Want to shoot targets with my Mark III. Understanding that every gun/barrel has it's own preferences, in general what brand and type of .22 may be most accurate? I've just acquired a Ransom rest so I can test thoroughly but knowing the top .22's would be helpful; and save time and bullets.

I liked Lapua Center X in a Hi-Standard my buddy shoots a Walther space gun and likes SK but the Aquilla works in a pinch. I bunch of guys swear by CCI Green.

Thanks richj. Does not seem to be many .22 target shooters out there, judging by the response. Wrong thread or wrong site?

I like the Aguila .22 Pistol match and Rifle match. Of course the price was good so that is the way I went. I am not a competitive shooter but each of my .22's...39A Marlin, Ruger SR22 and 10/22 all enjoy this ammo.

Like you said, pretty much every one of my 22 rifles likes a different ammunition. I have an ammo box full of about 50 different types of match ammo, when I get a new rifle to test I grab that box and shoot a few 5 round groups of each until I find what that rifle appears to like best.

I'm sure the same will apply to your pistola.

I go to 22 benchrest shoots, see all kinds of ammunition. Lapua and Eley are nice, a little unusual for NRA-style shoots on account of price. Some shoot it with high-end rifles, other shoot a lot of SK and Wolf Match Extra. CCI Standard is surprisingly good in a lot of rifles and is relatively inexpensive. I like old Remington five-teens, they respond well to Eley and Lapua but do well enough with CCI Standard most days. Standard velocity ammunition is usually best.

You can probably find some more info on ammunition if you check out the website rimfirecentral.com.

I mostly shoot high velocity hollowpoints and have only dabbled a bit with target ammo as I prefer to use hollowpoints for small game as opposed to round nosed bullets so common in target ammunition. I recently tested 8 different types of hollowpoints in two of my rifles and American Eagle 38 grain hollowpoints rated at 1260 fps shot the best 10 shot groups at 25 yards. The rifles i used were an Anschutz 1416 HB Classic and a CZ 457 American.

Years ago, when I shot rimfire competitively, Eley was the ammo of choice.

The fact is we have many more choices these days.

Now I shoot Std Velocity CCI ammo in my 10-22 and target pistol, with very acceptable results, without breaking the bank.

Results vary, however, so you may want to try several different brands in boxes of 50 rds to see what your gun likes best.

quote:

Originally posted by sep:
You can probably find some more info on ammunition if you check out the website rimfirecentral.com.

There are extensive tests on this forum that Saeed sponsored, also.

Depends on the gun..You have to try them all to know what shoots best in your gun? My gun likes CCI for tartet and the WW 1250 velocity ammo shoots good and its better for hunting.

quote:

Originally posted by TomP:

quote:

Originally posted by sep:
You can probably find some more info on ammunition if you check out the website rimfirecentral.com.

There are extensive tests on this forum that Saeed sponsored, also.

Absolutely! Saeed has done one heckuva job shooting rimfires to test various theories.

In my Ruger Mark IV Hunter, I generally shoot Federal bulk pack 36 grain plated hp. Off a rolled up shipping blanket they consistently shoot 1.5 inch groups at 25 yards. CCI SV shoots slightly over an inch at the same distance. I tried a 20 shot group with the CCI SV and they measured 1.175 inch at the same distance. While I shoot several brands of 22, I usually buy the Federal I mentioned because they’re the cheapest. Only issue I’ve had with Federal is 6 misfires out of over a 1,000 rounds.

Seldom do I shoot paper with a 22 handgun. Normally I shoot fired shot shells and plastic golf balls. I shoot for fun and relaxation.

If I intended to shoot strictly for accuracy or bullseye, I would try some of the imported brands.

Joe

Thanks for the advice guys. I am testing every kind I can lay my hands on with a Ransom rest. I'll publish reports when I'm done. I have been shooting 10 shots at 10 yards. Should I go to 25?
Any other thoughts?

Ruger Mk-anythings can be quirky. Sometimes you have to give up a bit of accuracy for 100% reliability. Some ammo will run fine for a magazine or two then start to not cycle.
I would definitely do my testing at 25y.
C.G.B.

The longer the range, the more imperfections will stand out.

My problem with your premise of “best” rimfire ammo is twofold. One, each gun is a rule to itself; two, there is substantial variability between lots of rimfire ammo.

Using my S&W M41’s, none prefer the same ammo consistently. I started checking at 15 yards then moved to 100 feet.

Overall for me, CCI green tag was consistently decent, not the best all the time, but decent. Lot to lot has had some variability but groups were good. Sometimes Federal, Lapua, Winchester, or Eley’s top target brands shot better than green tag in one gun with a given lot... sometimes not.

Ransom rests give repeatable results- but I could usually do better with a good sandbag rest.

I never could shoot anywhere near the potential of the gun and ammo without a rest, so I gave up on smallbore pistol. I also could never get a box or two of a given lot then test it then be able to buy case sized amounts of the same lot that I tested- I still have tons of partial boxes of high end target ammo of various lots due to that.

My current project is trying to find the ammo my anschutz rifle likes. It’s silly expensive and you never find enough of that ammo once you find a good lot.

Again, thanks for the advice. I do understand that all guns are individuals and ammo can/will change lot to lot or run to run. But I still NEED to know the most accurate for the gun and the accuracy for the buck.

My curse :-)

The results of testing the .22 ammo I had on hand. Using my new (to me) Mark III, 10 shots an ten yards with a Ransom rest; listed in order (smallest group to largest group) by name and group size, measured center to center of each group:

1) Eley Tenex 0.027, 2) Eley Edge 0.098, 3)SK Rifle Match 0.143, 4) RWS Rifle Match 0.218, 5) Eley Target 0.221, 6) Eley Club 0.232, 7) Wolf Match Extra 0.253, 8) Eley Match (black) 0.267, 9) Eley Match OSP 0.291, 10) SK Standard Plus 0.302, 11) Federal Gold Metal (old TRW made in Germany) 0.333, 12) Lapua Center-X 0.304, and 13) Norma TCC-22 0.325.


I'll move to 25 yards and add 5 brand/types of pistol ammo and add here if anyone is interested.

Speaking of Ruger Mk IIIs. I bought one a year ago and finally got around to taking it apart and putting it back together.

What a pain!

I wish I would have got the one button take down model.

Also mine misfires quite a bit with Win .22s.

Not sure if it’s the ammo or the gun.

BH63

quote:

Originally posted by BuffHunter63:
Speaking of Ruger Mk IIIs. I bought one a year ago and finally got around to taking it apart and putting it back together.

What a pain!

I wish I would have got the one button take down model.

Also mine misfires quite a bit with Win .22s.

Not sure if it’s the ammo or the gun.

BH63

Yeah, the mark IV is the way to go. Old Bill is up there in gun but heaven ( where I wanna go) thinking "man I wish Ida thought of that"!!!!!

It actually did a lot better after I cleaned it.

Only one misfire in about 50 rounds and the misfired round fired the second time.


BH63