It is a big year for CCI Ammunition out of Lewiston, Idaho as they are celebrating 75 years of manufacturing primarily rimfire ammo. While rimfire ammunition might be their bread and butter, they also make fantastic centerfire handgun ammo, reloading primers, and even air gun slugs. Today, we are going to focus on one specific flavor of rimfire ammunition in CCI Green Tag, and the legend and lore behind it that you never knew.

• The Rimfire Report: Celebrating 75 Years of CCI — A Trip to Lewiston
• The Rimfire Report: Is CCI’s Uppercut A Knockout 22LR Cartridge?
• The Rimfire Report: Back to Basics With the 10/22 & CCI Standard
• The Rimfire Report: The Classic Pair - Ruger 10/22 + CCI Mini-Mags

If you’re familiar with a lot of CCI’s offerings, you’ll know that there are 2 rimfire selections that appear to be nearly identical in their attributes, and those are Standard Velocity and Green Tag. With a velocity of 1,070 FPS (feet per second), both options are sub-sonic. Meaning they are 1,125 FPS or slower at a scientifically agreed registered temperature of 68°F.

Sub-sonic ammunition is the ammo of choice for silencer shooters (as quiet as possible), hunters (more quiet than the alternative super-sonic option while in the woods), and competitive shooters (more consistent and accurate because no crack from breaking the sound barrier occurs).

So, what is the difference between Standard Velocity and Green Tag? They both share the same bullet, being a 40-Grain Lead Round Nose (LRN), which is also being pushed at the same velocity of 1,070 FPS. CCI alludes to some of the difference between the two in their own YouTube video, but it doesn’t paint the full story.

While attending a recent media event this spring involving Savage Arms and CCI where some new products will be announced later this year, a representative from CCI gave us a quick and dirty rundown of their 75th anniversary, the company’s history, and a short synopsis of their products.

In an almost non-chalant and humdrum fashion, this story was dropped on writers and media in attendance (extreme paraphrasing, but the essence and story is true):

Standard Velocity was a rimfire offering that was created a long time ago, and was built with as discerning judgment and quality as all of CCI’s quality. This being true, some of the employees of CCI began marking and setting aside the absolute best Standard Velocity that was being produced. The Standard Velocity .22 Long Rifle ammo that passed the most rigorous specifications tests would be marked with a green tag. Initially, factory employees used this specially tagged - “Green Tag” - ammo for themselves. Rather quickly, it was sold as competition grade under the banner of insider labeling: CCI Green Tag.

So, that is your sneaky-secret, insider-information story that you can share around the water cooler, firing line, or your local gun counter. Green Tag is not simply another option in rimfire ammunition produced by CCI, it is the judicious choice made by factory employees - by slapping a green tag onto the package - to let you know “this is the good stuff!”

• The Rimfire Report: Poor Man's Match Ammo - CCI Green Tag

I can add one more anecdotal piece of evidence to the legend of CCI Green Tag. My brother once had an addiction with finding the most accurate rifle/ammo combination in rimfire to win his local gun club’s rimfire league. This many moons ago (circa 2011) when rimfire ammo was abundant and you could get whatever you want (before the Obama years and many selections of ammunition eventually dried up). With my family owning and operating a gun store, he tried 30+ different rounds from varying manufacturers. Way back then, two of the most accurate rounds he discovered to shoot through his heavy, target barrel Savage Mark II were CCI Standard Velocity as well as CCI Green Tag. What he and I didn’t know then now makes a lot of sense. Those two choices of rimfire ammunition for .22 Long Rifle were, and are still, some of the best.

As always, let us know all of your thoughts about CCI, their 75th anniversary, Standard Velocity, Green Tag, or anything else regarding CCI ammunition in the Comments below! We always appreciate your feedback and engagement.