Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Most accurate .22 Magnum ???

Interesting results John. My RAR Predator doesn't shoot the 30 grain loads nearly as well as the 40 grain loads. I don't have any Remington 33 grain, which I always hear is the best shooting, but with the results I've seen, the cost vs results isn't there.

Rimfire certainly makes for a headache at times. What shoots so well in one won't shoot well at all in another...

I also had one box of the Remington 33-grain on hand, and it shot well too.

What's unusual about this particular .22 Magnum is that so far it hasn't shown any vast preferences for any ammo, and shoots everything tried pretty well. Haven't owned a .22 Magnum like that before....

I have a couple Anschutz 1720 and this is close to the same case with both of them. One ragged hole at 50 yards with the Hornady 30gr red tip.
Not too bad with the CCI and not quite as good with the 40 grain bullets.

Rolltide,

The next day I went back to the range with more ammo. Now have tried 9 different factory loads in this RAR and the LARGEST 5-round group at 50 yards was slightly over an inch. Have never owned a .22 Magnum that shot so consistently with so many different loads before, but did shoot one Volquartson semiauto that would. However, it would start malfunctioning after 25 rounds or so without cleaning, due to the tight chamber.

Next up is doing some chamber measurements, and contacting Ruger to see what they say about chambers.

John,

That's pretty much what I've seen with mine...

Same exact thing I've seen with mine. It is very consistent, but does have a preference for the Hornady 30gr. V-max. I wish I had some Remington accutips I could test, because my Mossberg chuckster really likes those. Back to the RAR 22 magnum: It shoots very well even after 200 rounds down the tube during the last range session, is very fast cycling and slick feeding. I've fired around 350 rounds downrange now with absolutely no hiccups. I'm very impressed with it and love the Ruger rotary magazines. I also want to add that accuracy doesn't wander when the barrel is warm and it takes a lot to get the barrel warm. Accuracy stays the same, whether cold barrel or warm. Poi doesn't change either.

John, I just call that damn good shooting. Sounds like you got a keeper there.

Thanks, sounds like everybody with a RAR .22 Magnum has a keeper!

I've had extremely good luck with Ruger's hammer-forged barrels in recent years, with none showing any tendency to wander as they heat up, despite what many shooters assume about HF barrels (or sporter barrels in general). Actually have had good luck with them since Ruger started making their own barrels in the early 1990's, but in the past few years they've gotten even better. Was told by Ruger about three years ago that this was due to practice by the operators, as good hammer-forging isn't a result of merely feeding steel into the machine.

Will also be very interested in what Ruger says about their .22 Mag chambers.

I had a RAR 22 magnum, but didn't get the 100 yard accuracy I was looking for. It wouldn't quite group with my CZ, so it went down the road.

Apparently even the RAR .22 Magnums are still somewhat bound by the tendencies of all .22 Magnums. Though will note that among the .22 Magnums I've owned before was a CZ, purchased because I'd had such great luck with CZ's in .22 Long Rifle and both the .17 Mach 2 and HMR. The .22 Magnum shot well with some loads, but not spectacularly, so went down the road.

I did e-mail a contact at Ruger, asking about why my RAR .22 Magnum shoots better than most. His quick answer was, "Luck?" But he also said he'd ask some questions and get back to me.

Believe it or not, my Stevens Favorite falling block remake (circa 1970) I re-chambered to .22WMR has made many MOA 5 shot groups @ 100 yards off a rest (Marksmans box) with Lyman peep rear and stock front sight. I was using Armscore 40 grain SJSP's. Have not shot it for a couple of years now unfortunately. It also liked the CCI MAXI-MAG bulk pack 40 grain JHP.

This is my brothers RAR .22Mag. Right after we zeroed the scope.

It out shoots my CZ 452 .22Mag but not my Biathlon.

Rich

Would be very interested to hear how it shoots with other kinds of ammo.

I would too, around my parts .22mag is harder to find than .22LR.
When I find some I'll post the results.

Rich