The CCI Stinger Steve Boelter
cartridges that changed the industry with their release, and without doubt the CCI Stinger is one of them. Not only did it launch an im- mediate rimfire arms race as to who could build the fastest 22 LR round, but it also gave birth to the term “Hyper-Velocity.” Up until that point there were only a few high-velocity rounds which reached speeds in 1300 fps range, so when the Stinger came flying out the test barrel at more than 1600 fps, a new marketing term was needed and “Higher- Velocity” sounded a bit odd. Even though the ammuni- tion industry unofficially agrees upon a starting point for Hyper-Velocity at 1500 fps when speaking of 22 LR ammunition, there are a few SAAMI references of Hyper- Velocity loads with a velocity as low as 1385 fps. Anything above 1400 fps would be suf- ficiently fast enough for the Hyper-Velocity name in my opinion. From my first shooting experience
There have been only a handful of rimfire
with the Stinger, I’ve been both im- pressed with its terminal performance on targets, and somewhat troubled at times by less than acceptable accuracy in a few different rifles. As many shoot- ers have seen, the Stinger is somewhat picky about which rifle it will shoot well in. Before we launch into the technical causes behind this, there’s something uniquely special about the first Hyper- Velocity round and I wanted to share some of the history surrounding its inception.
HISTORY LESSON In 1975 at the CCI facility in Lewis-
ton, Idaho, the heart of rimfire ammuni- tion manufacturing, a discussion took place putting into motion the creation of the fastest 22 caliber rimfire round for the day. I was unable to ascertain
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toward the traditional one- inch length, but also allowed for a smooth pressure curve inside the chamber. Eventu- ally the Stinger case ended up being slightly longer than the standard Long Rifle case (approximately 0.71" versus 0.595").
This gave engineers
more room for the newly de- signed powder for the Sting- er, which initially was a flake powder type, but then later changed to a crushed ball type for improved meter- ing. The final powder charge weight was 2.2 grains. This is quite a bit when compared to the average of 1.0 grain powder charge in a Standard Velocity load. Unlike many lubri-
cated-lead bullets of the time, the 32-grain Stinger bullet was copper plated, accomplished through an electro-chemical process. Even though the technology was in use since the 1930s, it still was not a simple process for mass production.
specifically who led the idea, but it’s more than likely that both Darrel Inman and Ken Alexander were originators of the Stinger project. During the initial discussion, which more than likely took place in the office lunchroom, there was no specific muzzle velocity goal identified, but one could imagine that a blistering speed was at the forefront of the conversation. The first move for this project
was to decrease the bullet’s weight, looking to see how much velocity was gained. By dropping from the standard 40 grains to 32 grains, they were able to significantly increase the speed (I was unable to track down what that actual velocity was), but ended up with a somewhat stubby looking 22 LR round. The next obvious step was to use a longer case. Not only would this bring the overall length (OAL) back
The initial test runs were prom-
ising, with the first production run averaging 1685 fps (most sources list the original velocity as 1640 fps, but this is not the case. As late as 1979 CCI was still promoting the Stinger at 1685 fps). With CCI’s marketing department ramped up and samples sent across the country, quite a few varmint hunters were curious as to just what this new product could do for them. While the flatter trajectory and explosive per- formance were commonly cited, the unofficial slogan was: “It kills stuff 30 percent deader.” One could surmise this comment is based on its 30 percent greater energy claimed over regular high velocity rounds of the day. Something else worth noting is
that while the common squirrel rifle uses a barrel anywhere from 18" to 22" in length, the Stinger is tested at the
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