Friday, March 11, 2011

Testing for the best ammo for 22 caliber rifles and pistols

Part of the fun of having your own rifle range is testing different types of ammo under controlled conditions.


We built a 300 yards firing range out on the back 40

Janet is really getting into target shooting and we are hiring a former Secret Service agent to teach us sniper skills.

We are also hoping to complete the NRA high-powered rifle qualification.


Janet is a crack shot!

We both love assault rifles, but shooting a supersonic bullet is huge fun!

Last week, Janet hit a pop bottle at 200 yards, the length of two football fields!


Janet is lethal with her AR-15 assault rifle

We are too old to see at 200 yards using an iron sight, so we “cheat” and mounted a telescopic sight on our AR-15:


Telescopic sights allow elderly people to kill home intruders at up to 400 yards

Ballistics testing of 22 target guns

We tested many types of 22 caliber target rifles and 22 target pistols using a bench rest at 50 yards.



Janet is getting quite deadly with her handguns, a crack shot:


Don't mess with Janet when she is packing her 357 magnum

In our tests for the best bullets our rifles and pistols we learned a few general principles about 22 ammo:

- Low velocity ammo is great for rifles, not so great for 22 handguns: The “low velocity”, “subsonic” and “standard velocity” 22 bullets shot tighter groups fir 22 rifles (CZ-452 and Savage 64).

- Expensive ammo has better consistency: The more expensive 22 bullets consistently had fewer duds, misfires and less “flyers”. You get what you pay for, and duds and flyers are important if you must kill on the first shot.

We have documeted our ballistics tests here in the hopes of helping other gun enthusiasts:

See our full notes on testing for the most accurate ammo for a Savage model 64 target rifle.

See our full notes on testing for the most accurate ammo for a CZ452 target rifle.

See our full notes on testing for the most accurate ammo for a CZ452 target rifle.

See our full notes on testing for the most accurate ammo for a Ruger Mark V target pistol.