Cathy Winstead-Severin (Good Shooting Inc.) recommended Eley Target Rifle when I whined about ammunition cost and wanted to conserve a meager stockpile of Club. In Eley's consolidated product line Target Rifle is the next stop up from Sport (I think), and my two cases came in earlier this week.

Initially, the round nose and hard lubricant were a disappointment, but it is Eley and Cathy had recommended it so I kept that to myself because the real test was at the range.

Wow. This stuff goes where it's pointed, about two MOA higher than Club! At 40 meters I was convinced most of them were fliers because the group was so small! 150 rounds later the only incident was one round that took two pops to go straight. Stuff happens. It cleaned up well, with very little residue in the Lilja barrel. In short, I'm very happy.

Target Rifle isn't cheap, it works out to about $4.80 a box or 10 cents a click-pow for a little more than twice the price of Sport. On the other hand, it chambers betters and shoots cleaner but I have not tested for accuracy between the two, and don't plan to because I'm (ahem) unfairly biased against Sport.

Thanks Cathy!

That's good to know. Most guys shooting Sport really fuss about it. Hard to chamber, won't extract, fliers, blah, blah, blah...

Last season I shot Practice 100 and it consistently shot 1-1/4" at 100m. Last September I bought a case of SK STD+. It shoots = or better than Practice.

I recently tried a box of 711B and it shows promise of shooting better than SK.

All shooting done from 1712 with factory barrel.

I've been shooting Eley Target Rifle for over a year now, very happy with it. Surprised at your price, though. $375 a case here in Canada, and local stores carry it for about $40-$44 a brick. Your prices down there are usually a fair bit better than ours are.

My 1712 loves 711B, but my 504 with a Lilja barrel doesn't want to chamber on it. Different rifles, different ammunition.

What is wrong with 1 1/4" groups at 100m with reasonably priced ammo?

Jerry G wrote:What is wrong with 1 1/4" groups at 100m with reasonably priced ammo?

Nothing!

If you're getting MOA groups at 100m with reasonably priced, clean ammunition that chambers well I certainly envy you. Even dirty ammunition that meets the other criteria is easily managed, but ammunition that seemed reasonable last year (like the Eley product lines Target Rifle replaces) is painful now.

Well for the $116-$140 a case I paid for the only two cases of Eley Sport I have was worth it for our indoor 50' shooting. But now at $225 a case, the hard chambering inconsistent lube or head dimensions is not worth the additional hassle. For 50' indoor when you look at $370 a case (SK+) Vs $140 (Eley Sport), was a $230 savings over shooting the SK+ and made the effort worth it. The two cases I have adds up to alot of years shooting for my indoor activity that I can save the better ammo for Silhouette and outdoor shooting.

At 50' the Eley sport was just a slightly bigger ragged hole, not enough to make a difference, but I really do hate that hard chambering in my Anschutz, it doesn't seem to be as bad in my CZ. For a little more the regular Eley or SK or RWS will be what I get next time around.

What exactly are you describing when you say hard chambering? If you're getting the bullet engraving in the rifling a bit, that's desirable. If it's something else, what?

Put it this way - unfired Target Rifle will not extract from my Lilja barrel, which is good, and the bolt locks down smoothly, also good. 711B is good ammunition but it usually takes lots force to close and lock the bolt, something that's a distraction during a match.

Ammunition prices have almost doubled in two years, so whatever you like, stock up!

For the Eley Sport (Made by Aguila) some rounds will not go in smoothly, you really have to push harder on the bolt to close the bolt. It gives my CMP 10-22 with a match barrel fits and won't let the bolt close on that 50% of the time so I switched to SK in that.

For another comparison, it seems like SK Standard Plus was $260 a delivered case two years ago while a quick check at Midway shows it listing for $418.99. Even though I dislike storing ammunition inside, the stuff has become valuable enough that my stash has moved in from the garage to protect it from 100+ summer heat.

Even though I dislike storing ammunition inside, the stuff has become valuable enough that my stash has moved in from the garage to protect it from 100+ summer heat.

Offered to let 'Bear store his ammo stash at my office, but for some reason he came and took it all home........He know me too well.....

Kitty

All true. There's something satisfying about stashing a case or two of the good stuff - I just never expected to mean rimfire ammunition by that...

I had ordered a few cases of Target Rifle trying to stretch our 4-H club budget for match ammo. (i.e instead of 1 case of Black EPS, ordered two of Target)

Two weeks before our 4-H state match I switched my silhouette shooters to the Eley Target over the Wolf MT were have been using as it grouped great and seemed to shoot a touch flatter.

Very pleased with the results