Thread: .22 Magnum Accuracy

I would look elsewhere for consistent accuracy cartridge wise. Stick with the downloaded .223, it's almost certainly more accurate and cheaper.
A lot has been learnt in developing the .17HMR but to be honest there is a lot of potential sources of inconsistency inherent in the design of rimfire cartridges not present in centrefire cartridges and they are simply harder to manufacture than centrefire cartridges while achieving the same level of accuracy.

My Anschutz .22 magnum shoots 1" at 100m......BUT, the secret is : 1. select the right ammo brand for YOUR rifle.. 2. clean the barrel thoroughly after 20-30 rounds. The copper jacketed ammo at the MV of .22 magnum does foul the tube quickly.

I've owned/own or shot a number of 22 WMRs. From experience they are either really good or the complete opposite of that. I have almost exclusively used Hornady 30gr V-max - in 80% of circumstances if a 22 WMR does not shoot with that, you are wasting your time. keep them super clean.

The good:
- H&K 300 Semi - comfortably the most accurate I have owned - easy sub MOA/close to 1/2MOA with V-Max
- Sako P72 - easy MOA with V Max
- Ruger 77/22 WMR Boat paddles (with shimmed bolts) x 2 - just about MOA most of the time (30mm @ 100 yards more standard), again with V-max
- Ruger 96/22 WMR - good solid MOA and good with ammo other than V-Max too - more accurate than the Ruger bolt actions. Go figure! Stupidly sold this one .

The ok (but such a cool gun that it is forgiven):
-Winchester 94/22 WMR x2 - both I had (still have one) were in the order of 2 to 2 1/2 inch groups

Not so good:
- BRNO 611 semi delux (with Nickel coat receiver)- lovely gun but this was initially 6" at best. Got the barrel shortened to remove slight muzzle flair in bore that the late Robbie Tiffen found might be an issue, and I shimmed the trigger to remove excessive travel, and as a result was improved, but still struggling to get perhaps 3"
- Chiappa single shot (wood stock) - could not even shoot this at 100. Was a struggle to keep within 6 inches at 50 yards with V-Max. Against my general rule, it shot a bit better with 50gr ammo (but still 4" at 50 yards)
- Stirling... this one was an oldie/rough so not necessarily indicative of all Stirlings, but not much better than the above
- BRNO 452 - expect this should have been good but had been a farm gun for a long length of time - perhaps 3" groups. Again, I have heard good things generally about BRNO 452's.
- Browning A-bolt - these are notorious for bad barrels (Google them) and I think mine was one of them - could not shoot anything. A rifle issue not a cartridge issue.

Originally Posted by Ranger 888

My Anschutz .22 magnum shoots 1" at 100m......BUT, the secret is : 1. select the right ammo brand for YOUR rifle.. 2. clean the barrel thoroughly after 20-30 rounds. The copper jacketed ammo at the MV of .22 magnum does foul the tube quickly.

This is my experience exactly treat it like a centrefire and clean it whether you have fired seven shots or seventy also find the ammo it likes and buy plenty as you can be sure the next batch will not shoot as well. My rifle likes CCI and although I rarely use it I made sure I had enough.Now ammunition prices have gone through the roof I am glad I did. Ammunition will never be cheaper again than it is today.

I have never liked the .22WMR for three reasons; the lack of accuracy, the noise, and the price of the ammunition (disproportionately expensive for the increase in performance compared to .22 LR) .22 WMR rifles that will shoot better than 2 MOA are rare.

I've owned five .22 mags over 30 years .
Most of them were very average in regards to accuracy , but they earned their place in the safe because the round is very useful for sending animals to the after life in the yards for the freezer or if they are injured .
But a few years ago I " Cracked the Shits " with my old Stirling .22 mag because of feed and ignition problems and replaced it with an old Anschutz .22mag .



At the same time as I got the rifle my supply of Federal ammo ran out so I bought a few different types to try .
It has been said before but the quality of ammo is what has held back the .22 mag over the years , and todays offerings have really propelled it to a better place .
Maybe my Anschutz is a good example but here is what it does with Hornady and CCI at 75 yards

Hornady 30gn




CCI 35gn A22



The Hornady is actually more consistent but the fragile bullet isn't what I'm after .
The 35 gn CCI is much tougher and is my " Go to " ammo now , I bought 1000 rounds of it which will last me forever for how often I use it .

Originally Posted by JohnDuxbury

I always wanted a good .22 Magnum. So far I have been through three of them, and none of them would shoot for sh#$t. I am talking 4 - 6 inch groups at 100 yards. I would have been happy for two inch groups at 100 yards, or even three inches, good enough for government work.

Then I read an article about a guy who tested every brand of .22 Mag ammo with a machine rest at 200 yards, and none of them grouped very well. He concluded that nobody makes accurate .22 magnum ammo, unlike .22LR.

Yet sometiems I hear of people who do have a .22 mag that shoots well. Inch groups at a hundred. Half inch groups at 50 m.

I mean, sometimes I dont know why I bother, because I have a .223 that I download to 2000 fps with AP70 and it shoots very well like that. And frankly, the last time I checked, I was reloading .223 for less than what a box of 50 .22 Mag can cost....but still, I like the round. I want to like it...

I just read your original post again and realised that you have a .223 load that duplicates a .22 Mag load .
In that case I wouldn't bother buying a .22 Mag in my opinion .
My .22 Mag is just a Tool and even though my previous post shows it with a Scope and those pics of Targets were shot with the scope on 9 power it is used with open sights at ranges of no more than 10 yards .
I'm a .223 fan and if you have one that shoots well then use it and be happy .
In my case the .22mag is used for " Knocking a captive animal " for Hunting the .223 is my first choice .
Buttttt..... if the old Anschutz was all I had then accuracy wouldn't be a limiting factor .

I had a Norinco 22 mag.
Floated the barrel, bedded the action, tried 4-5 brands and weights of ammo.
2.5” groups at best.
Sold it when I realised I could better that with 223 handloads, for the same cost.

I have a 22 mag norinco that my son uses more than me and he's a brilliant shot with it. Regularly doing head shots on bunnies at 300+m.
Its better for longer range shots than my 17hmr and doesn't get effected by the wind as much.
Only used S&B ammo when they made it, but since its no longer available, I'm now solely using Hornady Vmax.
It gets used and abused with pest control duties, so not a safe queen or show pony.

Originally Posted by cambo

I have a 22 mag norinco that my son uses more than me and he's a brilliant shot with it. Regularly doing head shots on bunnies at 300+m.
Its better for longer range shots than my 17hmr and doesn't get effected by the wind as much.
Only used S&B ammo when they made it, but since its no longer available, I'm now solely using Hornady Vmax.
It gets used and abused with pest control duties, so not a safe queen or show pony.

I used your thread on the 22 mag, not sure if it was this forum, or the other one, as my basis for ‘improving’ it.
Tried various things, different scopes
It was a fun rifle, especially after I’d reshaped the woodwork, but it never shot as well as my 223

Mate had a Weihrauch 22wmr that was simply stunning!!
Wood was amazing and it shot extremely well.
He sold it and has regretted it ever since.

I recently trialled a heavy barrel bolt Marlin 982VS in WMR for couple of years. Took a while to learn you must clean out copper thoroughly - then it began to shoot with extreme accuracy. It liked the high quality Hornady V-Max 30gr load and both mate and I could get it shooting down into 0.2 - 0.3" groups at 50m. Did only a single group at 100m and that was 0.7". All three shot tester groups. Mate has same Marlin rifle but with standard barrel and that is very sharp also - I remember blowing the top of a 1" target dot out at 50m with 5 shots from his.

So answer is - there are certainly accurate 22WMRs out there. But you will need to find right makes and models, have a good cleaning routine, and find right ammos - As Always. Try Hornady 30gr V-Max..

Grew up watching my old man head/neck shoot goats in WA with a marlin bolt action 22 mag with open sites. Think it was something like a model 25?

Kinda always wanted to try one, and eventually traded one for a scope I was selling. It was a ruger precision rimfire in 22mag and it loved the hornady vmax ammo. It just didn’t get used as I have multiple 22LR and a 223. Sold it recently, almost wish I hadn’t as I missed a headshot on a black rabbit with the 223 the other day


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I had a freak, a heavy barrelled Stirling, I don't know if it was the original barrel or not but it was an honest 5 shot inch group at 100 yards, had a worked trigger as well it unfortunately meet it's demise when it went overboard in Lake Brunner during a rough trip back from Te Kinga, accounted for a lot of 'ahem' moonlit deer in it's time.

I've had a couple of 22 Mags, simply a single shot Remington 22 rechambered to 22 Mag. Robbie Tiffen did the rechambering and mounted a 3/8 dovetail base on them. Must've learnt a thing or 2 about the 22WMR when he was working for Hugh Bradley cos both of those rifles shot 5 shots in to a matchbox at 100, consistently. The first time I sighted in the scope on the first one, my wife put 7 shots in to less than a matchbox. Both those rifles were deadly and sadly I sold 'em.
And when Graham Henry was the Associate Editor of the Rod and Rifle, he wrote an article on the Bradley 22WMR and how accurate it was. It was so accurate that he used it as his go to rifle for scope testing for many of the scopes he was asked to review.