Is this acceptable accuracy?

I have a S&W M-17-3 with a 8 3/8" barrel reworked by S&W to repair a bad trigger....it's now excellent!

I had a good rest and a red dot scope and believe I was shooting the gun about as well as it can be shot.....meaning the dot was stationary and trigger was the way I'd like it to be!

Groups at 25 yards ran about 2.5" with the ammo I had.....Remington HP high velocity long rifle ammo

Should I be happy with this?...

My dad has a k22 that'll have 'em all covered with a quarter @ that distance. My single six isn't quite as accurate, but close, and both of them are just iron sights. I'd keep trying diff. ammos if I were you.

I am surprised you did not do better. I would not stop there. .22s are ammo finicky, and to my knowledge Remington .22s are not held in high regard.

I would try various CCI ammo. Standard velocity, a .22 widely used in Bullseye shooting, as well as their Mini Mag in H.P. and solid as well as their Velocitor if you are looking for hi velocity.

quote:

to my knowledge Remington .22s are not held in high regard.

I suspected this.....

Thanks guys.....I have some Winchester and some Federal to try....

I'll let ya'll know how it works!

CCI Standard Velocity, Green Tag, RWS Target, Federal Classic are all good options. Having said that, with a 22LR I have had better accuracy from semi automatics.
Peter.

Vapo, I've got the 10 shooter, model 17-8, 6" barrel with the factory open sights. I've found that of all the domestic 22 long rifle ammo, the Winchester 40gr high velocity PowerPoint (hollowpoint) #X22LRPP was most accurate. I have never invested in the spendy Eley or RWS brands to see how accurate they are. Quarter-sized groups at 25 paces is accurate enough for my needs.

I took some federals and some Winchesters to the range this morning.....things went from bad to worse.....and even the Remington's were worse.....

Groups with all three brands were 3" and more...

I'm thinking I need to reassess my shooting style as I don't believe the gun and ammo is that bad.....I'm doing something wrong!

You say that you're using a red dot scope. How big is the dot? It will be covering up the X to some degree so that you can't see the X to actually aim to the exact same point each time, then you're outa luck and won't be able to shoot smaller than your dot, if you know what I mean. Just a thought.

How well do you shoot other similar .22s with the same sight? I sort of collect K22s and, unlike what the common story is, they don't all walk on water. I had and sold a couple of dogs made back in the Bangor Punta days. I've never had a pre-70s gun that was a barker however.

Did you check the red dot scope and mount? Can you shoot it with open sights, just to eliminate variables? Ditto the comments opn the type of red dot. Ultra Dot is the best and I use the 1 moa.
Peter.

Today I moved the target to 50 feet and used some Winchester wildcats as well as the other ammo and the wildcats seemed to be a better match for the S&W.....

Conditions were dead calm and weather was really nice and I felt my shooting was top notch.

I fired a 12-shot group at 50 feet into a circle about the size of a 50 cent piece. All the other ammo seemed to follow suit but I focused on the wildcat ammo as it seemed to shoot a smidgen better.

In past experiences I shoot iron sights quite well but only at extremely close range as I just don't focus on the sights well with a handgun....close range is 25 feet and less! Also the red dot actually fits inside the circles I'm shooting at as I use targets with a ring of 2" and the dot fits inside nicely. I'm convinced that this is as good as I can shoot this gun......and that if I want better accuracy I might consider an auto!

Does the Buckmark shoot much better than this?

Vapo, I have no experience with a Buckmark, but I do have a S&W 22A whose virtues I have been touting on this forum. It is very accurate with a red dot sight from a bench (MTM pistol rest). It is not a Bullseye gun as the trigger is not the best for offhand shooting. I will try to find some targets that I shot at 25 yards when testing ammo.
Not saying that the Buckmark is no good!
Peter.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:


Does the Buckmark shoot much better than this?

Better than you're shooting but not better than the Smith.

Does your proposing the Buckmark mean you think its one chamber will be your salvation versus the Smith's 6 chambers?

Try some match grade ammo- sounds like you are using too big a dot-I used this same gun (Mod17-8 3/8') in hunter pistol silhouette for several years. It's still one of my favorite pistols for small game. keep trying.

quote:

Originally posted by onefunzr2:

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:


Does the Buckmark shoot much better than this?

Better than you're shooting but not better than the Smith.

Does your proposing the Buckmark mean you think its one chamber will be your salvation versus the Smith's 6 chambers?

Interesting comment.....and taken well I might add....yes....I'm thinking one chamber is more accurate than six.

I'm also wide open to the idea that my shooting might need some coaching!

FWIW the K-22 Masterpiece series, post WWII, were advertised as being capable of shooting 1 1/2 inch groups at 50 yards. I think this stopped in 1957 when the pistol's names became model numbers. However, all that said, I'd be pretty disappointed in a K22 that wouldn't group at least 2 1/2 inchs at 50 yards WITH BEST AMMO if the shooter can shoot that size group.

I mean if you truly want superb accuracy, sell it an buy a Volquartsen or a Freedom Arms. I was lucky enough to come on a Volquartsen used (at a Gander Mt. no less) a few years back. It is an absolute joy to shoot. It and my FA .22s both turn around and sneer at you if you don't have all the holes touching or nearly so at 25 yards and at 50 1 inch is easy if I can hold it, which I usually can't. To this day I can't explain it, but I usually shoot real pistols (not things like TCs and other single shot short rifles that some call pistols ) as well or better offhand than I do from a benchrest.

Well you do have the advantage of NOT having the sights mounted onto the wobbly slide like most autos. I have no idea if optics mounts are available for the Buckmark.

I had a K-22 Masterpiece (8 inches) SOLD, and later the bad idea to buy the S.S. version 617 x 10 times (That I sold inmediatly when I take knowledgement (trought a e-mail from S&W experts) about mine come with Aluminium alloy cilinder instead of Titanium or Scandium. Both never reach be under 1" at 25 mts, same with a Ruger single six from a friend, even using RWS or other Match ammo, for other side my old and abused S&W 41 make 10 mm groups with scope from rest at 25 mts. Maybe the first ones K-22 was super accurate but later... hard to find.
I have now a Looooooong barreled 12" Taurus and it rivalized with the contemporary
617 on accuracy, of course not in fit, finish, smoothnes etc.. but I paid U$200 for it.The only Taurus that take my atention and I really want to try, other taurus scare me. G.

Guillermo:

Yeah, I tell all the girls that my 6 inch K-22 is 12 inches too........

PS: Es claro que su pobre vieja 41 necesita una mejor casa, por ejemplo el mio.

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:
PS: Es claro que su pobre vieja 41 necesita una mejor casa, por ejemplo el mio.

Gato if You watch close You will see the the S&W 41 was a old 7 1/2 " model with the barrel cut out at 5", the last owner passed a drill bit on it barrel abour one and half inches, Soo... I cuted the useless piece of barrel, make a new front sight that is part of the same barrel band and weaver rail, when I remove the scope I can use the original sight. The stocks was replaced but finish is the original. Kind Regards. G

A few comments....they do not come more knowledgeable than Guillermo....

Try CCI standard vel.

I sold my Smith 41 (cutting back) and kept my Ruger Government slab side, with a UltraDot sight for Bullseye. I do as well with it as I did with the Smith....using CCI standard.

I have been trying to get a chap to sell me his Taurus 12"....no luck yet....

quote:

Try CCI standard vel.

Thanks!

My S&W 17, 6" will or has shot 50 yard groups around 1 3/4". A good model 17 should shoot under 2" at 50 yards. These are ransom rest groups that I'm referring to. Out of my hands, but off a rest with sand bags under my off side hand and supporting my shooting arm, shooting with an ultra dot my groups are covered by a nickle at 50' with CCI Mini Mags. or standard velocity. I don't really shoot well enough off hand to justify the expense of target ammo. If I get just a little bit sloppy with my shooting or don't get my rest set-up right, I can easily get my groups to increase to the 2" range at 50'

I am going to throw in my 0.02 cents in here.

While I am not a Remington fan, I have always had good to very good results with the old-er school style green-yellow boxed Remington Golden bullets. These are the 36 grain lead plated bullets in the 50 round boxes. They do look like the 525 bulk packs from Remington but they seem to peform better and more consistently better.

I have been using these for 40 years. In my old Officers Model Heavy Barrel Colts they shoot very well and much better than the Remington Target stuff. I have had similar results in a lot of pistols, revolvers, and rifles.

I had problems with the Remington bulk packs mentioned above. Some would not fire, some would not chamber, erratic groups, etc but none of that with the 50 round boxes. I cant say if the QC is better or maybe even the storage helps.

Of course all these rimfires are ammo particular. I told that to one of my buds as I gave him some Federal bricks - minus one box that I had used for try outs - that they would group different. He later called me and said he never knew that the 22's shot the different ammo so differently.

But it might be worth the $3 for a box to see.

They should be able to hold the x-ring on the 25/50 yd. target that's what they are supposed to do and all that's needed from them

Vapo, while I agree with mousegun, I am not sure that a stock factory S&W will hold the X ring at 25 and 50 yards with optimal ammo. One possibility, if you like the Smith is to send it to Frank Glenn (if he is still around) and have him install a match barrel. I had him do that with a model 10 snub nose that I turned into a Bianchi gun. His barrel was extremely accurate, far more so than a standard S&W model 14 that I owned.
Peter.

quote:

Originally posted by daniel77:
My dad has a k22 that'll have 'em all covered with a quarter @ that distance. My single six isn't quite as accurate, but close, and both of them are just iron sights. I'd keep trying diff. ammos if I were you.

If it's the convertible Single Six like mine, the barrel is bored for the 22 WMR, a little big for the 22 LR.