This week in The Rimfire Report, we’re taking a look at another budget-friendly load from one of the world’s best .22LR ammunition manufacturers, ELEY. The last time we featured ELEY, we tested their remarkably consistent and accurate Target 40-grain round nose load. Fired through our Angstadt Vanquish-22 equipped Ruger Precision Rimfire, that round maintained reliable subsonic performance while delivering excellent accuracy. This time, I wanted to try something that would make even better use of the Vanquish-22’s ported barrel, the ELEY Subsonic 38-grain Hollow Point. So let's get right into it.
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ELEY subsonic hollow is a hunting cartridge with target shooting accuracy and reduced velocity, offering a quieter muzzle report compared to other .22LR hunting rounds.
With its innovative hollow-nosed profile, the ELEY subsonic hollow projectile delivers unequalled expansion characteristics, resulting in short penetration with outstanding stopping power; essential features for vermin control. The non-greasy lubricant provides smooth operation in semi-automatic rifles and improves functioning in all weather conditions.
Increasingly popular with sporting shooters and professional pest controllers, ELEY subsonic hollow is regarded as one of the quietest and most accurate subsonic rounds on the market.
Strike Depth – 0.012-0.015 in
Recommended headspace 00.040-00.041 in
Mean Velocity is determined in ELEY Rifle test barrels. Results may vary in your firearm.
Drag Model – RA4
Ballistic Coefficient 0.112
Quiet and accurate
Non-greasy all-weather lubricant
Market-leading expansion characteristics
Excellent stopping power
designed for
Varmint shooters
Price Per Box (On Midway): $9.79/50-rnds - $0.20 cents per round)
A few interesting details I didn’t mention last time help set ELEY ammunition apart. Their 50-round plastic sleeves differ from those used by companies like CCI. Instead of a friction-locked sliding lid, ELEY’s sleeves are sealed with a sticker that, if handled carefully, can retain its stickiness and be resealed for storage.
The ammunition itself arrived in excellent condition, with clean, untarnished brass. The lubricant was noticeably thicker than what we saw on the ELEY Target 40-grain load and had a more matte texture rather than the polished sheen of the 40-grain rounds. Even so, it wasn’t unevenly applied or pooled on the bullet noses. The hollow points were generally consistent, though nearly every round I inspected had a small imperfection in the cavity. I’m not sure this minor deformation would affect accuracy, but it’s worth noting when you’re paying about twenty cents per round for .22LR. Now onto how it does out of the rifle.
Velocity Results
While it has served me well and was ridiculously expensive (they still are), my Garmin Xero C1 Pro is now outdated, as there is a new variant out that can track shots much faster, and adds in a whole bunch of new features that ballistics-curious people like myself can glean all sorts of data from. That said, the new features Garmin has added to its ShotView app allow us to track shot-to-shot consistency visually using a new handy graph feature. I think this more effectively demonstrates how tiny increases or decreases in velocity can often induce fairly noticeable variations in shot placement.
In my opinion, the ELEY Subsonic 38‑grain HP doesn’t quite fit the description of “match‑grade” ammunition. Its standard deviation is indeed good—sub‑20 fps—but it barely squeaks under that benchmark, and is still outperformed by CCI Standard, which was 3 fps more consistent from the same rifle. For its intended role in small‑game hunting, however, that level of consistency is entirely acceptable, especially since none of the shots came anywhere close to the advertised 1040 fps, thanks to the Vanquish‑22 barrel.
Accuracy Results
I have to note here that the Ruger Precision Rimfire, combined with the Angstadt Vanquish-22 Integrally Suppressed barrel, has been extremely consistent from load to load in terms of accuracy, and I think it has been a great platform for demonstrating the accuracy potential of the ammo itself. It’s also worth noting that in stark contrast to a traditional suppressor, the Vaquish-22’s baffle-free design also makes cleaning after each of these shooting sessions extremely easy; just a quick wipe down with some CLP is all that’s usually needed to get the barrel back to factory-new condition. The ports clean themselves out with a mag of high-velocity ammo run through the gun.
ELEY’s expensive yet hunting-focused ammunition is predictably very accurate out of the Vanquish RPR combo. The best group I was able to shoot on that day at our standard 50-yard distance came in at a scant ½” in size. This is more than adequate for some pest control duty, which is what I think is the hidden second specialty of the Ruger Precision Rimfire. As is its namesake, the subsonic nature of ELEY Subsonic makes it a dream to shoot, even without earpro, with the Vanquish-22 barrel making it Hollywood quiet.
Final Thoughts
It’s hard for me to recommend this particular load to anyone, given that it’s both less accurate and more expensive than CCI Standard. Out of the same gun, CCI Standard outperforms ELEY’s 38‑grain Hollow Point in virtually every metric that matters. The only advantage I can point to for ELEY Subsonic over its less expensive American counterpart is that it’s noticeably quieter and consistently produces a slower projectile in the same firearms.
If you’re looking for an excuse to buy this ammunition, it might be as a ballistic experiment to see how much difference that hollow point actually makes in subsonic .22 LR performance. Hopefully, we’ll get the chance to do that in the next couple of weeks as the weather dries up. I’ve got one more box of this lot that I’m considering running through a Ruger 10/22 to see if that rifle can make better use of ELEY’s dedicated subsonic small‑game hunting load. Your thoughts, of course, are always welcome in the comments below. Thanks as always for stopping by to read The Rimfire Report, and we’ll see you again next week.
ELEY Subsonic Hollow .22LR Ammunition
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