I went to the range this afternoon: Posted for Wayne Beebe:

[Cooperhawk]

I went to the range this afternoon and shot a bunch of the various .22 ammo I've been able to score over the last few months.
Temp was 33, winds light and variable, range 100 yards, out of a well-modified 10/22 that shoots one hole at 50 ft. with match ammo. The scope was zeroed with the Winchester 333 bulk, and all the other ammo was shot with no change in scope zero.


Federal Champion

Federal Value Pack

Remington Golden Bullet

CCI Blazer

Winchester 333 bulk

 

[Cooperhawk]

Wayne, I think I messed up with the sub titles. Can you explain them better?

 

[Cooperhawk]

There, I think I got them right now.

 

[SteelShooter]

So did you also shot a group with the match ammo that you didn't post?

If you had the typical result with the match ammo this time, nice pattern with the others! LOL

 

[wwb]

So did you also shot a group with the match ammo that you didn't post? .....

The match ammo is too pricey for plinking, so I only use it for 50 foot indoor competition. Shooting prone at 50 feet on an indoor range with match ammo, there would be one hole only slightly larger than .22 diameter; that shows the capability of the rifle/ammo combination. Offhand is where one separates the men from the boys (or separates the shooters from the shakers).

What I was looking for here is to determine the differences in cheap .22 LR, to see which ones I should avoid (or sell to somebody who's not as picky as me). As noted, these were all shot at 100 yards with my "built" 10/22. Some years back, I determined that CCI Blazer was the best of the cheap stuff out of my stock 10/22, but those targets are long gone. It looks like it's still the best (if you can find it). The Winchester bulk finished a fairly close second.

What really puzzled me was the vertical stringing with the Federal Champion (40 grain solids) - the left/right grouping was pretty tight, and it would be good stuff if it didn't string vertically.

As always, your rifle may have an entirely different preference, so take this with a grain of salt.... and if your .22 doesn't like the Blazers, I got some other stuff to trade !!!

Many thanks to Cooperhawk for hosting the photos.

Edited to add..... Yup, I'm a cheapskate when it comes to targets..... paper plates and the little stick-on dots from the shoot-n-see targets that I scrounge from the other guys who buy the pricey targets and don't use the dots to cover old holes.

 

[SteelShooter]

Vertical is usually caused by differences in velocity. Confirmed this with a benchrest 22 (Anschutz).

Shot indoors in a 100 yd tunnel over an Ohler (spelling?) chronograph. All the shots were in a small group, there were 2 vertical fliers above and below the group.

You could look at the chronograph and predict where each shot would go....

Used Eley Tennex ammo at the time.

Did this on about 20 groups and any outside the small circular group were directly related to velocities outside the norm. It was pretty amazing to see.