Target Shooters........Advice needed

All other aspects being equal what often makes the difference in better grouping with .22 rifles is the trigger and the ammunition. A crisp, light trigger pull is essential if you're going for groups. I spent far less money sending my trigger group to CT-Precision than buying a KIDD or Volquartsen drop-in and I believe it's equal quality.

.22 rifles are known to prefer one particular brand of ammo better than others; you've just got to test out as many as you can to find the right one. I was lucky in that the Blazer .22 has been universally good for all my rifles if I'm just plinking and having fun while still getting good groups. But when I compete I want the tightest my rifle will give. I've tried Lapua, Eley, Federal Match, Wolf Match and, most recently, CCI AR Tactical. This last ammo is a relatively new product and tightened up my groups by half.

I second the Appleseed Program! Best danged outfit there is to teach you to properly shoot your rifle! I earned the Rifleman patch with my 10/22 by Chief AJ and took the Orange hat on my first outing!
 
Those who tell you their 10/22 is accurate have never shot a truely accurate .22. Period.

I just sold a Winhester 75 to a friend for use with the Mississippi youth team. They do true match target shooting. There are 3000 - 4000 competitors nationwide in that level of shooting. A good match these days is over 100 shooters. That rifle will shoot sub .5 MOA with the right ammo.

My current .22 is this Kimber. It too will shoot well under 1 MOA.

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Ammo makes a big difference. A box of true match ammo will run about what a brick of standard stuff will cost at walmart. You're talking stuff that consistant groups under .5" on a regular basis.

I've owned Anshutz, Remington, Winchester, Voere, and several other brands of target .22's. In my opinion you should check out what the DCM sells; they run a lot of the competitions, and they sell rifles that do well at them.
 
eisman said:
Those who tell you their 10/22 is accurate have never shot a truely accurate .22. Period.

I just sold a Winhester 75 to a friend for use with the Mississippi youth team. They do true match target shooting. There are 3000 - 4000 competitors nationwide in that level of shooting. A good match these days is over 100 shooters. That rifle will shoot sub .5 MOA with the right ammo.

My current .22 is this Kimber. It too will shoot well under 1 MOA.

Ammo makes a big difference. A box of true match ammo will run about what a brick of standard stuff will cost at walmart. You're talking stuff that consistant groups under .5" on a regular basis.

I've owned Anshutz, Remington, Winchester, Voere, and several other brands of target .22's. In my opinion you should check out what the DCM sells; they run a lot of the competitions, and they sell rifles that do well at them.
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a 10/22 is the most accurate .22 I have ever shot, and would easily hold its own with all other competition rifles. then again, this specific 10/22 had about 3k dumped into it. and it is a truly accurate 22. it grouped about 1/4 inch at 50 yd and about .5 inch at 100
 
I'd suggest a CZ Varmint. quite a few goodies to add to precise bolt action gun that never needs cleaning.
Mine is stock with cheapo tube (toilet paper roll) on top and its easilly in the 1/2" groups with decent ammo at 100 metres (328 feet???).
 
Some might argue that a single shot stock is somewhat stronger as it does not have the cutout for the mag. For a rimfire that really doesn't have any bearing. You will tend to shoot slower with a single shot, which may or may not be a good thing. I prefer a mag fed gun, but buy what you like. The presence or absence of a mag should not have any effect on the precision of the rifle. The ammunition that you shoot will have a much larger impact. Are you limited to .22, or can you go to a magnum like the wicked hot .17HMR? I've got a marlin 917VLS that shoots better than I can shoot it, well below MOA out to at least 100 yards.
 
I know a guy who's ate up with precision rimfire shooting, he loves the 17 Mach 2. Nice little round, a shame it never caught on. Just something to consider if you don't go the 22 route.
 
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Savage 93R17 HMR17
Anyone looking for a rimfire should at least check one of these out before deciding. I got one for my 7 year old son and I last week. I got it to the range today to zero it and break in the barrel and was shooting softball sized groups at 200yds. Thats not saying much for some, but I can't see or shoot.:eek: The Accutrigger is great and has failproof adjustability from 2 1/2 to 5 or 6 lbs. This one came set at 2-3/4lbs. The stock feels nice, fits my large hands and has a freefloated bull-barrel. The rifle was on sale for $299 and with the BDC scope and mounts was under $400 (I love no sales tax in OR)
 
What is the definition of "Super Accurate" in regard's to a .22 Rifle? I have a Factory, Stainless Ruger 10/22 with Laminated stock, I bought in the early 90's and then bought another Factory Stainless with a Heavy Barrel and Laminated stock. The regular Stainless .22 could out shoot it ever time. I can easily get dime sized group's at 50 yard's. I love that .22 ! It is one of my most highly prized possesion's. I have regularly shot Starling's at 70 + yards and House Sparrow's at 50+ yard's.
Ammo makes a lot of difference as previously stated with each gun having a preference. I don't buy super expensive ammo as the Federal 712 .38 grain HP, has been the most accurate for me so far, but have not tried the higher match grade ammo however, have considered trying the Federal 40 grain Match, but have not yet. Regular bulk .22 ammo, regardless of brand, does not perform very well for me and steer clear of it, unless buying for the kid's to plink with. Hope you post some pic's of what you come up with. The new model's I have seen lately are not very impressive, they are cutting corner's to make a few more Buck's IMO! I bought my son a .22 for Xmas a couple year's ago. I ended up sending it back and bought a used, older one that was similar to mine.
A lot of people cheap out on the scope when it comes to .22's. At best, I have had fair result's with older, cheap scope's however, would rather spend a little more and get a decent scope these day's, as a lot of the newer scopes have acheived, a whole new level of cheapness! I have a Nikon ProStaff, for the money, under 150.00, it's a decent option.
 
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I'd call super accurate with any sub 1000 dollar .22 to be under 0.5" at 50 yards on a regular basis. I don't own one that accurate yet :p It's couldn't possibly be that I can't shoot that well :rolleyes:
 
I'll put my vote in for the Izhmash Biathlon Basic. Low Cost (relatively, for the accuracy), Dependable, No Frills, Russian Rifle. These things are HAMMERS.

Also, if you like the flexibility 10/22 platform...but would be interested in a bolt action (toggle)....you may consider the new PWS T-3 Summit Action. I want to try one something bad...

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Another absolutely wonderful rufle is the CZ 452. The fit, finish, and overall quality of these rifles is legendary. They cost around 3-400 dollars and feel like they are worth twice that. Their diet consists of high quality ammo though.
 
I've been a .22 rimfire nut since I was a teen. I've had a few custom Ruger 10/22's, but I much prefer a nice bolt action. I bought most of my better one's when I had my FFL.

I've owned a lot, and have kept my favorites. The high dollar .22 that I was very disappointed with was my Cooper Varmint Extreme, but I think I just got a bad example. Also had a couple of Kimber's that were not worth the money in terms of accuracy.

The most accurate .22's I have is a Cooper Anschutz. This was a run of 200 with the Anschutz 54 action, and Cooper stock.
The Anschutz 54 action can not be beat IMO.

I also really like my Sako Finnfire, and my Anschutz with the lighter 64 action.

My Anschutz Exemplar hand gun with the 64 action(and 9.2 oz trigger from factory) is as accurate as my 64 actioned rifle, and my TC Contender(old style with very light trigger spring) with the .22 match barrel is also very accurate. One of my scoped Smith and Wesson model 41's will also out shoot many rifle's.
Whoops, sorry to get off topic with the pistols. Sorry for the rambling,lol.

The Anschutz 54 action is as good as you can get IMO, and don't think you could go wrong with one.
 
Some guys at the shop are getting into fancy, super accurate 22 rifles. This is a new genre of shooting for me and not sure what to get. Cooper, Anshutz, Volquartsen? Any advice would be much appreciated.
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If you're looking for accurate in a general use gun then get a sporter Anschutz. They're as good as it gets though there are still plenty of other brands that turn out great stuff like the other two you mentioned, CZ, target/match grade Winchesters and Remingtons, Sako, on and on...

For those of you that know, can a 10/22 be turned into a super accurate gun. I have a few that I have upgraded but not getting the uber accuracy that other have with there fancy 22s. Is this one of those cases where a bolt action will win 99 times out of 100?
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A mid grade bolt action 22 will outshoot a lightly modified 10/22. Bolt actions are just inherently more accurate.

Having said that, you can build a 10/22 that will easily run with the big names; I'm talking 1/2 MOA out to 200 yards.
It takes a lot of work though and people don't realize it takes a lot more than a barrel swap. If you want an accurate 10/22 you need to:
-Get a high quality match chambered barrel with a barrel extension that fits tight in the reciever
-lap the barrel shoulders to make the barrel sit flush/in line with the reciever and shim the barrel if needed
-Headspace the bolt. Radiusinig the rear of the bolt doesn't hurt either
-Lap the bolt in the reciever if it's not settling consistently when returning to battery
-put a set screw in the reciever to remove the trigger guard-reciever play
-get a good trigger
-and most importantly, bed it perfectly into a good free floating stock. This may be the most critical part that doesn't involve a parts swap. A lot of guys have good luck bedding at the action screw and the closest 1-3 inches of the barrel while freefloating the rear of the action and the rest of the barrel.
I personally have had good luck bedding the action at the screw and also bedding the rear of the action and rear of the trigger guard. If you do it this way it's critical that you remove all play between the receiver and trigger housing.
-Make sure the scope is mounted solidly. 10/22s have a bad habit of having a hump in the front top of the reciever that needs to be filed or milled flush

By the time you pay someone to do this work and buy the parts you could have easily just spent the money on a nice bolt gun.
Should you just get a nice bolt gun? IDK, that depends on whether you want a a semiauto or not and only you can answer that.

I've done the modified 10/22 thing. I didn't spend much money. I did all the work myself and bought pretty good quality but not expensive parts and had a gun that was capable of shooting a consistent 1MOA (and I mean a truely consistent 1MOA).
In the end I swapped back to the factory barrel and stock though I did bed the factory stock. The 10/22 was simply more fun as a lightweight pliinking gun. One day I'll buy a nice used Anschutz or a CZ or something to satisfy my want for an accurate 22. I'll probably buy a high quality sporter weight 10/22 barrel to put with the factory stock too just for fun.
 
My go to is a Cooper .17 hmr
I also have an Anshutz .17 hmr new in the box I can bring to Blade if you want to think about it?

AND, you'll shoot smaller hole to begin with ;)

.
Garth Reckner said:
Some guys at the shop are getting into fancy, super accurate 22 rifles. This is a new genre of shooting for me and not sure what to get. Cooper, Anshutz, Volquartsen? Any advice would be much appreciated.

For those of you that know, can a 10/22 be turned into a super accurate gun. I have a few that I have upgraded but not getting the uber accuracy that other have with there fancy 22s. Is this one of those cases where a bolt action will win 99 times out of 100?

Thanks
Garth
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I love my CZ also. I think it is a 453 American. Its like a 452, but with a set trigger that breaks at what feels like a few ounces. without setting it, its maybe 4 lbs. it sets by pushing the trigger forward. I think "TECHSIGHTS" are what I have on my SKS and they are awesome but it replaces the takedown latch so breaking it down is a PITA(on an SKS). Easily 500% improvement to the sight picture.
 
I have had a ton of fun building two 10/22's. It is very easy and with your knowledge of tools and machining I would think you'd enjoy it. Both of mine are very accurate, even with cheap bulk ammo. My first build is in an aluminum Rhineland Arms stock with a Skeeter TPH (Trailer Park Hero) barrel and Hornet Trigger group. We were hanging fishing weights at 50 yards and shooting them, that was too easy, so we started shooting the 10 lb test fishing line and were hitting over half of the time. One of my favorite things to do is throw out a shell casing and continue shooting it until I lose track of it, a great exercise on many levels. My second build was for my son and went through a few phases to make it just right. I went with mostly Kidd parts on his and it's very accurate too, but my first build is slightly better, probably due to the stock.

Here are some photos, just for fun.

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My Son with his build. It had an A5 style stock on it (so he could have one like dad), but it was just too big for him. I have since replaced the stock with a Rhineland arms Leopard stock that is very similar in appearance to an Accuracy International stock.

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This one is mine, it's dog ugly, but good grief it is accurate. I'd put it up against anyone's gun, any day.

I will say that I do regret not owning a Cooper. They are beautiful and functional, the very best of both worlds. They make ridiculously accurate 22's that look like they belong on a wall in Hemingway's house.

I would recommend you check out rimfirecentral.com and bring your wallet with you... Building 22's is almost as fun and addicting as buying Busse's! Have fun!

(Edited to add Busse content ;) )
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Winmag,

Thanks for sharing the pics. Great to see that your son is ready to go as well. Off to checkout rimfirecentral.com.

Later Bro,
Garth
 
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