So, How Many Of You Are Regular Rimfire Shooters?

[docsoos]

I've had a lot of "Free Time" on my hands lately (walked off my job Nov. 9th, and ain't lookin' real hard at the moment!), so I've been going to the range twice a week or so. In the interest of saving money, and not wanting to start any marathon-reloading sessions and eating up my centerfire stock of bullets, powder, and primers, I've been digging out some of my older .22 LR weapons, and target-shooting at the range near my home.

http://i543.photobucket.com/albums/gg467/doczeus40/Ruger10-22HB.jpg

This particular specimen is an old Ruger 10-22 that had a lot of barrel scuffs from years of hunting use; so about 10 years ago, the wife ordered me a Green Mountain Heavy Target Barrel and Houge Overmolded stock for Christmas from Cabela's to dress it up. It's been sitting in the safe for the last 9 years, so I got it out last week, put a spare Harris Bipod on it, and topped it off with a cheap Simmons 8x-24x by 40 Scope.

After a little "break-in", and subsequent cleanings, here's how she did:

http://i543.photobucket.com/albums/gg467/doczeus40/Targets1.jpg

These targets were shot at a range of 50 Yards, from a bench with the Harris Bipod, and a sandbag under the butt of the stock.

http://i543.photobucket.com/albums/gg467/doczeus40/22AmmoJPG.jpg

The rimfire ammo used were the bulk-pack Federal and CCI-Stingers in the above pic; all of the groups except three were shot with Federal Bulk-Pack .22's; the other three (the tightest groups) were shot using CCI-Stingers.

http://i543.photobucket.com/albums/gg467/doczeus40/CCI-StingerGroup1.jpg

The pic above is a close-up of the best CCI-Stinger group. They are SO much more accurate in this particular rifle, that I can't see using anything else in it. Other than the occasional flyers (MY fault, I'm sure!), this rifle is capable of shooting WAY better than I can! I could see it shooting better than 1/2" groups at 50 yards, if I did a little trigger work, and shot on a still, warmer day.

I didn't try the regular-velocity CCI-MiniMag round-nose and HP's, but I plan on giving them a try either Saturday or early next week. Still, the Federals are a heck of a lot cheaper than the CCI's, but BOTH are way cheaper than centerfire handgun or rifle rounds, even reloads these days.

So, what brands of .22LR do you all shoot? Inquiring Minds want to know....

DocZeus

[rice paddy daddy]

I keep CCI Stingers and Velocitors loaded in my working guns, but for plinking I use out of my stock of bulk Winchester Xpert, Dynapoint and Wildcat, CCI Blazers and some Federal I've had since Y2K.
I have one 22WMR, a Savage bolt, scoped, that I keep 2 magazines loaded - one with CCI Maxi Mag +V, and the other with Winchester Super X 40 gr JHP.
I've got 4 22LR rifles and 4 pistols.
After the holidays I'm hitting the pawn shops for a beat up bolt action LR I can keep out in the barn.

[Clem]

Rimfires forever!

Most people start with the .22. Then they tend to get away from them because it isn’t sufficiently macho. Now with ammo cost and availability, many are revisiting the .22 and becoming reacquainted with the pure fun of the .22. I have a few rimfire rifles and handguns, one of which is a 10/22 setup very much like yours with a Green Mountain barrel and Hogue stock. I got tired of playing with trigger parts and finally got a Kidd trigger for mine. It is seriously accurate and a lot of fun to break clay pigeons and stuff like that on the range.

[MissouriFree]

I still love the 39 A I have and the model 67 from my dad, but here is the one i want:


http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/6,5204.html

[Oblio13]

We own quite a bit of woods, and I almost always have a .22 with me when I'm outside. Spent the morning cutting firewood and plinking with a 10-22, in fact. I have a couple Ruger Mk III pistols, a couple 10-22's, and a couple 77-22',s all suppressed. They don't hurt my ears, scare the dog, or annoy my neighbors. I shoot Winchester Dynapoints almost exclusively because they perform well and I want to keep the logistics simple.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c116/Oblio13/IMG_1883.jpg

(The middle one's a suppressed .300 Whisper, I don't shoot it nearly as much as the .22's.)

[Pitdog]

Doc what kinda barrel is on your 10/22?

[willgate]

Love my rimfires!!!

They dynapoints are great but i recently bought some of the Aguila subsonics and have been extremely happy with them. I get some really great groups from them everything from a 10/22 to a FIE revolver.

Nice rimfires by the way. Am a bit jealous! =)

[docsoos]

Doc what kinda barrel is on your 10/22?

It's a Green Mountain Fluted Heavy Barrel, carbon steel, with an 11-degree muzzle crown; the wife bought it for me, along with the Hougue Overmolded stock, for a Christmas present from Cabela's about 8-10 years ago, and after I put it together, I shot it once, then cleaned it and put it in the safe. It sat there for the last 8 years or so, and I recently got it back out, and started shooting it regularly, after putting a Simmons 8x-24x scope on it. It had a spare Leupold Vari-X II 1x-4x on it, but I needed the higher mag for 50+yard shooting, and seeing those little bulls at that range....Old eyes suck. :)

One of the reasons I put it away was that it would not regularly chamber and/or extract the rounds from the chamber. I figured I'd have to chamfer the chamber face, and possibly polish the chamber itself, so I just put it up, and forgot about it for all of those years. Guess it just needed a little "break-in" period to smooth out chambering and extraction, because after a thousand or so rounds now, it chambers and extracts most any round pretty slick. And it's pretty accurate, as far as I can tell.

Oblio13, LOVE that .300 Whisper rig! I almost bought a T/C barrel for that caliber once! The ballisitics looked impressive for a subsonic .30, and I may buy one yet!

Willgate, does your 10/22 cycle the Aguila's? Mine never does, I guess due to the fact there's not enough powder and recoil to cycle the action. But they ARE quiet! The Aquila Colibri's I've shot in mine (no powder, only priming compound) have the noise level of a suppressed .22.

DocSoos

[rice paddy daddy]

I still love the 39 A I have and the model 67 from my dad, but here is the one i want:


http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/6,5204.html
There's only one word for that Buffalo Arms rifle, mofree: SWEET!!:D

[jim]

Strangely enough, mine shoots Winchester Super X and Expert the best. Next rightest groups are with Mini-mags, then Remington Golden HP's.

I use the Expert HP's when maximum damage is needed, and the Super X for penetration and expansion. All loads werk well, but these are the best in mine.

jim

[Rick]

It is remarkable how much a .22 rifle will prefer one ammunition over another.

My Marlin 981T likes Remington Golden HP pretty well, but I haven't experimented but with only 3 or 4 different rounds. With one ammo it was spraying bullets every which way, but it settled down nicely with the Remingtons.

With those Aquila CB caps, it sounds quieter than my pellet rifle.

The trigger is kind of gritty on that rifle, but I love shooting it. No messing around saving brass, relatively inexpensive, punches holes in paper, tin cans, and squirrels - what's not to like about shooting a .22?

[Clem]

I have a CZ 452d Lux. It has a 25" barrel. When I shoot RWS Subsonic HP in it in my basement, the loudist thing is the impact in the bullet trap. The Acquilla CBs are even quiter.

[TackKS]

I modified my old 10-22 with some Tech-sights peep sights. It is a lot of fun to shoot with just regular bulk Walmart ammo. The sights simulate M-16A1 sights. Good, cheap, fun practice.