.22 LR or .22 LR Match?

[flyfisher]

Been thinking about getting a 14" .22 LR barrel for plinking, squirrels, other small vermin, and maybe a whistle pig or two.  Is there any benefit from buying a .22 Match barrel over the standard .22 barrel?

[Bullseye]

I had a 10" LR barrel and now have a 10" Match LR barrel.  The match shoots way better than the LR did.  Main reason I sold the LR was because it did not shoot good.  My match will shoot 1/2" to 3/4" groups at 50 yds with CCI Mini Mags.  From what I have heard, the LR barrels were kind of finicky, some would shoot good and some would not.  I would probably go with the Match, think it would have to be better overall.

[KN]

My std barrel will shoot 1/2" 50meter groups with ease. Thats with win-superX.  KN

[RIchard J. Schneider]

I never had the .22 LR barrel but I do have a 10 inch .22 LR Match barrel and its accuracy Is more than I have read or heard about. After picking up the barrel I bought as many different boxes of .22 LR ammo as I could find. The reason for this was to find out which shot best out of the barrel. My trip to the range proved it difficult to determine which ammo to choose. Out of 8 different boxes I had 3 or 4 that shot groups 1/2 to 1 inch. Good luck, it's a fun barrel to shoot.

[Zero]

There is not much difference in a 22LR standard as opposed to the
22LR Match in a 10" barrel, the match barrel really shines in the
14" at the longer ranges, Also I would not use the Hot ammo CCI,
MINI Mags, and such in the match chamber because of the longer
cases....... :wink:

[jimann]

Hi
My match barrel shoots better than my lr...But I believe the match chamber makes that barrel a little harder to close... I think it is the match barrel engraving the bullet. I'm sure someone on the forum will know for sure. But my vote would go to the match barrel.
jim

[grodon of the north]

I believe I read in an ealier thread that a match barrel/chamber is designed for match or sub-sonic ammo only and that hi-velocity ammo could damage the chamber  :?  Might have to try a search to satisfy my curiousity now

[Sixgun]

The Match chamber is designed so that the bullet engages the rifling when a long rifle bullet is put into the chamber.  Any long rifle cartridge is ok and will not damage the chamber.

If the case is longer than a standard long rifle case, the brass will engage the rifling and may damage the chamber.  An example of the case that may damage the chamber is the CCI Stinger case.

Sixgun

[B_Koes]

I believe I read in an ealier thread that a match barrel/chamber is designed for match or sub-sonic ammo only and that hi-velocity ammo could damage the chamber  :?  Might have to try a search to satisfy my curiousity now

Hi-vel ammo is not the culprit.  Hyper-velocity stuff like Stingers that use a longer case will do damage to your barrel.  The case can come in contact with the rifling and consequently damage the leade area of the rifling which I would call part of the throat and not the chamber.  Anyway, that's splitting hairs pretty fine.  Bottom line is that a match chamber will handle any .22LR that has a standard length case.

[DropTheHammer]

I have a 10" .22LR Match NIB waiting to be baptized.  Was going to start with CCI Green Tag and CCI STD Velocity (have on hand).  How does the Green Tag shoot out of these barrels?

Also,  why is the CCI Stinger case longer / out of spec?

[B_Koes]

I have a 10" .22LR Match NIB waiting to be baptized.  Was going to start with CCI Green Tag and CCI STD Velocity (have on hand).  How does the Green Tag shoot out of these barrels?

Also,  why is the CCI Stinger case longer / out of spec?

Question #1:  Depends upon the barrel.  This answer you will only find out yourself by shooting the barrel for groups with the particular flavor of ammo in question.  Be sure to fire several "fouling" shots (about 5-10) before shooting for groups then clean and repeat with different ammo.  Rimfire ammo testing is a time consuming process so once you find a flavor your barrel likes, then buy as much as you possibly can of that same lot number and shoot it forever...otherwise you need to repeat this again with new flavors of ammo.

Question #2:  I have no idea why the case is longer.

[Bullseye]

I have a question.  I know the Stingers have a longer case, that is the one that is always talked about.  Does all Hyper Velocity 22's have a longer case?  How about the Remington Vipers and Yellow Jackets and any others.  Thanks for any info, I have always wondered about which ones have the longer case.

[SD Handgunner]

To my knowledge Remington Vipers & Yellow Jackets use a standard dimension cartridge case while CCI Stingers and Quick Shok's use a lengthened cartridge case. I am not sure about the Federal Hyper Velocity Hollow Points.

As per the Super 14 Match Grade .22 LR Barrels, I have had two. The first was a Blued Super 14, and it was a shooter. With the ammo it liked, shooting with a 3x12x Burris LER Handgun Scope from the bench would average 3/8" for 5 shots at 50 yards. However I wonder if there was something wrong with the chamber, man it was tight. I actually had to push the cartridges into the chamber all the way to the extractor. Once they were fired the extractor would lift the fired case, but when it came to pull it free from the extractor sometimes I had to use a knife blade it was so right.

The current Stainless-Steel Super 14 Match Grade .22 LR Barrel is totoally different. The chamber is not nearly as tight (yes it is marked match grade), and the cartridges chamber and extract much easier. While I have not shot it as much as I did the Blued one, it looks like this one is going to be the accuracy equal of the Blued one.

In both of these barrels when I chambered a cartridge and extracted it without firing it, I could plainly see the rifling marks on the bullets. On the Stainless-Steel Barrel these marks are a little more pronounced than they were with the Blued Barrel.

In my opinion, shooting from a proper rest a T/C Contender Super 14 Match Grade .22 LR will shoot as good as most .22 Rifles. The accuracy these barrels are capable of is amazing. At our local club we hold Rimfire Bench Rest Matches each winter. These matches consist of 25 shots on a USBR Bench Rest Target, in which the 10-Ring measures .100". The Super 14 Match Grade .22 LR Contenders I have had with a 3x12x Burris LER Handgun Scope will shoot right with the rifles, and in fact I ended up 3rd against the rifle shooters, and some of these guys are shooting 32x Rifle Scopes on their rifles.

It took me a lot of years to finally buy a Rimfire Contender Barrel, and the only thing I can say now is I really do not know what took so long.

SD Handgunner

[GhosTT]

I bought my Contender new with a match grade 14" barrel.

I took it to the range with 10 different types of ammo,including match grade.


Turned out my barrel was most accurate with remington Golden Bullets,far from expensive match grade stuff.

It shoots 3 shot groups from 3/8" to 1/2" at 50 yards.

Make sure to try the generic rounds when you test it.

If you find a cheaper round that works like I did buy a large quantity of it with the same lot number.(I'm sitting on 3,000 rounds,which will last a LONG time with a single shot gun). :grin:

[SD Handgunner]

This has been a terrible spring for shooting. It seems I have either been busy at work or it is raining or we have gail force winds. Sunday I couldn't take it anylonger and I went down to the Indoor Shooting Range. To be able to shoot at 25 yards I had to move a bunch of stuff around and shoot from the office.

Before shooting each brand & type of ammo I ran a bore snake through the bore twice. I then fired 5 fouling shots before I started shooting groups. Once this was done I then fired 5 - 5 shot groups with each brand & type of ammo. The results are as follows :

T/C SS Super 14 Match Grade .22 LR Contender   
3x12x Burris LER Handgun Scope @ 12x

1 - CCI Standard Velocity = .016"
2 - Wolf Match Target (OLD Lot) = .046"
3 - Federal # 711B Gold Medal Target = .060"
4 - Lapua Super Club = .083"
5 - CCI Green Tag = .102"
6 - Wolf Match Target (NEW Lot) = .104"
7 - CCI Blazers = .127"
8 - Remington / Eley Club Xtra = .162"
9 - Federal Lightnings = .166"
10 - Winchester X-Pert Hollow Points = .223"
11 - Remington Target = .256"
12 - Remington Thunderbolts = .293"
13 - Winchester T-22 Target = .294"
14 - Winchester Wildcats = .307"

AVERAGE Group Size = .160"

So far I am very pleased with the way this barrel is shooting. Today I chronographed the Winchester X-Pert Hollow Points that I am going to be using for Gophers. The average of 10 shots across the chronograph was 1242 FPS, with an extreme spread of 43. This is the most velocity I have obtained from Winchester X-Pert Hollow Points from any Rifle or Handgun I have chronographed them in.

To do all of the Accuracy Testing I used the Bench and Rests in the photo below.



Yep I do love Contenders, just can not figure out what took me so long to discover a .22 LR Match Grade Rimfire Contender Handgun.

SD Handgunner