Better Quality Ammo just for Rams?

22 Long Rifle ammo is finicky. Tell us all about it here.
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Quonset Hut
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Better Quality Ammo just for Rams?

Post by Quonset Hut »

Anyone try better quality ammo for Rams and Maybe Turkeys? I know some say that different lube in a different brand has to settle in, but what about a higher version of the same brand? I use CCI Standard, but could use Green Tag for Rams, if it is shown to work better. Most brands have several levels - anyone try this?
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Post by _Shorty »

Be very easy to experiment on paper and see whether or not to bother during matches.
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Post by dave imas »

i know a few folks that have tried that route in the past. no one really stayed with it for very long. just one more thing to keep track of. as you approach master and AAA you can't afford to lose any chickens or pigs... to follow-thru, bad shots, or the ocassional flyer. I know pigs are gigantic but when you break a shot low belly you still want it to fall down. worrying about the shot falling between the legs because you get a two minute group with the cheaper ammunition isn't something i want to do. also begs the question of why we would build a $3000 rifle with a custom barrel, drive who know how many miles with $4/gal gas, pay match fees, and then shoot cheap ammunition.

but as the boys from california are fond of saying, a center break is worth two minutes of wind. (or group size) If you can break them all center there is no reason not to downgrade your ammunition for the short animals.
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Quonset Hut
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Post by Quonset Hut »

Well, I didn't do Silhouette basically for ten years, but have a little under half a case of CCI Std (when it was $155 case) for one rifle and a little over half a case of Federal GM Target ($180/case) for the Hunter. It will take a lot of practice and matches to even think about getting anywhere near AAA. As I get better, I suppose I could let that cheaper stuff be used at 50 ft and for Rimfire Sporter.

One thing to do is look at what the folks competing for match winner are using. Still, ten years ago, very few people seemed to use top level ammo. From some conversations at a match earlier this month (my first in eight years), it seemed that SK Std Plus and its twin Wolf MT were pretty popular. But I haven't run into most of the top shooters yet.

I do have a few boxes of Green Tag so I will shoot some paper to see if there is a difference. I think I'll have someone else load the magazine and not tell me which one of CCI Std or Green Tag I'm shooting.
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Post by Jason »

I tried the cheap for short/expensive for long ammo trick for a while. It seemed to do OK on pigs, but I felt like I missed a few chickens that I shouldn't have over the course of a couple matches.

Good luck with thatCCI std/Green tag thing. I couldn't get CCI standard velocity or green tag to shoot worth anything in my Anschutz 1712, CZ 452 Varmint or H&R M12 (prone rifle). Wolf Match Target or SK Standard+ worked much better in all three, as well as not leading the barrels nearly as much. I also haven't seen any Federal ammo since the old lots (< 2000) of UM1B shoot worth a darn in any of my rifles. That Wolf/SK (same stuff, different box) does very well for the price, but starts to open up to bigger groups as it drops below about 42 degrees F for me.

The jury's still out on this case of Eley Club EPS, but so far's it's shooting extremely well in the 1712. Before I tried it, I had never put a score in my book good enough to qualify for master in standard class. I'd been close a couple times, but never made it. Since I started using it four matches ago, I've put four master scores in there, although three of the four were just barely master (38/40, 34/40, 34/40, 34/40). It was $600/case and that was a tough pill to swallow for me. At $6 a box it actually turns out to be one of the smaller expenses of shooting silhouette, as Dave said above, and it made a noticeable difference in my scores. :)
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Post by Chattcatdaddy »

I have thought about this as well. Using lower priced ammo for CPT and using a higher quality for Rams. I guess if the cheaper ammo really lost alot of cosistency at 100m and the cost difference was large, then I say it would be something to consider. I don`t think it would be too hard to keep up with seeing that HP uses different loads for the various targets.

Brings another question to mind. Does anyone ever practice with cheap ammo and compete with the good stuff?
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Post by durant7 »

I practice with cheap ammo all the time. IMO all practice should be done on paper so you can REALLY see where it went and use this feedback to improve your technique. With that said, put up quarter size circles at 40m and shoot cheap ammo all day long keeping your POI in the circle. This offhand practice will benefit you at ALL DISTANCES! Ammo quality is not the weak link at 40m, technique is. What you are trying to do is develop Lanny's "subconscious" shooting skill. If you have not read the book, you should. If you master quarters, go to nickles, pennies, dimes.

On a side note, I was sighting in a rifle so I used the CHEAPEST stuff which IMO is Fed 550 Bulk. Good enough to get you on paper. There was no paper so I just did my best calling my shots and watching what was going on down range. To make a long story short. I walked down the line and when I got to rams, after some fine tuning, I hit 9 out of 10 with bloody Federal copper washed 36 grain junk! Go figure.

Luck is where practice and preperation come together.

100 quality shots with Fed 510 at 40m inside a quater circle every day will improve your game and save your good (expensive) ammo for the big event.

One person's opinion. The exception might be if you don't have much range time. If 80% of your shots are on game day, better to just buy a bunch of the good stuff and don't jump back and forth. Jumping back and forth between the good stuff and the bulk fodder may have introduced problems for me that I did not fully appreciate. I think a barrel shooting one thing all the time tends to behave better but I don't have any hard facts to prove this.
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Post by Jason »

If we're bringing practice into this, then I definitely think that cheaper ammo is fine if you're willing to deal with a flyer or two at turkeys and rams. I don't think it's really necessary to use the better ammo for turkeys/rams for practice, either. I like the idea of practicing at 40m for it, too, as what I really need to deal with is hold, trigger control, and follow through. The only thing I see being worth it for longer distances is practicing with shooting the wind/mirage. For matches, I don't think it's worth it, not to mention that I like to clean my gun between different ammo lubes. I haven't been practicing much at all lately, but if I did I'd be shooting the Golden Eagle Target that I have almost a case of for practice and save the Eley for matches.
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Post by durant7 »

My bad, the original question was about match day. Well, I did it once and was chided by those who know what they are doing. I thought I had it all figured out but things did not go as well as planned. And, when I did the economics, it IS silly. Assume use of $128 case ammo at C&Ps. Assume $450 case ammo at T&Rs. That saves you a whopping $1.29 per match assuming a 40 shot match. Relative to gas, match fees, money in equipment, it seemed kinda silly. So I stopped. More variables to question or doubt on match day plus the $ saved were not worth it.

I'll have to admit, I once again learned a little something from E. at CBC this year. For various reasons which will not be mentioned, I had to mooch ammo and gun at the match. E dialed in the good stuff and that was ALL we shot, PERIOD! Even though my different good stuff did get on the plane. No practice shots with other stuff, no stretching ammo with other stuff for pigs. Just shoot less but shoot quality! There is something to be said for POA=POI 100% of the time! And it ain't with the cheap stuff or by changing ammo mid match!
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Post by Dee »

I will spend the money for the better ammo for matches but no way I could afford to shoot $5+ a box ammo to practice at home. Even the cheap stuff and bulk is getting expensive. Still working through a $89 case of CCI Blazers that shoot just fine in my CZ and pistols. At .89 cents a box I can shoot a box or two a day that would add up quick at $5 a box. Thats another reason I love airguns. Pellets are going up a bit with everything else but you can still get 5000 match quality rounds for around $100.

Having been in the country for a year now I have found ammo consumption way up and I need to rethink purchases for inventory in a larger scale then when I never got to shoot much in the city.

Oh and I have heard of people using different ammo for Rams but not done it myself. The ammo is not usually the cause of my misses IMO :roll: .

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Post by Joaquin B »

I use Federal 711B for CPT and Federal 900 for the rams on informal matches, and use Federal 900 at all distances on State, Regionals, etc.
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Post by BlauBear »

Federal 900?! I'm impressed! Sweet stuff if you can get it, and no wonder you're trying to conserve it!
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Post by Innocent »

For various reasons which will not be mentioned, I had to mooch ammo and gun at the match.
Jud,
I would say that you and Jason both learned a little at CBC, this year. For you it was the fact that you can travel across the country, forget your rifle, blame it on the wife ( and get away with it, around your shooting buddies anyway). Borrow a rifle and still win your class, hmm must be something to "It's all in the spotta". Or is it that you and Jason have finally found that the two plus points that you can gain by shooting better quality ammo makes a difference in the bigger matches.

Congrats to Jason, BTW for his master scores, and of course to you for your win at CBC, Ernie is a great spotter and good friend. I still shoot the 'junk in the local matches where the stakes are not too high.

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