Most accurate .22LR round

[GeekWithAGun]

Let's hear your opinion on what is the most accurate .22LR round. This will be going in a Ruger MKIII 5 1/2" bull barrel. I'm not worried about what cycles/feeds well, I'll deal with that if it comes up in my particular gun. Any opinions are appreciated, I'll try anything to get past this accuracy plateau I've hit.

 

[Casimer]

The more expensive match rimfire ammo (e.g. Eley ) should be the most consistent. But its accuracy might not be the best from your pistol.

Here's a selection of 22 match ammo - http://www.championshooters.com/store/home.php?cat=284

My recommendation would be to try the match and target ammo from CCI, SK Jagd, Federal and Wolf. Many shooters get good results from these, and they cost less.

 

[BurkGlocker]

I've always gotten good results from CCI, but this may be just my rifle. Try em all out and keep the best of the lot.

 

[B. Lahey]

Try some Lapua Pistol King and Lapua Speed Ace. Both are tremendously accurate and function well in semi-auto pistols. Midway has the Speed Ace now, but will not have it for much longer. It's been discontinued, buy some now, you will be glad you did.

Eley makes the good stuff too. They have a bunch of loads worth trying.

Federal Gold Medal (regular and Ultramatch) are worth a shot also, but they may or may not run well.

 

[LHB1]

Quote: "Let's hear your opinion on what is the most accurate .22LR round. This will be going in a Ruger MKIII 5 1/2" bull barrel. I'm not worried about what cycles/feeds well, I'll deal with that if it comes up in my particular gun. Any opinions are appreciated, I'll try anything to get past this accuracy plateau I've hit."

Geek,
No disrespect, but tell us more about your experience, background, and skill level with a pistol. I suspect your plateau is due more to your skill than to the ammunition you shoot. Try working on the fundamentals: consistent grip, perfect sight alignment, and FIRING THE GUN WITHOUT DISTURBING SIGHT ALIGNMENT. That last one is the real bugger and accounts for about 95% of misses and bad shots in my opinion/experience.

 

[PzGren]

Trigger and grips are more important than match ammo for a .22 l.r. fired from a pistol.
Once you get to a nine ring average at 25m, the gun and ammo combo has to be carefully selected. A match grade pistol will be a great help there.

Anyway, your particular gun might do very well with a variety of ammo that will not do so well in another gun of the same maker, i.e. you will have to test that for yourself for the individual gun.

 

[darkgael]

Accurate .22

"Anyway, your particular gun might do very well with a variety of ammo that will not do so well in another gun of the same maker"
"Trigger and grips are more important than match ammo for a .22 l.r. fired from a pistol."

Absolutely.
I usually test at least a dozen types and brands of ammo when learning about a new .22 firearm. Pleasantly my pistols have shown me that they like relatively inexpensive target ammo as much (or better) than some of the expenxive stuff.
My Ruger Mk. II with a 5" bbl likes CCI SV, Federal 711, Aguila Subsonic, all inexpensive ammo. These shoot well enough that the "possible" improvements from using more expensive match ammo is not worth it for me.
The exception to that last is in match rifles. The guns I have shoot very well with a number of high end Match ammos, especially the older Federal Gold Match stuff. That's what I use.
Pete

 

[svenrh]

.22 ammo itself is absolutely dependant of the gun, just like any other round. I did a huge test with a Ruger 77/22 rifle using all the match grade ammo brands and types I could find, along with the cheap stuff. After several days of testing, the winner ended up being Winchester Super X, with the cheapy Federal Champion very close.

 

[mk70ss]

CCI standard velocity gives me one hole groups out of both High Standards and my Ruger Mark III. I can't remember my last FTF either with this ammo.

 

[Pilot]

I've had good success with Federal Gold Medal Target and the CCI Standar Velocity out of both my Ruger MK II and Benelli MP95E.

 

[GeekWithAGun]

LHB1 -
tell us more about your experience, background, and skill level with a pistol.

I've only been shooting for about 6 months, however, I go to the indoor range near me anywhere from 1-3 times a week, and usually stay for about an hour to an hour and a half, shooting anywhere from 150-250 rounds per visit. Other pistol calibers I've fired include .32acp, .380auto, 9mm luger, .40 s&w, .357 mag, .44 mag, .454 casull (sp?), .45acp. I think that's it. Maybe missed one or two. I also shot some .22 rifle when I was in the Scouts, and more recently, some .223 rifles.

PzGren -
Trigger and grips are more important than match ammo for a .22 l.r. fired from a pistol.

I put some Hogue rubber grips on it with the finger grooves on the front strap and the right-handed thumb rest. It keeps my grip pretty consistent. The trigger is factory, but I plan on putting in a Volquartsen accurizing kit. Even though the trigger is factory, I'm very used to it, and I like the feel better than other triggers I've felt on .22s.

 

[B. Lahey]

I forgot to mention that some of the Eley ammo uses the EPS bullet, which has a little nub on the front for aerodynamic reasons. That stuff is not great for semi-autos as the nub can be deformed during chambering. Stick with the traditional profile rounds from Eley.

 

[kraigwy]

All 22 rounds are differant, all guns are differant. All guns like differant brands of 22s.

I have an Anchut 1807 that likes 10-X, My H&R 5200 dosnt. its likes Rem green box match. My High Standard Victor 22 Bullseye pistol dosnt like either, it likes Winchester White Box for Rifle (it don't like the WB for Pistol)

The only way to tell what is the most accurate in YOUR gun is to shoot a box of every thing you can get your hands on and see for yourself.

When I was running the AK NG Marksmanship unit, we had several M-52s and 5200s, not all of them like the same type of ammo. The same with our pistol shooters, we had mostly Smith 41s. They seemed to all like differant ammo.

The saving grace was that I was a wizz at budgets and managed to get the money to buy differant kinds of ammo to keep my shooters happy.

Now I'm retired, have to buy my own ammo, and have several 22s that like differant types of ammo. I had to find some sort of comformise. I want to work on my dist. pistol badge, so I figure I'd go with what my Victor wants and the rest of the 22s can shoot it or stay in the closet.

 

[LHB1]

Quote: "I've only been shooting for about 6 months, however, I go to the indoor range near me anywhere from 1-3 times a week, and usually stay for about an hour to an hour and a half, shooting anywhere from 150-250 rounds per visit."

Geek,
Thanks for the additional info. Based on that, I would suggest that you would be much better served by studying, practicing basic fundamentals than spending mucho dollars on super expensive ammo. I use WW HV, CCI HV, or CCI standard velocity in my S&W M41 target pistol or Marvel #1 conversion unit. All will shoot inside the X ring (1.75") at distances up to 25 yds when you do your part. Back when I was shooting Bullseye competition, I used The Pistol Shooters Treasury, $5.95, from Gil Hebard Guns, 309-289-2700 to help me with fundamentals. Until you can keep all your shots in a 2" circle at 25 yds, this book will help you more than TenEx ammo.

 

[GeekWithAGun]

LHB1 -
Thanks for the additional info. Based on that, I would suggest that you would be much better served by studying, practicing basic fundamentals than spending mucho dollars on super expensive ammo.

Mucho is right! I was kind of surprised at how much some .22LR ammo can go for. I appreciate the honest answer, and I'll take your advice. I think I worded my question wrong because I wasn't really looking for absolute top quality ammo, but it's good that now I know it's there. Ultimately that's where I'm going with this, is to shoot competitively, but not for the time being. I think I'll try some of the ammo you listed, and see how I like it. I can already keep everything inside 2" about half the time, but always inside 3". That's at 25 yds. (the max at my indoor range)

 

[darkgael]

accurate .22

" I used The Pistol Shooters Treasury, $5.95, from Gil Hebard Guns, 309-289-2700 to help me with fundamentals. Until you can keep all your shots in a 2" circle at 25 yds, this book will help you more than TenEx .

Great book. It was recommended to me by a Master shooter when I started Bullseye years ago. Very good advice, LHB.
Pete

 

[Smaug]

There are a million 22LR ammo threads over in the rifle forum. Check it out. I posted some detail in a couple of them.

For me, the most accurate 22LR ammo has been plain old Winchester Super-X. it is high velocity and not even considered premium ammo, but it is the most accurate in all my 22s. (Two Ruger Mk. IIs, an old H&R break-top revolver, a 77/22, a 10/22, and a Marlin 39M)

 

[Majic]

Try everything you can find because you never know what that particular .22 lr will like nor can anyone predict it for you.

 

[PointOneSeven]

Eley and lapua.

I can tell a difference between bulk pack vs. hunting vs. target rounds while plinking even. At some point in your shooting journey, you just know where the bullet is supposed to be with the equipment you have.

 

[PzGren]

Geek,

I have competed in ISSf for a while and after decades of action shooting just got back into it. Right now I shoot a Korth with Remington Target, before that I used CCI and some RWS.
The difference to me is negligible, I am hovering around a high eight to low nine average. I know that a semi auto with match grips, like the Walther GSP, might give me a slight advantage and help improve the scores. While the gun and trigger makes a difference for any decent shooter, the difference in ammo is just something for a few top shooters. Talking off hand handgun here, rested rifle is a completely different thing.

Here is some good reading for you:

http://www.bullseyepistol.com/billblnk.htm