Somebody please make some .22WMR that groups UNDER 1 MOA.

[Picher]

I have a very accurate .22WMR rifle and had others, but none have grouped 1 MOA consistently. Velocities were chronographed recently and found to be more consistent than many .22LR target rounds, yet I've noticed many wild shots that are more than 2" outside 100 yards "groups". I swear that bees fly straighter than some .22WMR ammo!

We're talking jacketed bullets that stray as much as 3" outside of the 100 yard "group" being shot, though most flyers are about 1-2" outside the group. I've viewed bullets flying in a corkscrew manner just before striking the target. Bullets often fly off the 8 1/2"x11" paper targets with 5 bulls that I use much of the time.

If anyone out there is working for an ammo manufacturing company, please figure out how to make accurate .22 WMR rounds! I'd pay a couple of bucks more a box if they would consistently shoot MOA at 100 yards.

 

[rpenmanparker]

My experience with .22 WMR is very limited, a few hundred rounds through the Single Six I owned for a short time. Nevertheless, my conclusion is the same as yours. The stuff does not fly straight even by indoor pistol range standards. I won’t likely ever have reason to care again, but they ought to do something about it.

 

[dh1633pm]

I don't have much experience with 22 WMR. I purchased a CZ512 last fall and finally got it out this Spring. Can't even recall what ammo I was using. It had that guy who kills gator's on the box, Troy Landry. CCI I think. Seemed to do well. What ammo that currently exists would be best that one could buy right now?

 

[DM~]

I haven't shot my "most used" 22 mag. on paper at 100 yards, but this is a common group at 60 yards where I keep it sighted in,



It's my "pest control" gun, so 3 shot groups for checking the sights is good enough.

BTW, it seems to not care what brand ammo I use in it...

DM

 

[Jerseykris]

As much as I love my 22WMR, 'Ive really relegated that rifle to a paper target rifle for all the reasons above, in favor of my .17HMR (which doesn't seem to suffer from this phenomenon) when I really need accuracy to count. It's a shame because I'd otherwise prefer the .22

I would definitely be willing to pay a little bit more for equally reliable .22WMR ammo.

But I suspect in the basement of each ammo manufacturer is an ammo designer locked in a small room saying "but I've perfected the ballistics and the balance ratio of the....", all the while as sadistic bean counters shout down the stairs "Shut up!! We've heard enough out of you, Johnson!!"

 

[alsaqr]

i own three .22 magnum rifles. Tried about every brand of ammo: None of my rifles will make consistent 1" three shot groups at 100 yards. My most accurate rifle is a Savage. It makes consistent 1.5" three shot groups at 100 yards using the CCI 40 grain total metal jacket ammo: When I do my part.

 

[mcb]

Been awhile since I played with my Marlin 25MN but I had really good luck with Remington V-max . A 33gr ballistic tipped bullet for 22 WMR. It never consistently shot sub-MOA but it never shot worst than 2-MOA for me. It was a great groundhog gun. Probably not much help there....

 

[ECVMatt]

I mostly hunt with my .22mags and have two that shoot under two inches at a 100 yards, a Ruger 77/22 Mag VBZ and a Marlin 883. They work great, easily take small rabbits and varmints, and still have decent power at 100 yards. If I want to shoot targets at a 100 yards with an easy on the ears and shoulder gun, I switch to my 17 Hornet. I think the 22 mag is great for what it is designed for, but target shooting is not one of them.

 

[HB]

I mostly hunt with my .22mags and have two that shoot under two inches at a 100 yards, a Ruger 77/22 Mag VBZ and a Marlin 883. They work great, easily take small rabbits and varmints, and still have decent power at 100 yards. If I want to shoot targets at a 100 yards with an easy on the ears and shoulder gun, I switch to my 17 Hornet. I think the 22 mag is great for what it is designed for, but target shooting is not one of them.

I think that last line nails it. Its like looking for “match” 30-30 ammo. Outside of the new keltec 22 mags, i imagine the vast majority of 22 mag is fired at farm pests.

 

[Picher]

I got "lucky" this morning at the range. Got a 5-shot group at 100 yards that was .5" horizontal by 0.7" vertical. I was using Hornady plastic-tipped ammo. That's the best ever group from that rifle at that distance. The Winchester ammo I just bought 5 boxes of, because it shot so well, didn't.

(Sorry, didn't have time to post this group when I wrote the post yesterday. Had a luncheon meeting in another town and had to get going, then take a grandson driving, practicing for his license test.) JP

 

[Bushpilot]

I've had 3 or 4 Marlin 22 mags over the years. All the Marlins I've had shot around 2 inch groups, not bad, workable, but nothing to get excited about either.... The most accurate 22 mag that I've had so far has surprisingly been a Charles Daley (Armscor) M1500 that I used to own. Although it was an inexpensive rifle, it was built like a tank and would consistently shoot just a little over 1 inch to 1.5 inch, 5 shot groups.

 

[Bushpilot]

Got a 5-shot group at 100 yards that was .5" horizontal by 0.7" vertical. I was using Hornady plastic-tipped ammo. That's the best ever group from that rifle at that distance.

What type of 22 mag do you have again? I know you mentioned it in previous posts but I forgot what kind it was...

 

[rpenmanparker]

I mostly hunt with my .22mags and have two that shoot under two inches at a 100 yards, a Ruger 77/22 Mag VBZ and a Marlin 883. They work great, easily take small rabbits and varmints, and still have decent power at 100 yards. If I want to shoot targets at a 100 yards with an easy on the ears and shoulder gun, I switch to my 17 Hornet. I think the 22 mag is great for what it is designed for, but target shooting is not one of them.

Isn’t all shootng really target shooting? Isn’t a rabbit a target when it is in your sights?

 

[hq]

The Winchester ammo that shot best several days ago was all over the place. That's life in the .22 WMR lane!

Ever considered lapping the barrel? Roughness and even tiny burrs in the barrel are by far the most common cause for all rimfire accuracy issues. I have yet to encounter a rimfire rifle of any kind that couldn't have been lapped and/or recrowned to MOA-ish with relatively modest effort. Even my .22WMR crapstick, Norinco JW-23, has turned out A-OK.

 

[loose noose]

I've got a Savage Model FXSS something, bolt action with SS bull barrel, in a Boyds laminated grey stock, sporting a Bushnell Elite 3X9 scope, that I did a trigger job on (breaks nice and crisp right at 2.5-3#'s. For some reason it will shoot moa,(5 shots) but only if using Federal 40 grain copper jacketed bullets. Obviously this is from a rest on a windless day. Unfortunately I don't have the lot number of that group of bullets, but I know I've got about 5-6 boxes left around here somewhere. I've shot Winchester, CCI Maxi Mags and several other types of .22WMR's thru it but I kept coming back to that case of Federal 40 grain jacketed solid point.

 

[Picher]

What type of 22 mag do you have again? I know you mentioned it in previous posts but I forgot what kind it was...

It's a CZ 455. Bought it used at Kittery Trading Post at a decent price. Bedded/free-floated it and touched up the trigger and tuned the firing pin tip to increase impact at the point where the shell body meets the rim...reducing impact at the fold of the rim and better spreading the impact. Perhaps that made the difference in improving groups, or maybe it was just finding a particular batch of ammo that shot great.

 

[MistWolf]

I don't remember the details, but a few years ago (more like decades, actually), I read a technical article on the 22 WMR and why it's an inherently imprecise cartridge. I don't recall the details, but I believe it has something to do with how the chamber, barrel and ammo are dimensioned. The dimensions are incompatible with each other, resulting in inconsistent shots. The article also explained why manufacturers have done nothing to change the situation. I do not recall which magazine it was in, or who the author was. All I can tell you is that I was very young when I read it, back in the days when to took a computer the size of a living room to add, subtract, multiply and divide.

What this means is, a shooter will need a custom barrel with a custom chamber to match the ammo. Even so, there may be a problem with how the ammo is made that would still keep the 22 WMR from delivering good precision. This, plus the cost of ammo, is why I never bought a 22 WMR.

 

[PapaG]

I have had a half-dozen 22 WMR rifles beginning with the H&R semi through a 9422, a Marlin bolt gun, a 93 Savage and finally a Ruger 77-22M all weather. I CAN shoot moa with several of my guns, relatively often but never with any of these and with a variety of ammo. The Ruger was closest and maybe, with a good trigger, would have been that surprise gun.

 

[JohnKSa]

Isn’t all shooting really target shooting? Isn’t a rabbit a target when it is in your sights?

Yes, of course. In exactly the same way that all shooting is point shooting because one always points the gun at the target.

 

[Bull Nutria]

I have a marlin SA-22 in 22 WMR purchased new. I scoped it and tried a variety of ammo every brand I could find(before the ammo crunch) I have a bunch of it left. None of the ammo would group better than 1.5 to 2inches at 100 yds and most was worse. I gave up and bought a CZ 527 in .223 on RC Models advice. Glad I took his advice 527 shoots 60 g Hornady varmint bullets with 25.5 g of Varget like a lazer averages MOA. I haven't shot the 22 mag since!!

the 22 mag is a great close range varmint gun but it is not for 100yd plus shooting!

Picher your CZ is a quality rifle, that has been tuned by you and is the exception to the rule! Very nice rifle!!

Bull

 

[BilliamB.]

Time to dust off the old Volquartsen, see what she'll do. Will try to post in the next few weeks.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

My Ruger 77/22M regularly shoots minute of angle with ammo it likes.

 

[loose noose]

Finally found the ammo under my reloading bench in a metal 30 caliber can. I do believe the lot number was 757 or 0 29465 05604 9, BTW they were Federal 50 grain jacketed hollow points. It's been a few years, but I distinctly remember entering a contest where the contestants were all shooting .22WMR's to determine the accuracy of the .22WMR rifle. We had to shoot 6 different targets 5 rounds on each, on the same sheet of paper at 100 yards to determine the best group, I do believe my worst was .75 and my best was at .333" . I do believe I allowed at least 10 minutes for cooling before each string and allowed about a minute to 90 seconds before squeezing off the next round.. BTW my rifle was a Savage Model 93FXSS.22WMR. see the photo directly below. BTW .333 was the smallest recorded that day, and I won a hard case rifle case for y efforts.

 

[loose noose]

Sure do wish I knew how, after putting a finger nail posting on all of the photo's how I got them all mixed up once I posted the reply.

 

[GooseGestapo]

The biggest issue with the .22mag is the bullets. Secondly the manner in which they are almost haphazardly assembled. Compare the .17HMR ammo to most .22wmr. Some of the crimps on .22wmr are ridiculous.

Back in the ‘80’s, NRA Handgun Silhouette matches were popular. Some of the competitors were using Scoped T/C Contenders in .22wmr.

Many were pulling the bullets, uniforming the case necks, re-weighing the powder charges, and seating the bullets with an in-line bullet seater, and crimping with a collet style crimp die similar to the Lee rifle FCD.
They used Sierra 40-45gr bullets, and I saw groups consistently under MOA.

I’ve got a Marlin M1894 in .218Bee. I bought a large quantity of Armscor 40gr Hp bullets intended for the .22TCM. These are incidentally the same bullet used in Armscor.22wmr ammo. My Marlin gets 1.5-2moa with these. Good enough for what I use it for. Cheap at ~$50/1000. However, substituting a 40gr Sierra SMP, it’ll shoot under MOA.

It might be worthwhile for a dedicated.22wmr shooter to research what the competitors were doing and acquire the tooling (dies) they were using to rework the ammo. I do know they were using the same shell holders for .25acp... and using a collet style bullet puller to remove the bullets from factory ammo.