Cheap 22 ammo, what a difference!

H4831

H4831

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OK, this is only one five shot group each, at 50 metres, so it certainly is not conclusive, but is at least an indicator.
I was using my made in Italy Weatherby Model XXII (auto loading) with a Bushnell 4x 22 scope with 3/4 inch tube.
Was using sandbag rest, holding the rifle exactly the same for each shot. I would guess the error of aim was within about quarter inch.
Best group by far, was with the Winchester hollow point, which comes in bulk packages of 500. It doesn't say on the container if they are high speed, or standard velocity.
From shooting them I would guess they were standard velocity, but may be wrong.
There was some winds from the left side, variable and sometimes calm.
After shooting the hollow point group I adjusted teh scope to the left a bit.
The one on the right of the group with the Blazer's puts that group just over an inch, but that left to right variable wind could have done that.
Hard for me to imagine so much difference in performance, but there was not much to vary, except the ammo.
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I tested every brand of ammo i could get my hands on with my Norc Em-332. The very best was the Eley (don't remember the type, but @$10 a box), but a close second was the Winchester Hi-velocity HP's. The only difference between the 2 was the occasional flyer with the Win stuff. Same tests using my son's CZ (can't remember the model) and his liked the Rem Subsonic best of the cheapies. I have a Cooey 75 that loves the CCI Blaser. And there are HUGE differences in grouping with these. For example, my Norc would be lucky to group 5" at 50 yds with the rem Subsonic, but the CZ would routinely get 3/8 to 1/2 inch.
 
JesseB123 said:
Did you do anything cleaning or 'seasoning' wise in between ammo? Thanks for posting this, I like seeing other peoples results and experiments.
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No, just shot them. Not too fast and took a break part way through.
What I would like see is other people test the same shells and see if they get similar results. That is, will a brand that shoots good in one rifle, tend to shoot well in any good rifle. I think they will. For example, many posters, in various posts, have stated that Blazer's were best. In another test with another rifle that was what I found also.
Those targets were printed from the internet and that was all I made, as I was seeing how they worked, also. Targets worked great for my 4x scope at 50 metres, so I will make a bunch and do a major test when I get the chance and the weather is OK. Three groups of five should be quite convincing. Today the tempeerature was +8. There should also be no wind, to take out another variable.
 
One thing I always do is to make sure to test all the ammo under the exact same conditions, especially with barrels heating up, and cooling, as I notice most of my .22's have grouped better as they warm up. I always clean the gun exactly the same between brands, and before shooting a group, I will put 10 shots downrange to heat the barrel up a bit, then change mags and shoot my group.

Another thing I just recently learned about is loading a fresh mag on a closed bolt. In both my 10/22 and Savage if I load the mag on an open bolt the first round is usually a flyer. Loading on an closed bolt before chambering a round fixed that problem.

My 10/22 Target Tactical performed best with the similar Winchester HI-VEL HP's, and Blazer.

With my new Savage MK II CCI Standard Velocity is the ticket all the way. Blazer performed OK as well, but not like the single hole groups the CCI was putting up.
 
I have the same rifle weatherby XXII semi .and find it very fussy on it's ammo ,I dont remember what ammo worked best on mine, I do remember a huge spread in the different types of ammo though ,funny my weatherby XXII bolt seems to shoot anything well ,I will try the same ammo you used to see if I get the same results .do check your action and make sure it's tight to the barrel ,there is a screw under the action you can tighten to snug things up if needed ,it improved mine greatly .cheers Roger


PS:WOW they named the lightning correctly ,never hits the same place twice LOL
 
Wait until you try some CCI Standard Velocity. In all four of my rifles (1 modern bolt, 1 vintage bolt, 1 modern semi, 1 vintage semi), only the uber expensive silhouette/biathlon ammunition shoots better (Fiocci, Eley, SK, etc).
 
Your results are very typical of a 22. I have a target 22 that shoots 1/4 inch groups with sk standard and 3" groups with $17 eley, the difference is that huge.
 
RAMJETT said:
I have the same rifle weatherby XXII semi .and find it very fussy on it's ammo ,I dont remember what ammo worked best on mine, I do remember a huge spread in the different types of ammo though ,funny my weatherby XXII bolt seems to shoot anything well ,I will try the same ammo you used to see if I get the same results .do check your action and make sure it's tight to the barrel ,there is a screw under the action you can tighten to snug things up if needed ,it improved mine greatly .cheers Roger


Thanks for the info. My action is a hair loose, so will tighten it.
Also, the barell doesn't touch anyting (didn't) so after those groups were fired I put a tiny path of duct tape undeer the barrel at the front, adding to it one patch at a time onto it, until the barrel is snug when done up.
I'm a firm believer in some pressure on the barrel. It has worked for me, with a lot of rifles over a lot of years.
Will see how it works with the Weatherby.
I think the rifle is capable of more than I have got out of it so far, so going to keep experimenting.
Bruce
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Depending on the gun, for function at least, you can be very hit and miss with the ammo your gun likes to feed.

Some of mine will not feed with anything but ultra premium .22, whereas others will eat brick after brick of the cheapest bulk without complant.

Accuracy is very important, but in semi's, function is almost as important.
 
choices

I too have a number of rimfires that I shoot fairly regularly. My general purpose minute of dead thing is the 38gr Federal American Eagle HP, they also have a 40 solid that can group well in certain rifles. FS
 
My CZ varmint shoots the Win. xpert very well also, the wildcat isn`t great nor is CCI stingers. Rem. Thunderbolt and Yellow Jacket are close to the Win. stuff so for gophers it`s a matter of price. Local CO-OP usually has a sale of one or the other in spring and i buy a case or two, you can never have enough 22 ammo. Best accuracy comes from Rem. subsonic, hoping to find some different makes of target ammo this winter to test come spring.
 
I have shot cci standard velocity, federal bulk and win 555. the best was cci but the win 555 was very close in accuracy. As for the federals, they were horrible, couldn't group worth a darn. So for the price and accuracy i feed it win 555
 
22 ammo

I conducted a pretty extensive cold weather test for my biathlon rifle (Anschutz) about 10 years ago. My gun shot well with most ammo except Federal gold medal match (6inch group at 50m at -15C) I think it was a problem they were having at the time. The T22 wichester ammo proved to be equal to Lapua Polar and at just over 2$ box sealed the deal. I have heard from bialthon officials lately that the T-22 has not performed as well. Interstingly at the time, Wildcat was a solid perfomer, at least for practice. Eley, CCI Green tag both did well. It may be that performance has changed in the last 10 years but certainly the advice given to test your rifle with as many different brands is sound.
 
I am still surprised at the difference that ammo makes. Except for some generalizations, I haven't found that one brand works well in everything so I started leaving notes with which rifles liked what. Bulk Winchester and Blazers usually do well in my rifles, Federal ammo and Stingers not so much.
 
mlehtovaara said:
Another thing I just recently learned about is loading a fresh mag on a closed bolt. In both my 10/22 and Savage if I load the mag on an open bolt the first round is usually a flyer. Loading on an closed bolt before chambering a round fixed that problem.
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I noticed the same on my Ruger 22/45 Mark III and have learned to close the bolt before loading the mag.
On my GSG 1911 (22cal) it makes no difference.
My other guns are wheel-guns.

Speaking of which, this morning at the club, a gentleman asked me (and I mis-heard), if I was shooting a real gun. We all had a big laugh.
 
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