ISSC SPA .22LR accuracy test --------- Update Dec. 05.

[rustysdream]

I haven't found an ISSC SPA .22LR accuracy test on the Internet, so I took my brand new rifle to the range for a quick test today. Here is my review.
Set up
ISSC SPA .22LR rifle with factory 10 round magazine
6-24x50 AO scope (made in China, no brand name on it)
Caldwell Lead Sled DFT 2 rifle rest

Ammo
Winchester 555, Remington Thunderbolt, Winchester M22, Federal GameShok, Sellier & Bellot, American Eagle 38gr, CCI MiniMag, Eley Sport, RWS Club, SK Standard Plus, CCI Standard, Federal Champion, American Eagle 40gr, Winchester Target, Remington Golden Bullet (no box, not on picture)

Distance
50 meters

Weather
0 Celsius, overcast, calm

Testing
The barrel was cleaned with a Bore Snake (run twice) every time before starting to shoot a different ammo.
10 round fired (on different target) for seasoning the barrel and to adjust POI, then 5 rounds fired for each group.

Quick review of the rifle
Arrived in a hard case that's large enough to hold a scoped rifle. Overall very good first impression of fit and finish. The rifle is comfortable to hold and the action functions well.
The magazine needs a firm push until it clicks in the magazine well.
The trigger is kind of unique. I think both the first stage spring and the trigger pull should be lighter but the trigger brakes clean and it's perfectly fine for hunting, plinking or even some target shooting.

Test result
Nothing spectacular, but surprisingly good groups with Winchester M22, Federal Game-Shok (one flyer) and Remington Golden Bullet (one flyer) bulk ammo.
Disappointing groups with RWS Club, SK Standard and AE 40gr.
Eley Sport seems to give consistent result.

I fired a few extra groups back to back without cleaning the barrel with the following ammo:
Eley Sport, SK standard (way better group this time!), Federal Game-Shok, Winchester M22, CCI Standard (still not happy) and RWS Club (again, much better group).

This is not a complete test but I had to wrap it up after being at the range for over 3 hours. However, my feeling is that the rifle either needs no cleaning between changing ammo or it needs more rounds (20-25) to season the barrel to improve group sizes.
I'm looking forward to hear your comments and suggestions.

 

[iain.quayle]

Mines getting warrantied for an out of alignment barrel
Eley sport really seemed to clean up the group sizes, what were the rough size on the eley groups, 1"ish?

 

[rustysdream]

The groups with Eley Sports were 0.629" and 0.585" center to center. I'm pretty sure I can do better.
How did you find out that you had a misaligned barrel?

 

[islandguy]

The groups with Eley Sports were 0.629" and 0.585" center to center. I'm pretty sure I can do better.
How did you find out that you had a misaligned barrel?

Very impressive groups. I had a look at one in a local gun store and liked the action, but was concerned that there might be too much slack in the toggle mechanism to ensure good, tight, head-space, and that the accuracy might not be so good as a result.

 

[chanman]

Seating that magazine is a pain. I've been wondering if sanding down the notch in would help with that.

 

[iain.quayle]

The groups with Eley Sports were 0.629" and 0.585" center to center. I'm pretty sure I can do better.
How did you find out that you had a misaligned barrel?

Wow thats seriously impressive actually.
My smith had to shim the scope down twice to get it to bore sight. So he measured the height of the rings and bases, they came out fine. it was a question of broken scope or missed qc.
I was curious about which it was so I popped that action out and squared up a rod to the receiver (there is a machined ridge you can clamp it against). Visually the barrel was pointed down, even after rotating the rod multiple times in case it was bent at all. The rod was carbon fiber so any droop was very minimal.

Would have been better to test with another scope but didn't want to pop one off.

 

[silverfoxdj]

CCI Standard looks decent ELY seems best along with a couple of other honorable mentions good work

 

[rustysdream]

Very impressive groups. I had a look at one in a local gun store and liked the action, but was concerned that there might be too much slack in the toggle mechanism to ensure good, tight, head-space, and that the accuracy might not be so good as a result.

I bought this rifle for hunting small game. I think the toggle action has an edge over bolt action for follow up shots. Of course, accuracy is important, so I will continue my test but this rifle is plenty accurate for hunting.

 

[rustysdream]

Seating that magazine is a pain. I've been wondering if sanding down the notch in would help with that.

First I thought something was broke. LOL Then I realized that the magazine needs a firm push. I don't mind that it's a tight fit but have to make it a habit to pay attention to that "click".

 

[rustysdream]

Wow thats seriously impressive actually.
My smith had to shim the scope down twice to get it to bore sight. So he measured the height of the rings and bases, they came out fine. it was a question of broken scope or missed qc.
I was curious about which it was so I popped that action out and squared up a rod to the receiver (there is a machined ridge you can clamp it against). Visually the barrel was pointed down, even after rotating the rod multiple times in case it was bent at all. The rod was carbon fiber so any droop was very minimal.

Would have been better to test with another scope but didn't want to pop one off.

Oh, I see.
I think I will put another scope on the rifle for the next test. Maybe that will help to tighten a few groups too.

 

[rustysdream]

CCI Standard looks decent ELY seems best along with a couple of other honorable mentions good work

Thank you.

 

[silverfoxdj]

Thank you.

...

 

[chanman]

First I thought something was broke. LOL Then I realized that the magazine needs a firm push. I don't mind that it's a tight fit but have to make it a habit to pay attention to that "click".

Same here. I've also experienced some feeding issues with the second-to-last round. The feed lips hold the round with very little angle compared to my 10/22

I bought this rifle for hunting small game. I think the toggle action has an edge over bolt action for follow up shots. Of course, accuracy is important, so I will continue my test but this rifle is plenty accurate for hunting.

The toggle action requires enough force to work that I'm not sure it has much of an edge over a well-worn bolt (I concede that speed and smoothness varies quite a bit even within different examples of the same design). The SPA certainly feels nice in the hand when shooting off-hand, but that's more the barrel profile and stock design/material. It did get some comments at the range though. The guy in the next bay shooting a BL22 couldn't stop looking; it weirded him out that much.

 

[rustysdream]

Same here. I've also experienced some feeding issues with the second-to-last round. The feed lips hold the round with very little angle compared to my 10/22

I didn't notice the same problem. I did have a couple of duds (Winchester, eh?....) and I had one FTE (Eley) possibly due to tight tolerances in the chamber.

The toggle action requires enough force to work that I'm not sure it has much of an edge over a well-worn bolt (I concede that speed and smoothness varies quite a bit even within different examples of the same design). The SPA certainly feels nice in the hand when shooting off-hand, but that's more the barrel profile and stock design/material. It did get some comments at the range though. The guy in the next bay shooting a BL22 couldn't stop looking; it weirded him out that much.

I also like the stock. It feels comfortable, doesn't look cheap and the butt pad feels great too.

 

[rustysdream]

I took another trip to the range today. Here's the result.

ISSC SPA .22 LR
Caldwell Lead Sled DFT 2

Weather
2 Celsius, partly sunny, mainly calm with some wind gusts

Ammo
Winchester Target (Dynapoint GT, black box), Winchester 555, Winchester M22, Winchester Dynapoint (white box), Remington Thunderbolt, RWS Club, American Eagle 40 gr, Federal Game-Shok, Eley Sport, CCI Standard, Sellier & Bellot, Federal Champion

Scope
Mueller APV 4.5-14x40 AO

Target

The big surprise was Winchester Dynapoint (white box). It produced the best group today (0.594"), even better than Eley Sport (0.780").
Measurements are center to center.
The rifle did not like American Eagle 40 gr and Winchester 555.
Note: the shot on the lower right corner was supposed to land on the other target below during sighting in.