new b22 fv sr

[chetc]

had my new B22 fv sr for a few days now, accuracy is a little poor at the moment, trying quite a few different ammo's. barrel is not floating at the moment, it's something i can do easily, but before i do that, just curious if any B22 owners can say they are getting good accuracy at 50yds, i have the trigger down good and added a cheek pc, shooting off of a bench with good front and rear rest, i am trying to achieve getting consistent 1/2" groups of better, been experimenting where to put the forend in the bags, any tips anyone can pass along to get it to group tighter, i also have a ruger 10 22 LVT and it is shooting better with SK pistol Match ammo. and i have a CZ 452 American that is showing slightly tighter groups, so far i have approx 350 400 rounds thru the B22. might make a barrel tuner to see if it helps.

chet

[J.Baker]

So what kind of groups are you getting right now?

First thing (obviously) is to get the barrel free-floated as that's messing with the barrel harmonics. No sense in making a barrel tuner until you have that sorted out.

Second, are you shooting standard or high velocity ammunition? It's bee my experience that high velocity ammo never groups well no matter what gun I run it though. I'm sure there are a few exceptions out there, but I've yet to find one.

Third, check your action screws. During my testing of the B17 FV-SR earlier this summer my accuracy suddenly tapered off and I found the cause to be that the front action screw had shot loose on me. Tightened it up and she started shooting nice small groups again. And before you ask, no I don't have a torque value - I just go by feel.

Last but not least, remember we're dealing with 22 rimfire ammo here. 1/2" groups at 50 yards are very hard to come by with a factory rimfire rifle no matter how good the ammo is, and such groups aren't a given for custom rimfire rifles fitted with premium aftermarket barrels either. Generally speaking, if you get a factory mass produced rimfire that consistently shoots under an inch you have a good one. If you have one that consistently shoots under 3/4" you have a great one. If you have one that consistently shoots 1/2" or better groups you found a unicorn.

[chetc]

well i spent most of the day working on the B22, first i removed the barrel insert, and machined a alum bar at .970 and redrilled the 3 screw holes, press the bar in place and put 3 new longer screws, it is as rigid as i can get it, barrel floats, next i machined two barrel tuners one with a moveable weight on the OD. second one is one where you turn it and lock it in place, don't know which one and if either will have any effect on paper. hoping this will show some improvement. next step is i will hand lap the barrel. i have a feeling floating will show more consistent and tighter groups. also i put my weaver t 36 on it.

chet
ps i know this is only a factory rifle, but i am going to see how close i can get to the 64 MPR Anshutzs guys here at the range,

[chetc]

after todays shooting with the B22, results are actually worst with floating the barrel and reinforcing the stock, so i am back home debating to sell it or lap the barrel and give it another try. if a call to savage would help and explain poor accuracy, if i get an inch group out of 5 or 7 targets at 50yds would be the best it can do. would savage change the barrel

chet

[Don G]

Chet: Sorry to hear about the unsatisfactory results your having with your new rifle. Using Mr. Baker's analogy I think I got lucky with my Savage Mark II BV. It's not a unicorn or the equivalent of some of the rifles I shoot against in the prone matches. Financially I can't afford those expensive rifles so I have to make do with what I have. I don't have any of the Prone targets I've shot to get a measurement but the majority of my shots at both 50 & 100 yards are in the 10 & X ring with a few flyers, which I try to avoid. I'm using standard velocity -- high velocity didn't work so well for me.



Out of curiosity, I looked at some of the reviews for your rifle. Many showed the results for 25 yards, which was of no interest to me - I was interested in the results at 50 & 100 yards but didn't find any. The reviewers like the rifle. Contacting Savage customer service is probably your only option. I don't understand the changes you made to the rifle but they probably won't be happy to hear about them.



I have a S&W M&P 15/22 that I bought based on reviews. Like you I wanted a accurate rifle under $400 - as Mr Baker indicated that was wishful thinking. It was poor at 50 yards and worse at 100 yards. I gave it to my wife as a bribe to buy the Savage Mark II!! I do use the S&W for rimfire challange matches up to 35 yards and it works pretty well at that distance.



Don't know what to tell you brother other than I hope you solve the accuracy problem.

[J.Baker]

Chet: Sorry to hear about the unsatisfactory results your having with your new rifle. Using Mr. Baker's analogy I think I got lucky with my Savage Mark II BV. It's not a unicorn or the equivalent of some of the rifles I shoot against in the prone matches. Financially I can't afford those expensive rifles so I have to make do with what I have. I don't have any of the Prone targets I've shot to get a measurement but the majority of my shots at both 50 & 100 yards are in the 10 & X ring with a few flyers, which I try to avoid. I'm using standard velocity -- high velocity didn't work so well for me.

Out of curiosity, I looked at some of the reviews for your rifle. Many showed the results for 25 yards, which was of no interest to me - I was interested in the results at 50 & 100 yards but didn't find any. The reviewers like the rifle. Contacting Savage customer service is probably your only option. I don't understand the changes you made to the rifle but they probably won't be happy to hear about them.

I have a S&W M&P 15/22 that I bought based on reviews. Like you I wanted a accurate rifle under $400 - as Mr Baker indicated that was wishful thinking. It was poor at 50 yards and worse at 100 yards. I gave it to my wife as a bribe to buy the Savage Mark II!! I do use the S&W for rimfire challange matches up to 35 yards and it works pretty well at that distance.

Don't know what to tell you brother other than I hope you solve the accuracy problem.

Can't be talking about my review as all my groups were shot at 50 yards and there are plenty 5-shot groups pictured in the article that are under 1/2" at that distance.

Second, I didn't mean to imply that it's impossible to get a mass production sub $600 rimfire rifle that shoots MOA at 50 yards, but rather than it's not a given and more guns than not probably won't for one reason or another.

Most guys are too stingy to spend the money on quality rimfire ammo or can't be bothered to put forth the effort and take the time to test a dozen or so different types of ammunition in their rifle. Additionally, most think shooting two or three 5-shot groups with each type of ammo is sufficient to get a good representation of how that ammo will shoot in their rifle when nothing could be further from the truth. It's been my experience that you typically have to shoot 40-50 rounds of a given type of rimfire ammo just to get it to season the bore to it's liking before it will start settling down and show you what it's capable of. For me, 150-200 consecutive rounds of 5-shot groups is minimum for a given type of ammo to get a good representation of how it's going to shoot in my rifle. Not only do you ensure the bore is good and seasoned to that ammo, but with the larger sampling it better balances out any human factor over a larger number of groups for the final average.

Sadly, rimfires rifles are very much subject to the quality (or lack thereof) of the ammunition we have available for them. Last summer I chronographed a large sampling of 17 HMR ammunition and was shocked by how inconsistent every single type was and how big the E.S. and S.D's were. For two years I had been thinking my CZ452 American was a rare lemon, when in fact it was the inconsistency of the ammo. Even mid-grade 22LR ammo will have an E.S. in the 80-100fps range. When you're only talking 1050fps with standard velocity ammo that's a 10% variance in velocity and it's definitely going to open up your groups.

[Don G]

Nope, it wasn't your reviews -- they were a couple I saw on youtube. Before my 1st prone match I had high expectations for myself and my rifle. Even when I arrived and saw what they were shooting and the expensive ammo they were using I still had high expectations. Reality set in when we went down range to change targets and score -- most of these guys had holes where the X ring was. They records scores like 1195 (80 X's), 1193 (79 X's), 1190 (65 X's) and so on. I'm just a retired hillbilly living on a fixed income. I can't afford their guns or ammo but to me any day on the range is a good day. I'm getting the best out of the gun that it can give for my level of expertise. Additionally, I rarely clean the bore but I do scrub out the breech after each match. If a skip a scrub I have extraction problems.

[Don G]

Mr. Baker: I just finished reading your review. Nicely detailed and complete. Looks to me like Chet's rifle is a good shooter -- with the right ammo as your results testify to. Without knowing what he's using I'd suspect the ammo. Chet hasn't said what brand/type of ammo he's using - I wonder what it is? My best results for the prone/tactical/ rimfire challenge matches is CCI standard velocity. When I get a few extra bucks I might try some of the more expensive ammo you tested.

I assume that was you in the video?

[J.Baker]

Mr. Baker: I just finished reading your review. Nicely detailed and complete. Looks to me like Chet's rifle is a good shooter -- with the right ammo as your results testify to. Without knowing what he's using I'd suspect the ammo. Chet hasn't said what brand/type of ammo he's using - I wonder what it is? My best results for the prone/tactical/ rimfire challenge matches is CCI standard velocity. When I get a few extra bucks I might try some of the more expensive ammo you tested.

I assume that was you in the video?

That's the problem with rimfire rifles, they can be downright picky when it comes to ammo and there's not option to custom tailor a load for them like a centerfire rifle.

As for that feller in the video, I sure hope that's me as I'd hate to think there's a clone of me running around out there.