REVIEW: .22 LR Match Ammo

[OneBadV8]

I decided to do some tests with Match .22 LR ammo a while ago. This test was done in 2 phases because I messed up the iron sights the first time. I used two different 10/22 rifles. The first one has a KIDD Barrel with all the Power Custom Trigger parts and a scope. The second rifle was a Stock 10/22 with an M1 Carbine stock kit on it. We also use a Chronograph for most of the shots when the sun was cooperating. As the evening went on some of the shots wouldn't register.

The Stock gun from here on out will be referred to as IRONS and the Custom one will be SCOPED.

I don't have some pics of targets I shot with the Iron sights because I was using the iron sights wrong and it skewed the results. So a few weeks later I went out and redid the test with most of the match ammo I had from 25yards out. All the Scoped targets are from 50 yards out. And I'll let you determine the best performing ones with the results below.

Here's some pics of our set up

And here are some of our results. There will be a lot of info and lots of pics, so I'll try to keep it readable.

Federal Bulk Pack

SCOPED

The five shot group had the following FPS - 1209, 1278, 1271, 1221, 1278

IRONS
I don't have a pic of the target for the gun using Iron sights for whatever reason, but here are the Chrono results - 1268, 1249, 1232, 1208, 1240

CCI Standard Velocity
SCOPED

FPS - 1053, 1045, 1059, 1080, 1048

IRONS

FPS - 1029, 1058, 1051, 1054, 1059

CCI SUBSONIC
SCOPED

FPS - 1049, 1072, 1076, 1069, 1077

IRONS
NO TARGET PIC
FPS - 1091, 1067, 1074, 1038, 1075

REMINGTON TARGET
SCOPED

FPS - 1098, 1139, 1099, 1131, 1136

IRONS

FPS - 1138, 1075, 1100, 1087, 1105

FIOCCHI SUPER MATCH
SCOPED

FPS - 1141, 1152, 1154, 1144, 1143

IRONS

FPS - 1164, 1154, 1084, 1137, 1105

SK RIFLE MATCH
SCOPED

FPS - 1043, 1050, 1048, 1042, 1050

IRONS

FPS - 1038, 1076, 1087, 1063, 1069

FEDERAL GOLD MEDAL MATCH
SCOPED

FPS - 1078, 1072, 1085, 1085, N/A

IRONS

FPS - 1084, 1079, 1082, 1075, 1066

LAPUA CENTER-X
SCOPED

FPS - 1056, 1049, 1063, 1051, 1060

IRONS

FPS - 1045, 1054, 1048, 1043, 1052

RWS RIFLE MATCH
SCOPED

FPS - 1027, 1056, 1062, 1057, 1064

IRONS

FPS - 1074, 1065, 1064, 1041, 1064

WOLF MATCH EXTRA
SCOPED

FPS - 1072, 1080, 1042, 1081, 1074

IRONS

FPS - 1061, 1056, 1046, 1065, 1056

ELEY MATCH
SCOPED

FPS - N/A

IRONS

FPS - 1062, 1058, 1033, 1048, 1033

ELEY TARGET
SCOPED

FPS - 1039, 1029, 1041, 1029, 1029

IRONS

FPS - 1014, 1025, 1008, 1026, 1018

AGUILLA TARGET
SCOPED

FPS - 1066, 1056, 1061, 1059, 1043

IRONS

FPS - 1075, 1072, 1042, 1053, 1065

AGUILLA MATCH
SCOPED

FPS - 1039, 1026, 1055, 1062, 1049

IRONS

FPS - 1067, 1055, 1096, 1044, 1064

CCI MINI MAGS
SCOPED

FPS - N/A

IRONS
NO TARGET PIC
FPS - 1179, 1207, 1159, 1186, 1223

REMINGTON BULK
SCOPED

FPS - 133, 1323, 1268, N/A

IRONS
NO TARGET PIC
FPS - 1216, 1286, 1132, 1236, 1308

CCI STINGERS
SCOPED

FPS - 1636, 1623, 1608, 1633, 1635

IRONS
NO TARGET PIC
FPS - 1624, 1622, 1601, 1605, 1598

AGUILLA SUPER EXTRA
SCOPED

FPS - 1017, 1012, 1026, 1025, 1004

IRONS
NO TARGET PIC
FPS - 1028, 1043, 1032, 1027, 1038

GEMTECH
SCOPED

FPS - 1008, N/A

IRONS
NO TARGET PIC
FPS - 1049, 1027, 1037, 1017, 1014

WINCHESTER SMALL TARGET SUPER-X
SCOPED

FPS - 1014, N/A

IRONS
NO TARGET PIC
FPS - 1264, 1240, N/A




I think for the money and the performance the SK Rifle Match was the best in my scoped rifle and the Wolf Match Extra was the best in my stock rifle.

 

[42769vette]

great job, i appriciate you adding the velocities. i need to do the same thing as you did

 

[DaKruiser]

Nice write up, that's allot of good info!

 

[HandK]

Great write up V8!! Thank you for sharing it with us!

 

[sgreen3]

Very nice write-up, Thanks for the post!

 

[spitfire51]

Hmm, interesting stuff there. Looks like the CCI standard velocity didn't do too badly for you either. Thanks for posting, looks like you had a fun day at the range.

 

[patience0830]

I have questions. Were all groups fired after thoroughly refouling the bbl with the ammo to be tested? .22 lubes are all different and will affect performance of the following group if you don't "re-season" the bbl for each type of ammo. Costs more but you'll get results you can trust on the first shot of the group.

Case in point, Copper plated federal always shoots better in two of my guns if I fire a couple of groups with Wolf or SK immediately beforehand. Do it in reverse order and it take's at least one group to settle down again with the Wolf or SK.

I'm kinda surprised that the RWS didn't test better. I've got two pistols that really like it.

You have once again discovered that .22's are a law unto themselves when it comes to ammo. You never know what one will like until you try a bunch of 'em.

I appreciate the tortuous ordeal you must have put yourself through at the range to derive these results.

Must have been real torture.

 

[Colt556]

Nice write up and photos. I've done similar testing but was to lazy to take pictures. Like Patience said above I always shoot 5-10 shots after changing brands/types of ammo to "Season" the bbl and then shoot my 5 shot groups. Next time I go out to MCFG I'll try to shoot some groups and take pics. I've had really good luck with Fed Auto Match and CCI SV in my CZs. The more expensive stuff didn't seem to group much better so I stick with the Fed and CCI.

 

[jackadew]

Thanks for doing the writeup! I have done many similar test so nothing really surprized me. But i thought it was note worthy to point out to the suppressor shooters that your ammo doesn't have to say sub-sonic to be sub-sonic. Look at the speeds of the CCI Standard Velocity compared to the CCI Sub-Sonic...the standard stuff averaged 1057 in the Scope gun, and the Sub-Sonic averaged 1068 11fps faster. Same with the Iron gun Standard averaged 1050 and the Sub-Sonic averaged 1069 19fps faster.

 

[lovemywoods]

You forgot to mention the panel of experts you employed to provide oversight to the testing!

 

[Rayne]

Very interesting review. I would like to know the cost of each type of ammunition you used though.

I know, I know, we're never satisfied.

 

[RobbyMaQ]

I am also curious about feeding/ejecting reliability with the rounds (Even though you were only doing 5 rounds ea.)
I tried some cci through my stock 10/22 this past weekend and wound up with at least 1 jam every 10 rounds in it. I was a bit disappointed. So far my white box of winchester bulk seems to feed and eject well with only 1 jam in about 50 rounds. But I have not tried some of the rounds you have listed.

 

[OneBadV8]

You forgot to mention the panel of experts you employed to provide oversight to the testing!

Thanks LMW! I didn't have all the pics uploaded when I created the post.

Very interesting review. I would like to know the cost of each type of ammunition you used though.

I know, I know, we're never satisfied.

Most of them were around the $8 per box of 50. A couple were around $13 but that was the most expensive.

I am also curious about feeding/ejecting reliability with the rounds (Even though you were only doing 5 rounds ea.)
I tried some cci through my stock 10/22 this past weekend and wound up with at least 1 jam every 10 rounds in it. I was a bit disappointed. So far my white box of winchester bulk seems to feed and eject well with only 1 jam in about 50 rounds. But I have not tried some of the rounds you have listed.

The only times I've ever experienced problems like that is when the ammo was really under powered (like CCI CB Longs) or when the gun wasn't lubed up well enough. One good tip is to polish most of the action parts so it moves easier and then just lube it up well.

 

[Broom_jm]

I did a similar test a couple of years ago, although not with as many brands and not with "target" ammo. I found the Federal Champion rounds to be very good, with CCI Mini-Mags a close second.

One thing this review illustrates, to me, is the difference between the accuracy of a semi-auto 22 and a bolt-action. I fired 10-shot groups. With virtually all of the ammo I tested, 8 of the 10 shots were under 1" at 50 yards, with one or two fliers. The better ammo shot under 1" for all 10 rounds, with the Federal and Mini-Mags coming in at around .8".

As exhaustive as your testing was, with expensive match ammo, I would have hoped to find at least one type that shot bug-holes at 50 yards. I think I'll stick to my bolt-action 22's.

 

[OneBadV8]

As exhaustive as your testing was, with expensive match ammo, I would have hoped to find at least one type that shot bug-holes at 50 yards. I think I'll stick to my bolt-action 22's.

I think if I cleaned the gun and "seasoned" it for each type of ammo you'd see better groups. But there is no way that a 10/22 will be as accurate as a bolt gun. I wasn't trying to see how accurate I could get my gun, my goal was to see which ammo performed the best out of what I have currently.

 

[mac45]

Good write up
Thanks for posting

 

[Broom_jm]

I think if I cleaned the gun and "seasoned" it for each type of ammo you'd see better groups. But there is no way that a 10/22 will be as accurate as a bolt gun. I wasn't trying to see how accurate I could get my gun, my goal was to see which ammo performed the best out of what I have currently.

Makes sense.

I think what your tests showed is that your particular 10/22 rifles are somewhat indifferent to the ammo they're being fed...would you agree? It also seems like the stock rifle, with open sights, showed pretty darn good potential. I know several of the groups it shot would have made me quite happy, for 25 yards and open sights! Based on what I saw, I would be inclined to slap a scope on that one and see what it would do at 50...

I had a buddy, who passed away last year, that specialized in making 10/22 rifles VERY accurate. He shot groups in the 1" range at 100 yards with his Ruger 10/22's, which surprised a lot of folks. One of his guns had an audacious pink laminated stock that you'd think the squirrels would have seen coming a mile away. I guess at 100 yards or so, they just didn't consider him a threat, which led to their demise, as often as not.

 

[straight-shooter]

I took out my Custom 10/22 outfitted with a Kid Barrel and Volquartson internals yesterday. Here is the 20 rounds fired result at 50 yards. Ammo used was the Fiocchi M320 Match. I'm sure there are shooters at the club that could do better as I certainly don't claim sniper status (or even close) but not too shabby.

 

[edsinger]

Fantastic Write up! Thanks

 

[OEF5]

To my untrained eye from the pics it appears that the SK grouped really well for both rifles. Out of the pics it seemed that that brand really shot the best for you in both rifles.

Which did you use to shoot at the Seed?