Warning

 

Close

Confirm Action

Are you sure you wish to do this?

Confirm Cancel
BCM
User Panel

Posted: 5/3/2009 7:28:03 AM EDT


Note: I cross-posted this in the 10-22/.22 cal rifles section, and will also post it in Precision Rifle.

––––––––––––––––-

Team, I promised I’d take the new Remmy Model 597 .22 LR out to the range to chart five loads after I got the new ATK Intensity 3.8 – 12x scope sighted in.





Some notes:






  1. Shooting was done on Thursday at Lyons Shooting Area (put this in Google Maps: 19224 S St Vrain Dr, Upper St. Vrain, CO, United States).


  2. Temps were mid-late 40s, wind was measured with an anemometer (a guy at the range happened to have one, can you believe it?) at 1 – 3. Gusts probably began to exceed 5 mph during last phase of testing.


  3. All testing was done at 86 yards as measured by my laser rangefinder, off a stable bench.


  4. Report was prepared with On Target Precision Calculator V1.10, a freeware piece from enterprising shooter Jerry Block of Westminster, CO


  5. Rifle is Remington 597 Target with Volquartsen hammer.


  6. Ammo: CCI Minimags, Winchester Dynapoint GTs, Remington Subsonics, SK Match, and CCI Spitfires.












The process:




I have six 10-round mags for this rifle. There are five roundels on each target. The first round out of a mag is hand-chambered, and some say this affects accuracy.




For each target, I’d load up one mag with ten rounds of whatever ammo I would use, and load the other five with eight rounds each of that ammo. I took the 10-round mag and zeroed the rifle with that load; this sometimes took 20 rounds as each type of ammo would produce different effects on the rifle as it dirtied the bore and chamber in its own specific way. When the zero settled down, I’d shoot the remaining five mags into the five rouindels, firing the first round of each mag into a target completely off the stand so as to keep that hand-chambered round from ruining a group. A few times, I forgot to do this and just accepted the result.











Why 7 rounds?




The Speer manual tells us that reloaders should use groups of seven as they mitigate the risk of induced shooter error and are a large enough sample to really get a good representation of what the loads look like. The Remmy subs only have four holes because I just had enough rounds to get four groups as such.




Accuracy: The program generates the Average To Center number for both individual groups and the target as a whole. That last factoid is instructive to tell us how consistent the ammo is; a “best group” as prepared here is virtually meaningless if you can’t count on getting that kind of accuracy but one time in five.




CCI Minimags: I noticed a that they would group very consistently out of the rifle, except one round out of seven would go off into the weeds – either left or right in line with the group, or vertically (usually low) in line with the group. Had I not had these flyers, I would have gotten near SK Match performance and consistency out of them!











The entire target was measured. The "Average To Center" of the target, not just the one best group, was .956 MOA and average max spread was 3.107 MOA. Not bad.




Winchester Dynapoint GTs: Best value for bulk ammo for accuracy. Will have to test these against Thunderbolts or Peters as my rifle seems oddly accurate with them.











The "Average To Center" of the target, not just the one best group, was 1.073 MOA and average max spread was 3.107 MOA, the same as the CCI Minimags.





Remington Subsonics: Not as accurate as the first time I fired them! One group did fairly well, but as you can see the Average To Center for the entire target is not as good as the higher-speed rounds at 1.106 MOA, with the Max Spread of 3.145".











CCI Spitfire: The worst .22 ammo for accuracy I have ever fired. The target I have had three roundels which had so many wandering shots that I couldn’t determine where they hit. It’s odd, but the cases and bullets look better machined than all the rest of the ammo. I think they’re over-charged and the bullet is very light, and high-velocity kills accuracy in .22s.











SK Match: The gold standard – look at the ATC/Max Spread of the entire target; .662 MOA and 1.951MOA accordingly. This stuff is retarded accurate, and you’ll pay for it, too. 250 rounds cost me something like $45 delivered. Still, if you want to hit what you’re aiming at, SK Match is the stuff to use.











Well, there it is, folks. I will go back out and do a controlled test on some other loads.




Be advised, it looks like I gotta hog out the stock channel for the bore; it's getting touched by the stock.
Link Posted: 5/3/2009 9:14:25 AM EDT
[#1]
I should add that I fired roughly 400 rounds out of the rifle through this evolution and after (most after) and the rifle did not fail to feed, fire, or eject one time where it wasn't due to the cartridges being duds or out-of-spec.



I had polished the guide rails per the suggestions of the Rimfire Central folks and got some pretty solid performance out of the rifle as a result. I also dremeled the insides of the mags to a high shine with metal polish; this GREATLY enhanced the ability of the ammo to load and unload from the mags with ease. I only have one mag now that won't take ten rounds.




The 597, in my opinion, is good to go for public consumption.
Link Posted: 5/3/2009 10:21:17 AM EDT
[#2]
Thanks for the great range report.  I just like the CCI mini-mags because their so damn convenient to find (at every walmart around here).  If I end up buying ammo online-I end up buying a TON of other stuff with it, which quickly adds up  Anyways, great shooting and that 597 is BEAUTIFUL!
Close Join Our Mail List to Stay Up To Date! Win a FREE Membership!

Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!

You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.


By signing up you agree to our User Agreement. *Must have a registered ARFCOM account to win.
Top Top