The Rimfire Report: CCI Clean-22 - Part 2 with the P322 COMP

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! In this ongoing series, we cover everything from some of the oldest examples of rimfire guns and ammo up to the latest releases that we’ve seen at places like SHOT Show 2025 and more. A few weeks ago we took a look at CCI’s Clean-22 Steel Challenge 40 grain ammunition. To sum that article up briefly, the ammo performed exceptionally well in the consistency and cleanliness departments. When it came to accuracy, however, I found the CCI Clean to be lacking and as I mentioned a few weeks ago - this is probably because the ammo isn’t intended to be a precise target ammunition. To further demonstrate this, I took my remaining CCI Clean-22 40gr out to the range along with my freshly cleaned SIG Sauer P322 COMP pistol, to see how well the ammo does out of a more practical Steel Challenge gun.

More Rimfire Report @ TFB:

• The Rimfire Report: Musing Rimfire At SHOT 2025
• The Rimfire Report: CCI Clean-22 Steel Challenge 40-grain - Part 1
• The Rimfire Report: Winchester Super-X Power Point 40gr RNHP

"The partnership between USPSA and Federal with Syntech Action Pistol has been very successful. We are equally excited about extending that partnership with CCI and Steel Challenge,” said SCSA Director of Marketing, Media & Events Jake Martens. “Forty-six percent of Steel Challenge competition is done with rimfire ammunition. CCI's production of a competition-ready Clean-22 is a huge win for competitors."

The High Velocity load features a 40-grain round nose lead bullet with geometry that’s been optimized for accuracy. With dependable CCI priming and consistent propellant, Clean-22 Steel Challenge provides flawless cycling through all 22 LR firearms. CCI Clean-22 also cuts lead buildup in suppressors up to 60 percent.

Features & Benefits

• Official ammunition of the Steel Challenge Shooting Association
• Polymer bullet coating greatly reduces lead fouling in the barrel without leaving residue
• Cuts lead buildup in suppressors up to 60 percent
• 40-grain red lead round nose bullet
• Optimized bullet geometry for improved accuracy
• Reliable function in semi-automatic firearms
• High Velocity 22 LR 40-grain red-poly LRN
• 1235 fps
• 100-count
•  $13.99

The SIG Sauer P322 Comp

With the way 2024 was and the way 2025 is shaping up to be, I’ve struggled to find time to make it to my traditional weekend Steel Challenge matches. I’ve been itching to get the P322 out to a match to put it head-to-head with my MKIV but the opportunity just hasn’t made itself available quite yet. That being said, I brought my freshly cleaned P322 Comp to the range with me as it’s just a blast to shoot, and I figured I could get some time in with the official Steel Challenge ammo along with a gun that is far more fitting for it than my Rimfire PRS rifle.

The biggest selling point of the P322 for me is that it’s a relatively inexpensive gun you can pick up for as little as $400 for the base model, or pay about $150 more for the addition of the comp, gas pedal, charging handle, and optic. What’s great about that is if you don’t have the cash upfront for the competition model right away - you can always upgrade it later as the P322 base model is essentially the same gun as the P322 Comp - just without the clear anodized slide or pre-installed parts. That’s also what makes the P322 a great suppressor host.

P322 + Suppressor = A Match Made In Heaven

The P322 has undoubtedly been one of my favorite 22LR pistols to suppress in the last couple of years.  While my Ruger LCP LiteRack and my Beretta 21A Bobcat are both fun for their compact size and dead quiet operation - they’re quite impractical as suppressor hosts since they don’t have good sights for consistent aiming, and they’re also a pain in the ass to reload. The P322 gives you quick reloads, and a red dot for the perfect quiet backyard plinking machine.

The Warlock 22 weighs in at only 3 ounces, is completely user-serviceable, and is one of the least expensive 22LR suppressors you can buy at only $200 before the tax stamp. The featherlight and inexpensive Warlock 22 is great for keeping the P322 balanced naturally and will ensure that you can keep your entire system clean without having to send your suppressor back for service or invest in expensive ultrasonic cleaning equipment. While CCI-Clean 22 is much cleaner than your average rimfire ammo - you’ll still need to get all of those pretty red flakes out of the suppressor at some point.

Compared to the results of the bolt-action B14R, the CCI Clean-22 had a slightly larger extreme spread and standard deviation when shot out of the semi-auto P322. This is to be expected from any semi-auto system, but especially in the case of a blowback-operated 22LR pistol. One final thing worth noting is that I had exactly one failure to fire out of the 250 rounds I shot that day. Since it was snowing out, I wasn’t able to retrieve the stripped round since I instinctively ripped on the charging handle after hearing a click instead of a bang - the P322 COMP’s charging handle made this much easier than on the base model.

Out of curiosity, I did the same test with some bulk 36-grain ammunition. While it's not a great choice for Steel Challange, some people do show up to the range with the cheapest bulk ammunition you can get and as you can see below, these are the type of results you can expect even when shooting off of a bag. To be fair, although I’m sure the P322 Comp’s barrel is mechanically more accurate than these results, the pistol’s trigger leaves much to be desired if ultimate precision is your goal.

Final Thoughts

While I still stand by my statement that I’d rather use CCI’s Mini-Mags over CCI-Clean 22, I can still give credit to the fact that this ammo is on the whole much cleaner when compared to its standard counterparts. It’s also certainly much more accurate than your bargain bin bulk high-velocity ammo. While you will see red flakes here and there on your gun, they don’t seem to interfere with the operation of the firearm, and as an added bonus, the fouling that does show up as a result of shooting CCI Clean-22 is easily wiped away with a rag or paper towel. If this ammo were to come down in price just a tad bit, I’d deem it worthy of picking up for sure. But at $14 a box, I’d still rather save a few pennies per round and stick with the tried and true CCI Mini-Mag. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this test! Thanks as always for stopping by to read The Rimfire Report and we’ll see you all again next week!