CCI has built a new .22 LR line aimed squarely at small game hunters, and it’s finally shipping to retailers nationwide. CCI unveiled the Hunter Series at SHOT Show 2026 back in January as part of its 75th anniversary slate, so the roughly nine-month lag from announcement to shelf is worth noting on its own — the ammo market has flattened out from pandemic-era chaos, but production and distribution timelines for new SKUs remain longer than they were pre-2020.
The Hunter Series comes in two flavors, both running a 40-grain lead flat-nose bullet that CCI calls its Small Game Bullet (SGB). One is a standard supersonic load clocking 1,235 fps. The other is a subsonic option at 1,050 fps for hunters who want to keep the noise down. Both carry an MSRP of $13.99 per 100-count pack, about 14 cents a round—above commodity CCI Standard Velocity but below the premium Clean-22 and Mini-Mag Segmented HP loads. A mid-tier price point for a purpose-built hunting round.
Built for the Field
The pitch here is practicality. CCI loaded these two options so you can match your ammo to your gun and your hunting situation, whether that’s a suppressed setup where the subsonic load shines or a standard rifle where you want the extra velocity.
“Small game hunters need ammunition that’s practical, effective, and dependable,” said Steven Monniere, Rimfire Product Manager for CCI. “The new CCI Hunter Series was built with that purpose in mind. With supersonic and subsonic load options, Hunter Series gives shooters flexibility across a variety of firearms and hunting situations, while the lead flat nose bullet provides strong terminal performance without excessive meat damage.”
That last part matters if you actually eat what you shoot. A flat-nose solid lead projectile tends to retain its mass through soft tissue and bone rather than fragmenting the way a hollow point will — which is exactly the trade-off squirrel and rabbit hunters care about. You want the round to kill clean, but you don’t want to pick lead out of the meat or lose half the quarter to pulp. American Hunter’s early coverage noted these loads expand well enough for groundhogs and foxes too — the use case runs broader than just tree squirrels.
The Subsonic Load Is the Interesting Half
The supersonic version isn’t a huge market change. CCI already has plenty of 40-grain 1,235 fps options — Mini-Mag at that velocity has been the gold-standard CCI general-purpose load for decades.
The subsonic version is where this gets interesting. Most purportedly “subsonic” .22 LR on the market isn’t purpose-built for hunting — it’s target, training, or plinking ammo that happens to run below the speed of sound. Standard Velocity at 1,070 fps straddles the line. Quiet-22 at 710 fps is deliberately whisper-level but anemic for anything bigger than a cottontail at ten paces. A dedicated 1,050 fps subsonic hunting load, with the same SGB bullet as its supersonic sibling, is a legitimate gap-filler for suppressor owners who’ve been improvising with range ammo on small-game hunts.
That matters because .22 LR suppressors have exploded in popularity since the One Big Beautiful Bill zeroed out the $200 NFA tax stamp earlier this year. More people running cans on their rimfire rifles means more demand for ammo that stays subsonic through a 16-inch or 18-inch barrel, cycles reliably in semi-autos, and actually kills a rabbit cleanly at 50 yards without fragmenting. The Hunter Series Subsonic is CCI’s answer to that demand.
Packaging Done Right
The ammo ships in blaze orange plastic 100-packs. That’s a small detail, but it’s a smart one. The bright packaging drops into a game vest, stands out when you’re rummaging through gear in the field, and is harder to lose in the leaves.
CCI pitches the line for everything from squirrels and rabbits to grouse and groundhogs. One caveat: these are lead projectiles, so they’re not legal in California condor-zone counties or any other jurisdiction that bans lead ammo for hunting. If you need lead-free, CCI’s Copper-22 remains the alternative in the CCI lineup, though it’s a very different projectile running at hyper velocity.
The Specs
- 3R40LFN (Hunter Series, 22 LR, 40 Grain, Lead Flat Nose, 1,235 fps): $13.99
- 2R40LFN (Hunter Series Subsonic, 22 LR, 40 Grain, Lead Flat Nose, 1,050 fps): $13.99
Both are available now at retailers nationwide.
The Bottom Line
The Hunter Series is a simple answer to a simple question: what does a modern hunter want in a dedicated small-game .22? CCI’s answer is a 40-grain lead flat-nose bullet, in a supersonic flavor for traditional use and a subsonic flavor for suppressors, at an accessible price point without feeling like budget bulk. In an industry that increasingly chases marginal gains with exotic projectiles and copper-everything, the “return to simplicity” positioning — a flat-nose lead bullet that’s been the .22 LR workhorse since the cartridge was invented in the 1880s — is a quiet but defensible pitch.
If you’re running a 10/22 or a bolt-action .22 for squirrels, picking up a 100-pack of each flavor and seeing how they shoot through your specific barrel is a cheap experiment. Rimfire ammo is finicky — every gun has its preferences — and the only way to know whether these loads group well through yours is to put them downrange.
