looking for ammo

[JJ Grandits]

I have a nice little Savage Mark II .22. Been trying out all sorts of different ammo in it to see what it likes best. Awhile back I picked up some Peters .22LR at Gander Mountain for about $1.50 a box. The gun loves this stuff! at 50 yds. it almost putting them through the same hole. I cannot for the life of me find anymore of them. I know they are made by Remington but their website does not list them. Any idea's?

[Ray]

Hi, I've herd this before that simi-auto .22 cal handguns tend to like a certain brand, and shoot them better, and I agree, that is true in alot of cases but the real truth is that the springs in the little .22 cal. are not at the proper strength, even from the factory, the springs are not right. If you have a little simi auto, that will only shoot one or two brands best, then I'd send it back and have them FIX it imm. In my opinion Federal is the only brand that seems to have such poor Quality control that that it is a waste to purchase. most other brands shoot fine in a properly tuned .22 hand gun. If I had a .22 that only liked two brands I'd get it fixed or sell it. Would you believe someone that said their revolver only like a couple brands best, and would you keep a revolver that only shot one brand bullet??, I wouldn't, and I'm the same with simi automatics!! best wishes, ray

[backwoodsman]

I just sold a Marlin 39c lever action .22. It would only accurately shoot Remington Thunderbolts and there was only a few it would cycle. Guy kept bugging me for it or I wouldnt have sold it. Check at Gander Mountain, Bass Pro etc and they can search all their stores. Mail order may be an option. Cheaper Then Dirt etc carry hard to find and discontinued ammo. Either they slowed production or quit making your preferred round I'd bet.

[Tad]

I did a quick google search for you, remington merged with petersons long ago and the general thought is they are the same as the thunderbolts but the package them under the peterson name for Gander only.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

remingtion keeps the peters name around often they do special packs of stuff around christmas in bulk tins they are probably very close to thuderbolts try them or cci

when you find one your gun likes buy all you can afford at that time a few thousand rounds is not an unusual ammount of 22 to keep on hand.

[JJ Grandits]

mark II is a bolt action rifle. It does not like CCI at all. It does pretty good with winchester HP in the bulk pack. It is fair to lousy with the remington golden bullet and Federals. The Peters were definately not Thunderbolts. Remington Thunderbolts are the dirtiest .22 I've ever shot.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

well continue trying differnet brands and differnet cartreges of each brand , keep notes how each did and the end of the box for later refrence

give a box of cci standard velocity a try they are very popular with 22 bulls eye ,bench rest and 3 position shooters as they do not go super sonic in most guns

if you start super sonic then fall below you go thru a turbulance as the bullet falls below super sonic speeds

your peters ammo may have started a bit slower than the hyper velocity stuff so it wasn't affected by the turbulence

depending on the round many are optimized for popular barrel lengths like 16.5 inches to 18 inches but longer barreled guns are in a minority doen't the mark 2 have a 22 inch barrel so if the bullet reaches max velocity of 1240fps at 16 inches but tavels 6 more inches it looses speed so it may be 1100 fps and depending on temprature and distance to target your playing right around the speed of sound

long distance shooters will tell you you need to maintain supersonic thru the target if you want to score if your shooting a 223 at 1000 yards and it falls below supersonic at 900 yards your group opens up to a pattern , i am not a 1000 yard shooter but i have read about and is well documented

if your gun especialy doesn't like copper plated bullets this may be the case as much as copper forms a nice gas seal and is nessesary in speeds over 2000 fps in most cases it takes more to get it down the barrel , plating doesn't take as much as copper jacketing but more than lubed lead does

[JJ Grandits]

Thats why Im trying to find the Peters. They worked at a level way above anything else. Velocity is listed at 1255 fps at the muzzel. and 1017 fps at 100 yds. I was shooting at 50 yds. so they may have been supersonic at that point. Im a firm believer that every gun has its special ammo. My Ithaca 37 has a 20" barrel and is cylinder bore. It loves Federal reduced recoil truball slugs. at 50 yds. it will give me groups at about an inch and a half. For a foster slug I am fat, dumb and happy.

[ace admirer]

eley sport

[JJ Grandits]

I thought of those, but being of an economical mind (cheap) the $1.50 a box for the peters sounds nicer.

[Chuck R.]

Originally Posted by GREENCOUNTYPETE

long distance shooters will tell you you need to maintain supersonic thru the target if you want to score if your shooting a 223 at 1000 yards and it falls below supersonic at 900 yards your group opens up to a pattern , i am not a 1000 yard shooter but i have read about and is well documented

I agree, but I don’t know if it applies to .22s due to bullet design and the velocity range. I’ve been told by a couple national BPCR (Black Powder Cartridge Rifle) Silhouette champions that once a BPCR bullet makes the transition to subsonic it stabilizes again during its trajectory. To be honest it boggles my mind how it’s possible, but after messing with BPCRs for years, most of which start supersonic and then transition to subsonic I believe them.

I’ve competed in 800, 900, and 1000 yard Creedmoor matches with both a 45-90 and .45-100, and both leave the muzzle at slightly supersonic (1290-1350 FPS) and transition to subsonic in route; I’ve maintained 2-3 MOA out to a 1000 yards. My Silhouette rifle that I shot my way into NRA master class with is a .40-70 Winchester that also starts out supersonic and transitions before it gets to the pigs (300 meters) and I can keep it on the turkeys and rams consistently which are 2.5-3.5 MOA animals at 385 and 500 meters.

When BP silhouette first started up the thought was to try and keep bullets below supersonic to avoid the transition, but as more and more shooters were winning with the faster rounds the “transition” has been discounted. I don’t think there’s a BPCR caliber made that can maintain supersonic past 300meters.

It may be that this only applies to BPCRs and their subsonic bullet designs, but BPCR bullets are similar to .22 bullets. I had a .22LR built to mimic my silhouette rifle to include a 30” barrel for the sight radius and balance. In when shooting at 100-200 meters the little .22 reacts to the wind about like my 40-70 does at 500 meters.

One thing I’ve learned about accuracy testing .22s is to “season” your barrel when changing ammo due to the different concoctions of .22 bullet lube. It takes my .22 Douglas match grade barrel about 10 rounds to “settle” down when I change loads or after cleaning it. Which is why I buy Eley by the brick when I can and only clean about every 500 rounds.

Chuck

[JJ Grandits]

When deer hunting I sight my shotgun in and shoot a dirty barrel all season. I still clean my rifles everytime they are used. My Mosin Nagant I clean every time I look at it.

[Cabin Fever]

I believe that I read that Peters ammo is made by Remington for Gander Mountain stores only. Perhaps, it was made for a limited time only.

[JJ Grandits]

Thats a possibility. I'll have to grill the fine young men of Gander Mountain again. At least I can find out when they're available.

[Tad]

Originally Posted by JJ Grandits

Thats a possibility. I'll have to grill the fine young men of Gander Mountain again. At least I can find out when they're available.

Good luck with that!!!! I will be amazed if you get more than a shoulder shrug and an I don't know!

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

Usually when a rifle/pistol "likes" a certain round/cartridge it has to do with bullet weight/amount of powder, etc and is affected by the length and twist of the rifling in the barrel. My neighbor just bought an expensive (in excess of $2K) target rifle that loves several rounds he loads for it and others - darn near fly off of the paper. He is a world class target shooter and knows about that kind of stuff. He talks to me about it and my eyes glaze over. If it shoots well enough to kill what needs killing at 200 yards its good enough for me.

[JJ Grandits]

Its kind of like buying shoes a Walmart. They might all be the same size but some fit a lot better then others.