CCI Stnd Vel - Cheap and Accurate

[Ganderite]

My experience with the Ruger 1022 mostly mirrors Ganderite's. My 1022 is an old one, made in 1979 and has a standard sporter barrel. The only thing I've done to "accurize" it is to put a shim under the barrel at the forend and torqued the action screw to about 12 in/lb. It did put a decent scope on it, a Vortex Diamondback Tactical. CCI Standard velocity, either 100 round trays or 50 round cardboard box types group around 1" at 50y as do the CCI Blazers. They are my practice ammo. For competitions I found Eley Club shoots most accurate and consistent and gives me around 0.5" or bit more at 50y. I use this setup at the ORPS matches and found that it works quite well in the factory class. It's not accurate enough for the 2" gong at 100y/m to hit reliably but I don't care, even guys with a 1MOA or better rig have a devil of a time hitting that one. After all, it's only one of many targets that are in the game. IMHO, it's the shooter that is the weakest link anyway. As long as the rifle/ammo combination is capable of 1-1.5MOA, I feel I'm good to go for these matches. Anyway, thanks everyone for sharing your experiences here.

That must be one of the most accurate stock 10/22s in th world. My little 10/22 could only dream of groups like that.

My Ruger Target Rifle does well, but not the carbine.

How important is the action screw torque?

 

[neilselden]

That is great shooting, Rifledude. Do you think the quality scope contributes to your accuracy?

Cheers,
Neil

 

[RifleDude]

That is great shooting, Rifledude. Do you think the quality scope contributes to your accuracy?

Cheers,
Neil

Thanks Neil. Scope quality is somewhat important in .22s but I think practicing proper shooting techniques are more important. Also, this rifle still has the stock awful trigger which is heavy and mushy. Again, with lots of practice this can be overcome. I've been trying to find a BX trigger for this rifle but they seem to be as scarce as hen's teeth here in Canada.

 

[RifleDude]

That must be one of the most accurate stock 10/22s in th world. My little 10/22 could only dream of groups like that.

My Ruger Target Rifle does well, but not the carbine.

How important is the action screw torque?

Yeah, I did this exercise in progressively tightening the action screw and see if it had an impact. The result was that it did. In my case, 12 in/lb worked best. I did this test after checking out this Youtube video:

 

[Ganderite]

12 is not much torque. If I ever ran a test, I probably started with more than that.

 

[horseman2]

Took the Cooper Montana Varminter with a 36X Leupold to the range.
Started with some CenterX to coat the bore and this ammo had not been stellar previously at 100 yards.
The bottom kept dropping out of the groups but three 5-shot groups measured 1.84, 2.37 and 2.80.
Sitch to a new lot of CenterX and the groups measured 1.12, 1.54, 1.35 and 1.22.
Switched to CCI SV from Plastic Tray and and the paper box.
Tray: 1.50, 1.51 and 0.70.
Box: 1.96, 1.46, 1.39 and 1.83.
Back to the new CenterX: 1.48, 1.38, 0.80 and 1.15.
Finished off with the Tray: 1.79 and the paper box: 1.80.
The Plastic tray had an advantage in the first series but the last two groups proved absolutely nothing . . . LOL!

Next test will be with the Cooper JSR . . . tomorrow morning looks like there may be a window.

 

[emerson]

Took the Cooper Montana Varminter with a 36X Leupold to the range.
Started with some CenterX to coat the bore and this ammo had not been stellar previously at 100 yards.
The bottom kept dropping out of the groups but three 5-shot groups measured 1.84, 2.37 and 2.80.
Sitch to a new lot of CenterX and the groups measured 1.12, 1.54, 1.35 and 1.22.
Switched to CCI SV from Plastic Tray and and the paper box.
Tray: 1.50, 1.51 and 0.70.
Box: 1.96, 1.46, 1.39 and 1.83.
Back to the new CenterX: 1.48, 1.38, 0.80 and 1.15.
Finished off with the Tray: 1.79 and the paper box: 1.80.
The Plastic tray had an advantage in the first series but the last two groups proved absolutely nothing . . . LOL!

Next test will be with the Cooper JSR . . . tomorrow morning looks like there may be a window.

I’m getting consistent 10rnd groups at 98yds of 2.25” with CCI SV out of my $300 Savage MkII. Multiple range visits give the same results. Vortex Diamondback 4-16. Shooting at the 2” steel is 4 out of 5 hits. I haven’t justified any ammo over $10/50 yet. Some ELEY seemed marginally better(maybe 1 7/8”), but at double the cost.

 

[emerson]

I grabbed a few boxes of mini-mags the other day due to uncertain times. I’m curious how they will stack up along with some CCI Blaser.

 

[adamg]

I’m getting consistent 10rnd groups at 98yds of 2.25” with CCI SV out of my $300 Savage MkII. Multiple range visits give the same results. Vortex Diamondback 4-16. Shooting at the 2” steel is 4 out of 5 hits. I haven’t justified any ammo over $10/50 yet. Some ELEY seemed marginally better(maybe 1 7/8”), but at double the cost.

If you do the math, I think you'll find it is cheaper to replace the rifle to obtain better accuracy than going to more expensive ammo.

 

[emerson]

If you do the math, I think you'll find it is cheaper to replace the rifle to obtain better accuracy than going to more expensive ammo.

I think so too. That’s why I haven’t bought a high end sample pack. Question is, Tikka or Bergara, both going into an MDT ACC...

 

[adamg]

I think so too. That’s why I haven’t bought a high end sample pack. Question is, Tikka or Bergara, both going into an MDT ACC...

I just so happen to have a T1x 20" 22lr in MDT ACC available. PM me if interested.

I shot primarily CCI SV out of it. One year old gun. Consistently 0.4mil 10shot groups at 100m, which is what I used to win the 2020 CRPS Western series.

 

[emerson]

I’ll see how Black Friday goes.

 

[grauhanen]

If you do the math, I think you'll find it is cheaper to replace the rifle to obtain better accuracy than going to more expensive ammo.

Perhaps that's true.

It's worth noting that no matter what rifle or barrel is used, no rifle can't outshoot the ammo. In other words, even the best rifle can't turn poor ammo into something it isn't. It might be slightly better, but it's never really good. The corollory is that even the best ammo doesn't turn an inconsistent rifle/barrel into something it isn't. Again it might be better, but it's not really good. In short, a good rifle and good ammo is required for the best accuracy. But somewhat better accuracy can be achieved with a better rifle or with better ammo. Of course, better accuracy is relative and different shooters have different requirements and that's okay.

 

[goldenbb]

Ganderite,

The weather this month in Ontario has been fluctuating a lot, with temps between 3-15 Celsius. Have you found colder temps provide poorer groups?

 

[Wizzerd]

I enjoy reading posts like this, I went and picked up a pack of the CCI and went to the range on Friday with it. My accuracy increased quite a bit using it compared to the Federal ammo bulk I had purchased. Personally I am going to keep trying different ammo as suggested by threads such as these and see what improvements I see.

Will also be looking at getting involved in the Outlaw Rimfire series............

 

[Ganderite]

Perhaps that's true.

It's worth noting that no matter what rifle or barrel is used, no rifle can't outshoot the ammo. In other words, even the best rifle can't turn poor ammo into something it isn't. It might be slightly better, but it's never really good. The corollory is that even the best ammo doesn't turn an inconsistent rifle/barrel into something it isn't. Again it might be better, but it's not really good. In short, a good rifle and good ammo is required for the best accuracy. But somewhat better accuracy can be achieved with a better rifle or with better ammo. Of course, better accuracy is relative and different shooters have different requirements and that's okay.

Yes.


When I test a rifle, I test at least one box of real good ammo - like Ely Match - and then the other ammo. I want to see if the rifle is good enough to tell the difference. If the match ammo does not do better, I know the rifle is no good, or at least needs tuning.

If the match ammo works better, then I try to see what cheaper ammo will also work. For my Norinco 522 and Ruger Target the CCI SV and the SK PLus are almsot as good as the Ely. Given that CCI is only $5.50 a box, that is fantastic.

I am going to buy another couple bricks of it.

 

[Ganderite]

The poor results posted above were on the coldest day I tested.

I have cleaned both rifles and will re-test this week. If it is cold I will find out if poor groups were a dirty barrel or cold wx.

 

[horseman2]

Different Day; Different Rifle, Different Results; Same Ammo.
Cooper JSR with a Bushnell 6-24Tactical.
Tray: 2.23(5), 2.42 (5), 2.90 (10) and 2.22 (10)
Box: .99 (5), 1.46 (10) and 1.49 (10)
Testing with CenterX was somewhat inconclusive as I did not bring the ammo I wanted to really test:
Lot 1: 1.15 (5) and 1.63 (10)
Lot 2: 1.77 (10) and the first 2 were low but touching.

No wind and temp was 4 degrees.

 

[Ganderite]

Interesting.

The rifle is the quality that could see a difference in ammo, although in the case of the CCI I suspect it is just a difference in lot numbers.

It would take a number of tests of differing lots of tray vs box to say if one is better than the other.

 

[Lead hammer]

My son had good luck with the CCI SV today in his rental Anshutz biathlon rifle, better than the SK Standard. We have yet to do a full paper test, hopefully this week, but the CCI SV was decent, buying more of it.