Not precision, acceptable accuracy. As long as it is repeatable time and again. Pushing this little cartridge is incredibly fun and challenging.
Just curious what size of groups the br guys get at 300, oh wait most of them only shoot to a max of 100 and do the same thing every time they are at the range, not my bag but I hope they enjoy it, with the current prs style of shooting and the fact that guys are pushing this round beyond what it was designed for and still being consistent, with repeatable accuracy why is this so hard to believe. From what I can see the only people using the word precision are the same people who are in the 1/4 inch frustration thread. We get it you feel that if the group is not a ragged hole it is a waste of ammo. Some of us like to change it up and shoot more than paper at the same distance with the same style br gun and the same guys at the same bench at the same time every Saturday. I hope you enjo what you do and yes you guys are extremely good at it, proven, very knowledgeable people at what you do, this is beyond that, it is dynamic and introduces a lot of younger people to exciting shooting, and is a very positive group of people, who just like the challenge and change.
So yes I enjoy shooting a 12 inch circle at 300 and can repeat my results again and again, the Pepsi can at 200 is great fun and is very doable with ACCPTABLE accuracy
This is not to disagree with you or to foment argument. It is for purposes of explanation and clarification.
I suspect most "br guys" would agree that pushing the .22LR round beyond its precision accuracy limits can be fun and a diverting change from shooting paper at the distances for which the .22LR round is designed. Furthermore, it is a way to find a purpose for shooting rifles that themselves have limitations usually not discussed in threads like this. Stock rifles such as the CZ models, Ruger Precisions, Tikka T1Xs, and Savages are not precision rifles when it comes to shooting for accuracy. Sometimes they can achieve remarkable results, but they don't do it consistently. They are typically a little better than 1 MOA shooters at 50 yards at the best of times, and they do not get better with increasing distances.
BR guys don't use these rifles for shooting for precision and accuracy because they can't provide it. When every shot counts (there are no mulligans in shooting), there's little room for the more frequent flyers that the kind of rifles referred to above all too frequently produce. Sure some flyers are caused by the ammo, and some are caused by shooter error, but it is important to remember the rifles themselves produce too many for consistent precision at 50 yards and beyond.
On RFC, an experienced rimfire shooter has a thread comparing the results of various ammo shot at 200 yards. Usually he shoots with a Lilja barreled CZ 455. The results shown below are taken from that thread.
Compare the results achieved with a popular, more everyday rifle, the Marlin 60 with the Lilja-barreled CZ. In both cases he was using the same very good Eley Tenex ammo. The results show the difference a good barrel can make compared to the Marlin barrel. CZs, Rugers, Savages, or Tikkas don't have exceptional barrels. Some might be above average for stock barrels, but they are not usually in the league of custom barrels.
The Marlin
The CZ 455 with custom Lilja barrel
Admittedly the Marlin would not be a good candidate for precision shooting. But the difference between the custom barrel and the stock barrel is striking.
Here's what a complete custom rig, with a custom action, barrel, stock, Harrel tuner, and top notch front rest can achieve at 200 yards with very good ammo. The shooter in this case was a dedicated BR shooter with considerable experience. He was using Eley Match ammo with an ES of 32 fps. Results such as these are not reproduceable by any rifle except a full custom rig with very good ammo and a very good shooter. In short, this is about as good as it gets.
One of the things that "br guys" take issue with is the idea that .22LR accuracy is repeatable at 300 yards. The term "repeatable" means it can be consistently reproduced time and time again. At distances such as 300 yards, repeatable accuracy is not a characteristic of the round in question. The .22LR bullet has an uphill struggle to produce repeatable accuracy as distance increases because there is so much that works against it, chief among them ammo inconsistency and wind. At 50 yards and 100 yards it can be challenging to produce consistent accuracy, and so it is even more difficult at 200 yards and tougher still at 300.
Furthermore, given the stock rifles that many of the posters enthusing about long range repeatable accuracy are using, for the results to be repeatable there must be a wide margin for inconsistent results. If that wide margin comes in the form of a steel gong that is 8"x 8" (over 11" from diagonal corner to corner) that gets struck most of the time, then that's what it is. If the standard is achieving hits "most of the time" that's okay. It's not exactly repeatable accuracy, but for the rifles in question, perhaps that, too, is as good as it gets.
