Rimfire PRS ammo choice

Almost everyone uses Eley Force and a few like SK Standard... but if you have something you like better, go for it.

You might want to consider 3 factors though... one is what works for you in the cold out to 300 yards, what works for you in the summer out to 300 yards and what's the cheapest that you find acceptable for the 100 yard outlaw matches.... Probably 3 different types.
 
Are there any cost caps on the ammo? There is some very expensive .22lr out there.

You can shoot any 22LR ammo you want... yes, some can be expensive but they typically have the higher QC preferred in competition.

Now some barrels may thrive on CCI SV... others will want Lapua Center X or an SK variant... testing will indicate what your barrel prefers.

Most matches are only 2 boxes of ammo so even if your barrel prefers CenterX at $15/box, still pretty inexpensive for true match ammo.

The further you go, the more important the quality of ammo becomes. If all the matches are within 100m, alot of stuff will work... if you are shooting beyond 300m, you might want to make the investment.

In general, most are practising with affordable stuff... competing with the best stuff that the barrels demands.

YMMV.

Jerry
 
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My favourite for free pistol was CCI Green Tag. I could only shoot in the 530s on a good day so Tenex was wasted on me. The green tag would shoot into two minutes at 100 shooting prone off elbows with aperture sights but how much of that two minutes was me and how much was it the ammo, I’ll never know.
 
How long has Center X been around? I haven’t been competing much lately and don’t recall that as a readily available choice in the days before online shopping...
 
How long has Center X been around? I haven’t been competing much lately and don’t recall that as a readily available choice in the days before online shopping...

Early in 2010 there were references to Center X as a new Lapua ammo that was reviewed by Steven Boelter in the "latest edition" of Precision Shooting. If correct, that means its been around for ten years.
 
I got lucky. I grouped my CZ455 synthetic and it just loved the CCI Stingers at 50m. So when the Mapleseed event came up, I brought this ammo to that exercise and made Rifleman (I better make this goal, I figured, or else kick myself in the butt).

Then along came a CRPS match in the middle of March (it was cold....) and I had great success with it.... imagine... white painted gongs against the snowy backdrop... hahahahaha

That Stinger booolit was zipping out around 1235 FPS... turns out past 250-300m it was losing it’s accuracy, I’m told by the spotter/RO. I guess a G1 BC of 1.0 (edited to 0.1 after I grabbed my glasses LOL) really hinders the downrange performance of that little lead slug... :eek:

Now to try some mini-mags and some SV CCI rounds!!

Cheers! :wave:

Barney
 
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That Stinger booolit was zipping out around 1235 FPS... turns out past 250-300m it was losing it’s accuracy, I’m told by the spotter/RO. I guess a G1 BC of 1.0 really hinders the downrange performance of that little lead slug... :eek:

Now to try some mini-mags and some SV CCI rounds!!

Cheers! :wave:

Barney

WOW, Barney, get me some of them boolets with a BC 0f 1.0 please. I'd like them for my next Rimfire PRS matches :stirthepot2:
 
You say the Stinger was good up to 250 yards. What is considered a good standard of accuracy at 250 or 300 yards for any .22LR? What accuracy should shooters strive for at only 200?
Would have loved to be able to hit the 12” circle at 250 yards... No love for me... at 300 yards, I was missing the full IPSC with red light hit indicator...zero wind at that moment. Could be me since I was shooting on a rounded surface blue barrel.

Now to try some Mini Mags.... YMMV... You might get luckier. As it’s been stated here before, your rig, your range, your wind conditions, your ammo choices. It’s all a crap shoot... with my crappy shooting. Haha ha ha ha

Cheers, Barney
 
Would have loved to be able to hit the 12” circle at 250 yards... No love for me... at 300 yards, I was missing the full IPSC with red light hit indicator...zero wind at that moment. Could be me since I was shooting on a rounded surface blue barrel.

Trying for about 5 MOA at 250 yards with a .22LR from something other than a bench would indeed be challenging.

Shooting Stingers for accuracy at 250 yards from something other than a bench seems to be more than challenging. It would be an exercise in futility and self abuse. Not known for accuracy at shorter ranges, at longer distances they would be a poor candidate to hit a 12" circle at 250 yards with any consistency.

Stingers are known to have a considerable extreme spread in MV. A 100 fps difference in MV results in over a 4" vertical difference between two perfectly aimed and shot rounds. Further, the Stinger is very susceptible to wind drift, much more than the .22LR standard velocity round. At 250 yards with a 3 mph cross wind, the Stinger will drift almost 5" more than the SV round, almost 7" more at 300 yards. Together with the Stinger's relative inaccuracy compared to better ammo at shorter ranges make the round less than suitable for long range accuracy.

While not every kind of .22LR ammo maintains consistent accuracy at longer ranges, it is worth noting that to have a chance at the best possible accuracy at longer ranges, the odds are improved by using ammo that is accurate at shorter ranges. In other words, if a round is not very accurate at 50 yards or 100 yards, it won't get better accuracy as distance increases. For better odds, shooters should look for ammo that gives excellent accuracy at 100 yards and which has accuracy that deteriorates more slowly than other ammo varieties. Standard velocity match ammo is the best bet for long distance accuracy and consistency.
 
Not known for accuracy at shorter ranges, at longer distances they would be a poor candidate to hit a 12" circle at 250 yards with any consistency.

Indeed, stingers have a hard enough time keeping within a 12" circle at 200 yards.


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I use Aguila standard and match, does quite well out of my CZ455 out to 300m. I have been fooling around with SK Flatnose Match, out to 200 it's the bees knees. I am still on the fence out to 300, it starts to a bit wild at that distance. And surprisingly, to me anyway, is the high velocity stuff does not perform very well out of my rifle.
 
Any of the supersonic 22lr ammo will become erratic in the transonic and subsonic zones. That's why most of the match ammo for a 22lr is subsonic to begin with. So it doesnt become unstable and erratic at distances in the transonic and subsonic zones. When a bullet is subjected to the transition from super sonic to subsonic it is subjected to turbulence making it unstable and unpredictable.

Cci stinger loses so much speed so quickly. They may shoot great at 50 and maybe 100 but I've found that the winchester m22 black shoots better in my 22lr's at all distances. Mini mags shoot well too.

If you want precision out of a rimfire you need to sort your ammo by rim thickness and overall length. Sorting by rim thickness will shrink your groups considerably. Custom gunworks makes a measuring tool to sort 22lr ammo. Even the "best" ammo needs to be sorted. Sk, eley, aguila and lapua all have rounds that need to be "culled" out of a 50 rnd box let alone a case or flat of ammo. You dont need to cull them and not use them just sort them into batches by rim thickness and length. It makes a huge difference.
 
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