22LR ammo for NRL22?

[DIYguy]

Picked up a Savage B22 last fall, mainly because I like MDT chassis, have two others for my PRS rifles. Looked at the Ruger but couldn't find one in stock anywhere, did find a deal on the Savage. Have over 7,000 of 22LR in the safe, mostly CCI Mini-Mag and wanted to put in some range trigger time without burning through my 6.5CM stock.
Zeroed the gun last fall at 50Y using the CCI Mini-Mag ammo and was very happy with ten round groups repeatedly punching a single jagged hole. Built a rack of NRL22 swingers from 1-1/2" down to 1/4" and could run the rack down to 1/2" every time, 1/4" was a sometimes.
Our local club started doing NRL22 matches this Spring for the first time. Hung out at the match Saturday to get a feel for the stages and CoF. Several stages were 40Y to 100Y, multiple targets. Tank Trap, all at 100Y.
Now for the problem. Yesterday, Sunday I went to the club to gather dope for the rifle at 100Y compared to the 50Y zero. Shots were all over the place! Might get about four out of ten on zero and rest would be high, low, right, left, all over the place, about 2"+ groups. The CCI is 40g rated at 1,250 FPS but I haven't chronoed the stuff yet for actual. Rifle is 18" barrel with 1:16 twist. The only thing I can think that would be causing the dispersion might be the shots going subsonic at 100Y?
Have about 1,100 rounds of WinX which is rated at 1,300 FPS but haven't tried this stuff since yesterday. Is there any advantage of going faster and stay supersonic or just look for ammo in the subsonic range? Seems 1:16 isn't a lot of spin for higher velocities.
Been shopping for different ammo with limited results. Norma Match @ 1,083 FPS looks pretty good without breaking the bank but the only place I could find is directly from Norma. Midway shows discontinued? SK Match ammo is unobtanium, Out of Stock EVERYWHERE. Eley looks good except most options rated further than 50M are almost .50 per round.
So what's a good 100Y 22LR ammo that is actually available and somewhere in the .20 +/- range?

 

[J_D]

For something like NRL22 you need be using subsonic ammo to begin with.

 

[usafa77]

Any of the cheaper subsonic Eleys will work fine

 

[6.5SH]

Is plenty of Eley available, but you'll need to test if your rifle likes it or not:

Eley .22LR Ammo rimfire

In-stock best prices for Eley .22LR Ammo rimfire | Cheap Eley .22LR Ammunition rimfire - AmmoSeek.com

ammoseek.com

Seems like for SK only the semi-auto and HV are available and near your price range.

 

[King_beardsly]

like everyone else said before, you’re going to want subsonic match ammo for pushing out past 50 to be competitive. You can check out the offerings from wolf it’s essentially rebranded eley club and target but people swear by it, you can also look at some of the stuff from RWS.

I personally like dealing with champions choose since they allow you to by boxes at a time instead of a brick, it’ll allow you to test a bunch without getting stuck with the stuff that doesn’t work.

Rimfire Ammunition | Champion's Choice

 

[Rider47]

Firstly - its the WIND!
Shooters who are new to precision shooting sometimes do not understand the amount of drift (up/down/sideways) even a small amount of wind will cause. Especially 40 gr. 22LR rounds. Especially at 100 yards and further.
CCI SV is "budget precision" ammo, reasonable precision for not much money. But better precision will cost you more. SK match, SKLRM, Eley Club, Lapua CX, and then better precision even more Lapua Midas+, Eley Match etc.etc.
With the low-end exception of CCI SV, nothing you can by at Walmart is going to work to be competitive in PRS.

 

[Fig]

I bought a brick of the super sonic SK Long Range Match. I am pretty darned impressed. These are the best groups I've seen out of SS .22 ammo. Not as good as SK Match subs, but not too far off. Thus far I only know of one place to get it, but if they can keep that level of precision it will probably give the sub sonic NRL market a run for the money. I did not change my scopes POI, because with only one source I'm not switching to it. Things are still not leveled out in the .22 ammo market. All the bullshit ammo is in abundance, but the good stuff is still in and out of stock. SK Match shoots better in my rifle than the TenX, which was surprising to me. I still have a lot of Ely, but I'm thinking I may be an SK guy now...

 

[Rob01]

SK Long Range isn't really super sonic. It's faster than some of the other subsonic but it's still subsonic in match use. I use it in my rifle and it's 1107fps. Some say 1100fps is supersonic but it's not in the spot where it effects performance like the 1200+ FPS .22 ammo.

 

[Lastsaint21]

For a 100 and in, I would give Norma Tac-22 a try. Most of what we got from PSA was pretty decent. I use it as practice ammo because my comp ammo is RWS. Not sure if your gun will like it but for $3.80 a box it’s worth a shot.

 

[XP1K]

The 22lr transonic issue is a myth. I've shot supers (mini mags) out past 300 with pretty decent results. But you have to tweak them a little to get really good results. @justin amateur has done more extensive testing.

for a decent subsonic ammo though I've been shooting Norma tac22 and it's done pretty good for me through a vudoo. 1" at 100, I've pushed it to 400 on a steel coyote target that I have.

Believe it or not, I've actually had good luck with cci subsonic out to 300 but they vary pretty good lot to lot.

My brother just bought a tikka t1x and I've read several times where they like the cci sv ammo so I told him to pick up a couple boxes to try and it was all over the place. Like 1½ at 50 yards. It's been decent in the past for me but this current stuff seems a little wild. You could hear the difference when we were shooting it, it sounded like the old Winchester wildcats.

Here's some video of supers at distance. You be the judge. Their preferred ammo is cci velociter.

 

[MajorD]

It is not just the velocity with things like mini mags that is the issue. Most standard velocity ammo is held to much tighter tolerances and quality control than anything high velocity, which the majority of the time translates to tighter more consistent groups. The higher up in price you go with 22 ammo, you are paying for tigger quality control. Only you can decide how much is too much to spend On ammo. For me at my level of skill, I self imposed a limit of 10 per box. I am happy with several types of SK, but again it is tough to find right now. I am satisfied with pistol match and pistol match special, which can be found in the $8-10 dollar range.
it is possible to have the odd rifle that shoots certain high velocity ammo really well, but this is considered an anomaly and you will nearly always get better performance out of a standard velocity round,usually European made, again due to quality control primarily

 

[Lightning8]

Course designers keep making NRL22 and PRS22 more challenging. A course of fire recently had a 2inch circle at 90 yards. That is actually tougher than it sounds. All 22 ammo shoots good at 25 yards, most 22 shoots good at 50 yards, 100 yards is the eye opener.

Suggest you set up a target at 100 yards and see how many brand/model of 22 you have that will keep 10 out of 10 shots within a 2 inch circle at 100 yards. Also note the lot numbers of the "good" ones as next lots may not be as good (maybe better).

In my testing with my RimX - the ammo I could get that kept 10/10 within 2 inch at 100 yards was SK Rifle Match (Red Box), Eley Team, and Eley Match. In the past SK Standard + (Yellow Box) would pass but current lot is 8/10. Current lot of SK Long Range Match was only 8/10 too.

 

[Rob01]

SK Long Range lot I have does much better than that in my Vudoo at 100. Why checking ammo in the rifle is important. Here’s the first shot out of a clean barrel at 2 o’clock and then 5 more in the center at 100.

 

[XP1K]

It is not just the velocity with things like mini mags that is the issue. Most standard velocity ammo is held to much tighter tolerances and quality control than anything high velocity, which the majority of the time translates to tighter more consistent groups. The higher up in price you go with 22 ammo, you are paying for tigger quality control. Only you can decide how much is too much to spend On ammo. For me at my level of skill, I self imposed a limit of 10 per box. I am happy with several types of SK, but again it is tough to find right now. I am satisfied with pistol match and pistol match special, which can be found in the $8-10 dollar range.
it is possible to have the odd rifle that shoots certain high velocity ammo really well, but this is considered an anomaly and you will nearly always get better performance out of a standard velocity round,usually European made, again due to quality control primarily

Pistol match special has done the best in my vudoo. Only shot two boxes though.

I successfully got some mini mags down to single digit sd's one time but I never tried them at distance. They were killer at 50 though.

 

[Alabusa]

Don't overlook Norma Tac22. Here is a 10 shot, 50 yard group out of my CZ457.....orange sticker is 1 inch diameter

 

[bobby1028]

For a 100 and in, I would give Norma Tac-22 a try. Most of what we got from PSA was pretty decent. I use it as practice ammo because my comp ammo is RWS. Not sure if your gun will like it but for $3.80 a box it’s worth a shot.

If you're gun agrees with it the Norma Tac 22 is very nice, my 10/22 doesn't care for it but my CZ457 loves it. Very nice SD thru the chrono, especially considering the price.

 

[chevy_man]

Pistol match special has done the best in my vudoo. Only shot two boxes though.

I successfully got some mini mags down to single digit sd's one time but I never tried them at distance. They were killer at 50 though.

Long range match is the top grade from those batches supposedly.

But I've had pms shoot better then lrm and vise versa depending on the lot.


I have 1 lot of mini-mags that are magic and do sub moa at 100. Every other lot I've ever tried was more like 5moa.
It's the ammo showing it's inconsistency.

 

[chevy_man]

Don't overlook Norma Tac22. Here is a 10 shot, 50 yard group out of my CZ457.....orange sticker is 1 inch diameter View attachment 8119356

For some reason the CZs tend to like it. My B14 it was more of a shotgun pattern. One of the worst I tested. Then my BIL stuffed it into a 452 and it shot great.

 

[DIYguy]

Wow....lots of great info. I reached out Troy of DST Precision located in S MN on the off chance he had 22LR match ammo since he's a regular at all our PRS matches. Good news is he does. Lot of stuff he doesn't advertise but keeps for local shooters. Plan is to make the 75 mile road trip down to hi shop and and pick up a box of just about everything in the match grade line and see what my gun likes.

 

[Emerson0311]

Wow....lots of great info. I reached out Troy of DST Precision located in S MN on the off chance he had 22LR match ammo since he's a regular at all our PRS matches. Good news is he does. Lot of stuff he doesn't advertise but keeps for local shooters. Plan is to make the 75 mile road trip down to hi shop and and pick up a box of just about everything in the match grade line and see what my gun likes.

Until you can shoot positional groups that are almost as good as bench groups, the ammo is fine and the shooter is the issue. Nice those group sizes are close, more expensive ammo means more consistency and less fliers, usually high/low. Also, shoot 10+ shots per test group or you will get nasty surprises over bigger strings. I shoot 20-30 in a group when testing at 200+.

 

[Lastsaint21]

The best way I have found to test ammo is to get two boxes of each lot.. shoot 50 (5 groups of 10) at 50 over the chrono. Then shoot 25 at a 100 (5 groups of 5) then the same at 200.. This will give you the whole picture..and.. it’s just a good time

 

[MVOsteen]

I’ve had the best luck out of my Bergara BMR with SK Match and Tac 22. The SK had lower SD’s over the radar, but the TAC 22 shoots quite consistently. I’ve used both in matches over 300 yards.

 

[mikeshaw2]

For a 100 and in, I would give Norma Tac-22 a try. Most of what we got from PSA was pretty decent. I use it as practice ammo because my comp ammo is RWS. Not sure if your gun will like it but for $3.80 a box it’s worth a shot.

Last I checked, lots of places are out of TAC22. ammoseek.com is your friend...

M

 

[DIYguy]

The best way I have found to test ammo is to get two boxes of each lot.. shoot 50 (5 groups of 10) at 50 over the chrono. Then shoot 25 at a 100 (5 groups of 5) then the same at 200.. This will give you the whole picture..and.. it’s just a good time

Just made the 130 mile Rd trip to DST Precision last night and left a LOT of my money behind.
Also picked up:
(2) Norma TAC-22
(2) Norma Match 22
(2) Eley Target
(2) Eley Club
(2) SK Match
(1) SK Biathelon Sport (just to try)

Also have the JLK Precision Gen2 kinetic trigger for the Labradar ordered. Hopefully they quick ship as anxious to start the test. Oh sooooooooo much work to have to endure

 

[MajorD]

Also keep in mind ( this is very counterintuitive) that standard velocity aka subsonic ammo actually has less wind drift at extended ranges than high velocity ammo. I don’t have any sort of tech explanation, but it is the truth

 

[DIYguy]

Haven't returned to this post for a bit, thought I would share.
Went through all the different ammo's listed above to narrow the list of what the rifle likes at 100 yards. Some it didn't like at all, few where OK. Had the best, most consistent results with Eley Target (yellow box). While at the range running my tests another shooter I know that is extremly serious with his NRL22 competition commented that he found it threw the results off a bit when switching between different manufacturers because of the coatings. Some are oil, some are paraffin. Noticed a difference on my fingers loading all the mags also. Bedause of the list of brands I was running groups of (10) and switching. After narrowing the choices down to three brands I ran all the test again running 4 to 5 groups of (10) same brand before switching. Did have more consistent results.
Attaching three of the test sheets I do while running my test. I don't mess with zero while doing test as a waste of time as each brand has a different PoI. Once I pick a load I tune the zero. I have other targets where I was getting better groups but don't have those assembled with the data sheets.

 

[Jayhop101]

Until you can shoot positional groups that are almost as good as bench groups, the ammo is fine and the shooter is the issue. Nice those group sizes are close, more expensive ammo means more consistency and less fliers, usually high/low. Also, shoot 10+ shots per test group or you will get nasty surprises over bigger strings. I shoot 20-30 in a group when testing at 200+.

I happen to disagree with this. If your ammo is not the best it can be then how do you know if its the shooter or the ammo? Get the tightest group you can on the bench. That way you know the capability of the ammo and the gun...then work on the positional capabilities of the shooter.

 

[DIYguy]

I totally agree with what Jayhop said.

 

[Emerson0311]

I happen to disagree with this. If your ammo is not the best it can be then how do you know if its the shooter or the ammo? Get the tightest group you can on the bench. That way you know the capability of the ammo and the gun...then work on the positional capabilities of the shooter.

If your bench groups are better than your positional groups the problem is the shooter. I put over 40K down range before I started shooting steel instead of paper. There is no need to buy Eley Match or Lapua Center X when CCISV shoots better bench groups than you can shoot off a prop.

 

[Emerson0311]

I totally agree with what Jayhop said.

Bench shooting is easy compared to positional shooting. That’s why shooters “pursuing” Rimfire PRS spend so much time on the bench. A half dozen 10 shot groups off the bench and then do the same from the top 4 steps of a 6’ step ladder. If the bench groups are better, your ammo is good enough. It’s simple, but not easy.

 

[mikeshaw2]

If you're gun agrees with it the Norma Tac 22 is very nice, my 10/22 doesn't care for it but my CZ457 loves it. Very nice SD thru the chrono, especially considering the price.

...and that's the key: you need to figure out what your rifle likes. My 2 CZs seem to really like TAC22, so that's what I run most often. I tested 11 kinds of ammo in my BMR when I was first getting into MARS matches. Center X did best, then SK Rifle Match, then TAC22, then... CCI std velocity was 'decent' but not good, but worked for cheap practice ammo.

I broke down and bought some SK Rifle Match recently. It may do a hair better out of my 457 Varmint (not match barrel), but not for triple the cost.

All y'all are posting tiny groups off rests/bipods when we're talking about positional shooting. I can make tiny groups off the bench too, but the wobble in my scope was what was causing me to miss. I've been practicing, so that's getting better. Still not winning matches, but the wobble has tightened considerably.

...that reminds me... Gotta break out the silenced rifle this afternoon for a bit of practice

M

 

[DIYguy]

Emerson I think you're missing the point of the discussion. Not all guns like all ammo. First challenge is the find the ammo that works best in your own rifle. If one brand of ammo shoots a 2-1/2" to 3" pattern and another brand shoots a 1" group obviously you don't want to be trying to attempt precision shooting with an ammo the shoots 3" groups at 100y. If your rifle and ammo can't shoot less than a 3" group off the bench why would anyone expect to get a 1" group in positional shooting?
After all the strings testing various brands of ammo I found my rifle likes Eley Target (yellow box). Not the cheapest, not the most expensive but I can feel better about being able to making the hits.

 

[Williwaw]

If your bench groups are better than your positional groups the problem is the shooter. I put over 40K down range before I started shooting steel instead of paper. There is no need to buy Eley Match or Lapua Center X when CCISV shoots better bench groups than you can shoot off a prop.

I think you make a good point.

 

[whatsupdoc]

One thing when testing 22 ammo at 100 yards, you either need wind flags and learn to use them or test only on very calm days
Comparing rimfire ammo at 100 without using wind flags will only screw you up.

 

[Emerson0311]

One thing when testing 22 ammo at 100 yards, you either need wind flags and learn to use them or test only on very calm days
Comparing rimfire ammo at 100 without using wind flags will only screw you up.

As soon as you ignore the horizontal dispersion it becomes a useful ammo evaluation exercise again. Most of the fliers I see are vertical, rather than horizontal. At 200 they show up very obviously. A group 2 1/2” wide and 5” tall happens a lot.

 

[whatsupdoc]

Wind causes vertical and horizontal dispersion.

 

[Emerson0311]

Wind causes vertical and horizontal dispersion.

The vertical component is small compared to the horizontal one. If your vertical is under 1” at 100, the horizontal is still almost always bigger. Blaming wind is the easy way out of admitting inconsistent ammo.

 

[Reaper77]

New guy here, but I have had good success with the Eley Contact over the last few weeks. Also did well with the Eley Club. I am shooting a Christensen Arms Ranger with an Arken EPL 6-24x50. This gun is very picky with ammo, but it absolutely hates the Norma match and Tac-22. I plan on trying out some of the CCI suppressor, as it has the 45 grain projectile.

 

[Fig]

None of that is match ammo (even if it says it on the box) IMO. Try feeding it the Ten X and the SK Match. I've found even picky rifles like to eat fillet and lobster. If you get one that likes Spam you're lucky.

 

[littlesister]

New guy here, but I have had good success with the Eley Contact over the last few weeks. Also did well with the Eley Club. I am shooting a Christensen Arms Ranger with an Arken EPL 6-24x50. This gun is very picky with ammo, but it absolutely hates the Norma match and Tac-22. I plan on trying out some of the CCI suppressor, as it has the 45 grain projectile.

Pay attention to Figs reply and remember this. If you're a casual shooter shooting for fun, the ammo you you're shooting is fine. If you shoot in competition it simply won't cut it. You'll run up against shooters who don't mine spending the money for top grade True match ammo such as 10X. RWS R50 and Lapua CenterX and up! Finding good ammo really depends on what you're doing with your gun. How accurate do you need to be!