Testing .22 rimfire ammo

[rickt300]

I recently got a Mueller 3x10 Extreme to play with on my G2 Contender rifle. Previously it had a 3x9 Bushnell Banner. The Mueller has target turrets and very good glass along with finer crosshairs than the Banner had. I tested Federal Champion #510 and #714 which is a standard velocity version of the 510. The 510 was easily able to stay in 1/2 inch at 50 yards, 10 shots is a ragged hole. The 714 was better as I was able to keep 10 shots in the head of a chicken target at that range. One thing I have noticed about the 510 is that there are  some good lots and some So So lots and that the bullet lube leaves a lot to be desired. To overcome the lube issue I wipe some white crisco on the bullet by getting some crisco on my thumb and trigger finger and rolling the bullet end aound between my fingers. I do this with both types of ammo. This helps in two ways, first the lubricant stays soft in the barrel and secondly it almost elimintates point of impact change between the two different rounds at least to 60 yards or so. This way I can practice with the cheaper 510 and save the 714 for matches. It is a bit harder to find and somewhat more expensive. I also look for flawed bullets while I am doing this. You would be surprised how often you find bullets with obvious casting flaws or that have been seated poorly in the cases leaving the brass somewhat creased. I have a heck of a collection of higher end 22 match ammo at hand but at the start of my season I like to use the cheaper stuff simply because I am not yet shooting my best offhand.

[Fat NDN]

I tried 11 different brands of cartrages and settled on SK Stadard plus. It is the same as Wolf Match Target. SK shoots consistant with very very few fliers. But it is $42.00 a brick.  I shoot Winchester .22 Experte in my other .22 for squirels at $12.00 a brick. For Silhouette I shoot a CZ 452 American with a BSA 8-32X40 Target Dot Scope. For squirrels I shoot a CZ FS with a RWS 4X32 scpope.

[rickt300]

My Contender Carbine is my Silhouette/small game rifle. The federal 510 is the least expensive ammo that has any kind of consistency and is easily available. The 714 is surprisingly accurate but only available occasionally, when I find it I buy at least 4 bricks of it at a time. The Winchester Expert HP is my standard hunting round and some lots of it have shown very good accuracy. I have to say that even in some of the more expensive ammo the accuracy among different lots can vary quite a bunch. The Federal 711B is a good example of this as you don't know what lot number you are buying unless you open up the brick and then open up one of the boxes inside. I have had some really fine Aguilla Golden eagle Match rifle ammo and some of the same that was not on par with the cheapest you can get at Walmart. Remington Golden Bullets have to be the most inconsistant and least accurate ammo available.

[rickt300]

I thought I would shoot up some of my disposable ammo today in practice. I chose a bulk box of Remington 22 Target amm, lubed the bullets and went out back to do some shooting. In my expectations for ammo to use for practice I say it must shoot into no less than .75 at 50 yards.  This ammo failed miserably, it two grouped and had fliers more than an inch from the center of the group. I would say this is barely adequate for plinking at cans.

[Graybeard]

Not tossing this out as fact but merely my opinion. I think you are trying to over think the issue. Your lubing is in my opinion a bad not a good thing. I think you are creating more problems than you are solving. Unless the ammo has been carried in a pocket a long time and really gotten cruddy in the extreme all .22 LR ammo I'm aware of comes with plenty adequate lube and adding your own is only adding problems. Take that for whatever it's worth it cost you nothing.

[rickt300]

Lubing dry lubed bullets like the Federal 510 and 714 definitly improves results in three ways, it keeps the lube soft in the barrel and there is no hard lube buildup at the muzzle. At least with these two different Federal rounds lubing brings the POI of two different shells to virtually the same. I took two boxes of shells out to the backyard range yesterday evening, one box of Aguilla Rifle Match and the other a box of lubed Federal 510. The 510 was easily the more accurate of the two but the Aguilla gave accuracy plenty good enough for offhand practice. Another side effect of lubing is that it only takes two fouling shots from a cold barrel to be spot on again. I generally lube the bullets if they come with a hard wax instead of a soft grease coating. The Remington Bulk Target ammo also had many bullets thet were somewhat badly shaped in manufacture. A visual sorting would have improved results a bit.

[rickt300]

I broke out some Federal 711B I have hoarded. No hand lubing this time. Three fouler shots and three clicks left windage and I had them spot on. In fact I started shooting at individual bullet holes at 50 yards and hit 6 out of 7. I quit when I missed the 7th bullet hole. Amazingly a crow settled in front of my target while I was shooting to pick at some deer corn I had spilled there. One shot thru the head and he was done. That bird was crawling with some kind of lice, bad too. I used a shovel to put him in the dumpster.

[Jerry G]

If you are shooting SB silhouette, test your ammo at 100m.  Don't even bother with anything closer.  Ehen testing ammo, be sure you clean well and foul between different brands of ammo.