Lapua Midas+ and Remington Subsonic Hollow Point .22LR Ammunition

The .22LR cartridge is undoubtedly one of the greatest of all time, not just because it’s arguably the ultimate rabbiting load, but also because it’s the cartridge many of us first learned to shoot with.
The two cartridges featured here sit at opposite ends of the price and performance spectrum, but each has a well-defined role.

Match load
Lapua Midas+ is a premium, target-focused load that was once solely associated with paper punching. However, with the rise of precision rimfire shooting, a new purpose has been found at longer ranges.
The ammunition is made in Germany and shows impeccably uniform finishing on both the brass case and lead bullet. Lubrication is a dry film with uniform dispersion over the domed meplat and circumferential driving bands, ensuring consistency. The bullets are packed in boxes of 50 with individual slots within the polymer liner to ensure no damage in transit.
The 40gr bullet’s G1 ballistic coefficient (BC) is advertised at 0.172 alongside a velocity of 1,073fps. The BC was accurate through my 20” barrel, although the muzzle velocity crept up to 1,094fps with a distinct, if consistent, supersonic crack. The 1.3gr of powder within consisted of tiny, dark grey/green kernels.
I used this ammunition exclusively on targets at 75 yards and was rewarded with a 0.480” five-shot group, which I found highly satisfying in the light breeze. I encountered few flyers, and since I was shooting outdoors, I was confident that the wind was the culprit rather than any inconsistency in the ammunition.

Rabbit round
For hunting and plinking, subsonic rimfire ammunition is delightfully quiet, and with a hollow point to ensure adequate expansion, Remington’s Subsonic offering is an ideal choice. This ammunition is made in the USA, features a copper-washed bullet, and comes packed loosely in cardboard packets, which is more appropriate given its lower price point and bulk usage scenarios.
The muzzle velocity is advertised at 1,050fps, and I recorded the BC at 0.125 with my radar chronograph over the 50 yard test distance. Again, the muzzle velocity was a little higher from my gun at 1,068fps.
I measured the dark grey flake powder load at 1.4gr, and the performance on paper at 50 yards was 0.84”, well within the limits for plinking or pest control at reasonable ranges.

After use
I cleaned the rifle after each ammunition cycle and found the Midas+ to be the cleaner of the two overall, particularly around the chamber area, where there was no risk of minute copper shavings being produced, unlike the Remington. However, these two types of ammunition serve distinctly different purposes within the realm of rimfire shooting.
If you don’t mind the supersonic crack for target shooting, the Midas is a superbly consistent performer, with an extreme spread of less than 14fps over a ten-round string, whereas the Remington varied by 63fps under the same conditions but at a considerably lower cost per round.
Both are equally enjoyable to shoot, but for the most serious competitions or specialised long-range applications, the Lapua’s higher BC provides a clear advantage. However, it won’t perform like a hollow point on small game. The Lapua is, without a doubt, expensive, but it is well worth it if precision is your priority.