I reliably shot 250 rounds of SK standard and Rifle match through my Remington 597. The OP is just looking to see if some accurate groups can be shot with his rifle, not run 1000+ rounds flawlessly without cleaning. If it came down to it, OP could single load the rifle so that he doesn't have to worry about cycling issues, but that would be a pain in the butt. Eley is good ammo, but individual rifle preference trumps this factor and I typically see Lapua giving me the best performance. Haven't had a rifle that preferred Eley yet.
Which 22 target ammo?
- Thread starter colonel3006
- Start date
I reliably shot 250 rounds of SK standard and Rifle match through my Remington 597. The OP is just looking to see if some accurate groups can be shot with his rifle, not run 1000+ rounds flawlessly without cleaning. If it came down to it, OP could single load the rifle so that he doesn't have to worry about cycling issues, but that would be a pain in the butt. Eley is good ammo, but individual rifle preference trumps this factor and I typically see Lapua giving me the best performance. Haven't had a rifle that preferred Eley yet.
I am just wondering what everyone finds to be the most accurate 22 target ammo? I am just curious to find out what my marlin 60 is actually capable of now that I've done trigger and stock work. I know it isn't a target rifle by any means but I would like to see if I can actually get 1/2" groups with it and the best I can do with any ammo I've ever tried is around the 1" group which is lots good enough for any hunting I do.I am probably expecting to much out of her I know but would just like to know if it's the ammo or gun?
colonel3006....that's a nice looking stock on your 60. If 1" groups meet your requirements out of the tube-fed semi I would leave it at that.
Internet indicates "tube-fed" rifles won't shoot consistently because of the harmonic effects as rounds deplete out of the tube(something like that).
If you want more accuracy look into a quality bolt-gun and start with CCI SV.
colonel3006
Regular
- Location
- Ayton,ontario
Thanks John. Grandson actually picked the stock out from Boyd's and bipod and rooted through my spare scopes and liked that scorpion. I bought it for him a few years ago but since they've moved down to the city he unfortunately has pretty much lost all interest in it.Like I showed in the pic on page 1 with the CCI SV it will shoot better than 1". 6 of 8 groups under 3/4" and 4 of them were under the 1/2". I'm not wanting it to be a target rifle by any means just wanted to see if I could actually get better groups than most say are possible with them. Until yesterday I honestly wasnt sure myself. No doubt it won't outshoot a good bolt gun but all in all it's a hunting gun and just one my grandson and myself really enjoy taking out back and plinking with.
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TacticalCanuck
Regular
- Location
- SW Ontario
Careful using sub-sonic ammo with a semi, you may have cycling issues. RWS R-100 or Rifle Match "S" are match grade rounds with a little more zip to them than the standard velocity stuff. SK High Velocity is also capable of shooting ~1/2". Most of my rifles shoot best with one of the SK or Lapua brands, RWS and Eley have only been decent at best.
Great shooting! I get the same results with a Ruger American and CCI tactical 22LR ammo. If the OP hasn't tried the 'tactical 22' from CCI give it a go. I swear by the stuff, it works great.
Rod B
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
All my rifles seem to like this.The gun looks to be reasonably capable of good accuracy, I will show a target from a comprehensive ammo test I did with an accurate bolt action rifle. All ammo used was of mid-high quality and had similar extreme spread numbers on the chronograph. When a particular type was used that was "in tune" with the rifle, the improvement in consistency was very obvious. This demonstrates that you will have to try as much ammo as possible, and it will be by dumb luck that you determine what works best in your rifle. Even when using high quality ammo, some won't shoot all that well, some will be decent, and some will be optimum.
Groups in column 1 are either seasoning the bore with the ammo lube or blowing out the lube from the previous ammo, sometimes went wonky then settled down for columns 2-5 or was unusually tight then columns 2-5 opened up. Either way, I don't give column 1 much consideration in the overall performance evaluation.
colonel3006
Regular
- Location
- Ayton,ontario
The gun looks to be reasonably capable of good accuracy, I will show a target from a comprehensive ammo test I did with an accurate bolt action rifle. All ammo used was of mid-high quality and had similar extreme spread numbers on the chronograph. When a particular type was used that was "in tune" with the rifle, the improvement in consistency was very obvious. This demonstrates that you will have to try as much ammo as possible, and it will be by dumb luck that you determine what works best in your rifle. Even when using high quality ammo, some won't shoot all that well, some will be decent, and some will be optimum.
Groups in column 1 are either seasoning the bore with the ammo lube or blowing out the lube from the previous ammo, sometimes went wonky then settled down for columns 2-5 or was unusually tight then columns 2-5 opened up. Either way, I don't give column 1 much consideration in the overall performance evaluation.
Wow those are some awesome groups. That's deffinatly what I would need to do is just keep trying different ammo till I get the most I can out of it. I've been looking at different match ammo to try that I can pick up in boxes of 50 instead of having to buy a brick. Once I find the one dont mind spending the coin on a brick. I'd be more than happy with any of the results you got. Nice shooting!
Don't get all twisted in finding the "ammo your gun likes" because you'll end up feeling like a pretzel. The results with CCI SV shown in post #9 indicate that you get good results with that ammo. You could do worse than continue to use that as it is relatively readily available. Should you wish to pursue accuracy further, try SK Standard Plus, as has been suggested by others. If that doesn't give a meaningful improvement in accuracy over the CCI SV, perhaps there are other factors at play more than the ammo. I don't mean to disparage the Marlin 60 semi-auto, but it's unlikely to shoot MOA at 50 yards "all day long," as the expression goes, even with one of the top-of-the-line match ammo by Eley, Lapua, or RWS. The scope, too, may not be conducive to easily producing the best possible results.
In short, try a box or two of SK Standard Plus (or Eley Club or RWS Rifle Match). They may show better results. If they don't, use CCI SV and have fun shooting.
colonel3006
Regular
- Location
- Ayton,ontario
Was gonna try a box of the sk standard and try to find a box of Lapua x. I am happy the groups I got yesterday just curious if the better quality ammo will give better results. I agree also about the scope. It's not a high magnification or high quality scope but seems to work quite well for what it is. I can honestly say that I've never bothered even trying to do any target shooting where I'm actually really trying different things to get the best results I can. I have also never done any upgrades other than replacing a scope and have always wondered how much difference trigger work and free-floating etc makes. That's the main reason I'm trying this.
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TacticalCanuck
Regular
- Location
- SW Ontario
to the OP - your groups are pretty snazzy man - anything .5' at 50 yards is 'MOA' and the .2x groups are better than average - I think you are doing pretty good. Work on your form, breathing and trigger - I think you are 'getting it'.
colonel3006
Regular
- Location
- Ayton,ontario
Thanks. Like I said I'm really happy with it.I know this deffinatly isn't the best rifle to be doing this with but I like the fact that modifying it myself has gotten it where it is. Im having fun just trying to make this rifle that most say won't shoot moa do it.
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How far down the rabbit hole do ya wanna venture? It's wild and wacky down here 
I've spent thousands on rifles, gear, optics and ammo to get those nice groups shown on the previous page, and have hundreds of $ worth of ammo that has only been mediocre because I bought bricks to try it out. grauhanen is the voice of reason, there are about 3 ammos to really try before you go off the deep end. SK Rifle Match, RWS Target Rifle, and Eley Club. Evaluate those results, did one of them show improvement over CCI SV? Try the next level up in that brand. No real improvement over CCI? "The magic bullet" might be out there somewhere, but you can go insane and spend hundreds trying to find it. May be best for your sanity (and wallet) to leave it at that, and consider a fine bolt action if you want to get a little more serious about accuracy.
By no means be discouraged from testing and tweaking to get the best performance possible from your rifle, as long as you're having fun doing it! "Ya never know unless you try".
I've spent thousands on rifles, gear, optics and ammo to get those nice groups shown on the previous page, and have hundreds of $ worth of ammo that has only been mediocre because I bought bricks to try it out. grauhanen is the voice of reason, there are about 3 ammos to really try before you go off the deep end. SK Rifle Match, RWS Target Rifle, and Eley Club. Evaluate those results, did one of them show improvement over CCI SV? Try the next level up in that brand. No real improvement over CCI? "The magic bullet" might be out there somewhere, but you can go insane and spend hundreds trying to find it. May be best for your sanity (and wallet) to leave it at that, and consider a fine bolt action if you want to get a little more serious about accuracy.By no means be discouraged from testing and tweaking to get the best performance possible from your rifle, as long as you're having fun doing it! "Ya never know unless you try".
colonel3006
Regular
- Location
- Ayton,ontario
How far down the rabbit hole do ya wanna venture? It's wild and wacky down here
By no means be discouraged from testing and tweaking to get the best performance possible from your rifle, as long as you're having fun doing it! "Ya never know unless you try".
I'm not getting discouraged by any means. I'm actually enjoying playing around with it. I have no intention on spending hundreds of dollars on ammo. I am planning on trying a couple different kinds to see what happens and it is what it is. As I've said it's not a target rifle and I don't expect it to be, I just wanted to see if upgrades helped and what it would do and honestly it groups better than I ever expected it to. I'm enjoying it so much I'm kinda thinking about a nice bolt gun.
Rim measuring gauge is the way forward, single most important item I have bought for rimfire shooting.'
Buy ammo that the rifle already 'likes' in terms of accuracy. Buy in bulk (1000 rounds +) and spend some spare time batching them in to similar rim thickness groups and then see what you can do.
I have tried to do this with the top end target ammo, and they were no variation, so that told me what I thought!
Candocad.
Buy ammo that the rifle already 'likes' in terms of accuracy. Buy in bulk (1000 rounds +) and spend some spare time batching them in to similar rim thickness groups and then see what you can do.
I have tried to do this with the top end target ammo, and they were no variation, so that told me what I thought!
Candocad.
colonel3006
Regular
- Location
- Ayton,ontario
Now that's what we like to hear! We can certainly help spend your money
Lol. It won't be right away but sometime in the near future. How much difference in accuracy do you find Canocad based on the rim thickness? I'm assuming it has to do with thicker rim means more primer compound and hotter- more ignition?
