Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire .22 mag accuracy

Anschutz used to make a .22 Mag. Wonder how they shoot?

Anschutz used to make a .22 Mag. Wonder how they shoot?

I’ve never put it on a scale but .22 mag is obviously well known for not being all that accurate. I’ve never had a high end .22 mag but never had a really accurate one either.

Winchester 9422M most used walk-a-bout gun for enjoying a day.

Been using a lot of 45 and 50gr bullets for awhile now.

BTW, of all the "accuracy tests" for .22 LR target ammo that people use, I don't recall anybody ever sorting for bullet diameter. I dug out a micrometer one day and starting measuring that - and was astounded to learn that it varied by as much as .003" from brand to brand. As you might expect from cast bullet lore, the smaller the diameter, the worse the accuracy and fouling a given .22 LR load produced. So...if you're looking for accurate .22 LR ammo, you might consider sorting by bullet diameter rather than weighing or rim measuring.

Do you have a matching chesterfield for that chair ?

<< chortle >>

I did a bunch of research on the .22 Magnum not too many years ago for an article in RIFLE magazine. My conclusion was that the reason .22 Magnums are so "picky" about ammo is the bullets vary more than in any other rimfire round.. All .22 Long Rifle ammo uses similar bullets, whether plated or lubed lead, and .17 HMR ammo (and .17 M2, when available) uses jacketed bullets. But .22 Magnum ammo uses bullets resembling both .22 LR (such as the original Winchester 40-grain load, which generally shoots well in most rifles) and jacketed .17 bullets Consequently there's considerable variation in bullet-to-rifling jump.

But then I picked up yet another .22 Magnum at a local store, partly because it was on sale and partly because it was a Ruger American, which despite their "affordable" construction generally shoot well. It proved to be the most ammo-tolerant .22 Magnum I've ever owned, and have owned a bunch of good ones. Just about any ammo will group 5 rounds into 1.5" or less at 100 yards, and some much better--and normally to the same point of impact.

So I contacted one of the design guys at Ruger and asked why this might be so. Did they do something different with their .22 Magnum chambers? His answer was, "Luck?"

But then a buddy and I went ground squirrel shooting, and he was so impressed with the RAR .22 Magnum (I let him shoot it some too) that he went out and found one--and it shoots the same way.

I love .22 mag but finding consistent ammo always seems to be the problem. Was sitting around kinda bored and decided to pull out a brick of .22 mag and weigh the rounds to see the discrepancy between each. CCI Maximag 40 gr JHP.
Lightest of the group was 8.89 gr

Heaviest was 9.10 gr
cirno wallpaper
All but 41 of the 500 fell between 8.97 and 9.05



I’m curious as to how much more consistency I can get from shooting similar weights vs pulling random rounds from a box.
Anyone done any experimenting like this for the 22 mag?

I agree, 100yards is a good max range for the 22 mag. I refer to that distance as my mini 'grand" meaning 1000yards. I have killed a pile of G-hogs with the 22 mag. (Hornady V-max 30gr.) But, it does have its limits and I have only used it a few times beyond 100yards. My set up was, Savage 93, weaver 3x9 scope set at 6x, reticle sub tension allows a perfect holds at 100 and 150. I carried a Ruger Single six 5.5 inch barrel 22 mag cylinder CCI maxi mag 40gr HP. for the close shots that came up from time to time. Closest shot was 21/2 yards. My rule with this set up was to stalk to within the 100 yards or closer, of the G-hog and wait for a broad side shot. Mostly head shots. It worked well when pointed correctly and I had many enjoyable hunts. It was a great way to supplement my summer days when I was not fishing. As long as you do not push the range and size of the critter it works very well. Accuracy, was minute of G-hog head shot! If that makes any sense?

My Win 9422 WMR wont shoot CCI for crap.

Does well with Win, Rem and Hornady. It did well with the older Fed HP but sometimes with the newer hp with a big hole in the tip the bullets start to tumble past 60 yards.