22 LR Ammo and Gun Test

[waldedw]

Wednesday was a beautiful morning here +16 and for a change NO WIND so I loaded up a couple of my 22's and headed to the range with 11 different brands of ammo that I dug out of my stash. The 2 guns I was shooting were a CZ 457 with a 24" sporter barrel and a Christensen Arm Ranger with an 18" carbon fiber barrel

I realize that once you get past about 18" of barrel on a 22 there is nothing to gain for velocity and my testing proved that point.

All groups were shot at 50 yards and velocity recorded on a Garmin Xero C1 pro chronography, with each brand of ammo I shot 3 groups of 5 shots each to get the average.

The ammo used was SK 36gr HP high Velocity, SK 40gr Standard Plus, SK 40gr Rifle Match, SK 40gr Pistol Match, Norma 40gr Tac 22, Federal 40gr Gold Medal Target, Federal 36gr HP, Fed Auto Match 36gr HP, Rem Cyclone 36gr HP, Rem Thunderbolt 40gr RN, American Eagle 40gr RN.

I tried to attach the spread sheet with all the info on but no luck, maybe I am getting old and technically challenged so I'll just do a short summary of the best ammo for each rifle.

CZ 457 best was Fed Gold Medal average velocity was 1112 FPS and group size average of 3 x 5 shot groups was 0.576" 2nd best was SK Standard Plus velocity 1059 Fps group size 0.599"

CA Ranger best was SK Standard Plus velocity 1078 Fps and average group size of 3 x 5 shot groups 0.556" and 2nd best was SK Rifle match 1084 Fps and group size 0.611

For my gopher ammo the CZ likes Federal Blue Box 36gr HP 1263 Fps and groups into 0.988" average and the CA ranger likes Rem Cyclone 1309 Fps and groups to 1.011" average which is plenty good for gophers, and luckily I have lot's of both of those in my stash.

Just for the heck of it I had a 100 pack of CCI mini mag 36gr HP so I tried it out and it was horrible in both guns averaging 1.80" groups.

[Dean2]

Good test. Just out of curiosity what was the extreme spread on the SK+ out of the two guns?

If you want to attach all the results, copy the excel grid into a word document and then upload the .doc. This site is so old it won't let you upload excel. Other choice is to take a screen shot and post that. If you want a hand PM me you email, you can send me the file and I will upload the results for you.

[elkhunter11]

And the results with the CCI Minimag are the reason why many shooters have no comprehension of just how accurate a 22lr can be. Most people never try any kind of match loads, even low end match loads, so they are shocked to see sub moa or less at even 50 yards, let alone at 100.

[waldedw]

Originally Posted by Dean2

Good test. Just out of curiosity what was the extreme spread on the SK+ out of the two guns?

If you want to attach all the results, copy the excel grid into a word document and then upload the .doc. This site is so old it won't let you upload excel. Other choice is to take a screen shot and post that. If you want a hand PM me you email, you can send me the file and I will upload the results for you.

The SK Plus had an ES 53 and SD 17.5 out of the CA Range and ES 45 and SD 16.1 out of the CZ
The Norma TAC 22 was the best ES 15.9 and SD 5.6 out of the ranger and ES 21 SD 7.4 out of the CZ but was not the most accurate. Of course the shooter may be responsible for some of that

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by waldedw

The SK Plus had an ES 53 and SD 17.5 out of the CA Range and ES 45 and SD 16.1 out of the CZ
The Norma TAC 22 was the best ES 15.9 and SD 5.6 out of the ranger and ES 21 SD 7.4 out of the CZ but was not the most accurate. Of course the shooter may be responsible for some of that

I have learned that low ES and SD are not always indicators of the best accuracy. I shoot 22lr at 50 and 100m, and all I am concerned with is accuracy.

[waldedw]

OK maybe this will work to give you the whole picture......... hopefully



22 LR Velocity Chart...pdf

[Maxwell78]

Its crazy how one type shoots better than another. My best groups out of my vz 452 varmint are with the cci mini mags. I couldn't believe it. Second place was the norma TAC's

[waldedw]

Yes every gun is different and all of them will have one brand of ammo that they will shoot better than another, I did a little more calculating off the chart this morning to get some averages on group size and velocity on the total rounds shot.

I shot 3 groups of 5 shots each with 11 different brands of ammo so 165 rounds out of each gun which is a pretty good sample size, when I totaled up the averages the CZ 457 produced and average group size of 0.877" and the CA Ranger produced an average group size of 0.949"

When I did the same with the velocity totals the CZ 24" barrel produced an average velocity of 1188 fps and the CA ranger with the 18" barrel produced an average velocity of 1197 fps, so the shorter barrel actually averaged 9 fps faster which could be attributed to the difference in barrels and chambers as the CA ranger is said to have a match grade chamber and barrel, however while it produced more velocity it did not produce better accuracy.

All in all it was a fun day at the range and I figured out which gopher ammo is best for which gun, that's what I started out to do but expanded it to include some high end target ammo as well. Just as a matter of interest the wife's Browning BL22 happens to shoot the CCI mini mags really good as well as the Remington 36gr HP bucket of bullets.

[JBE]

When I got my cz457 a few years back I tested 8 different brands. Cci mini mags, eley contact, winchester super x and sk standard all produced extremely good groups at 50 yards. All just under an inch. It was interesting that the Eley and sk were about 2 1/2" lower than the mini mags. Super x was 1" higher. I stuck with the mini mags because I had a good supply. I will have to find more of the others and do some more testing 1 day.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by JBE

When I got my cz457 a few years back I tested 8 different brands. Cci mini mags, eley contact, winchester super x and sk standard all produced extremely good groups at 50 yards. All just under an inch. It was interesting that the Eley and sk were about 2 1/2" lower than the mini mags. Super x was 1" higher. I stuck with the mini mags because I had a good supply. I will have to find more of the others and do some more testing 1 day.

The Eley and SK are sub sonic, the mini mags are supersonic. I haven't owned a CZ that wouldn't do 1/2" at 50 yards with the SK Standard Plus. I would be experimenting with the action screw tension, it can make a significant difference.

[JBE]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

The Eley and SK are sub sonic, the mini mags are supersonic. I haven't owned a CZ that wouldn't do 1/2" at 50 yards with the SK Standard Plus. I would be experimenting with the action screw tension, it can make a significant difference.

Thanks, I will try that

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by JBE

Thanks, I will try that

Elk's advice on ammo is good. In addition, the other thing you might want to try is Devcon bedding the rifle. Every CZ I have bedded has showed dramatically improved consistency, and far less susceptibility to action screw torque. It is one RF that really benefits from having the recoil lug area and the tang both bedded.