Thread: More 22lr Ammo/Accuracy Testing - New Toy!! Pic Heavy

@suthy I tested almost the whole line of RWS up to and including R50. The R50 was disappointing given the price even though I was buying price reduced last season's stock. I wouldn't bother with it again. The rest of the RWS I had was not great at 50 yds. CCI Std generally gave better groups. I had almost used all my RWS and finally shot some of the SM at 100 yds. Wow, nice sub minute groups. Certainly didn't show that potential at 50 yds. Tried to get more of that lot to continue testing but being old stock they had none left.

Geco was only just plinking grade.

Late last year I did a lot of chronographing. One string was 75 shots, generally stings around 50 shots. Some of the ammo tested gave horrific ES and SD. Low velocity shots shot low and out of the group as would be expected.

Anschutz Savage - I would have to dig into Rimfire Central but there were Anschutz Savages and Savage Anchutzes ( mmm spelling)
Here is a poster advertising the start of their relationship. Trouble is I don't know the date of the advert but can probable roughly guess given the vintage of the pictured rifle.

Originally Posted by suthy

I reeaaallllly would like a Vudoo but I think they run close to 5k for a complete rifle (if you can find one) and this seemed like the next best thing given the results I'd seen off forums in the states.

The Vudoo action runs smoother than the Bergara and it has (arguably) a better ignition system. I guess choice of barrel is also a factor along with a proven track record with customer service. Just my opinion but the HMR stock is every bit as good as the Grayboe Ridgeback I have. The Vudoo has a TT Diamond and the Bergara has a Jewell HVR so you're splitting hairs to compare there.
The Vudoo with three mags is more than twice the price of a Jewell equipped Bergara with three mags.
Worth it???? If purchase cost isn't a concern, Vudoo. Having said that, I simply cannot fault the Bergara for overall build quality & function. Accuracy wise, from what I've seen on North American forums, some certainly shoot better than others but I wouldn't feel handicapped shooting the Bergara in any field rifle, PRS style club competitions.

A very generous fellow forum member kindly let me grab a couple flavours of ammo off from him that I'd previously not been able to get hold of for testing - cheers mate!! So I got the girls out this arvo while there was still a bit of light about.

All of that ammo went pretty good and I'm looking forward to some 5x 5 shot groups when I get the chance.

I think the SK Rifle and Midas+ will shoot some nice 5x shot groups from the way they shot today even though they weren't necessarily the smallest 10x shot groups...

Some groups from testing I did when I first got my Vudoo. 10 round groups at 50m. Then 20 rounds of CCI subs with 2 random flyers... And finally the batch of Eley Match that I choose. Should have stopped after 3 groups

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Suthy...I look for lot numbers of Rifle Match all the time. Good lots work well for me in a number of rifles. Long Range is a bit hard to come by at the moment. I've had three different lots so far and all have shot well in every 22 I've run them in. For the amount of ammo we use, I can't justify the cost of Tenex, Midas, X-Act etc.
Here's another 125 - Two lots of LR & 2 lots of PMS my wife put through the B14R yesterday. I haven't measured them but the big circles are .862" OD. While not the most accurate 22 I own, the B14R shoots to a very consistent POA every time we take it out.

I dont target-shoot, but I do use an old, mint, as-new mossberg target rifle on the odd bunny when its close to the house. Its a laser out to 70m, with the odd flyer. Further out, my old long-barred BSA Sportsman 15 (now 10), is more accurate. All the expensive .22's I've owned over the years, havent been as accurate as these two, except for a Voere, that I foolishly sold

Had a voere 22 mag for a bit. Shot the cheap cci 22 mag really well. Everything else you’d swear therifle was poked.

Not all 22 magnums are poor shooters - though this also was my belief. Few years back I tested a Weihrauch HW 60 J in 22WMR and it was a superb shooter - popped just three groups after sighting in but they were high 0.2s thru to 0.4 with two types of ammo at 50m. Impressed - and delightful little rifle.

More recently I recall shot in @gadgetman's Marlin standard barrel WMR and it blew the top half of the 22mm dot away at 50m. Very accurate. Then bought one myself last year - a Marlin 982SV heavy barrel and it shoots superbly. Both gadget and I have shot tiny groups down to 0.3 or a fraction under at 50m, and it had no trouble popping 3 shots into 0.7" for me at 100m.

Secret was thoroughly copper cleaning the barrel (from the copper clad ballistic tip ammos), then operating Hornady V-Max 30gr in them. This is a far better quality ammo than earlier decade WMR stuff. Runs dirty and needs regular clean, but very good in our rifles. Worth a look Arthur before you throw the magnums into the creek...

@zimmer, re the CCI Std - I managed to lay my grubby paws on just about a lifetime supply of the stuff.

Initialy used a tuner on my 1416 to get it to shoot well, but these days I am experimenting with batch sorting the CCI Std by rim thickness, and getting pretty much the same results sans tuner.

Originally Posted by Arthur McBride

Jesus. I have been test shooting a couple of .22 Magnums over the last week and I am ready to throw them in the creek out of despair. THis thread only makes me feel even worse.

Just to make a point to both of these rifles, today I loaded up some .308 cartridges with AP70 and 125 grain bullets for a light load mimicking .22 Mag ballistics; about 1800fps. I shot a half inch group at 50 m, and then another half inch group at 100 metres. I WILL throw both of those .22 mags in the river.

I never saw the point of 22mag. poor gun quality and hunting nature means all ammo are made to be able to operate in the worst guns, and then all guns are made to be able to operate all ammo... chicken and egg so on and so forth.

If you want power, get 223, if you want cheap and not accidentally hitting something in 500m behind your target , 17hmr. Both are better at their game than 22mag. Bulk 223 is only 20 cents per round more than 22 mag so it is a no brainer.

Originally Posted by mudgripz

Not all 22 magnums are poor shooters - though this also was my belief. Few years back I tested a Weihrauch HW 60 J in 22WMR and it was a superb shooter - popped just three groups after sighting in but they were high 0.2s thru to 0.4 with two types of ammo at 50m. Impressed - and delightful little rifle.

More recently I recall shot in @gadgetman's Marlin standard barrel WMR and it blew the top half of the 22mm dot away at 50m. Very accurate. Then bought one myself last year - a Marlin 982SV heavy barrel and it shoots superbly. Both gadget and I have shot tiny groups down to 0.3 or a fraction under at 50m, and it had no trouble popping 3 shots into 0.7" for me at 100m.

Secret was thoroughly copper cleaning the barrel (from the copper clad ballistic tip ammos), then operating Hornady V-Max 30gr in them. This is a far better quality ammo than earlier decade WMR stuff. Runs dirty and needs regular clean, but very good in our rifles. Worth a look Arthur before you throw the magnums into the creek...

Stop exaggerating, @mudgripz, they are 24mm dots and I only blew away the bottom third. You were looking at the target from the wrong side. Not too bad for a cheap rifle.

Now the JW15 at 50m, now that wasn't too shabby either. But I've put that picture up before.

Smartarse... I actually just found couple of the Marlin 982SV 22WMR targets from our last range visit. With the calipers your group 0.28" at 50m, and my group to adjust scope up an inch over the dot was 0.1". Just a 3 shot tester but indicative of how accurate these little 22 magnums can be with right prep and right ammos. There are some well made magnums around now - eg CZ and Weihrauch - the latter a beautifully engineered wee rimfire. The Marlins quite good rifles with excellent barrels.

Just found a heap of my old rifles/target pics on old photobucket site. Can't remember owning some of them, there's been so many through the gun cabinet in the last 20-30 years. Lots of wee chopped,prepped JWs that we did for ourselves and others and almost all could group down into 0.4s" at 50m - sub MOA - at best. Great wee workers. Gadgets little chopped JW, referred to above, shot easy 0.3s" at 50m, repeatably - cost him $115!! Should be illegal!! Its one of the lessons of a long shooting career - price is not necessarily an indicator of accuracy

Originally Posted by mudgripz

Smartarse... I actually just found couple of the Marlin 982SV 22WMR targets from our last range visit. With the calipers your group 0.28" at 50m, and my group to adjust scope up an inch over the dot was 0.1". Just a 3 shot tester but indicative of how accurate these little 22 magnums can be with right prep and right ammos. There are some well made magnums around now - eg CZ and Weihrauch - the latter a beautifully engineered wee rimfire. The Marlins quite good rifles with excellent barrels.

Just found a heap of my old rifles/target pics on old photobucket site. Can't remember owning some of them, there's been so many through the gun cabinet in the last 20-30 years. Lots of wee chopped,prepped JWs that we did for ourselves and others and almost all could group down into 0.4s" at 50m - sub MOA - at best. Great wee workers. Gadgets little chopped JW, referred to above, shot easy 0.3s" at 50m, repeatably - cost him $115!! Should be illegal!! Its one of the lessons of a long shooting career - price is not necessarily an indicator of accuracy

Price often reflects quality, fit and finish, but not always accuracy. Great for us skinflints.

ebf - I did the rim thickness sorting myself for a time. What barrel tuner setup are you using - pic/make/findings would be good.

I finally managed to get some 5x 5 shot testing done yesterday. All of the below targets were shot yesterday except 2x of the CCI standard which I'm kind of using as a benchmark ammo for a baseline accuracy.

I haven't bothered fully zeroing the scope as the POI changes between different ammo. I also haven't had a chance to play with torque settings or do any testing with the suppressor off yet but it will be coming at some stage.