100 yard (real world) repeatable accuracy for 22 LR

[linebaugh]

I bought a Tikka T1X and bedded it to a Bell and Carlson M40 stock. I have shot about 20 brands of ammo from cheapies to 11$ a box and have yet to be blown away with 100 yard accuracy. I have been blown away with some 50 and 60 yard accuracy so I feel like I am probably asking for more than might be possible.

I think I am probably expecting too much and before I drop any money on a custom barrel I would like to know what you guys have seen. My goal simply put is to get at or under MOA at 100 yards, preferrably 10 shot groups. So far I have shot several 5-10 shot groups that will measure about 1.25 tall and 1.5-1.75 wide. One of the stand outs was Eley Target and surprisingly this gun seems to shoot cheap ammo well. It shoots cheap Blazers amazingly well also... which is strange.

So do I look at a better barrel? What about barrel tuners? Am I chasing a myth and should I just be happy with what I am shooting now?

Whats the boards experience?

 

[Rsadams]

I set my factory .22s up for 50 yards , scopes and all... In my opinion which take it for what it cost you , getting consistent 1 inch 10 shot groups at 100 yards with even $11 a box ammo and a non extremely custom gun is a tough one.. I am not saying it's impossible , but unless you're willing to pretty much throw away everything but the action of your rifle it's going to be hard...

There's plenty of guys with center fire rifles that can't get that level of accuracy.... Are we talking about pros , no , we're talking about normal everyday people that I see at my local gun range everytime I go... There's a difference between the internet and the actual targets people pull and show you or you see yourself... Once again is it possible , sure....

 

[Straightshooter1]

I bought a Tikka T1X and bedded it to a Bell and Carlson M40 stock. I have shot about 20 brands of ammo from cheapies to 11$ a box and have yet to be blown away with 100 yard accuracy. I have been blown away with some 50 and 60 yard accuracy so I feel like I am probably asking for more than might be possible.

I think I am probably expecting too much and before I drop any money on a custom barrel I would like to know what you guys have seen. My goal simply put is to get at or under MOA at 100 yards, preferrably 10 shot groups. So far I have shot several 5-10 shot groups that will measure about 1.25 tall and 1.5-1.75 wide. One of the stand outs was Eley Target and surprisingly this gun seems to shoot cheap ammo well. It shoots cheap Blazers amazingly well also... which is strange.

So do I look at a better barrel? What about barrel tuners? Am I chasing a myth and should I just be happy with what I am shooting now?

Whats the boards experience?

Well, if you take a look at these links, maybe they'll give you some ideas:

https://forum.snipershide.com/threads/cold-weather-rimfire-testing.6928683/

https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1129343 (note: look at list in post #2 here that further links to each individual test)

Hope you're not expecting to get anywhere near the consistency in rim-fire as with center fire???

 

[Hi-NV Shooter]

I bought a Tikka T1X and bedded it to a Bell and Carlson M40 stock. I have shot about 20 brands of ammo from cheapies to 11$ a box and have yet to be blown away with 100 yard accuracy. I have been blown away with some 50 and 60 yard accuracy so I feel like I am probably asking for more than might be possible.

I think I am probably expecting too much and before I drop any money on a custom barrel I would like to know what you guys have seen. My goal simply put is to get at or under MOA at 100 yards, preferrably 10 shot groups. So far I have shot several 5-10 shot groups that will measure about 1.25 tall and 1.5-1.75 wide. One of the stand outs was Eley Target and surprisingly this gun seems to shoot cheap ammo well. It shoots cheap Blazers amazingly well also... which is strange.

So do I look at a better barrel? What about barrel tuners? Am I chasing a myth and should I just be happy with what I am shooting now?

Whats the boards experience?

linebaugh,

IMO I believe it is ammo that plays a big part. here is a good example, 100m 10-shot group from Lapua CX that was tested at Lapua rifle a Falcon with a Benchmark barrel. barrel plays another part and a tuner will help.
I had good lots of CX that shot really good at 50yds, but fell apart at 100yds. then I got Sk rifle match that can shoot like this at 100yds. rifle a 1411 Anschutz with a Benchmark barrel 10-shots
Both rifles have tuners

No doubt a good barrel will help, but as I mentioned ammo plays a big part too

Lee

 

[flatlander]

Not only does it take a very good rifle with very good ammo to consistently shoot 1" groups at 100yds, it takes a shooter who's very experienced & consistent. I've shot quite a bit of .22RF through several good rifles with custom bbls, custom triggers, good, bedded stocks, and good scopes, and have found that on a given day with good conditions, when I'm well-rested & really in top form, I might shoot a few 1" groups at 100yds. I'd like to claim that it happens with great regularity, but there's already enough BS floating around on the 'net...lol

 

[kzin]

Wind is very important at 100 with 22lr

Unless you know the flags are limp for every shot you don't know the group wasn't ruined by the wind.

 

[rebs]

at our club in benchrest 100 yd matches you will mostly see 2 inch or bigger groups. Most guys are shooting Eley Black or Eley Tennex ammo. Some of these guys are shooting very expensive rifles with a front rest and rear bag.. The wind will effect 22's a lot. Very rare to see a 1 inch group.

 

[Hi-NV Shooter]

at our club in benchrest 100 yd matches you will mostly see 2 inch or bigger groups. Most guys are shooting Eley Black or Eley Tennex ammo. Some of these guys are shooting very expensive rifles with a front rest and rear bag.. The wind will effect 22's a lot. Very rare to see a 1 inch group.

Want a challenge try shooting for score, can't use flags and you have 7-minutes to shoot 5 bulls at 100yds. rifle was a 1411 shooting CX
this was my first 50 score. we shoot along side the CFBR sanctioned matches, last match I shot my worse score 199, usually I am in the 220's

Lee

 

[Ccrider]

Interesting. Looks like the 22lr is getting pushed around a lots more than my .17 WSM.

 

[linebaugh]

Thanks for all the responses. I think what I am seeing is that a 1" gun with any consistency probably is not going to happen. I do realize it's possible but I am not sure it's worth chasing right now considering i'm not far off and I am not shooting benchrest competitions.

With all the ammo that I have shot there have been unexplained fliers. The SK and Eley were for sure better but still out of 15-20 rounds I am seeing one or two fliers... which are primarily low or high out of the main clusters. I would assume this is due to velocity deviations? I would also assume changing barrels is probably not going to fix this?

I ordered a two piece brake that I intend to repurpose as a barrel tuner but to be honest I am not expecting much if any gains. That said I am pretty darn happy with where the gun is shooting now so its a win-win either way. I have never spent the time or owned a more accurate 22 so this has been a blast and I look forward to continuing my new venture with some NRL22 type shooting.

Again I appreciate the responses and would welcome any more input those who know more are willing to share.

 

[MihiT]

Yeah I'd be happy with that. One possible improvement would be to pick your best ammo, and chamber for that so the ogive is jamming. I personally don't know how much difference it makes, but the theory is that it all being concentric before firing will help.
Vertical fliers could be tail or headwind. Unless you shoot them over a chrony you're guessing at velocity, but I've found various match ammo to be very consistent.

 

[drover]

To shoot consistent one-inch groups at 100 yards you need a lot of stars in alignment.

A rifle capable of it - I suspect your Tikka in stock form is close and quite possible capable of it.

Ammo your rifle likes - High dollar ammo will usually give better results, $11 per box ammo is more mid-level than high-level ammo, there are exceptions to this rule of course.

Wind Flags - lots and lots of wind flags - at least 5 for 100 yard shooting and they need to have vanes so you are not just watching a ribbon for your wind direction.

Capability - to shoot 100 yard groups with 22 lr as a shooter you must do the same thing over and over in the same conditons, that means perfect gun handling for every shot, perfect flag and condition reading every time.

I would practice a lot more and work on form and finding the right ammo before spending a pile of money on another barrel, I think that you will find that a better investment of the money.

drover

 

[linekin]

I think if you're averaging under 2"@100 with a .22 you're getting about as good as you can get. Sure you may get a 1" group every once in a while. Not uncommon, but to consistently get it isn't going to happen. Just too many variables.

Keith

 

[th82457]

A good source for more information is over on the rimfire central forum. With that said - a good place to start for ammo is keeping to standard velocity - not high velocity ammo at 100 yards. Hi-velocity ammo goes from supersonic to sub sonic at about 75-80 yards and this can cause great groups at 50 to 75 yards to turn bad at 100. The down side to standard velocity ammo is that it is very wind & shooter sensitive due to the relatively slow velocity, so a small breeze or minor shooter error is magnified at 100. On a dead calm day when I am on, I may get a 5 shot group or two under an 1" with one of my heavy barrel .22's with Lapua Center-X or Eley Edge or some upper end RWS ammo. Unfortunately, I cannot duplicate this consistently when wind gets up to 4-5mph or more. I compete in a 100 yd. "Varmint" league that does not allow wind flags. Even though target ammo for 17 HMR is not available - I am more competitive & consistent with my 17 HMR due to the higher velocity of the round which is affected less by wind & shooter error. I have done a lot of trial & error with the .17 HMR ammo to find the exact load it likes best, just wish target ammo was available. Now, if I was shooting 100 yds. indoors with no weather issues - the .22 may get preference. Just my two cents. I think your Tikka is performing very well considering you could spend much more on a target .22 & maybe not get any better results.

 

[243winxb]

At 50 yards, both of my cheap guns will do 1/2" at best, using cheap ammo. CCI Std Velocity.
At 100, cant group into 2"

NRA Records

The scoring rings, originally called counting rings, for the 100 yard target, were the same in 1919 as they are today with a two-inch ten ring, called a 'carton' by the British.

https://www.ssusa.org/articles/2015...of-american-target-development-and-evolution/

 

[SBS]

linebaugh, as you can see from the national records above, Prone shooters (shooting off a sling holding their rifles, not off a bench) have been able to shoot 40 consecutive X-ring shots, (which is 1 MOA). This has been done with some older and newer position smallbore target rifles. If I remember right, George Stidworthy used a Remington 37 (discontinued in 1955 in favor of the 40X). Certainly from the bench with a good barrel and good matching ammo, this is certainly possible. Quite often, a newer shooter thinks that all he needs is really good ammo OR a really accurate rifle. In reality, he needs both. It's expensive, but there is seldom a shortcut to consistently small groups.

 

[linebaugh]

A good source for more information is over on the rimfire central forum. With that said - a good place to start for ammo is keeping to standard velocity - not high velocity ammo at 100 yards. Hi-velocity ammo goes from supersonic to sub sonic at about 75-80 yards and this can cause great groups at 50 to 75 yards to turn bad at 100. The down side to standard velocity ammo is that it is very wind & shooter sensitive due to the relatively slow velocity, so a small breeze or minor shooter error is magnified at 100. On a dead calm day when I am on, I may get a 5 shot group or two under an 1" with one of my heavy barrel .22's with Lapua Center-X or Eley Edge or some upper end RWS ammo. Unfortunately, I cannot duplicate this consistently when wind gets up to 4-5mph or more. I compete in a 100 yd. "Varmint" league that does not allow wind flags. Even though target ammo for 17 HMR is not available - I am more competitive & consistent with my 17 HMR due to the higher velocity of the round which is affected less by wind & shooter error. I have done a lot of trial & error with the .17 HMR ammo to find the exact load it likes best, just wish target ammo was available. Now, if I was shooting 100 yds. indoors with no weather issues - the .22 may get preference. Just my two cents. I think your Tikka is performing very well considering you could spend a much more on a target .22 & maybe not get any better results.

I signed up for this about 2 weeks ago. Been reading on there daily on one thing or another. Lots of info there that is for certain.

 

[flatlander]

linebaugh, as you can see from the national records above, Prone shooters (shooting off a sling holding their rifles, not off a bench) have been able to shoot 40 consecutive X-ring shots, (which is 1 MOA). This has been done with some older and newer position smallbore target rifles. If I remember right, George Stidworthy used a Remington 37 (discontinued in 1955 in favor of the 40X). Certainly from the bench with a good barrel and good matching ammo, this is certainly possible. Quite often, a newer shooter thinks that all he needs is really good ammo OR a really accurate rifle. In reality, he needs both. It's expensive, but there is seldom a shortcut to consistently small groups.

It should be mentioned that the prone smallbore shooters who've been capable of shooting 400-40X scores are very few & far between. These guys are among the finest shooters in the world, and have undoubtedly spent a good portion of their lives learning & refining their position to the point that there's very nearly zero % change in hold & position from one shot to the next. IOW, there are darned few shooters - even if we've shot competitively for years - who are on that level of perfection & consistency. Furthermore, the vast majority of us don't have the time nor the dedication to even begin to reach this level of shooting precision. This is just my poor attempt to put these guys up on a pedestal, where they certainly deserve to be placed.

 

[velocette]

I compete regularly in Smallbore Prone competition. I am by NO means a top level competitor. However, shooting on the 100 yard NRA target with its 1" X ring and 2" 10 ring, it is not uncommon for me to score 400 / 25 ~ 35 X, nor is it uncommon for my fellow competitors to do so as well. Anschutz 1413 and Lapua Center X or Midas + ammo. I have on good days, scored 400 / 40X but they are few and far between.

 

[SBS]

It should be mentioned that the prone smallbore shooters who've been capable of shooting 400-40X scores are very few & far between. These guys are among the finest shooters in the world, and have undoubtedly spent a good portion of their lives learning & refining their position to the point that there's very nearly zero % change in hold & position from one shot to the next. IOW, there are darned few shooters - even if we've shot competitively for years - who are on that level of perfection & consistency. Furthermore, the vast majority of us don't have the time nor the dedication to even begin to reach this level of shooting precision. This is just my poor attempt to put these guys up on a pedestal, where they certainly deserve to be placed.

While we might be tempted to think a really good prone shooter can hold as steady as a rifle on a rest, it simply is not so. Meaning that if a prone shooter can hold his rounds in a 1" group at 100 yds., it can certainly be done off a bench in good conditions by a decently good shooter. After all, the question is whether the rifle/ammo is capable of this level of accuracy. The simple answer is yes. BTW, Winchester reported the accuracy of their 52 model in 1937 as being 1.25" average 10 shot group at 200 yds.(up from 1.5" in 1934). We have better barrels and better ammo today and there is no doubt that 1 MOA at 100 yds. is doable.