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Accuracy issues with .22s

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jps2486

jps2486

Member
Apr 20, 2015
3,063
1,767
Onalaska, WI, United States
It has been well documented that .22 cal Mods have sporadic accuracy issues. In my research, many other .22 cal airguns seem to demonstrate more than their share of fliers and spiralling pellets. I was looking for a .22 cal BR gun, but someone advised me that the only way to guarantee consistent accuracy in that caliber would require an aftermarket barrel such as a Lilja. That would materially add to the cost of an already expensive gun. What are your thoughts on this? I know that they shoot .25s, .30s, and .357s in Arizona, but I want to stick to the USARBRA rules limiting the caliber to .22.
 
"psst, hey buddy wanna buy a good barrel?".
I have heard better shooters than I say "you just about cant get a good barrel these days". Many likely from reading the Internet think the LW (or ST or such) is THE ticket to success. I remember 5 or so years back when if you wanted a 15mm .22 you' better not use an LW. Even Lilja et al. , still not a guarantee, and you (someone) gets to do all the final polish no matter. If you happy with just over 1/2" at 50 a hand lapped and prepped LW "may" do it and esp. if you keep the power down. It seems the real issue is getting a full-close to- 20fpe. Heck there may be a well know tuner who now just tells people "if" you wants a true shooter ( as in you crazy BR folk) you cant have 20fpe. Maybe 18fpe but then....????? . Buy an old, proven, used rifle just for the barrel, hope setting it up for your needs doesn't change anything ? 
Even with a 3-400.00 blank it seems you may need to buy several and go through all the work to test it before finding one that will win BR.

Personally, I like staying within the BR rules and staying with .22, just fun.

Doing your own work or having it done?

John

 
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"Tron"Have you thought about buying a BSA barrel? they can be purchased in .177 .22 .25 the barrels on the pc guns give fantastic accuracy there are several vids showing just how good they are.
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BSA barrels have a reputation for good accuracy, but I've not seen anyone who has used one on competition rifles. If they were that good, all the top shooters would be using them. Now that BSA is owned by Gamo, are the barrels still as good as ever?
 
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I don't mean to throw a wrench in the works, but aren't we forgetting the obvious? The pellet!

The best barrel in the world will not, and cannot, stabilize a lousily-designed and/or manufactured pellet! To be sure, we're NOT talking about twist rates, albeit an important design criteria. Rather the variances in individual pellets. For example, using a comparison microscope, I have measured the head and skirt diameters of several brands of pellets. I've seen head diameters vary between .170 to as large as .175 taken out of the same tin! Skirts vary just as much. Worse, is their concentricity which can vary as much as .010 inches! 

One factor is rough shipping and handling which tends to make the contents plainly smashed! And, when you buy a tin of pellets, and find that about one in ten has mold-flanges, you tend to look at the manufacturer. Whatever the cause, some pellets just will not fly straight!
 
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I have a friend who has some 6 sections of land south of me a few miles, adjacent to the city dump! Others use the place, so there are target stands existing. It is closer and easier to get in and out of than the local gun club's range. 

The reason I started looking at head and skirt diameters was because of flyers I was getting. The Gamo Re Fire pellets I've been using seem to more more consistent than others I have tried. The lead Gamo uses appears to be harder than most, although I don't have a way to check that. The worse ones I have tried are the 8.44 grains Exacts. About half the tin is damaged in some way, as if they had been roughly treated during shipping. I say this, because the lead is really soft, and you even have to be careful loading them. 

I should note, that I only shoot is .177 guns.
 
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Funny, JSB just started marketing their Premier line. Supposedly, they are hand selected and individually packed. I tried them and compared accuracy side-by-side with regular JSBs and AA pellets. Frankly, there is no advantage with these. I got better scores with AAs right from the tin. I normally use AAs after visually inspecting the skirts for dents and other irregularities. I weigh them also. Beyond that, I feel the ability to get good scores depends on the nut behind the buttplate. And every once in a while, we get humbled by a sandbagger that shows up with a Marauder. Keep practicing.
 
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