Not the greatest range day today with the .22’s

[Riomouse911]

The kids are away for spring break, I had the day off, so I went to my local indoor range with the MkII Govt Target, the M-17 6” and the 317 3”, and brought along a variety of Ammo to see what shot best:

Remington Golden Bullet 40 gr solid (in the 100 pack plastic box)
Aguila Super Extra 36 gr hp
Aguila Interceptor 40 gr plated RN
MagTech 40 gr LRN
Armscor 36 gr hp
Blazer 40 gr LRN

I started with the Golden Bullet in the MkII. In the first four magazines I had 6 failures to extract and several others that seemed oversized and wouldn’t seat all the way.
In the 17 several wouldn’t seat without being pushed into the cylinder. Same for the 317.

The Interceptor had several rounds that also FTE in the Ruger and one of these fired while not seated in the MkII all the way and sprayed burning powder out of the chamber. Thank the Lord for glasses! In the revolvers these, too needed an assist to chamber on occasion.

The other ammo all fed and fired perfectly in all three guns. I’ve read horror stories about .22 ammo, these were by far the worst two batches of .22 ammo I have ever had.

Between the frustration of having to push unfired cartridges out of the Mk II chamber numerous times with a short section of cleaning rod, the guy to my immediate left blasting 18 round magazines as fast as possible printing improved cylinder choked shotgun-esque patterns on his 5 yard target and the guy to my right shooting a Mini 14 that loosened my fillings, my shooting was pretty poor. I caught myself occasionally flinching and tensing in anticipation . My best 6 shots came with the MkII and Blazer: 1” at 10 yds, two hand standing. The Armscor put 9 shots into 1.3” at 10 yds, two hand standing. The others were around 1.75” to 2”.

My DA revolver shooting with the 17 was in the 2”- 2.5” area, same two hand standing. The 317? More like 3.5”-4” groups and all were 2” high.

The one bright spot was I did notice how I shot the MkII much better after shooting several cylinders’ full DA. I think I’m going to do that warm up every time I plan on shooting that gun for groups.

Not my greatest day, but least I got away from the office and got to go out and shoot a bit.

Stay safe!

 

[bannockburn]

Any day I get some time at the range, by myself, is a good day!

 

[HB]

I’m the same way with indoor ranges. If I have to do any serious shooting I prefer to do it on an unoccupied outdoor range. Its a waste of ammo to test handloads when you are more worried about a hillbilly methhead accidentally shooting you with his AK.

 

[BullRunBear]

Every session is different but they all beat time at work.
My range session yesterday was an example. Using a Ruger Mk II Competition, K-17, and Taurus Tracker 7 shot in 22lr, 25 yards and elbows braced. Keeping 2 inch or smaller groups was no problem with all of them. (Wish I could do that every time. Sigh!) The Blazer 22lr ammo worked great. The weird part was I did much better shooting the revolvers DA than SA. Don't know why.

BTW, that Taurus Tracker is a sweet shooter. DA trigger pull is long but very smooth with a crisp break. I got it used at a great price and it has been a pleasant surprise.
Jeff

 

[HB]

. The weird part was I did much better shooting the revolvers DA than SA. Don't know why

My Taurus 94 is the same way. I think it is because the overtravel is huge. Its a small gun with a lot of hammer energy so followthrough is crucial. The DA forces you to have a firm hold.

 

[JR24]

I myself had a poor day at the range with my new 1911. Always sad after the first day was fantastic.

I can blame too much coffee and the fact that I got absolutely poured on with rain, but it was still a fine day out of the house for a few hours.

 

[BSA1]

Between the frustration of having to push unfired cartridges out of the Mk II chamber numerous times with a short section of cleaning rod, the guy to my immediate left blasting 18 round magazines as fast as possible printing improved cylinder choked shotgun-esque patterns on his 5 yard target and the guy to my right shooting a Mini 14 that loosened my fillings, my shooting was pretty poor.

My Gosh my shooting would be even worse if I had a shotgun blasting away on one side and a Mini-14 on the other. They don't have a pistol only range?

 

[Tallball]

What the OP described, iffy lighting, and potential breathing problems are why I prefer the local outdoor range over the indoor one.

 

[Col. Harrumph]

FWIW I found it's pretty common that I need to force cartridges into my M17-4 with thumb pressure.

 

[greyling22]

The golden bullet is garbage, and the Winchester 555 isn't really any better. I have problems with them in my mkii gov model as well. And in the 10/22. And in the mkii with paclite upper.

 

[Jeb Stuart]

The golden bullet is garbage, and the Winchester 555 isn't really any better. I have problems with them in my mkii gov model as well. And in the 10/22. And in the mkii with paclite upper.

My guns love the Goldens. Buy them by the bucket. No one I think really loves the indoor ranges, but I train with 22.cals all the time. And since I have memberships to two ranges within 1 mile apart they help me keep tuned. Very convenient. I just take the good with the bad.
Love the Aguila Interceptor 40 gr plated RN when shooting the LCR22. Like the feel of the extra power and find them the most accurate out of that gun.

 

[Spats McGee]

I never really had a problem with Golden Bullets until the box I'm working on now. I'm about 2/3 of the way through a 525-round box and I've had at least a dozen FTFires. I'll finish shooting the GBs that I have on hand, but they certainly won't be my ammo of choice in the future.

I can sure sympathize with everyone who has had their fillings rattled at the range. I was in a lane next to a guy last week that was shooting a .25-06. I was using plugs and muffs and it was still unbelievably loud.

 

[Jeb Stuart]

Oh, yea, I just love the AR's that seem to be the prefered firearm to take to the indoor pistol range now days. I cringe every time I see these guys with their black case. Yes, it just plain sucks. People talk about etiquette at ranges, how about adding NO AR's or rifles or shotguns to the list. Come on, the range is only 25 yds to begin with. Carry your *** to a rifle range.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

Every time I go to the range I bring an AR with a muzzle brake. I don’t always shoot it. It’s with me just in case someone shows up to blast away with his AK or AR with no regard for other shooters. Most often this is the one I bring. It has a Lantac Dragon muzzle break on it, and I have found that it is very unpleasant for the people that are not pulling the trigger.


So if someone decides to disturb my shooting session, I return the favor.

 

[BSA1]

Gunny,

Do you have one of those skull face masks like motorcycle riders wear to go along with your AR?

Now that would add to the intimidation value.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

Gunny,

Do you have one of those skull face masks like motorcycle riders wear to go along with your AR?

Now that would add to the intimidation value.

Nope.

 

[rpenmanparker]

I have had very good luck in picky handguns with Aguila Super Extra .22LR ammo. Both the standard and high velocity versions (standard is uncoated lead RN, high velocity is copper coated RN) operate all my .22s with red dots on the slides. That is a tough job for a lot of other brands.

 

[RA40]

The Aguila and CCI Blazers have been pretty nice in my .22's, Aguila is my favorite. Have a few bricks of Federal AE that has been decent too but probably not going buy it again.

It's hard to be next to the guy shooting a rifle or shotgun. For that matter I feel the same with .357, 10mm and .44.

 

[rpenmanparker]

The Aguila and CCI Blazers have been pretty nice in my .22's, Aguila is my favorite. Have a few bricks of Federal AE that has been decent too but probably not going not buy it again.

It's hard to be next to the guy shooting a rifle or shotgun. For that matter I feel the same with .357, 10mm and .44.

Sure, those are some noisy cartridges. I even feel a bit self-conscious blasting away with .45 ACP. But doubling up with foam plugs and electronic muffs helps reduce noise, even indoors.

 

[Jeb Stuart]

Sure, those are some noisy cartridges. I even feel a bit self-conscious blasting away with .45 ACP. But doubling up with foam plugs and electronic muffs helps reduce noise, even indoors.

I have no problem with anyone shooting a 45., 44 mag, 500 etc at a indoor pistol range.IT IS A PISTOL RANGE FOR GOD SAKE. What kills me, is every weekend I get up early to beat the riff raft that plagues the indoor ranges in today's world. I get there before the place opens on a Sunday. I look down the line of people waiting to shoot and SO many black rifle cases of AR's. Yet, a range down the road on a pleasant Sunday of a 30 min. ride through the countryside is very available. My God Dude, you can shoot up to a 1,000 yards Why the **** do you want to shoot that at this Pistol range? Every heard about wasting ammo? And of course these Idiots will rapid fire their gun into that 25 yard target.
I am not a Liberal, but sometimes, even I hate the people that own guns in today's world.
Our sport has produced some of the most outrageous jerks than you can imagine. Yea, they got the right, but I hate them. They do not have the respect I was taught by my Father. They abuse the privileged. They are sloppy and arrogant. They feed the liberal fight for gun control.

Long gone are the day's when a Father took a son to the range with a 22.cal and taught him how to appreciate the value of just one shot. To learn the trigger, the gun, the wind, the rain, the sun. Just one shot.
Now a bunch of Video game trash that buy a AR and have no respect for anything.

 

[Col. Harrumph]

Jeb, that's just depressing as hell.

 

[gotboostvr]

Every time I go to the range I bring an AR with a muzzle brake. I don’t always shoot it. It’s with me just in case someone shows up to blast away with his AK or AR with no regard for other shooters. Most often this is the one I bring. It has a Lantac Dragon muzzle break on it, and I have found that it is very unpleasant for the people that are not pulling the trigger.
View attachment 835282

So if someone decides to disturb my shooting session, I return the favor.

Sounds like a good excuse for a AR10 pistol!

I did something similar with my 3" braked 500mag a number of times.

 

[Riomouse911]

My Gosh my shooting would be even worse if I had a shotgun blasting away on one side and a Mini-14 on the other. They don't have a pistol only range?

I wish... sometimes I’ll get a side lane and put some distance between the rifle and myself.


The mini 14 blast sure sucked, and thank the Lord it wasn’t a shotgun, the guy on the other side had a 9mm pistol... but his target looked like a shotgun was firing at it ...

 

[Riomouse911]

FWIW I found it's pretty common that I need to force cartridges into my M17-4 with thumb pressure.

I wonder why that is...I noticed it was with the same two rounds that wouldn't seat in the Ruger but the others all loaded/fired perfectly. In the 17-2 some of the Remington and Interceptors really needed to be forced in order to chamber all the way. Once they fired the shells dropped right out, so that leads me to believe the bullets were a tad oversized.

It does make for a herky-jerky shooting rhythm when you're constantly having to stop and force rounds to seat properly.

Stay safe!

 

[Riomouse911]

I have had very good luck in picky handguns with Aguila Super Extra .22LR ammo. Both the standard and high velocity versions (standard is uncoated lead RN, high velocity is copper coated RN) operate all my .22s with red dots on the slides. That is a tough job for a lot of other brands.

I have a few bricks of each of the Aguila you list, plus the Super Extra 36 gr HP as well...and bricks and boxes of about 30 other brands/bullets as well...along with two .50 cal ammo cans filled with boxes of .22 match from RWS, Aguila and Remington-Eley. (One had to grab what one could back in the panic days!) Someday I'll go through and shoot a huge amount to see what works best, what works well, and what doesn't work at all. (I think I have a leg up on a couple choices for that one)

Like I said I have read others here and there rant about the poor quality of .22 rounds, sadly these were the first two that I have experienced that really stunk up the joint to the point where I wanted to pack up my toys and quit shooting. (I didn't, but the thought crossed my mind!)

Stay safe!