stagpanther
New member
Winds were forecasted to be in 15 mph +/- range today, so I figured it was going to be a hopeless waste of ammo for my 22lr. Then I got the curious idea--let's see what happens comparing my lowly marlin 17 hmr against my CZ jaguar--in this case my marlin was shooting a 17 gr v-max type bullet vs the fast CCI stinger in my jaguar--my theory being the the faster stinger and heavier stinger bullet might perhaps level the playing field a bit. Winds were gusty between 9 to 15 mph at about 11 o'oclock.
Turns out it was no contest--the 17 HMR did a very credible job of grouping a 5 shot group at around 3.5"--and 4 of the shots were close to 2". Interestingly, the 17 HMR tended to show it's dispersion horizontally--though that could be due to the rifle's much heavier trigger pull than my jaguar's. The stinger wasn't even in the same ball park--literally couldn't group at all on the target board, but I think much of that might be because the CCI stinger simply doesn't shoot well in my jaguar, It doesn't perform well even in calmer conditions.
I waited until just before dark for the winds to back off, which they did but still were in the 5ish range and shot some of my better but slower 22lr ammo--the small reduction in headwind made a big difference but I still couldn't beat the 17 HMR. I know it may be obvious--but clearly the velocity and flatter trajectory of the 17 hmr confers a huge advantage in wind--even with a very light bullet. I'll repeat the test at some point when I have better conditions favoring the 22lr.
Turns out it was no contest--the 17 HMR did a very credible job of grouping a 5 shot group at around 3.5"--and 4 of the shots were close to 2". Interestingly, the 17 HMR tended to show it's dispersion horizontally--though that could be due to the rifle's much heavier trigger pull than my jaguar's. The stinger wasn't even in the same ball park--literally couldn't group at all on the target board, but I think much of that might be because the CCI stinger simply doesn't shoot well in my jaguar, It doesn't perform well even in calmer conditions.
I waited until just before dark for the winds to back off, which they did but still were in the 5ish range and shot some of my better but slower 22lr ammo--the small reduction in headwind made a big difference but I still couldn't beat the 17 HMR. I know it may be obvious--but clearly the velocity and flatter trajectory of the 17 hmr confers a huge advantage in wind--even with a very light bullet. I'll repeat the test at some point when I have better conditions favoring the 22lr.