Copper Coated 22s Destroy my Accuracy???

[TCLouis]

While testing my new(to me) 10" octagon 22 barrel with plain lead bullets, I got two groups fra a particular ammo that were the size of my fingernail at 50 yards.

Then I continued on with my ammo test and shot several different copper coated bullets/ammo.

Now the best I can get is 1.0 - 2.0 inch groups.

If i did not get two different groups that were small and smaller yet, then 1.5" may be what I would expect!

Any ideas???

Clean?
Clean with Wipeout?
Wipe out bore with solvent patch?

[happyret65]

Don't mix the two types of bullets. You have to clean the rifle if you change your bullet selection. Copper fouling seems to build faster.

[Jim]

Some think me to be OC but I clean every gun after firing, even if it's just one shot. I've also found that quite often, the first shot out of a clean barrel is a flier. Dad taught me to fire a fouling shot before target shooting or hunting andf I have found it does make a difference.

[Fernando]

TC I suspect??
22 is to slow to copper foul.
Use a bore guide and brush.
I use kroil.
Skip the copper washed ****.
Go with Wolf/SK std. as low end - stay sub sonic.
Season bore with some warm ups and then run groups.
Try Eley, Lapua, and RWS.
Ammo is everything in rimfire.
First shot fliers tend to go High left about 11 o'clock 1/2" out.
Clean in between ammo changes - a couple of dry patches works.
Lot numbers make a big difference.
When you find what works buy all you can get of that lot#
I may be new to this in depth casting stuff but I hold my own in the rimfire games.
Try a couple lots of SK pistol match and some Eley Club or Team

[uscra112]

I've tried to find copper in a 10/22 that shot a full box of MiniMags (copper flashed), but could not get any green at all using Hoppes'. So I'm doubting that you copper-fouled your bore.

What's happened is that the lube on the copper-plated bullets has changed the surface conditioning inside your barrel. I find that the old saw about it taking a dozen or two shots from any kind of ammo before it will settle down is quite true. Have watched this closely in my Ballard and Stevens target rifles.

Wipe your bore out with one wet and then 2-3 dry patches, then set down and shoot a couple dozen rounds of that ammo which was doing well for you. Your accuracy will probably be back.

Rimfire ammo quality varies all over the place. I've weighed, measured, folded spindled and mutilated a lot of bulk ammo in the last year. Even shot off some of it. I'm down to MiniMags for varmint control, and Wolf Match for practice in the target guns. I would give away all my Remington if I could find somebody I disliked enough. Federal UM-1 was magical, but today Federal ammo is mostly poor, even their so-called "target" ammo. But their Auto Match is reasonably close to CCI Blazer for uniformity at least. Eley Sport is no great shakes, but their high-price match ammo is the gold standard today for competition. SK and Wolf Match are from the same source, and as far as I can tell they are the same stuff in different packaging. Neither my digital scales nor my rifles can distinguish between Wolf Match and Wolf Ultra Match.

YMMV, because ammo fit in the chamber is as important as anything else. But don't judge any ammo until you've fired at least 50 rounds.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I shoot my .22`s for fun and ocassionly hunting and varmit control. My rifles and pistols are not target arms, they are just .22`s. If I were that worried about accuracy, well I just don`t know what I`d do, they are just .22`s! If you are a dyed in the wool match shooting accuracy fanatic, then go ahead and clean your rifle a bunch between rounds and pay $10+ per box of target ammo - otherwise they are just .22`s. I clean my .22`s maybe once a year, if they need it or not because they are just .22`s.Robert

[mongoosesnipe]

I have a 10/22 that I floated the factory tapered barrel all the way done to the action and it eats a diet of cci sub sonic hallow point ammo I clean it when the rounds begin to fail to extract or chamber last time I cleaned it I tore it down a scrubbed the whole thing out the re zero neted a five shot group the size of a dime a 65 yards those plain Jane .22s are capable of excellent accuracy with decent ammo doesn't need to be match grade and my savage bolt 22 shoots sub moa at 100 with federal champion which is two bucks a box tho I am still shooting ammo I bought for $8 a brick

[montana_charlie]

I got two groups fra a particular ammo that were the size of my fingernail at 50 yards.

How many rounds were in those groups?

[dale2242]

I used Winchester Super Speed Copper coated solid points in my TC 22lrs when I was shooting IHMSA small bore.
One was a 10" and one was 14".
It was the most accurate 22lr ammo that was not match grade, expensive ammo.
I shot cases of this stuff. That would be 5K to the case.

[jh45gun]

I would not blame the copper washed bullets over the lead ones it was just a case of your gun preferring the lead ones better. Some one else might have the opposite results.

[Taz700]

Some think me to be OC but I clean every gun after firing, even if it's just one shot. I've also found that quite often, the first shot out of a clean barrel is a flier. Dad taught me to fire a fouling shot before target shooting or hunting andf I have found it does make a difference.

Somebody asked me if I clean my guns all the time when I'm done, I looked at another guy and said what do mine look like after I clean them he said "probably cleaner than the silverware your wife takes out of the dishwasher" I laughed so hard, but I do agree, a clean gun is ok if you "forget to clean it" but if you forget to clean a dirty one, years later....

[grampa243]

I would ask what was the bullet wight? are they all the same? or are you shooting diffornt ones?

I have shot/tested many 22LR loads in my guns.

two of my rifles only like 40 grain bullets and don't seam to care what brand. but feed them a 32 or 36 grain bullet and the groups open up like crazy.

then my wife's 10/22 behaves best with a 32 grain medium velocity. and she has a 2.5 lbs trigger job in her 10/22 that will shoot dime size groups at 25 yards.

my mark III shoots best with High velocity under 2 inch at 50 yards.

so every gun as it's own likes and dislikes. all part of the fun we have shooting and trying to shoot better.

[grampa243]

on a cleaner note.

most of the members of the Sporterrifle team i shoot with in the winter months don't clean their guns till the season is over. 21+ weeks.
[don't want any of those clean barrel fliers]

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

TCLouis,

I think the answer to this may at least to some degree be found in the quality of the barrel.

I read that between different brands or types of .22s, you need to do a bunch of shooting to get the rifle atuned to the different ammo and lube. I have not found that to be the case with the Walther barrel on my Clark Custom RUGER 77/22

If this rifle will shoot that much better after fouling the barrel, "properly" with the different ammo, then I should start shooting for money as this rifle just flat shoots very well, even going from one brand or type to the next, group after group after group.

It matters not, if the ammo is one the rifle favors, and there are a bunch of those, it just plain shoots very well, copper coated or lead.

I have also found that the better the barrel, the more types and brands will shoot well in that barrel, while with a barrel of possibly lessor quality, a person is likely to need more testing with more and different brands and types before the barrel tells you it is happy.

I am not a long time competition shooter, and the above info is simply what I have found to be true with this rifle and barrel and those who have shot their rifles with me using the same ammo from the same box and off the same bench and bags.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot