Second annual shoot out on the Palouse

[Darrell Davis]

Interesting subject, these .22s!

About a year ago, a friend, the prowd owner of a good shoot'in Savage Mark 1 and I got together for a shoot out between the Savage and my Clark Custom 77/22.

Jack's rifle has a Nikon 4X mounted, while I have mounted a Leupold 3X9 EFR on the CRuger.

During that first session, we concentrated mostly on quality and pricey target/match ammo and the results were pretty well divided between us.  Lots of nice tiny groups on the 50yd targets.

This year however, the ammo was mostly typical "off the shelf" type and price, with the closest to match ammo being the CCI Green Tag and Winchester T22.

The big news this year, was in the results with the CRuger being this years clear victor of the shoot.

The Savage did turn in some good results with ammo it liked, but the higher quality of the Clark Custom Walther barrel really proved itself.

Interesting also is the piece in the July issue of "Rifle" mag. on a couple of "22" Cooper rifles, a .22 and a triple duce.

The results shown for the .22, only listed three ammos, the closest to "target" being some "Remington Target" -- NOT REM/ELEY EPS made by Eley -- which turned in a 50yd group of .750, equal to the Rem Viper also shot.  Winchester High Velocity gave a group of .875.

Coopers are know for making good .22s, so I wonder what quality ammo would have done.

In yesterday's shoot, The Savage went 1 5/32" at 50yds with Win. Super X High Vel. Solids, while the Clark Custom came in with a group of 21/32".

Win. Super X, Super Speed H.P. at 1330 listed FPS, did 1 1/16" in the Savage and an even 1/2" in the Clark.

I began to wonder at the wisdom of paying the price for the CRuger after last years "shoot" but this year with the lessor quality ammos, it truely, hands down, showed it's worth!

Keep em coming!

CDOC

[SD Handgunner]

I too have a Clark Ruger 77/22, well sort of. I installed a Clark Custom Guns 20" Stainless-Steel Bull Barrel on my Ruger receiver. I then set my barreled action in a Volquartsen Custom Laminated Wood Stock (that I reshaped somewhat). In addition I also did a complete trigger job that breaks at 1 1/2 pounds and added an overtravel stop. I mounted a Weaver V-16 4x16x42mm AO Fine Crosshair / Dot Riflescope.

I haven't tested a lot of ammo in mine so far, I guess I have been more than pleased with how it shoots with the few different brands & types of ammo I have tried. At 100 yards with SK Jagd Standard Plus my 5 shot groups run from 3/4" to slightly under an inch from the bench. At 100 yards with Remington BULK Hollow Points my 5 shot groups run from 1" to 1 1/2" from the bench.

I have tested a few other brands & types of ammo at shorter ranges but the above are the only brands & types I have tested at 100 yards.


On a different note I have a buddy that has a Clark Custom Guns Bull Barrel on a Custom 10/22 that will shoot every bit as well as mine does.

The bottom line with the .22 LR Rimfires is you just have to shoot some groups with lots of different brands & types of ammo to let the individual rimfire tell you what it likes.

Larry

[Darrell Davis]

Hello Larry,

I have only shot one group at 100yds, and that because I was set up for pre-hunting season testing of the hunting rifle.

However, that one run put 9 out of 10 shots with the old and very good Fed. Gold metal match ammo into 3/4".

Should have bought the other carton when available as this was the same stuff used a number of years back at the Olympics.  VERY GOOD ammo, to bad it is no longer made.

I don't plan to shoot a steady diet of the high priced .22s such as the Lapua, and Eley, and will sure ration my supply of the Fed. Gold Metal, but I just wanted to see what that level of ammo would do in the CRUGER.

You may be aware that Lapua makes some of their very pricy match ammo in different bullet sizes.  Same name on the box, but slightly different bullet size.  They make at least two different loads with that different sizing.

And yes, the difference in bullet size does show up on the target!

You might give some of the Wolf match ammo a try as it can show some nice results. 

My RUGER Mark II Slabside w/2X Leupold loves one of them, putting 10 into a ragged hole at 25yds.

Saturday, I could detect a very slight bit of creap in the CRuger 77/22 trigger.  The trigger is nice as it came from Clark, but the tiny bit of creap is not to my liking.

I have put something over 20 different ammos through theCRuger, probably closer to 30 between this year's and last years "shoot out" and it's very interesting to shoot one rifle against the other while watching the varied results.

Any suggestions on the trigger from your experience?

Keep em coming!

CDOC

[Dand]

Yep, it is a great way to spend a few afternoons. Afterward your shoulder doesn't hurt and your wallet isn't too badly hit either.  I did similar testing with a new Winchester / Browning 52B several years ago. I was surprised to find that it liked some 25-30 year old Winchester High Speed LR over nearly anything else including that super expensive Federal ammo with the dimples in the base, RWS Target and a few others. Couldn't find any Ely ammo. I think Federal Champion was a happy medium between cost and accuracy.

I haven't shot that rifle a lot but got it out a couple weeks ago to practice. Last trial I had a Weaver 2-7 with fine crosswires. Now I have a Swift Premier 4-12 AO on it.  Maybe I should run thru the tests again - would be a fun exercise. I still have some remnants of the test ammo - at least the high end stuff.

Thanks for the write-up.

[Darrell Davis]

Dand,

Yep, interesting rifles.

I like wise had some of the "cheap" ammo shoot a group during this last session which equaled the pricey ammo - 1/4" for 5 shots at 50yds.

The Fed. Gold Metal match with, as you say the dimple on the head IS good, but it should be at the price.

The Highest price I have ever paid for .22 ammo was the Lapua, at around $15.00 or more a few years back.

Funny, the Wolf match offering has the exact same head stamping as the Lapua, and from what I read, the Wolf - match .22 ammo is made by the same manufacture as the Lapua.

Jack and I have started our "shootouts" with a breakfast at the local and only cafe, then drive a short diatance into a good spot in the national forest, set up the bench/bags/targets, then start the shoot, each using the same ammo form the same boxes.  Fun!

Having shot both the match and "off the shelf" ammos, we are wondering what to do for the 2011 shoot out.

He has an S&W 41 an I have a RUGER Mark II Slabside. Maybe we could go with iron sight handguns at 25yds.

Time will tell.

Keep em coming!

CDOC

[SD Handgunner]

Testing Rimfires is always FUN, and for the reason outlined already. Back in 1990 a few guys formed a club, purchased an old building on the edge of town and transformed it into an Indoor Shooting Range. Yes it was a lot of work but it has been very rewarding. I have served on the Board of Directors of that club ever since it's beginning.

The first year we were open a lot of the shooters at the club knew I shot a lot and asked what the best ammo was for their .22 LR Handgun. Always my answer was the same, your gun will tell you what it prefers. Well these guys were (are) hunters and not target shooters and generally buy what is available and on sale.

The questions kept coming so I decided to try to answer their questions. At the time I was working weekends at gun shows for a dealer buddy of mine, so at Gun Shows everytime I'd find a brand or type of .22 LR Ammo I didn't have I bought a brick.

The following summer I borrowed a couple different .22 LR handguns and armed with 23 different brands & types of .22 LR Ammo along with 6 .22 LR Handguns I headed to the indoor shooting range.

In the end I shot a LOT of groups that summer. The one thing my test confirmed was that no two .22 LR Handguns, even of the same manufacture (I tested 2 different S&W Model 41's, 2 different Ruger MKII's and 2 different Browning Buckmarks) perferred the same ammo.

Yes there was some similarities with a few specific brands & types of ammo coming in in the top 5 of each gun, but nothing cast in stone.

In the end I told all of the shooters at the club that to know for sure they'd have to shoot a lot of groups to know the true answer to their questions. However it was a very fun test.

Larry

[Darrell Davis]

Looks like our total for ammo tried during the two sessions is close to yours.

We are discussing what we can do next year,  maybe just have fun and bounce cans or???

I tried to get enough intrest to have a group shoot gallery pistol, but didn't make it.

There is a small group of people that shoot .22 rifles during a winter competition, some of them have shot for quite a number of years, every Wed. evening.

No luck getting a handgun shoot go'in.

Oh well,

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[SD Handgunner]

Every year in early September our Club has our Annual Rifle Sight in Day, Fun Shoot. This is done on a hay meadow down along the lake where we can shoot into a tall hill side and get 350 to 400 yards.

We set up several portable shooting benches, target stands and one set of Steel Silhouettes. In addition some of the club members save gallon milk jugs over the year and bring them full of water.

Last year we started something new, we held our first annual Egg Shoot. Each shooter paid $5.00 for the chance to shoot 5 eggs with only 5 shots. We did this for .22 LR Rimfire Rifles at 100 yards and for Centerfire Rifles at 200 yards.

Now I am here to tell you this is SUPER FUN but challanging. It was also embarassing for yours truly as my nephew used my Custom Ruger 77/22 to win the hole shootin match (yes beating the guns owner). Jon managed to hit 4 or the 5 eggs at 100 yards with 5 shots fired. That netter nephew Jon half of the purse.

We are getting ready to have our second Egg Shoot on August 29th. In fact I just obtained the lumber today to build the egg stands. I have the holders made already, and made them out of old clothes hangers.

Shooting eggs is a fun way to spend an afternoon and besides it feeds the wildlife as I am sure the raccoons found the remnants of the eggs.

Larry

[Darrell Davis]

Wooooooooooohooooooooooooo!!

Egg shoot sounds like a "BLAST!"

I live in a mostly rural area, hunt just a short walk out my door, but we are close enough to two universities to have more then our share of the libral element!

University of Idaho (U of I) and Washington State University (WSU - Wazzu).

We, in this area, have had it too easy for too long and made the mistake years back of not buying and setting up good shooting sport ranges.

Within the last couple years the trap/skeet range in Lewiston, Idaho - about 45min drive - was closed down because it was on airport property, and they as yet have not been able to find another location.

Lewiston is the home for Speer, CCI, Bitterroot bullets, home to Jack O'conner etc.  and sure not a place you'd expect shooting to be a problem.

Good to hear you have a going thing at your range.

Keep em coming!

CDOC