So, I did a thing today.
Purely impulse buy when I was in my LGS doing the efile certification stuff for a couple suppressors I snagged on Silencerco’s BOGO sale last month. Have been wanting to get a bolt action .22 for awhile since my 10/22s won’t cycle subsonic ammo…specifically the CCI ‘quiet’ ammo at under 800 ft/sec.
And this was just hanging there on the wall…Kismet!
Came with a decent range bag, some basic cleaning supplies, and one 10-rd mag. Looks almost exactly like a Ruger 10/22 mag, but it has the Springfield Armory logo in place of Ruger’s.
Quickly threw a scope on from one of my Ruger 10/22s; literally just unbolted it and threw it on this rifle, didn’t even bother leveling the scope, or checking eye relief since this was just going to be a shakedown range session, and it was already pretty late in the day:
…was still hot as balls out there today; literally no one else there, so I had the entire range to myself.
Felt like a lot more than 12 mph winds; was definitely gusting much higher than that. Regardless, started at 25 yards to get on paper…walked it in from the right side. Scope was surprisingly close for elevation, but literally off the paper to the right when I started, LoL.
Once I got close, I shot several 5-rd groups and one 10-rd group on the corner targets…used three that were still unused on the target next to mine as well. I used these to test some Ruger mags, and all worked well, except the BX25 mag…that one wouldn’t seat in the mag well.
Will try some Butler Creek mags on the next range session. The factory Springfield Armory labeled 10/22 clone mag fed the best, but zero issues, or failures to feed or eject with the almost 100 rounds shot here, as well as with the 100 or so I also shot at 100 yards. Zero issues at all actually…Just a fun range session.
Also found 1/2 box of some cheap Aguila .22 standard velocity plinking ammo in the bottom of my range bag, so shot one 10-rd group with that to see the POI shift; pretty pleased with this gun so far, if these groups using subs, and especially the supersonic ammo are indicative of its potential; albeit only at 25-yds so far.
I was literally giggling as I shot these groups! So quiet…I wound up taking off my ear pro…it was literally like hearing someone snap their fingers…the sound of the round hitting the dirt berm behind the target was louder than the report.
Was fun watching the round lob into the target too; slower even than my .45 ACP rounds.
After that I took it down to the 100-yd lanes and just started lobbing them in…LoL. Shooting this ammo is like dropping in mortar fire. These things almost literally have the ballistics of a thrown rock!
After lobbing them everywhere except the middle of the target, I eventually found a good hold over and put 20 or so rounds into a decent(ish) group on the upper left side of the x-ring. Again, this was just a test to see if this gun is worth the $400 I dropped on it today after my 10% .mil discount…and so far, pretty happy with it. Especially since I clearly didn’t have enough scope (reticle covered the entire center of the target at 100 yards), and was shooting extra-slow subsonic ammo today.
Looking forward to hearing about other folk’s experiences, but pretty happy with this as a plinker that I can ‘theoretically‘ use in my backyard on varmints or beer cans, without alarming the rest of the neighborhood! LoL
Again, ran almost 200 rounds through it with zero failures or malfunctions…only did the initial cleaning before I left the house, and one cleaning after the initial zero at 25 yards. I did run a wet, then dry patch down the barrel every 50 rounds or so, but did absolutely nothing special otherwise.
Ran like a champ. Two
