Actual speed of Eley ammo?

22 Long Rifle ammo is finicky. Tell us all about it here.
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Jason
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Re: Actual speed of Eley ammo?

Post by Jason »

More testing today. Across 16 shots of the Eley Club Extra (EPS) out of the Marlin 57, I got a high velocity of 986.3fps (not counting the 1001fps on the first shot from a clean barrel) and a low velocity of 914.8fps. Here are the actual values so you can see the distribution:

1001, 984.2, 955.9, 972.9, 956.0, 968.3, 986.3, 954.8, 963.2, 947.2, 936.8, 914.8, 945.7, 981.9, 947.1, 944.3, 961.2

Temperature was 40 degrees (f), humidity was 80%, and elevation was the same ~400ft as before. Accuracy wasn't as good as the two groups that I shot previously. It was on par with the low-price ammo, actually, hovering around 4" for 5 shots at 100m. By contrast, the same ammo shot from my 1712 with the 25" Lilja tightbore barrel had these velocities:

1084 (clean barrel), 1037, 1025, 1041, 1056, 1030, 1065, 1049, 1041, 1028

The group from the 1712 (not counting the first shot, clean barrel flyer that was 1/2" outside the group) was just barely under an inch. That led me to believe that it was a problem with the Marlin 57 rifle, as it wasn't nearly as accurate (expected) and lost a lot of velocity compared to the 1712. When trying other ammo, the Eley Standard and Silhouex grouped about as poorly as the Club Extra EPS and had the same average velocity and fairly wide spread. The Golden Eagle Target did better, with both 5-shot groups below 2.5" and velocities fairly evenly distributed from 987.5 to 1028fps, with a flyer of 1052fps in the middle of one string. As a note, I won't shoot this lot of Golden Eagle Target in the 1712 even though I have several bricks of it left because it's a bit oversize and quickly gets hard to load in the tight match chamber. As a last effort, I tried some Federal 711b that I have from a brick that I bought a couple years ago that I haven't had shoot well in any of the several guns that I've tried it in. Surprisingly, this ammo shot two 5-shot groups (all I had time for) less than 2" center-to-center and had velocities from 1038 to 1060fps. I don't really have an explanation for that, as I don't remember that ammo shooting that well even in the 1712.

I'm hopeful that I might actually be able to use the Federal 711b, as the velocities were up there where I want and the accuracy was decent, too. It's way too soon to tell, though, as I ran out of time after only firing 10 shots of the 711b. About the only thing I'm sure of so far is that there is a lot about rimfire ballistics that I don't understand. I do trust the velocity readings of the chronograph a bit more now. Will keep testing and report back. Keep the feedback coming.
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Re: Actual speed of Eley ammo?

Post by shakes »

Jason have you tried some of that federal automatch stuff that comes bulk packaged? I think thats that stuff is a little higher velocity(I think in hte low 1200's) than than eley. I dont know about the accuracy but for what its worth Imas is shooting with this out of his Sako and is winning the local matches but then again it Imas. I asked him about it and he said he was really amazed at how well this stuff was grouping from his rifle even at 100 meters. they sold it wal-mart but as with any ammo right now it mught be alittle difficult to find. Its designed for autoloaders so I imagine it should load fairley easy in your marlin. just an idea :-B
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Re: Actual speed of Eley ammo?

Post by Jerry G »

That is very interesting. I would have never thought that there would be that much difference in velocity. Live and learn, i guess.
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Jason
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Re: Actual speed of Eley ammo?

Post by Jason »

Yep, I've tried the Automatch. I recommended it to Dave Imas when he was doing that experiment shooting the Marlin autoloader. I have about five of the little bulk packs of it and have tried it in the Marlin 57 before at cowboy matches. The accuracy leaves a lot to be desired.
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Re: Actual speed of Eley ammo?

Post by BlauBear »

I really like Autonatch, but apparently a key ingredient is Unobtanium...
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Re: Actual speed of Eley ammo?

Post by chickenchoker »

Jason, Your problem with your 57 could be inconsistent ignition. Check from hammer spring to firing pin spring and everything in between. Good luck.
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Re: Actual speed of Eley ammo?

Post by Chucker »

What about the Eley Sport ammo.
I have seen two different velocity's listed for the purple boxed stuff, 1135 fps and 1085 fps.
What the heck is up with that stuff. We are only talking a difference of 50 fps but gees why the discrepancy.
I know there is two different flavors of the Eley Sport ammo, I am referring to the stuff made in Mexico and packaged in a purple box. Midway lists it as the 1085 fps stuff. Ammo Depot list it as 1135 fps. Kind of wished someone would get there stuff together. My rifle prefers the 1080 velocity range. Not sure I am going to loose much sleep over it just kind of urks me a tad.

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Jason
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Re: Actual speed of Eley ammo?

Post by Jason »

I have tried two different lots of the Eley Sport ammo. After trying to get it to shoot decently in any of my guns, I ended up selling the four bricks of it that I had left over for $10 each just to get rid of it.
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Re: Actual speed of Eley ammo?

Post by Byron »

Jason:

I'll take it if you still have it.

Byron
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Re: Actual speed of Eley ammo?

Post by chickenchoker »

Have you tried the high velocity Eley? I shot the HV solid in my contender at 100 meters and it grouped fine for the 1/2 size targets. The lube was compatible with the Eley target rifle I was using for the other critters. In the winter, the wind would come from behind the rams and standard/target ammo would leave some solid hit rams standing while the HV solid would take them down. Might be worth a try.
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Jason
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Re: Actual speed of Eley ammo?

Post by Jason »

Byron wrote:Jason:

I'll take it if you still have it.

Byron
It's long gone. The guy I sold it to wanted it for plinking with his revolver. I wouldn't feel right selling that junk ammo to anyone who actually wanted accuracy out of it. :)
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Re: Actual speed of Eley ammo?

Post by Chucker »

I have a reamer which makes the Eley sport (purple box) ammo shoot like a house a fire.

Just kind of stumbled on to it while testing ammo through different guns.

I love the stuff for the price, shoots lots better than the Federal 711B stuff.

I do not like the Federal Gold Medal.

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