CCI Clean-22 .22 LR Ammo

If you’ve read my review on Browning’s T-Bolt Speed, you may have noticed the CCI Clean-22 .22 LR ammunition listed in the performance chart. It’s a new loading from CCI, and I think it deserves to be highlighted.

The Clean-22 ammunition features an exclusive polymer bullet coating that is similar to the coating used on sister company Federal’s Syntech centerfire ammunition. The coating is designed to reduce copper and lead fouling in firearms barrels without leaving a residue, and CCI says it cuts lead buildup in suppressors by 60 to 80 percent.

CCI Clean-22 is offered in High Velocity and Subsonic loadings, both of which utilize 40-grain bullets. The Subsonic load’s factory-rated velocity is 1,070 fps, and the High Velocity load’s factory-rated velocity is 1,235 fps. The Subsonic load’s polymer bullet coating is dark blue, while the High Velocity load’s polymer bullet coating is red.

For this report I fired the High Velocity load in the 22-inch-barreled Browning T-Bolt bolt action and an 18.5-inch-barreled Ruger 10/22 autoloader. The rifles were fired for accuracy at 50 yards.

The accuracy and velocity results are listed in the accompanying chart, and as you can see, the new ammo was accurate, and its velocity out of the 22-inch barrel was darn close to the company’s claims. The ammo fed and functioned perfectly in the autoloader as well as in the bolt action.

After shooting five, five-shot groups with both guns, I inspected the bores with my Gradient Lens Hawkeye borescope, and I have to say they looked surprisingly clean. Plus, when I cleaned the guns after the shooting session, they took fewer cleaning patches to come clean than is typical with other brands of .22 LR ammunition.

MSRP: $9.95 per 100-round box; cci-ammunition.com.