Thread: Fun with 22s - wee ammo test

Recently I put my Lithgow LA101 into a laminated stock - they reputedly shoot better in this one than the synthetic. My thoughts were that factory recommended action scew tension of 1.5 Nm (13.7 in lbs) was set for the synthetic stock as this is a very light value. In most cases a laminated stock will stand (and "like") quite a bit screw tension.

So today wasn't too bad here for a quick test. The rifle definitely responded well to more screw tension and when I got to 20 in lbs the attached 10 shot group with the Eley club shows the result. I know this batch of Club to be exceptional and save it for tests like this.

Recently there has been a bit of Norma Tac-22 in the shops and I got a couple of bricks to test. The results speak for themselves, it is very good ammo, but just not held to the same tolerances as a top performing ammo. This is illustrated by both group size and distribution, most rounds forming a tight cluster (like the Club) but a few looser rounds hanging off.

Originally Posted by Tentman

Recently I put my Lithgow LA101 into a laminated stock - they reputedly shoot better in this one than the synthetic. My thoughts were that factory recommended action scew tension of 1.5 Nm (13.7 in lbs) was set for the synthetic stock as this is a very light value. In most cases a laminated stock will stand (and "like") quite a bit screw tension.

So today wasn't too bad here for a quick test. The rifle definitely responded well to more screw tension and when I got to 20 in lbs the attached 10 shot group with the Eley club shows the result. I know this batch of Club to be exceptional and save it for tests like this.

Recently there has been a bit of Norma Tac-22 in the shops and I got a couple of bricks to test. The results speak for themselves, it is very good ammo, but just not held to the same tolerances as a top performing ammo. This is illustrated by both group size and distribution, most rounds forming a tight cluster (like the Club) but a few looser rounds hanging off.

Attachment 219116

I tested 9 different brands of .22 match/standard ammo a couple of weekends ago in my Lithgow and fired two
Cards for each to prove consistency

The rws target rifle came out no1 . The Eley club and Norma were in the mid
Range and the Aguila was last by a long shot.

Second equal and third was the trusty cci standard. It was well ahead of
Most of the Match ammo tested including rws club and sk and others.

Interesting
Will have to try adjusting the torque on my laminated Lithgow. Till now I've just used the factory recommended setting.

I've also just been trying the Tac-22 and it's certainly performing well above its price point. Well inside minute of rabbit head @50m

Originally Posted by omark

I tested 9 different brands of .22 match/standard ammo a couple of weekends ago in my Lithgow and fired two
Cards for each to prove consistency

The rws target rifle came out no1 . The Eley club and Norma were in the mid
Range and the Aguila was last by a long shot.

Second equal and third was the trusty cci standard. It was well ahead of
Most of the Match ammo tested including rws club and sk and others.

Yeah - 22 accuracy is more related to good luck with batches or lots of ammo. I went back out with some CCI I have here and shot the following target - all t10 shot groups at 48M.



This target highlights the batch issue, I gave away the rest of the brick of the CCI target cause it was crap, and the very old CCI HP is better but still nearly twice the group size of an excellent batch of S&B subsonic hp (which isn't usually up to much).

One very interesting thing is the harmonic which is causing the vertical stringing with the new box CCI versus horizontal stringing with the older CCI hp.

The batch of Eley Club I got was pretty average honestly. Double the price of the "Action" I was using with worse accuracy and SD.

Some nice groups there. Rimfires are such odd creatures. After a bit of hassle, I was excited to get my hands on some high end Eley rounds and they turned out to group worse than CCI Subsonic (which admittedly are very good in my rifle).

Originally Posted by omark

I tested 9 different brands of .22 match/standard ammo a couple of weekends ago in my Lithgow and fired two
Cards for each to prove consistency

The rws target rifle came out no1 . The Eley club and Norma were in the mid
Range and the Aguila was last by a long shot.

Second equal and third was the trusty cci standard. It was well ahead of
Most of the Match ammo tested including rws club and sk and others.

Hey how about posting up your results either pics or group sizes, helps us all learn something

Precision accuracy tricky to pin down with 22 ammos. I recall a batch of PMC (black packet) Match ammo that averaged 0.69" for four consecutive sub 1.0" groups at 100 meters from a little Norinco Em332. Superb! Went back to get some more and it was shite.

CCI quite a consistent performer for the money. The groups below are from one of the very accurate Marlin model 60 semiautos I had - stock. Top line is three groups - two fives and a three - averaging 0.34" at 50m with CCI Standard. Bottom line is couple of groups with CCI subsonic - averaging 0.32". CCI may not deliver peak performance of match ammos but it does offer quite good consistency across batches, and that's a plus when plinking..

Originally Posted by Tentman

Hey how about posting up your results either pics or group sizes, helps us all learn something

Unfortunately I left them in the clubrooms but will collect them next time I am out

Originally Posted by omark

Unfortunately I left them in the clubrooms but will collect them next time I am out

Hey @omark if you could also comment on the accuracy of your Lithgow compared with the common "match rifles" that would also be very interesting. Cheers

Did the same thing yesterday arvo,
given a couple of fancy boxes of 0.22 to try out but forget what they were called and nothing was special about them.

With Norma Tac-22,
Tac-22 is OK but they are a bit greasy and a bit smokey (I don't mind this part),
not sure about grouping but I could hit my self made target at 50m, 80m, and 100m pretty constantly with tac-22

at above 120m and above range... I seem only could hit them with CCI

@Tentman have you got groups with other torque settings ?

Further to post above, I was getting really excited about this group till I walked up to the target and spotted the one hiding in the black!
Still pretty happy with both my second Lithgow and the ammo.

Originally Posted by Snap 4T

Did the same thing yesterday arvo,
given a couple of fancy boxes of 0.22 to try out but forget what they were called and nothing was special about them.

With Norma Tac-22,
Tac-22 is OK but they are a bit greasy and a bit smokey (I don't mind this part),
not sure about grouping but I could hit my self made target at 50m, 80m, and 100m pretty constantly with tac-22

at above 120m and above range... I seem only could hit them with CCI


Attachment 219156

75 or 90mm diameter abouts gong huh - even at 100mm at 100 thats good shooting with those grades of ammo.

F Class John posted a ytube of his results at a 22 FClass 40 shot match - his score was 200 and a bunch of Xs - target was a 2"X and a 4" bull at 200 yards and 199 at 300 yards but he didn't give target dimensions for the 300Y. The thing is his rifle and gear would be the thick end of NZ$10K

RWS special match @ 100bit of wind.
Good stuff,$19.90 it should be
Tac 22 has the same headstamp.