.22LR Ammo.... Upcoming Range report...

[Afy]

I finally have

RWS, Eley EPS Ultimate, Lapua Midas L, CCI Subsonic, CCI Standard, CCI Mini Mag, Winchester Super Speed, CCI Stinger, CCI Velocitator, Eley Training, Eley Subsonic, Winchester High Velocity (?), Lapua Midas M, Federal Gold, Blazer, and some local French crap in a tin of 1000(vectan?).

Cant wait to get home on Friday and go to the range on Sat.

Planning a bench based shoot... 5 round groups at 50 and 100 meters...

Last weekend had the wife shooting eggs with the velocitators at 100 meters... 1 shot every time. With the stingers they tend to go a little high... so wasa bit of Kentucky windage involved...

 

[DMK]

Good selection of ammo.

What kind of rifle?

 

[aka108]

Used to shoot with a guy who was a 22 addict. He claimed that in his experience that group size and ammo price are directly related. The cheaper the ammo, the larger the group. This was all shot from a variety of fairly pricey rifles. Be interesting to see what your results show. My little experience has been that some rifles like this brand and some like that brand and price was not a determining factor.

 

[hksw]

One word of caution (in terms of accurate performance results). Shoot non-waxed bullet loads before waxed bullet loads. e.g., shoot the CCI Sub/Stan/Mini/Sting/Vel, Blazer, Fed Gold (I'm guessing 711) before Eley, RWS, Lapua. Or, clean between loads.

The wax residue left in the barrel from the higher end ammo will affect the performance of the non-waxed bullets, usually artificially improving their precision.

 

[borrowedtime69]

Great Book About this Subject

There is an awesome book done on all the ammo availible for .22 LR. the author is Steven Boelter "The Rifleman's Guide to Rimfire Ammunition".

here's the Link: http://www.zediker.com/

i have the book and it has all the info a shooter of rimfire would ever want to know about their ammo. two thumbs up! - Eric

 

[heron]

You've bought the whole price range, it seems -- and the whole velocity range too (almost).
I've got a Savage Mark I SVT, and I did a comparison test with it of several makes/models of ammo, and I get the best results from standard velocity match grade loads. Aguila Match, Fiocchi Match and Super Match, and CCI Green Tag all seem to perform about the same, so I just ordered a case of Green Tag (price and availability). The higher velocity stuff doesn't group as well for me, and the faster the bullet, the farther away from POA they like to fly.
The salesman at 22ammo.com told me that what you pay for in the higher priced match/comp ammo is consistency: the higher the price, the more uniform all the cartridges will be, in case dimensions, powder charge, etc. I'm not sure that's all there is to it, though, as a lot of people report that the subsonic/standard velocity shoot straighter.
Anyway, you'll find one that works. Be sure to mark your targets with the brand, so you can compare groups later and narrow down the choices.

 

[gunnie]

22lr...accuracy questions

like yerself, 20+ years ago, i delved into trying to find the mobeterest 22lr ammo for a tack driving bolt i own.

as an aside, it has the largest X variable on it of any in the long iron stable. even 2X more than a 338 lapua with a 5x22 nightforce X mdl. the higher magnification creates no problem finding a target at the 100yds or less i use a 22lr for. the half century+ optical receptors don't do iron sights well anymore.

i recomend a tasco 6x24 as they will focus as close as 15yds on the low power end.

but i digress--------

per a magazine article i had read about how highly sensitive 22's are to ammo, i went out and bought every flavor of 22lr available in this area at that time. the full spectrum was represented, from eley match to bargain basement brick. needless to say, the pickin's were much slimmer back then. at 50 yds from a sand bagged rest, the difference was disappointing. eley match went less than/about half inch, and brand X wally-world brick fodder went more than/about 5/8ths ", 10 shot groups.

well, ole dummy came away with the mindset that the extra practice of bulk pack purchasing far outweighed the eighth inch improvement at 50yds. i don't shoot match, and even a squirrel won't know the difference.

then he read an article about how critical headspacing is in the rimfire persuasion. same lauded the virtues of getting a NEIL JONES rim gauge for presorting ammo by rim thickness. dunno if they still make'm but my shipping box reads:

...Neil Jones Custom Products
R. D. #1 Box 483A
Sagertown, PA
16433

ITEM: 22RFG

presorting above mentioned brick ammo wouldst then render the same 1/2 holes as match grade...but they still misfire more than premium offerings.

i sorted about 100 rounds into groups of two tenths of numbered increments variations on the taper gauge scale, and shot'm to find the rifle's favorite rim thickness.

it's all good- no more ammo constipations to deal with- never looked back?

WRONG. a coupla summers ago a bud let me burn some of his wolf match target, 40gr solid lead round nose. bar code #4561122212. these consistently do less than 1/2" @ 50. i haven't even bothered rim gauging these, and the taper gauge languishes, fading into a lonely, secluded death.

perhaps, just for grins, i will go ahead and check the wolf ammo out someday for rim thickness/variations.

but then, there is really no need to [from my experience].

yer on the right path, keep searching. when you find ammo yer 22 likes, it'll tell you so!!!

gunnie

'tis better to hit with a .22lr than to miss with a .50 BMG!

 

[Afy]

DMK: Its a lowly CZ 452 with a 4x24/50 Braska that does its job

Heron: Yes I have found the same too. However at longer ranges they tend to fly POA. Atleast the Velocitor and Stinger more or less do. However the Winchester High/Superspeed is inconsitent at the same ranges. (100 M) while stuff like CCI Standard and Subsonic tend to go about 5 inches low but tend to retain their grouping charachteristics witnessed at 50 M.

Thus far I have had best results with Subsonics (CCI/Eley) and CCI SV at 50 M.
My first experience with the likes of Lapua, EPS, RWS will be this Ssaturday. I will try and post pics of the results after the range visit.