Shooting a 22LR Rifle in a Whole New Way

Shooting a 22LR Rifle in a Whole New Way. My 22LR Rifle Beginning: It was Christmas Day. After our family had opened all the gifts my mom said to my dad, “I think there is one more gift we did not open.” My dad proceeded to pull out a long and slender from the closet. I had been wanting a 22LR rifle in the worst way and I knew that had to be what was in that box.

My dad placed the rifle across my lap. I tore the wrapping paper off to see the Ruger brand symbol. It was the RUGER 10/22 that I wanted so badly. I wish I knew how many rounds I had put through that rifle over the past 45 years. I still have that rifle and pull it out to shoot it from time to time. It is even in some of the pictures on the website and in some of the videos.

[caption id="attachment_18" align="aligncenter" width="405"] Shooting a 22LR Rifle in a Whole New Way[/caption]

Growing up, my Ruger 10/22 has accounted for many squirrels and woodchucks!

Entering the Precision Rimfire World

I had gotten away from shooting rimfire as a vast amount of my free time is spent shooting centerfire and clays. I have seen the surge in rimfire on social media, especially long range rimfire shooting and always wanted a precision rimfire rifle. The 10/22’s have always been reliable and accurate, but I wanted to take it to another level. After doing a fair amount of research I settled on the Bergara B-14R with steel barrel. I really liked the fact that this rifle is a trainer and is basically similar in dimensions to the centerfire version.

[caption id="attachment_2193" align="aligncenter" width="680"] Shooting a 22LR Rifle in a Whole New Way[/caption]

Mounted the TRACT TORIC 4-20X50 MRAD/MRAD on it, bore sighted it and headed to the range.

Test Results

I had a few different types of ammo to try so I was hoping to figure out what shot the best. It was a beautiful, chilly, sunny day but there was a decent amount of wind, so I was not sure how it would go.

Ammo #1

I started off with CCI Standard Velocity and was shooting 5 shot groups. Here is the best with that round:

[caption id="attachment_2194" align="aligncenter" width="420"] Shooting a 22LR Rifle in a Whole New Way[/caption]

Ammo #2

Next, took a 5-Shot Group with the ELEY Black

[caption id="attachment_2195" align="aligncenter" width="427"] Shooting a 22LR Rifle in a Whole New Way[/caption]

Ammo #3

Finally, shot a 5-shot group with the Lapua Midas

[caption id="attachment_2196" align="aligncenter" width="430"] 6.5 Creedmoor vs .308 Win.[/caption]

All these 5 shot groups were at a distance of 50-yards. I was pleasantly surprised by the accuracy of the CCI Standard ammo. It turned in the best group of the day.

Stay tuned for Part 2! I have several other types of standard and match ammo to try. We will show the results of those tests (hopefully on a less windy day).

Bergara B-14R Highlights

A few notes on the rifle. The rifle functioned flawlessly throughout the day. I would estimate around 300 rounds were fired. The bolt is smooth yet tight, making working the bolt without changing your head position manageable. The factory trigger was nice, but I have been spoiled by Trigger Tech triggers that I use in my centerfire target and test guns. My buddy had one in his Vudoo and we were switching shooting each other’s rifles and after comparing I will be switching out to a Trigger Tech soon.

[caption id="attachment_1344" align="aligncenter" width="720"] 6.5 Creedmoor vs .308 Win.[/caption]