10/22 ammo accuracy test

M

m_liebst

New member
Recently bought a Carbine 10/22 18.5 inch stainless-synthetic model. This was sometime in january. I thought, after having so much affordable fun with the 22/45 pistol why not get a 10/22 for squirrels and jacks up north. Last gun show I'd gone to, I decided to save and ended up buying a few packs of various rounds. However when it came to bulking for the year- I spent 180 bucks for 5250 rds of CCI Blazer.

They actually work very well in my ruger pistol. On that note I've never gotten a dud to this day from CCI ammo.

Any ways I decided to run some tests- to see what my Ruger 10/22 liked the most. The rifle so far is all stock( no mods, except a compact 40 dollar Nc Star "2.5 x 30" scope) Rifle was rested, and I've had over 1000 rounds down the pipe to nicely break the rifle in.

Distance was 50 yards for 4 types of ammo

I felt that most budget/ non target .22lr rifles are 50 yard tools in the field, so this would be a good distance.:

1. CCI Blzr LRN/ rated 1235fps

2. CCI minmag-copperwashed RN/ rated 1235fps

3. CCI velocitor- copper washed HP/ rated 1430fps

4. Remington Viper- copper washed truncated -rated 1350 fps

I've really had good luck with CCI and their sure-fire priming- some of the other bulk ammo I used in the past just doesn't perform 100% So I guess the test will compose more of what velocities are of optimum peformance with the 10/22

Take a look at the pics and see for yourself-( 10 shot group with each ammo.) 5 rounds of each ammo shot to acclimate the barrel to that ammo before the 10 shot group was started:

As you can see- CCI Blazer normal high velocity did the best in this test with the first group at just an inch and a sub group on the bottom( if ya took ou the flyers- at a surprising .5 inch. :)

Biggest group which wasn't suprising was the Remington Viper hyper veloc. ammo. at Over " 3 inches"- very bad spread. The "Velocitors" didn't do as well as I expected either, with a grouping of 1 and 3/4 inches.

What I got most out of this was that the Higher velocities expand groupings. Bet if I used CCI standard or subsonic, I might even shrink the group a tad.

I recommend the CCI Blazers for the price-( 15 bucks a brick!).

Last pic is best groups so far to this day, done with the blazr ammo( at 25 & 50 yards) :) Besides the cheap Nc Star scope- This is my analysis on the accuracy level you can expect from a stock 10/22 carbine....Happy .22lr shootin....


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I agree with you regarding the CCI Blazers.

However Federal Bulk from Walmart ($22/box of 550rds after tax) yields almost the same accuracy (more like the accuracy you got from the Mini-mags) and is also quite inexpensive with a VERY low dud count. That's my choice .22lr ammo.
 
The best cheap target ammo I've found for my 10/22 is CCI SV. Nothing else in the lower price range comes close to it in the accuracy dept. or reliability(not a single failure to fire in 3500+ rounds).

My 10/22 is heavily modified....actually not a single Ruger part left besides the magazine so the accuracy will be much better than a stock 10/22 however it can't make a bad round shoot good. CCI SV is a good round for sure.

50 yard five shot group with CCI SV-Pretty common..overall avg generally just under .5" CTC.
DSC00740-3-1.jpg
 
Damn Dr Heckel...- looks like ya can shoot marbles at 50....:eek:

Goddd... I grinned at my best groups, if I'd gotten those I'd feel like sniper man.:D Good shot!

Now out of all the modifications done, which one actually made the most improvements with tightening up the groupings???

Trigger/ hammer - Barrel swap, etc
 
What I got most out of this was that the Higher velocities expand groupings. Bet if I used CCI standard or subsonic, I might even shrink the group a tad.
Click to expand...

Bingo, slower better for accuracy normally,Aguila match rifle or there subsonic super extra. Little more cost but for accuracy hard to beat, for plinking fun stay with what you have.
 
Really like to test and compare different subsonic brands to see which funtions the best.

on another note, I wished I had tried the CCI Stingers in this ammo last test. Got mixed answers on accuracy- n some said to me that ya need a different twist rte... Guess ya give up one thing for another.

Anyways- gotta get a better scope thats a solid 4x ... this Nc Star has such low magnification ( 2.5x ), that other shooters have still been impressed with results I've gotten:rolleyes:
 
Damn Dr Heckel...- looks like ya can shoot marbles at 50....

Goddd... I grinned at my best groups, if I'd gotten those I'd feel like sniper man. Good shot!

Now out of all the modifications done, which one actually made the most improvements with tightening up the groupings???

Trigger/ hammer - Barrel swap, etc
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'd have to say the biggest improvement would be the new barrel...however unless you've got a good trigger as well, even with a great barrel you will pull shots. My trigger is a KIDD single stage set at 1.5lbs. It has zero pretravel or creep. Good stuff:D

When it comes to upgrading pretty much any part on your 10/22, the parts I always recommend are KIDD. They make the best stuff out there. Combine all their parts together and you will have a ridiculously good lookin', smooth accurate rifle...just bring yer wallet;):D
http://www.coolguyguns.com/

Now add the best of the best ammo to their gear and...
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Thanks Dr Jeckel,

Next invest. will be the KIDD trigger job,.... all the reviews make it seem unbelievable.

I'm also thinking about changing the hammer to one with more surface area than the stock angled wedge- heard that it will eleviate variations in primer ignitions of the .22lr. If I can attain 2/3rds inch at 50y. normally with that- I'll be very-:)
 
Bull Barrel 10/22

I know this thread is a little old but thought I would toss in my 2c.

I built a couple of these 10/22's into target shooters as well. The one I built for my son has a green mountain stainless bull 18", Fajen stock, Timney trigger, Bushnell Elite 3200 6-12x scope. The barrel was very tight into the stock receiver and is free floated. I really like the Fajen thumbhole stock since it has adjustments for cheek and pull length. I also have a bull 20" installed in another one but have had scope issues with it and never got through a full match with it before the crosshairs jumped. That's a bushnell 4200 8-24x that needs a trip back to the factory.

The Timney was a great addition but the biggest change was from the ammo. I eventually settled on Wolf match ammo. Best I have shot at 22 benchrest is 21x-249 and I've also shot more than a few 20x-250's. Benchrest at my club is indoors at 15 yards. That might not seem like very long but remember the X is about 1/4 the size of a gnat - it's the size of the period at the end of this sentence. And the 10 ring is the size of the 22 round. I've shot the rifle at the 50 yard line too and I can use paintballs as targets at that range. A paintball is about 1/2 MOA so I would suspect with little wind this rifle would be MOA or better at 100 yards.

For those unfamiliar with indoor 22 benchrest: The score sheet is 25 individual bullseyes about 1.75" across, you have 30 minutes to engage all 25, one round per target. They're all on one large 11x17 page (or a bit larger) with a few practice 8 rings around the edges. The scoring targets are usually arranged in a 5 across by 5 down pattern. Shooting is usually from bags or a rest on a table/bench. 20X-250 means 20 x's (hit that period 20 times) and 25-10 rings were hit = 250, of course an x is automatically a 10.

When I use wolf to shoot a match I always use the same lot number for a session. With sight in, 5 to season the barrel, and then settle in, that can be almost a full box so I try to have two boxes of the same lot just in case. And I always shoot a tester when changing the 10 shot magazines.

About barrel break in - the 22 is so slow and the bullets so soft that it takes many hundreds of rounds to have any effect on the barrel. Not sure what the magic number is but it's gotta be high. This is one reason to buy the target barrels. A bit better rifling to begin with and not so long to settle them into that sweet spot. And as I've seen on other posts here, a bit tighter chamber is a must.
 
I have owned several 10-22 over the years and concur. Slower speed = tighter groups. Standard velocity and target grade ammo is great.

Frankly speaking, When 10-22 first appeared, Stock out-of-the-box 10-22 accuracy never impressed me.
When aftermarket barrels started appearing, my opinion changed quickly. One hole groups became common.
 
My 10/22 liked Federal Hipower the best. My groups at 50 yards were 1" to 1 1/4". Match ammunition did not shrink the groups in the factory barrel.

I called Ruger and basically, the 10/22 barrels are plinking barrels. The chambers are huge so people who never clean their guns, can shoot and shoot and have the thing function.

I had a Volquartsen barrel put on and groups halved. Eley tennex shot within a dime at 50 yards.

Considering that most of my squirrel shots were at 25 yards, the better barrel did not make much of a difference hunting.

As a comparision, these are match targets from a $1700 M64 Anschutz and a 1971 M54 Anschutz that would probably go, used, for $1500 to $1700.

1971AnschutzM54FactoryTarget.jpg


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I called Ruger and basically, the 10/22 barrels are plinking barrels.
Click to expand...

Why'd you call Ruger? Is a .22lr that shoots 1"-1 1/4" groups now considered broken
Click to expand...

I wanted to know what I could expect from one of their Ruger 10/22's. this was before I got into target shooting. Now that I shoot small bore prone, the X ring is my standard for target shooting.

But for small game, plinking, rock busting, a barrel that shoots within 1.25" at fifty yards is fine. In fact it is better than many 22 LR's at that distance.
 
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