Favorite cheap ammo for silhouette practice... in 1712

[gregw72]

OK, I know there are going to be those of you who say "you want to shoot cheap ammo in your Anschutz 1712!" In short, yes I do... it took me a long time to save up for it and I am happy I have it, but now I need trigger time as I am just starting out in smallbore silhouette. Was planning to shoot paper scaled targets at 50 yards to see where my shots are going. Also, I do have a set of the swinging animals, so I figured that I could shoot the chicken and pig without having to worry about supersonic/subsonic funk. I know after shooting Wolf MT and Eley Target that my rifle will shoot 1-1/8" 10 shot groups at 100m off the bags on a calm day. However, it seems that .22 ammo is following the trend of all other shooting stuff: it is getting more expensive ($500/case almost). So, for those of you who have a fixed budget like me, I am all ears: what is your favorite cheaper stuff. Let's say the limit is $30/500. We can leave out the following as I have been there and done that and for various reasons won't be going back: Aguila MR, Eley Sport, CCI SV and Federal GM Target.

[Jason]

In that price range, I'd probably have to say Federal Automatch. It's about $15 for 325 in the bulk pack. It's high velocity, but shoots fairly accurately, especially for the price. Be careful of it damaging your swinger targets, especially the chicken, if they're made from 1/4" steel. If they're 3/8" or thicker, you'll probably be fine.

[Dee]

Your 1712 will never know you used cheap ammo. I shot cheapie stuff in mine as well for trigger time at closer distances. My swingers are 3/8" thick so they can handle the extra punch of HV rounds. You will want to shoot paper more often than not as you mentioned to get feedback about what is going on.

I like the CCI SV and also the CCI Blazer. With the SV they have two different factories making it and they are not the same. If you can find the other one perhaps it will shoot better for you then what you have already experienced. One style did not shoot well for me but the other was good enough to use for matches. I want to say the paper box CCI SV with the insert that had legs was the better ammo as compared to the stuff that just has a plastic tray top. Also check into Winchester T22 they are pretty cheap and also the Automatch is good for the money and usually available at Walmart. Anything should shoot fairly decent out to 50 yards so get a few kinds and give them a whirl. Some of these are available for around $200 a case for some cheap trigger time.

Or you could buy a air rifle and shoot for around a penny a shot .


Dee

[gregw72]

I had tired the plastic box CCI SV and the stuff shot great (1.50" at 100m 10 shots), but it took quite a lot of force to close the bolt. I called CCI and they said the bullet band was too long for a tight chamber like Anschutz. I didn't know the cardboard stuff is different than the plastic box stuff. Might have to give the cardboard stuff a chance. Thanks for the tip.

I do have an air gun... I acquired a FWB 300 and put a Leupold 3-9 EFR scope on it and shoot in my basement at 25'. It is very cheap to shoot like you said. I wish the trigger could be adjusted up to 4 lbs like my 1712 instead of the 8 ounces max. In Oregon when winter sets in, shooting an air gun is as good as it gets some days as the rain turns your groups ( except pistol) into a train wreck.

[Jason]

Wow, 4lbs sounds like a military trigger. Why do you have the 1712 trigger pull set so heavy?

[gregw72]

Rutt Row... that was a typo... I meant to say 2 pounds (the NRA bottom limit for a sporting rifle).

[Wirenut1212]

Okay I have a question, as I am in the process of putting together a 1712. I use the CCI SV I know there is two different types of packaging, one is a cardboard box with 500 rounds in it, 50 rounds per box in the brick. All I have ever seen in this style is a little plastic holder with no legs. Then there is the 100 round plastic box. Are you saying there is a different 50 round box that has say a eley type bullet holder set up? I had a 64 MS and they where hard to close the bolt on but seemed to shoot the best. As for a different type Fiocci seems to do okay in different guns, my CZ's don't like it but my Winchester 52b shoots it well. Is about 2.50 a box, I think it is basicly eley sport as it is made in mexico and the plastic holder is identical.

[gregw72]

Yes, there is a difference between the plastic and paper boxes. I found this out on another forum. Basically, CCI and Federal are now owned by ATK. The plastic box stuff uses the CCI bullets and is made by CCI (and is very hard to chamber). The paper stuff is made by Federal and uses a Federal bullet. I have shot Federal 711b and AutoMatch in my rifle and had no problem closing the bolt. Apparently the paper stuff is shipped to Europe more often than not because they have packaging restrictions... I guess they can only have 50 in a box. Also, the paper packaged stuff is 20-40 fps faster than the plastic box stuff. I have a brick of the paper stuff arriving from Champions Choice this coming Friday and am anxious to try it out. That will be the real proof as the above stuff is what I got from the web... though the guy seemed very credible. Also, I have heard from my bullseye friends that there is a difference between the two... this seems to support it. Last, the lot info tells you where it is made... wish I could find the link that told you how you can tell if Federal makes it or CCI makes it.

[gregw72]

The info came from this link:
http://guntalk-online.com/forum/viewtop ... ccca4ad98f

I kind of mixed up my facts... Federal used to make the paper boxed stuff, but now CCI does... the post from 2010. Here's the response from CCI:

Thank you for your email.

A couple of years ago (estimate) Federal Cartridge was manufacturing
some of the CCI 22 LRSV paper packed product (Part 0035) but just for a
period of time. At that time, Federal lot numbers did start with a
number. Note: Another (easier) method to tell the difference between
Federal mfg. product and CCI (Lewiston) is that Federal packages their
product with a white plastic cartridge carrier that has legs. CCI uses a
clear plastic cartridge carrier with no legs.

"Currently" CCI (here Lewiston, Idaho) is manufacturing both the CCI 22
LRSV paper product (Part 0035) and the plastic packed (Part 0032).

This could change again...................... Linda


Linda Olin
CCI/Speer Technical Services
2299 Snake River Ave.
Lewiston, ID 83501

[Sherlok]

Invest in a Waltz tool which reforms and bumps up the diameter by about 1/1000s. It does not help all makes. You have to experiment.

By weighing and sorting before reforming, I've been able to improve the lowly Thunderbolt to almost what Eley Black box can do out of my 40X out to 150 yards. A good bit of extra work, but worth it if you shoot a lot.

Sherlok

[Bigfoot]

Hey Greg,

Jason is on to something with the Federal Auto Match. I've been shooting it for a month or so in two of the three rifles in team Bower's arsenal. It shoots well in my 1712 wooster hunter rifle and my 54-18 standard rifle. Having said that it doesn't shoot at all in my dads 1712 meister grade. The odd thing is it shoots the best groups from the bench at 100 meters, significantly better than at pigs and turkeys.

So I guess what I'd have to say is try a bunch of loads and put in some bench time as our rimfire rifles can be finicky. You just have to weigh the cost of ammo versus the value of your time spent weighing rounds etc. But hey! This stuff is fun and that's why we do it eh?

Best of luck!

[gregw72]

Funny you mentioned Federal AM... our Walmart just got some in yesterday, so I bought a couple bricks. I also got some Federal Lightning (510) which I hear is good. Last, my CCI arrived yesterday... the paper box stuff... and it had the clear tray, so it was made by CCI. That means I will have the same hard closing bolt problem as before (dang). I used to love Winchester Dynapoint, but the new stuff at Dicks (Dynapoint GT) is garbage.

I had shot Fed AM before at 50m and 100m... the 50m groups were on par with Eley Target and Wolf MT with an occasional flier. At 100m, I was getting 1.75"-2.00" 10-shot groups, so I wrote it off. Since then, I have scaled paper targets for 50 yards (our club has an outdoor lighted 50/100 yard range) and cranked off a 50 each of C-P-T-R. My club won't let me set up swingers anyhow, so I have to shoot paper... so ammo that shoots good to 50 yards should work.

The weather is too cold and rainy to shoot this weekend... thanks for all the suggestions... stay tuned.

Also, what do you guy think about running copper plated bullets thru the 1712? So far, I have stayed with non-plated since all match ammo is non-plated

[BCloninger]

I'm not sure there's a good use for plated bullets; the copper wash is intended as a lubricant, and they're less likely to pick up pocket lint, but they look like a terrible thing to inflict on a 1712.