troublesome ammunition? We have never encountered such problems here in the Philippines. Would it be possible for those who have experienced this to try other batches? Just a thought.

Perhaps?
The amount of lube wax on CCI has varied dramatically over the last couple of years. Some batches have a very noticable bead of wax on the nose of the projectile and some no noticable excess.

[ronpistolero]

Yes I have used such ammo with varying amounts of lube. I am not much of a 25meter shooter and my Pardini has fired probably just 600 rounds despite that it has been with me for over a year. I have yet to clean it "thoroughly" yet have not experienced any problems, misfires or cycling. I mostly use it for free pistol and neither have encountered problems associated with length. Just sharing my our experiences locally. So, like Eleys that produces preferred batches with their varying machines, this may be so with CCIs and their varying machines too.

[yana]

That was the brand I was looking for, couldnt come up with the name..I use SK, and it doesnt even prefer the most expensive 1 either!
I do have an old model SP

[Murph]

I am some what new to shooting bullseye, but in my short timeI recently bought 3 different Pardini pistols including an older SP 22, which I shoot the most. I went thru this same research and testing process when shooting my old High Standard Hamden gun. I search, search some more, read, read some more, grill every guy I see with a Pardini......and here is the bottom line.....I will cut a real long story short and get to the point. Every gun is different. The pros shoot Eley Tenex and Eley Match Eps and Eley target.....my Pardini won't feed that flatter nose Eley bullet AT ALL. It sucks, cuz I know it's a great ammo. I had to do what everyone has to do....test a bunch of decent ammo using a rest at the distances I shoot. Me, I shoot 50', 25 yds, and 50 yds. So, I after (and most importantly) decided which ammo rounds feed consistently and near perfectly in my gun, did some testing of each ammo from a bench rest. To my surprise, Aguila Golden Eagle match works best so far. As I get some other ones to test, I now have the new bench mark to test from. Some pistols and rifles are a bit easier to do this with cuz the precision needs not be soooo accurate, but if you are gonna compete, there seems to be only one way to get the best combo of gun/ammo....and that is to your own test. AND, please share it here cuz guys like me love to read it and take it all in, and hope to get a new idea or ammo to try.

[Rover]

I almost never hear about it on this site, but I have been very pleased with the lowest grade of Fiocchi .22s. I would use them exclusively if I could find them.

Wouldn't surprise me if an Italian gun favored Italian ammo.

[Murph]

I tested all 3 of these for hours in my Pardini SP 22, both off a rest and one hand standing with no supports. The Eley would not feed properly so it was out quick. The Federal 711b and Aguila Match both fed, fired, and ejected with no issues. About 250 rds of each. The Aguila printed a slightly smaller hole and had zero "fliers". The Federal had on average 3/16" larger spread and a flier about every 10 rds. A flier being a round that drifted out of the normal spread by more than 3/8". I am going to duplicate this at 50 yards this week and will post the results and pics.

[FredB]

I almost never hear about it on this site, but I have been very pleased with the lowest grade of Fiocchi .22s. I would use them exclusively if I could find them.

Wouldn't surprise me if an Italian gun favored Italian ammo.

Would it surprise you if your Italian gun favored Mexican ammo? If I'm not mistaken, the lowest grades of Fiocchi are made by Aguila. Check the box to confirm.