1933 vickers armstrong "special" 22. Vs. high velocity rounds

C

Crouchy

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
54   0   0
Location
Strathroy
43a0a020.jpg
[/IMG]

I have inherited a 1933 vickers armstrong " special " 22. lr it was used by my great grandfather who was O.P.P. so needless to say it is a family treasure of ours that I look forward to shooting as much as I can. I have had it checked by a gun smith who deamed it as the cleanest gun that he has seen pulled out of a gun cabinet after sitting for approx. 30 + years. It does have a cracked stock as well as some of the finish coming off. Anyways on to my question as I have only been shooting for a few years and don't want to screw anything up. It is a very heavy barrel on this rifle. Am I risking the rifle by shooting high velocity rounds through it? Like the CCI 1600 something FPS rounds. Should I stay away from these rounds. With the heavy barrel is it even an issue at all. Also it has a martini action .... how do these stand up to the hot rounds. Any and all advise is welcome as I don't want to take a chance in ruining this rifle. Also any recommendations as to types of rounds to use would be great.

Thanks guys
 
Last edited:
Standard Vel ammo is usually more accurate, mainly due to not having to transition through the supersonic on it's way to the target.

It is usually recommended to avoid the HV ammo in old guns, because so many of them are pure excrement, as far as their original build quality goes, many barely capable of safely handling the pressures of standard vel ammo. Take a good look at a Remington model 6, a Stevens Crackshot, or Favorite, or any similar era 22, and you will see that there is not a lot to them. The Rem 6, and the Crackshot, rely on a single small section of metal to hold the cartridge in while it is fired. The Favorite has two screws holding the whole load, that are unsupported between the action walls and the breech block/lever, these screw can flex.

Now. Yours. I doubt very much that you would do any harm to the Vickers with HV ammo. It is a Martini design, camouflaged to look a little like a bolt action rifle, and very well made by comparison to the 'boys' rifles mentioned above. Lots of strength in a Martini, no real way to flex out of the way in the design.

I don't think you will do any damage with any modern HV loads, but you will likely find that you get far better groups with the standard vel stuff.

I'd happily shoot any ammo I could buy, through that rifle, without any concerns as far as safety goes.

Cheers
Trev
 
Sounds good guys I think I will stick with standard stuff. When I was at the smith paying for his work I asked him for a couple boxes of ammo and he gave me Federal Gold Medal. You guys have any luck with those or what are some others that you would recommend? I definatley want to use quality ammo in this rifle, I will save the bulk stuff for my other cheaper 22's. Also thanks for all that extra info you linked me West250 that is much appreciated.
 
Awesome to see someone has one of these rare gems, IIRC they are 200 yard target rifles.
I'd just stick with regular .22 LR ammo for it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom