Best 22LR match grade ammo

S

Stats Shooter

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What do you guys like best for 22LR bench rest ammo?

So far in my bolt action.22 I have tried federal auto-match, it groups about 2" at 100 yards and about 3/4" at 50 in my rifle. 36 Grain CCI mini mags group about 1.5" at 100 yards , 1/2" at 50 yards and 4.5" at 200 yards (not bad) in my rifle.

But I want to see if the rifle can do better. Possibly MOA or better at 100 yards.
 
My suggestion for a bolt action would be to try standard velocity ammunition instead of the high speed versions. CCI Green Tag, CCI Standard Velocity, Federal Gold Medal Target, SK Standard Plus, Wolf Match Target and GECO Bolt Action are some possibilities - they may be available at mail order outlets like SGAmmo. In general I suggest that you avoid bulk pack ammo and instead use individually boxed ammo - bulk pack ammo tends to ding up the bullets.

Let us know what your results are. What model rifle are you shooting?
 
Guns & Ammo did a article and a field test a couple months back and they found Wolf 22lr was the best. I tried to find the article but I can't, I think the tests over 30 different kinds/brands.
 
I don't know about "best", but Federal Champion has always done well for me at a good price point. Aguila Rifle Match shoots better but costs a little more. My rifle also seems to group well with S&B 40 grain subsonics. I need to try the Wolf yet.

I definitely get better results with "standard" or subsonic velocity ammo than high velocity. Anything "auto" has typically not done as well in a bolt action for me, especially at 100 yards.
 
While I'm not a bench rester or smallbore shooter I like wolf match target or sk standard plus.
Good accuracy for the $60 a brick cost.
 
Someone below asked about my rifle. I am using a savage Mk II FV-SR with Apachee trigger, Boyd's stock, Nikon monarch 4x16x50 scope with Burris signature rings. It will zero from 25 to 250 yards with moa to spare.

I also have a muzzle brake on it so that it doesn't move at all making it possible to see the bullets in flight if the sun hits the copper jacket right. At 200 yards I can watch the bullet drop into the target.

How about Lapua?
 
22s each have a preference for a specific ammo and it is not always by price. If price is no object, Eley Match or Tenex, RWS R50, and Lapua Midas or Center X are all very good. On a lower tier would be Wolf Match/Target, SK Standard Plus (same ammo, just different box, all made by Lapua), these IMHO provide the best performance for the money. Wolf Match Extra or SK Target Rifle (again same ammo, different boxes) are a little above Wolf Match/Target. CCI Standard Velocity is reliable but not in the same accuracy class as the fore mentioned ammo. However, again, each rifle has its own likes and CCI may be it. YMMV
 
However, again, each rifle has its own likes and CCI may be it
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I'm well aware of rifles having a preference. What i am after is a bit better consistency. With the mini mags from CCI I will have a nice 3/4 inch 8 shot group and 2 "flyers" making it a 1.5" group... Maybe 2.5". I want to start shooting in some of my local rimfire matches and I can't afford to drop 4 points on 2 flyers....And that's on a calm day. So if there is some wind, I don't need the ammo making it harder. It isn't the rifle throwing the flyers, and usually it isn't me... Sometimes it isn't me :D
 
Eley Tenex;

Keep in mind it varies from lot to lot. We shot ISU, (AK NG Rifle Team) and I would issue a case at a time, to an individual rifle. When that lot was gone, they would have to re-zero their rifles for the next lot. But I never found any better.

I ammo wasn't capable of cleaning the 50 Meter English Match target, in the prone (Where English Matches are shot) we would set it aside for practice in non-match rifles.
 
There is no 'best' anything. Every single .22 prefers different ammo. That's why you have to try a box of as many brands as you can. The price of said ammo means nothing either. And like kraigwy says, one lot might shoot one hole groups all day, every day and the next will not.
"Flyers" are usually the shooter. Doesn't take much of a twitch of some type to throw a shot off a tiny bit. And that tiny bit gets bigger as distance increases. However, the rifle and its bedding can make a difference too.
"...Lapua?..." Try 'em. Lapua is Finnish for more expensive though.
Sadly, Yellow Jackets have been discontinued. My Cooey likes 'em too. sniff.
 
The topic of ammunition is of endless importance to Smallbore Prone Shooters. The lower priced match ammunition is actually quite good. That is stuff like Eley Club, RWS Target, SK Standard Plus, Wolf Target. These brands are much, much better than what you can get at Walmart. The mid grade stuff, like SK Rifle Match and Wolf Match Extra, is a little more consistent. All my lots of Green Tag are absolutely horrible.

What you will find with all grades of rimfire ammunition that the stuff varies by lot. One lot of Eley Black box may shoot like a house a fire, the next, just OK. The Eley representative at the National Matches said you only have a 33 1/3% chance of finding the best ammunition for your rifle without bench testing the stuff. Both Eley and Lapua have US test facilities for lot testing rimfire ammunition. I have used the Lapua. I was very surprised at how much variation there is, in my gun, between lots of the same ammunition, which was Center-X and Midas plus. I talked to a shooter who placed 2nd at the National this year, his Anschutz has been lot tested maybe 90 times, and he said, ammunition that shot well out of the bench rest fixture, did not necessarily shoot well in the prone position. Ammunition has to be tested as you will shoot.

What I have found, as well as others, is that the higher priced ammunition is more consistent than the lower priced. The expensive ammunition is tested at the factory. Flyers happen in all types, it is hard to know if it was you or the ammunition, but in my experience, the higher priced ammunition will have less flyers. The manufacturer's of premium priced match ammunition extensively tested the stuff at the factory, the higher priced stuff was the most accurate out of the factory test rifles. Eley said that is how Eley sorts out Tennex versus Match (Black Box). These are made in a special production line and under very stringent production controls. Eley Club and Target, they said a different production line for that ammunition. I have shot thousands of rounds of Club and Wolf in practice, or at matches where the results don't matter, and, every so often I get outstanding results, clean the targets, but, in the long run, a shot creeps out! The most noticeable problem is low velocity eights. A round in perfect alignment with the X ring but about four inches low at 100 yards. I begin to trust a particular lot after firing a brick of the stuff without any wild shots.

Champion Shooters http://www.championshooters.com/ind...category&virtuemart_category_id=37&Itemid=111 will sell you a sampler, a bunch of boxes of different lots, and then, having tested them all in your rifle, you can buy a case of the best stuff.
 
What you will find with all grades of rimfire ammunition that the stuff varies by lot. One lot of Eley Black box may shoot like a house a fire, the next, just OK. The Eley representative at the National Matches said you only have a 33 1/3% chance of finding the best ammunition for your rifle without bench testing the stuff. Both Eley and Lapua have US test facilities for lot testing rimfire ammunition. I have used the Lapua. I was very surprised at how much variation there is, in my gun, between lots of the same ammunition, which was Center-X and Midas plus. I talked to a shooter who placed 2nd at the National this year, his Anschutz has been lot tested maybe 90 times, and he said, ammunition that shot well out of the bench rest fixture, did not necessarily shoot well in the prone position. Ammunition has to be tested as you will shoot.
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This is all good information. All the comments are full of good information. Its too bad reloading .22LR is such a hassle and impractical. Looks like I am at the ammo makers mercy. I will try wolf match and I will try some Lapua to see how it does. I am hesitant to buy 1000 rounds to ensure I have a good batch from the same lot because if it shoots poorly, Im screwed. But if I just buy 1 box, and it shoots great, I might get a different lot in a bulk buy and it will shoot poorly.

This is certainly a predicament I am not used to dealing with as a re loader but rimfire is too much fun to shoot, so I have to try.
 
For the money the wolf match is the best in all of my rifles. If you do a little research you will be surprised to find out who makes it. At $70 a brick it's the best deal on the market.
 
Looks like I am at the ammo makers mercy.
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We all are when you are looking for "the best". If you want "the best" you have to test. But are you willing to accept "good enough"?

For many people and applications, the lower priced match ammunition is fine.
 
100 yards is really too far to determine which ammo is the best, too many other factors. Wind etc... Shoot at 50 yards and see what the ammo groups at. I still have some Wolf Match Target. Hard to come by these days, but I paid 20 a brick for mine a while ago. CCI Standard velocity is good too. Federal Automatch is at least available these days. Is plenty accurate for me, but I'm not trying to see which is absolutely the best. Just bought two 325 round boxes for $18 each the other day. Which is at least reasonable.
 
Don't know about the 100 yd 22 shooting, seldom do it. But for 50 yds......

Suggest you try Norma TAC or the Norma Match. This is what I normally use in my very old Model 12 BSA martini action rifle that I use in the target 22 rifle competition (open sights only, no scopes allowed). I've tried much more expensive 22 match ammo and didn't find it much better or any better for that matter than the Norma ammo. A number of my fellow competitors now use the Norma TAC in their 22 rifles, all Kimber (of Oregon) 84M military surplus target rifles. Most of them switched from Remington/eley match or Wolf Match to the Norma after I started using it in the competitions. I find the Norma Match to be a little more consistent for accuracy than the Norma TAC in my BSA rifle.

Mind you, a fellow shooter at range one day was trying his hand at hitting a pie plate at 200 yds with one of his more accurate bolt 22 rifles. After around 12 or so rounds and maybe only one or two hits on the pie plate, I got my BSA 22 out of my truck, grabbed the CCI Blazer ammo I'd used a few days before to try my hand at hitting clay pidgeons left on the 200 yd berm. Took me 4 or 5 shots to set the rear peep sight correctly....darn lot of clicks made on it, but I got the range and averagesd 2 or 3 shots each for the clay pidgeons I busted. My sights were still set for 200 yds. Gent I loaned the rifle to for him to try, I just said, the sight is set for 200, just center the pie plate in the sights. He's a darn good shot with any rifle and the eight or so shots he took hit the pie plate (mind you, zero wind that day). He had around a 5" group on the plate. When he'd finished shooting I spent the next several minutes telling him "NO, the rifles not forsale, despite his darn tempting offers. Did I mention it was CCI Blazer ammo?
 
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