by No1_49er » 04 Jun 2018, 5:59 pm
The question of “what shoots best in your 22?” comes up time after time after time, ad nauseum, on probably every shooting related forum world-wide. There is ONE answer, which should perhaps be copied/pasted every time that question is asked, on any forum.
If we deviate our train of thought for a while, it will be realised that for those of us who also shoot centrefire, we work up a load that works in MY rifle. The variables will be: - projectile, powder type, powder charge weight, primer, seating depth/distance to lands, case make, case preparation procedures, to name but a few. We will finally arrive at a “recipe” that works well in MY rifle. That same combination could shoot like sh-t in my buddy’s rifle; it could even be dangerous.
Extending this philosophy to rimfire poses a problem. The only thing we can do is purchase manufactured / unalterable ammo’. Where does that leave us? Go and buy a box of ammo and try it. If you’re happy, buy a brick or two and continue with your happiness. But, if you are ultimately looking for the most accuracy that YOUR rifle can deliver there is only ONE WAY to find out. Find a friendly dealer who is willing to sell you a brick of every type of ammo that is available to him, with this caveat; if you find a “recipe” that works in YOUR rifle, he must be able to supply you with maybe 5 – 10,000 rounds FROM THE SAME BATCH. You then buy them – all that you can afford. Which presents you with another possible fly in the ointment. The stuff that really turns you on might cost $15 a box, so you might have to settle for second or third best. But, you might strike it lucky and find SK/Lapua 500 Magazine does the job. But you have to test, test, test.
That’s the approach I had to take to find something the way I wanted it to work at extended ranges. I probably ended up with about 3,000 rounds that will eventually be used for plinking, but amongst it all was a winner. I bought a few cases.
It all comes down to how precise you want YOUR rifle to be and how much effort you will put into finding that goal.
Proud member of "the powerful gun lobby" of Australia