.22LR

[nightraider]

For all you guys who target shoot with a .22LR chambered rimfire/bolt action rifle, what ammo do you normally use?

I picked up a box of standard velocity (lower FPS), opposed to the normal high sold at stores, and man, it was much more accurate. Have any of you experienced this effect also?

I'll post pictures of the groupings one I get my camera up so you can see the difference, its dramatic. The gun was a Ruger 10/22 with a heavy bull barrel, (20" I believe).

[thirdtimesthecharm]

I only shoot the Federal 550 round pack that wal mart sells for like $9. I have never had a failure so I am completely satisfied.

[mcb]

This is pretty typical for 22lr. All 22lr match ammo will be subsonic. Short of ammo like the CCI Stinger and other really light "hyper velocity" 22lr most high velocity 22lr is still only 1200-1400fps or so you don't stay above super sonic (~1100fps) for very long as the bullet travels down range. Transitioning through the sound barrier either accelerating or decelerating is a violet transition and effect bullet path (or just about anything else) erratically. Since the 22lr does not have the umph to stay above super sonic all the way to the target the target guys just stay below super sonic.

Also remember that 22lr are often supper picky about what ammo they will or will not shoot well. Federal High velocity might shoot good in your particular rifle but Remington's load that in nearly identical in bullet weight and velocity may result in horrible accuracy. Rimfire rifle can be wonderfully accurate but they are often horribly finicky about what ammo they will shoot good.

I would check out Rimfire Central There is a ton of good information and good shooters over there.

Hope that helps
mcb

[nightraider]

I also tried some Remington subsonic, it was a HP ammo. I experienced the same accuracy I did with standard velocity. But yea your right, its that transition period that really effects the bullets accuracy. For me, I'll continue with the SV from remington, I was getting a 1/2" groups and smaller with 20 shots dead center, at 50 yards. It really impressed me.

I'll also use the SV ammo because it is not copper coated and with eliminate copper fouling in the barrel.

[hobocircus]

I like Winchester T-22s or Federal Champions for tight groups from my Mossberg target rifle.

For everyday plinking, you can't beat the Federal bulk pack from wally world.

[beardman2]

my dad and I went to the range yesterday with the K31 and his old 10/22. Man we had fun shooting that 22. At 75 feet we had a nice 3ingish group with both of us shooting. Anyway I think we will be doing some more plinking in the future.

[Brickboy240]

I have about 8 different early American made 22 rimfires. Bolt actions, pumps, semi-autos and one lever-action.

One thing I have noticed is that each 22 rifle is different in what it "likes" best. You know, the "accuracy" load. A few of mine really don't show much difference in accuracy between the differnt things I have fed them. Some (a few of the bolt actions...that are actually the most accurate) show a tendency to "like" one brand over the other and will group one brand much better and more predictably than another.

The strange thing is that the "accuracy loads" for these rifles has not always been the more expensive "Match" ammo or sonething along the lines of the Eley English made target/match ammo. My Remington 511 likes the cheapo Remington lead bullets - the ones you get from Wal Mart in the milk carton like container. It actually shot poorly with CCI Green Tag and other "match" type ammos. Why? I do not know. Some of my rifles DO shoot better with the match grade ammo, like the Marlin Model 39 lever action. Go figure!

Another of my rifles, a 1936 German single shot target rifle, made by Gustav Genschow (RWS Nynamit-Nobel) in Berlin, shoots beautifully with the CCI Mini Mags and does noticeably worse with the match type ammo. Its hard to get a bad group from this rifle, the difference may be from a dime sized group to a nickel sized group, but the idea that match type ammo is going to perform better was really not the case.

My point is that in my expereince, you have to experiment alot, IF you want to know for sure, which ammo is the absolute best for a particular rimfire rifle. They all like something different and buying the expensive match ammo MAY give you the best groups and it MAY not.

All this aside, I HAVE noticed that the hyper-velocity rimfire ammo like CCI Stingers and Remington Yellowjackets are not very accurate ammo for shooting out to 50yds in any of my rimfire rifles and work best only for short range varmint blasting.

- Brickboy240