The Rimfire Report: Supreme Consistency - ELEY Target 40gr

It's tough to argue these days that we don't have a serious issue in the domestic rimfire market. We just can't seem to crank out truly consistent match-grade .22LR here in the States. Sure, stuff like CCI Green Tag and Federal AutoMatch can hit solid A-tier status in my book, but the undisputed kings of .22LR still hail from just two shops: the UK's ELEY and Finland's Lapua. Today, we're checking out one of ELEY's more wallet-friendly and accessible options - ELEY Target .22LR 40gr.

More Rimfire Report @ TFB:

• The Rimfire Report: Back to Basics With the 10/22 & CCI Standard
• The Rimfire Report: An Ode To The Marlin Model 29 Pump Action
• The Rimfire Report: Smith & Wesson FPC 22 – 1,000 Rounds Later

This barely subsonic load goes for about $0.16 per round, making it a logical next step before jumping to pricier, theoretically more accurate loads like ELEY Club or ELEY Match. I recently took out a small business loan and purchased a dozen boxes of various ELEY ammo, and I recently ran a 50-round box out of a Ruger Precision Rimfire combined with Rich Angstadt’s Vanquish 22 Integrally Suppressed barrel, which claims match-grade accuracy. Let's go over the rifle, the ammo, and the results.

The Rifle - Angstadt Vanquish-22 Ruger Precision Rimfire

We're swapping out our usual Bergara B14R test rifle for this new Ruger Precision Rimfire for two main reasons. First, the Ruger is way more accessible to the average shooter. Second, Rich Angstadt sent over one of his Vanquish 22 integrally suppressed barrels with the rifle for review, so this ammo test just happened to line up perfectly. The rifle itself would set you back just a touch over $1,000, but that’s still a full $200 less than the B14R. I’ve moved my older Vortex Venom 5-25x56 FFP to the Ruger Precision Rimfire for now, which would be a pretty logical choice for this rifle in a PRS, NRL, or NRL Hunter configuration. The only other accessory I’ve bothered to attach to it is a Magpul bipod.

The Ammo - ELEY Target 40gr LRN

A few things are interesting about this particular load from ELEY. On the  ELEY website, despite its name, it is actually marketed as a jack of all trades. ELEY states that it's used for everything from 50M prone shooting for precision bolt-actions, to 25m rapid fire pistol, and even as an “alternative hunting round.” ELEY goes as far as to recommend specific headspace and primer strike depth for optimal ignition - far more information than you’d get from similarly priced ammo almost anywhere else.

The surface consistency of the bullet itself is also extremely smooth, in stark contrast to CCI Standard velocity’s similar 40-grain round nose, which has a less uniform surface. Interestingly enough, according to both websites, CCI’s SV claims to have a slightly better ballistic coefficient at .120 in comparison to ELEY Target’s claimed .112 BC. If you’re interested in picking this ammo up to try it out yourself, you can expect to pay about $0.16 per round for about $8.00 a box, which isn’t too bad if you factor in the performance it’ll give you out of the right rifle.

CCI Standard Velocity Results

CCI Standard has an advertised velocity of 1070 fps, as most of you know, and it's likely that CCI Standard is chronoed out of a similar length barrel to that of ELEY (20-24”). Out of the Angstadt Ruger Precision Rimfire, we saw that velocity dropped to an average of 980 fps, well below the supersonic threshold, making for an extremely pleasant range session where hearing protection wasn’t strictly required. This is definitely an economical option, as it always is, provided it is accurate out of the Vanquish barrel.

ELEY Target Velocity Results

ELEY Target has an advertised velocity of 1090 FPS out of presumably one of ELEY’s standard test barrels, which always feature a 1:16 twist rate, but have barrel lengths varying between 21” and 24.” That being said, given that we’re shooting this through the shorter 18-inch, ported Vanquish 22 integrally suppressed barrel, we should expect a significant drop-off in velocity from the one advertised on the site, and a similar sound performance to that of CCI Standard

Indeed, we did. On average, the Vanquish 22 barrel produced a pretty consistent 110 fps reduction in overall velocity compared to the ELEY advertised velocity. Interestingly, despite having a higher advertised velocity, we saw a bigger drop than that of CCI Standard (90 fps). For precision shooting at a reasonable range, this load should prove to be extremely consistent due to its 100% subsonic nature, and of course, its great consistency at the muzzle. A standard deviation of just 14 fps is phenomenal, but what did you really expect from a .22LR cartridge that is nearly twice as expensive as CCI Standard? So, how does the Vanquish barrel itself make use of this extremely consistent ammo?

To put it bluntly, this is the best I've ever seen CCI Standard Velocity perform out of any rifle. A handful of rounds dipped below the main group, and a few rounds even squeaked over 1,000 fps, but that's still well below true supersonic. Our highest shot from the 50-round string just kissed the lower edge of transonic territory (around 1,004 fps at sea level), where turbulent airflow starts messing with stability during the super to subsonic transition and induces inaccuracies even at short ranges like 50 yards.

Final Thoughts

I think what is most surprising to me today is that at least out of this one rifle and barrel combo (props to both Ruger and Angstadt), both CCI Standard and ELEY Target 40 grain have great accuracy, and I’d go as far as to say that ELEY Target has supreme accuracy. I am perhaps souring the data a little bit by stubbornly sticking to 10-round groups, but despite any inconsistencies I may be introducing, the performance overall is very good in my opinion, and if a match win was on the table, I don’t think I’d mind paying the extra $0.08 per round for that extra layer of consistency.