Range Report - 12 Ammos in NS522 & EM322A

Ganderite

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I have had the NS522 for a couple of years, but never shot it past 25 yards. I had the impression it was a good shooter, but never tried to find out how well it shot, or what ammo was best. Today I shot both rifles off sandbags at 50 yards, indoors. No wind.

The EM322A Scorpio was purchased last week, so this was the first time out. It had less than 10 rounds through it by the time this test started.

For ammo, I took samples of the ammo I had in the bunker:

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The old CIL Canuck blew 5 rims out of the first 10 shots, so I did not repeat it in the second rifle.

The Junior ammo is steel case Russian ammo (cheap -65 cents a pack) It did not extract at all, so it was not tested.

I have done this kind of testing many times before, and I knew 2 things for sure before I started the test. I knew that match ammo (expensive) shoots better than bulk ammo (cheap) and I knew that in each rifle some ammo works better than other. I was hoping to find a cheap ammo that shot almost as well as match.

As you can see, there was quite a difference in group sizes in the NS522:
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With the Scorpio I saw something new. The group shifted a lot with different ammo. I was shooting at 50 yards, so expected to see a small elevation difference between high velocity and standard velocity - maybe an inch.

Groups 1 to 5 were all shot with the same scope setting:

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It appears that the standard velocity ammo shoots to a different place than the high velocity. I have not bedded this rifle, so I am guessing something is flexing. I will try more torque on the action screws.

I included some super high velocity ammo. The CCI Velocitor and the Aguilla Interceptor launch 40 gr bullets at over 1400 fps. I was curious to see if there was any accuracy. (Yes, there is.)

The next step is to measure all the groups, label the targets, and tabulate the results.

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Conclusions:

NS522 shoots well and better than Scorpion.

Skorpion shoots well enough to distinguish between fair ammo and match ammo.

SK Match is good stuff.

Aguilla Interceptor delivers power and accuracy. Over 1400 fps (1437)

The cheap ammo that shoots well is the Armscor precision. I bought a 5,000 round case of this for $250 a few years ago. I still have it because it does not work well in pistols.

The NS522 fed all ammo well.

The Scorpio did not feed the Ely or Winchester very well. The blunt bullet nose would hang up on the chamber mouth. I will see if I can champfer the chamber a bit. I used the same 10 shot Scorpio mag in both rifles.

The Scorpio is very, very comfortable to shoot. I think it is ugly, but feels good. (I knew a woman like that...)

I will play with the bedding, and if the groups don't improve, it will get the iron sights and be a favourite plinker.

Note: NS22 had a 24X scope. EM322A had a 12X scope.
 
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Good test!

While I have not tested many of the bullets used in this test, I did find with my Scorpio, that it shot similar to the results seen here; however the groups shot with both Eley sport (green box) and CCI Std. velocity shot considerably better than all other ammo I tried. Give CCI Std a try.
 
I did one more ammo test in the Scorpion EM322S.

The SK match and the Olin (Stnd vel greased) both shot under an inch at 50 yards (10 shots).

This rifle does better with standard velocity ammo than the high velocity. Mini-Mag was 1.3" Not bad, but stnd vel is better.

This may be because of the lighter barrel.

As delivered, the forend was almost touching the barrel. For this test I used some sandpaper around a long socket and opened the barrel channel at bit at the front. It is now 100% free floating.
 
I did one more ammo test in the Scorpion EM322S.

The SK match and the Olin (Stnd vel greased) both shot under an inch at 50 yards (10 shots).

This rifle does better with standard velocity ammo than the high velocity. Mini-Mag was 1.3" Not bad, but stnd vel is better.

This may be because of the lighter barrel.

As delivered, the forend was almost touching the barrel. For this test I used some sandpaper around a long socket and opened the barrel channel at bit at the front. It is now 100% free floating.

I had done the same thing with mine; I also bedded the action as it was moving fore and aft in the stock. Tack driver with CCI Std. Velocity.

Maybe a mistake, but I have sent it down the road, as I have replaced it with a CZ Military trainer (which so far likes the same ammo the best)
 
I added a pressure point to my Scorpio, just a piece of cork liner at the end of the stock, made it tighten right up.
 
Get yourself some Teflon tape comes in different thickness will last long time if your cardboard works
 
Pressure point in the tip of the forestock has improved the performance in a lot of my guns over the years. Its tightened up groups for me more than free floating ever has.
 
Pressure point in the tip of the forestock has improved the performance in a lot of my guns over the years. Its tightened up groups for me more than free floating ever has.

While the pressure point was a great upgrade in the cz 452 and 10/22 and works wonders every time for me, I found the NS522 and EM322 (not scorpio, the wood stock version) different. With all ammo tested the guns became more temperamental and groups were radically different one from the next. Playing with screw torque didn't help either. Overall it was disappointing and in my case anyway a waste of time. This was with guns that had no bedding improvements over stock. Once I found an excellent group with a certain combination, the next one group was nothing special. I concluded this was due to the barrel was heating up, but I can't prove it.
Overall, I decided to bed the guns properly first and then start over.

And to the OP, please give cci ar tactical a try next time you test. I find it always delivers excellent accuracy.

Btw, for creating pressure point shims, I like using plasticized business cards cut to size. Easy to stack and glue into place. I normally put one under the chamber end of the barrel and get that set up, confirm the barrel is free of the stock, then add a second point a certain distance out from there.
 
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Good write up, thanks Ganderite. That Russian Junior ammo brings back memories. I purchased 5000 rounds of from Paul B. back in day, rest his soul. It was quite accurate but, as you mentioned, extraction was not great in my Ruger Mk1 and 1022 or any other .22 I have. It worked best in my Anschutz single shot. In all my testing, I have standardized on Eley for precision competitions. CCI standard velocity and CCI Mini-Mags and CCI Blazer are my standard go to ammo for practicing/plinking and for non-precision competitions. I don't bother any more with the bulk packs from Winchester, Federal and Remington. For the small difference in price, I don't find it worth saving a few pennies.
 
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