Looking for the absolute best 22 cal target shells

[garysorenson]

I'm looking for the absolute best 22 cal target shells. Ive googled the topic and it seems Wolf Match Target appear to be pretty decent, any comments?

[Oneida Steve]

Eley in England has made target ammo for many years. I'm guessing half of the Olympic shooters worldwide use Eley .22 target ammo. It is the standard for all target .22 ammunition.

[USMC-03]

Several years ago I conducted a comparison test of about 15 different types of .22LR ammo. I was using my Ruger 10/22 with an early heavy barrel and shot 5 ten round strings of each at 100 yards. Conditions were almost perfect and there was no perceivable wind.

Come of the brands I tested were Eley, Remington, Federal and Winchester match loads, and the rest were regular high velocity rounds from various manufacturers.

The best in my rifle was the Federal Gold Medal Match that averaged about 1/2 inch. A close second was Eley at just under 5/8 inch average. Both of these brands had considerable drop and very little energy based on the sound of the impact.

In a surprising third place was Federal American Eagal that grouped an average of about 3/4 inch but had far less drop and seemed to hit much herder than any of the target ammo I tested.

The least accurate ammo was CCI MiniMag.

In the end, all I ever shoot is the Federal American Eagle. I make consistent head shots on rock chucks at 80 yards plus and the price isn't bad at all.

[Tom]

When I was competing with an Anschutz 1413 in high school and college, I was using Eley TENEX for serious work.

[LDBennett]

There are several aspects of ammo for your 22.

Cheapy ammo is made with low quality control and the results are failures to fire and many flyers (bullet that hit way outside the group). If you buy the expensive stuff they cover the variations that can occur in 22 ammo.

The other aspect is what you gun happens to like. Once you get to the better brands that don't have quality issues, the one that works best in your gun may not be the most expensive. Sometimes you get to diminishing returns. That is, the difference in the grouping may be small but the cost difference extremely great.

You can buy 22 ammo from $1 for 50 to $17 for 50. So you must factor in the price of the ammo in your selection and realistically determine if the added accuracy, if there even is any (??), justifies the added cost.

What I see repeated on the Internet often is that the Wolf Match Target (now over $4 a box of 50) is a good quality ammo that most guns seem to like and it is reasonably priced. I refuse to pay $17 a box of 50 because I am not that good of a marksman that I need expensive ammo like that. I will pay for Wolf Match Target! My better plinker ammo for my target pistols has become CCI Standard Velocity which many here say is consistently good ammo at a reasonable price. For flat plinking I have been using the Federal bulk ammo that comes packaged 525 to the box. But some guns suffer failures to fire occasionally with it. Semi-autos hate bad ammo.

LDBennett

[nightfighter]

Originally Posted by garysorenson

I'm looking for the absolute best 22 cal target shells. Ive googled the topic and it seems Wolf Match Target appear to be pretty decent, any comments?

There is no "best" .22 target ammo. You must find the one that shoots best in your gun. Buy one box each of all available .22 match ammo, shoot a group with each using your gun. It will group better with one than all the rest. This has been the standard procedure for .22's for years.

Addendum: In the 1960's one could buy "standard velocity" .22 rounds at a cheaper price than the High Velocity rounds which we used as target ammo. They disappeared when I began to notice rounds marketed with the word "target" in the logo. I suspect that modern "target" .22 ammo is just the old "standard velocity" albeit with a much higher price. One of the joys of free enterprise.

[dokey]

I have a Winchester 52-D, an H&R 12, and an Anschutz match 64, all with 36x scopes, and after all different types of ammo at 100 yds benchrest all 3 rifles shoot best with Federal Champion, in fact the champion shoots better than the Federal Gold Match

[Tony Mig]

Pretty much all that has been covered here is all true and good advice, however I'd like to throw my 2 cents worth into the discussion.......

A lot of ammo that was once very good has been outsourced now, and no where near as good as it once was. I find this especially true with much of the Remington .22 ammo. Lately it all seems to be much dirtier than the old stuff was, their "Target" grade ammo is very inconsistent in both semi auto's and good quality bolt rifles....(this is based on a Thompson center R-55 Sporter, and a Weatherby Mk XXII bolt action)....However their "Subsonic" did poorly in my semi auto, it performs very good in my bolt.
Federal Gold Metal (a.k.a. 711B) is not as good as it used to be, it's still a good ammo, but it's really no better than CCI's Standard velocity.

The two real bargins right now are the federal American Eagels (AE5022) and CCI's Blazer, I've yet to try the fed AE5022, but I've had very good results using Blazers in most every rifle and pistol I own. Every one I know that use the Federal AE's just love the things, and some have actually used them in compition.

Something many do not know about the Wolf MT is that it's actually SK Standard Plus, both are very good, but serious target shooters, and the benchrest crowd consider it marginal. I've used the SK Std.+ in both my semi and bolt, my bolt was able to shoot consistent 5 shot 1/2" groups @ 50 yards with it, and did the same with RWS Target Rifle.

If you are looking to shoot 5 round 1/4" groups at 25 or 50 yards, then I'd look at the better Eley, or Lapua Midas L, or Midas M, if you're just plinking at tin cans then the Federal AE, or CCI Blazer will give you far more bang for the buck.......

Then again, it's subjective to what your particular rifle likes the best.....

[stash247]

Find an airplane hangar, or a large barn; light the target with artificial light, and shoot one brand and lot, against another, for group size, alone; you can always click the sights!
I have several rimfire reamers, as ammo manufacturers, such as Eley, Fiocci, and others, sometimes change, un announced, the shape of their bullets.
When I find a lot that really 'cooks' (tiny groups) I buy everything the vendor has, and store it in a fridge, in the garage, until I shoot it up; whether 5 cases, or 35, it will never be cheaper.
Then the problem starts all over again!
It is not a big deal for me to set a barrel back, a couple of threads, and rechamber a good barrel, with a different reamer, if a bullet shape changes, but without an 'optical comparator' it is difficult to decide just what chamber, and reamer, I want; I spent the money, a long time ago, and use such junk, to 'get it right', on the first attempt.
But every chamber wants a unique bullet shape, and every bullet a unique chamber, to perform at optimal levels;
this is the 'barn'; to take wind and light out of the equation, leaving only barrel, chamber, and operator, at question.
There is no simple answer.