Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Sorting ammunition yes or no?

Have shot a bunch of .22 Rimfire Magnum ammo through a lot of different rifles, some costing over $1000. .22 Magnums are well-known for being ammo-picky, and that's exactly what happened with all those rifles, no matter the price.

Tried measuring rim-thickness, weighing rounds, measuring bullet run-out, etc., and eventually concluded the major problem with the .22 Magnum is the ammo features all sorts of bullets--traditional plated "rimfire" bullets like those used in the original Winchester factory ammo, to plastic-tipped jacketed bullets. These also tend to vary in "hardness" and distance to the lands.

Eventually I an across a new Ruger American .22 Magnum on the rack of a local gun store--on sale for half the standard retail price back then (which I'm guessing was due to the Obama Rimfire Shortage, when .22 Magnum ammo was pretty much unobtaium.) Couldn't resist, and it turned out to be the most all-around accurate .22 Magnum I've ever owned, with a wide variety of ammo.

Did some simple chamber measurements, and it turned out to have a little shorter throat than other .22 Magnums. My bore-scope also showed it had a fine barrel, which has been typical with Ruger since they started hammer-forging their own barrels in the early 1990s. E-mailed the then head of Ruger production and asked why it might shoot so well, and he answered, "Luck?"

Dunno about that, but a local buddy and I went ground squirrel shooting one day, and after I let him use the RAR he bought one--and it shot just as well as mine.

I think that you have answered your own question. If you are minute of prairie dog, it's not likely to get much better.