Ammo variation by weight and dimension

[grauhanen]

The holy grail of .22LR ammo is consistency in performance. The elusiveness of that goal is well-known to shooters.

While many .22LR rounds look individually very much like each other, there's variation between them, almost enough to suggest that each is somewhat unique.

In a previous thread I referred readers to a YouTube video about the variation in weight and dimensions of RWS R50 ammo. That thread appears to have drawn little interest, perhaps because R50 is not a commonly seen or used ammo in Canada. There doesn't seem to be a Canadian distributor and its availability is sporadic.

In any case, the same youtuber who provided the RWS R50 information has also weighed and measured other .22LR ammos that may be more common in this country.

In the images below, screenshots taken from the videos on each ammo shown, some show the weight and measurements for one random round, others for three rounds from the same box. Although some of the methodology may have room for improvement, it should give viewers an idea how much various .22LR rounds differ from one another.

CCI Mini-Mag 40 grain, below



Remington 36 grain CPHP HV, below



Eley Sport 40 grain, below



Eley Club 40 grain, below



Federal 40 grain HV



The next post should have data for Sellier & Bellot .22LR ammo.

For the videos, see https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=.22LR+Deconstruction

 

[grauhanen]

Sellier & Bellot Club 40 grain - two sets of data for six rounds, below




Sellier & Bellot 40 grain HV, below



Sellier & Bellot 40 grain Subsonic, below



Sellier & Bellot 38 grain HV HP, below



Sellier & Bellot 40 grain Standard LRN, below

 

[HammerliSP20]

RWS R50 is $199 a brick at Target Shooting Products in Toronto.

 

[grauhanen]

RWS R50 is $199 a brick at Target Shooting Products in Toronto.

It's listed on the website and possibly a price for when it was available in the past. It's also on the websites of two others dealers. only one of which has any in stock, the single available brick at over $270, a rate in line with current pricing. In the U.S., R50, when available is going for over $200 USD per brick.

 

[grauhanen]

For purposes of comparison with .22LR specifications of CIP and SAAMI, bodies which establish the standards for ammunition, below are the dimensional specifications for each.

Both CIP and SAAMI specs appear to be identical -- except for one dimension, bullet diameter. SAAMI allows for a bullet with a wider dimension.

SAAMI maximum specs



CIP maximum specs

 

[grauhanen]

The information from the videos, shown above in the first two posts, indicates that there is considerable variation in several basic dimensions. To be sure, the methodology used may be open to question. But the variation seems to be real.,

.22LR ammo variations include the following:

- overall length (from bottom to tip)
- overall weight
- bullet diameter
- bullet weight (between those of the same nominal weight)
- bullet length

Of course, when "regular" varieties such as those typically used for plinking and hunting are made, they have greater tolerances in the various components than do match ammos.

Some shooters interested in improving performance of 22LR ammo sort their ammo by rim thickness or by overall weight. They may wish to add sorting by overall length of the round (from bottom to tip) and by bullet diameter, neither of which require disassembling the ammunition.

 

[ShootingNewbie]

Grauhanen: the time and effort you put into these posts is to be commended - you're throwing light into areas of this sport that have always seemed a bit poorly-lit, if not downright voodoo-ish, at least to me - the mysteries of the rimfire 22lr round.

However, I'm kinda getting the feeling that the underlying messages here are two-fold:
- "there will always be a round (or several...) in a given box that will not do precisely what you expect it to do",
and
- "you can have no way of knowing when you've just chambered that round".

On one level, this is slightly comforting, in that it can soothe the annoyance coming from a shot that finished up nowhere near where the expected hole should have been.

But it also makes it seem like the whole exercise of putting 22lr rounds downrange with the expectation of seeing a nice tidy group after 5 perfect wind-calls, setup, breath-controls, trigger-pulls and follow-throughs, seem like the opposite of a slot machine - i.e. you never know when you're going to lose...

Regardless, I will still keep on plinking ... Much like slot machines, there can be a certain amount of addiction involved in both activities