Thread: .22 Magnum Accuracy

I always wanted a good .22 Magnum. So far I have been through three of them, and none of them would shoot for sh#$t. I am talking 4 - 6 inch groups at 100 yards. I would have been happy for two inch groups at 100 yards, or even three inches, good enough for government work.

Then I read an article about a guy who tested every brand of .22 Mag ammo with a machine rest at 200 yards, and none of them grouped very well. He concluded that nobody makes accurate .22 magnum ammo, unlike .22LR.

Yet sometiems I hear of people who do have a .22 mag that shoots well. Inch groups at a hundred. Half inch groups at 50 m.

I mean, sometimes I dont know why I bother, because I have a .223 that I download to 2000 fps with AP70 and it shoots very well like that. And frankly, the last time I checked, I was reloading .223 for less than what a box of 50 .22 Mag can cost....but still, I like the round. I want to like it...

I was under the impression ( perhaps wrongly ) that 22 WMR ammo has improved significantly due to the learning from 17 HMR and improvements in the bullet making and manufacturing processes

I've always had the impression that .22WMR is an inherently inaccurate cartridge. This maybe an unfair view. Either way, I wish ammunition manufacturers would get their shit together. Rimfire targets are small and accuracy is all important.

So when I got a very desirable Winchester 1885 low wall takedown in .25 rimfire with the obligatory roached barrel I bored and lined with a suitable barrel and chambered it 22 WMR

Sounds easy but the breech end of the liner is offset 1.2mm to get the firing pin strike in the correct location because the .25

Anyway it shoots under 2 moa with a 6x Malcolm vintage scope on it

My rational for a 22 WMR in a vintage rifle was easier to allow for gold over due to flatter trajectory
Can stand toe to toe with my vintage 22 hornets out to 150m
Base rifle is 1915 production

Images prior to re bluing

I didn't have the luxury of being able to try lots of different ammo brands due to the current shortages

Tried 2 types
Likes Winchester 40 grainers
End of story

I had a excel arms accelerator 22wmr semi it grouped very very well with cci gamepoint ammo easily MOA from memory at 100y
the trigger was woefully heavy but off a bipod it was a great shooter and cycled reliably
the rifle was stupidly heavy due to having a bull barrel

BRNO .22mag and heavy barrel for the Sako Quad would do an honest 1.0MOA at 100yrds.

but the .17hmr would outshoot them and at longer range as well so they were sold off . . . i do like the .22mag but i think they have had their day

NZ Guns did an article on 22 mag semi auto rifles. Basically they tested 3 with a variety of ammo and found them good shooters. I have a Rossi semi and it will shoot 1.5 inch no problem.

Originally Posted by rossi.45

BRNO .22mag and heavy barrel for the Sako Quad would do an honest 1.0MOA at 100yrds.

but the .17hmr would outshoot them and at longer range as well so they were sold off . . . i do like the .22mag but i think they have had their day

With the more suitable centrefires now banned, its the best short range goat or wallaby option.

Originally Posted by 300CALMAN

NZ Guns did an article on 22 mag semi auto rifles. Basically they tested 3 with a variety of ammo and found them good shooters. I have a Rossi semi and it will shoot 1.5 inch no problem.

the excel arms semi I used to own was one of the test rifles used for the the article

cz512 20" barrel , hornady 30g vmax can do 1.5-2 inche group.

I would look elsewhere for consistent accuracy cartridge wise. Stick with the downloaded .223, it's almost certainly more accurate and cheaper.
A lot has been learnt in developing the .17HMR but to be honest there is a lot of potential sources of inconsistency inherent in the design of rimfire cartridges not present in centrefire cartridges and they are simply harder to manufacture than centrefire cartridges while achieving the same level of accuracy.

My Anschutz .22 magnum shoots 1" at 100m......BUT, the secret is : 1. select the right ammo brand for YOUR rifle.. 2. clean the barrel thoroughly after 20-30 rounds. The copper jacketed ammo at the MV of .22 magnum does foul the tube quickly.

I've owned/own or shot a number of 22 WMRs. From experience they are either really good or the complete opposite of that. I have almost exclusively used Hornady 30gr V-max - in 80% of circumstances if a 22 WMR does not shoot with that, you are wasting your time. keep them super clean.

The good:
- H&K 300 Semi - comfortably the most accurate I have owned - easy sub MOA/close to 1/2MOA with V-Max
- Sako P72 - easy MOA with V Max
- Ruger 77/22 WMR Boat paddles (with shimmed bolts) x 2 - just about MOA most of the time (30mm @ 100 yards more standard), again with V-max
- Ruger 96/22 WMR - good solid MOA and good with ammo other than V-Max too - more accurate than the Ruger bolt actions. Go figure! Stupidly sold this one .

The ok (but such a cool gun that it is forgiven):
-Winchester 94/22 WMR x2 - both I had (still have one) were in the order of 2 to 2 1/2 inch groups

Not so good:
- BRNO 611 semi delux (with Nickel coat receiver)- lovely gun but this was initially 6" at best. Got the barrel shortened to remove slight muzzle flair in bore that the late Robbie Tiffen found might be an issue, and I shimmed the trigger to remove excessive travel, and as a result was improved, but still struggling to get perhaps 3"
- Chiappa single shot (wood stock) - could not even shoot this at 100. Was a struggle to keep within 6 inches at 50 yards with V-Max. Against my general rule, it shot a bit better with 50gr ammo (but still 4" at 50 yards)
- Stirling... this one was an oldie/rough so not necessarily indicative of all Stirlings, but not much better than the above
- BRNO 452 - expect this should have been good but had been a farm gun for a long length of time - perhaps 3" groups. Again, I have heard good things generally about BRNO 452's.
- Browning A-bolt - these are notorious for bad barrels (Google them) and I think mine was one of them - could not shoot anything. A rifle issue not a cartridge issue.