I recently got a new Henry Small Game Rifle chambered in .22 Magnum that I plan on using while small game hunting this fall. Since this is the first firearm chambered for that cartridge that I've ever owned, I decided to do a little experimentation to find out which ammo works best in it.

Over the course of several trips to the range, I compared the performance of 30gr Federal TNT hollow points, 40gr CCI Gamepoint jacketed soft points, 40gr Armscor jacketed soft points and 45gr Hornady FTX Critical Defense ammunition. Read on to see how they performed.

While it is not really surprising — I was using a lever-action rifle after all — I did not experience a single malfunction with any of these different types of ammo. They all worked great and weren't particularly dirty. I might have gotten different results with a semi-automatic firearm, but I didn't observe much variation between the different types of ammo from a reliability or cleanliness standpoint.

However, there were some clear differences in precision and consistency between the different brands. Using the standard iron sights that came with the rifle, I shot each type of ammunition for accuracy off a bench at a target 50 yards away.

I shot five five-shot groups of each type of ammo and took the average size of the groups. I also used my chronograph to measure the velocity of each shot.

Keep in mind I was using a rifle with a 20-inch barrel and a 1:16" rifling twist. If you shoot these same types of .22 Magnum ammo in a firearm with a shorter barrel or a different rifling twist, you'll likely get different results than what I got here.

45gr Hornady FTX Critical Defense

The Hornady ammunition was right at the top of the pile from an overall performance standpoint. With an average group size of .9" at 50 yards, the Critical Defense ammunition was the most accurate type of ammo of the four I shot.

Since it had the heaviest bullets, it also had the lowest average velocity of the group at 1,620 feet per second. However, it also was pretty darn consistent with an extreme spread of only 69 feet per second and a standard deviation of 30.

40gr Armscor

While the Hornady ammo was slightly more accurate, I still got an average group size of .91" using the Armscor ammo, which isn't much of a difference at all. It fired a slightly lighter bullet, so the average velocity was a little higher at 1,784 feet per second.

However, the velocities I obtained with this ammo weren't consistent. I measured an extreme spread of 131 feet per second and a standard deviation of 41. That being said, it didn't seem to impact the overall accuracy of the ammunition that much. Maybe my rifle just really liked the Armscor ammo.

40gr CCI Gamepoint

The CCI ammunition was also pretty solid performer, though with an average group size of 1.2" at 50 yards, it wasn't quite as accurate as the Hornady or Armscor ammo. However, it wasn't far behind them either.

The average velocity of this ammo was 1,754 feet per second and it was neck and neck with the Hornady ammo as far as being consistent, with an extreme spread of 76 feet per second and a standard deviation of 22.

30gr Federal TNT

Though the Hornady, Armscor and CCI were all similar in their performance, the Federal ammunition was clearly the outlier in the group. My average group size was 2.1" at 50 yards, which is over twice the size of the Hornady and Armscor groups.

Not surprisingly, the 30gr bullets were the fastest of the group with an average velocity of 2,103. It also had the least consistent velocities of the four different brands with an extreme spread of 180 feet per second and a standard deviation of 54.

Also of note was the fact that — even with the rear sight all the way down — the Federal ammo was still hitting about 2" high at 50 yards. This, along with the poor accuracy of the round, indicates it is not a great choice for use in this particular rifle. You might get different results by using it in a different rifle or pistol, but I would not recommend using it in a Henry Small Game Rifle.

Overall, I was pretty happy with the performance of the Hornady, Armscor and CCI ammunition. All three were relatively accurate, consistent and reliable, and they shot to approximately the same point of impact at 50 yards.

Though the Federal ammunition did not perform well in my rifle, that doesn't necessarily mean it is bad quality ammunition and it may very well do much better in a different firearm. Just make sure you try it out at the range to see how it performs in your firearm before you take it hunting or trust your life with it.

At this point, I'm probably going to use the 45gr Hornady Critical Defense ammo as my primary hunting ammunition this fall with the Armscor ammo as a backup. Of the four types of ammo I've shot through my rifle, the Hornady gave me the best balance of accuracy and consistency out of the group. However, the Armscor ammo wasn't far behind, so I'll probably try them both out on some small game later this year.

At this point, I can't comment about the terminal performance of these different types of ammo, but I will as soon as I get a chance to see how they do in the field.