What .22 ammo would you recommend for reasonable cost?

[Diamond Paul]

Need some suggestions for ammo; what would be some good choices on a cost vs. accuracy basis? I shoot a 1712fwt, and have played with the Wolf target, which seems ok, but have heard good things about the SK-Jag standard plus, which Champion Shooters has on sale. By the way, has anyone had trouble getting in touch with CS? I can't get them on the phone. Thanks, Paul.

[mordecai]

It's my understanding they're one in the same but that's just what I've read. I think I've looked at the spent casings and if I recall correctly, they have the same headstamp.... Maybe someone else can chime in. I hear equal comments about the accuracy.

[Diamond Paul]

Thanks for the info. How much accuracy improvement could one see by going to the Wolf match extra or something similar, like SK match rifle?

[mordecai]

Well - it's my understanding that much of their munition is made in a single run. They typically take the first and last of the run and consider it to be "plinking ammo". They then spot test the rest of the run to determine quality and sort it out into different grades of munition like Target, Match, Super Match, etc....

Honestly - most of the ammo from a manufacterer's line is pretty much the same but what you're buying are "less flyers".

[dave imas]

i've had extremely good luck with Golden Eagle Target. mid to high 50's in a 60 shot match. approximately $195/case delivered.
dave

[Diamond Paul]

All my benchrest shooting buddies are grading their ammo with some little device made by Neal Johnson (I think?). They also weigh each round and group them by weight. They have been getting .2" groups and less with CCI standard velocity when they do this (no better than .5, more like .75 at 50 yds. when they don't). Do you batch your ammo before you shoot a match? The Wolf match target I have doesn't group that great off the bench, and that's out of a 1712fwt that's glass bedded; it'll put 3 in a wad and two pretty far out. It also showed pretty inconsistent when I got my scope settings for silhouette distances. Is there anything out there that will be consistent w/out grading and weighing, or is this something you do with even the best ammo?

[dave imas]

my next door neighbor shoots benchrest. i just gave him a box of Golden Eagle Target. He weighed it and found 8 out of 50 rounds to be outside his acceptable threshold. I don't weigh my rounds, just shoot them. when i spend $200 for a case i expect and accept that i'm going to have a shot every now and again go someplace other than where i broke it. that is what you get when you spend $200 or less for a case. When i shoot a big match... Conard Cup, Southern Nationals, Nationals, State Championship... i use SK Match 50. $750/case. no grading required. Most any of the top rounds from Eley, Lapua, SK, RWS will go where they are supposed to without much problem. Unless you get extremely lucky, you will most always get what you pay for when it comes to ammunition. The Wolf match target you are playing with isn't particulary good ammunition. The Wolf Match Extra seems to be much better. As does the Golden Eagle Target.
dave

[Diamond Paul]

I appreciate the help; several shooters around here have been really impressed with the Wolf (for the money), so I'm trying it. However, I know I've never missed a shot because of it. When I've called 'em good, they've been good, and my called misses are always misses. I'd have to be a WHOLE lot better shooter to blame ammo for misses when I'm shooting from position. Thanks again, Paul.

[Jerry G]

I'm with Dr Dave on this one. If you want good ammo you have to pay for it. You need to decide how good you want. Just remember we spend many $ on plane tickets($200) and motels($150) why should we go real cheep on the ammo($2). It don't make good sense to me.

[iceman]

Say what you want guy's; but I have a target that I shot a few months back, It has 10 rounds of SK Match Target shot off the bench in 5 mph wind at 52 degrees, and was shot at 50 yards. The center to center group is .378 inch. This is not 3 or 5, but 10 shots. This is with a CZ 452 varmit that has only had the trigger adjusted to 2 lbs., and has been steel pilar bedded. I keep this target in my rifle case for those of you who cannot believe it. I have shot Eley match eps, Silhouex, Club Extra, wolf match, wolf match target, Eley tenex, Golden Eagle Target, and many others and cannot get any better 10 shot group

[Jason]

I have a target on the Park's Prove-It site that shows ten 5-shot groups in a row, with the average center-to-center of all 10 groups to be just .32". It was shot with Wolf Match Target with my fairly heavily modified CZ 452 Varmint. With that said, I just got lucky in that I didn't get many flyers during those 50 shots. Some of the cheaper ammo like SK Standard Plus or Wolf Match Target (same stuff, different box) can be great for practice ammo or even local monthly matches, as long as you don't mind losing a shot here or there due to flyers. For a match that requires travel planned months in advance and a fairly sizeable cash outlay for travel and entry fees, it's just obvious economics that you should use better ammo.

[Guest]

I don't mean to stir the pot But our CLOSEST target is roughly 44 yards, what your ammo does or dosen't do at 50 dosen't mean jack at Rams and Turkeys... Heck better save the 100 yard testing for the Ram line...

Almost any $1 standard velocity with knock 50/50 pigs off the bank... 3-5 inches at the rams is when you scratch your head...


My opinion -

3 shots - Best the ammo/gun will ever do
5 shots - Baseline test of Ammo/rifle combo b/c the shooter is not paramount
10 shots - Rifle/Ammo/Conditions/ SHOOTER - We shoot off hand so your bench skills (or my lack there of) mean JACK at a Silhouette match..

[Jason]

Until my offhand skills get good enough to let me sight in offhand (not likely anytime this week), my bench skills are most definitely important. I'd have no way to test ammo or get "known good" click charts without them. When testing ammo, I start with five 5-shot groups at 40 meters or 50 yards. This lets me cull over half of the ammo I test. If it's not good there, it certainly won't be good farther away. Then I move out to turkeys and shoot five groups of five shots. Anything over an inch center-to-center here is throwing away points. This is where I test the most, and pay the most attention. The top performers at turkeys get tested at rams, just to make sure they don't go crazy out farther. I haven't had to make the choice yet, but I'd take ammo that was a little more accurate at turkeys over ammo that was a little more accurate at rams. I try for nothing bigger than 3/4" center-to-center at turkeys, even for practice ammo. I'm perfectly happy with 1.5" at rams if it shoots well at turkeys. Group size jumps from 3/4" at turkeys to 1.5" at rams aren't all that uncommon either. I don't have quality windflags in place at silhouette matches like I did at benchrest matches, so the wind could make even the most accurate gun/ammo combo look bad if it got gusty and there were no wind flags to show it.

With the Sightron scope, I can trust it to move exactly how much I tell it to. That lets me sight in off the bench at chickens and then get very price elevation changes for each of the other animals. Then I can set the scope back to the chicken setting and shoot a bit offhand. If I make a few good shots with good follow through and notice that the bullet didn't hit exactly where it should have several times, I can adjust for that slight difference in point of impact between bench and offhand and still know my adjustments for the different animals will be right.