Target 22LR Rifles today vs the Past

[ChampCarStar]

$12,000 rifle to shoot a 4 cent round?

I'd rather have a Barrett .50 BMG for $12,000. That one will hit a mile.

I wish it was only 4 cents a round. No one uses cheap ammo like that. It's not consistent enough to perform at the highest levels of International and Olympic competition.

Last time I bought 10,000 rounds of Eley Tenex .22 ammo, it cost me almost $4,000.

See my thread below on my ammo:

https://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=1636515

[ChampCarStar]

This was/is an entertaining thread for sure, thank you guys for sharing all that stuff. I really had no clue either, but the prices mentioned don't really surprise me. $10K-ish isn't out of the realm for any serious sport/hobby, I don't care what it is... Skiing, skydiving, biking, RC planes, whatever. You don't have to pay that to play, but if you like and and stick with it, you'll be there soon enough.

Great explanation of the clothing ChampCarStar! I just assumed it was all sponsor driven like a bass angler or something. Never having competed at that stuff I really never considered clothing as a shooting aid.

Once you get into the highest levels of anything it is expensive. I raced formula cars earlier in life and that was crazy expensive to do.

The clothing isn't cheap either. A custom shooting suit (jacket and pants) will run about $2000.

[ChampCarStar]

Very high tech. Probably costs as much as a good used car. Never have I seen one like that at a range.

I like having stuff no one else does. lol

When I got my Walther KK500, I was one of only 3 people in the USA that had one for a long while.

[ACfixer]

$12,000 rifle to shoot a 4 cent round?

I'd rather have a Barrett .50 BMG for $12,000. That one will hit a mile.

Hahaha you know where to buy .22 for 4 cents a round right now?

And yeah, I'm with you on the Barrett, but if you want to start competing with that you're not going to be anywhere south of $20K to get set up.

[MyOdessa]

$12,000 rifle to shoot a 4 cent round?

I'd rather have a Barrett .50 BMG for $12,000. That one will hit a mile.

You must have never shopped for true .22 LR target ammunition. And, that doesn't include shipping your gun to or going to the ammo facility just to find that magic lot of .22 LR ammo that shoots in your gun.

[ChampCarStar]

You must have never shopped for true .22 LR target ammunition. And, that doesn't include shipping your gun to or going to the ammo facility just to find that magic lot of .22 LR ammo that shoots in your gun.

Haha, exactly.

we can't even buy the good ammo off the shelf and expect it to work well. We need to send our rifles in to get tested with multiple lots of ammo to see what groups well.

There are only two testing centers in the USA. Eley is in Winters, TX. Lapua is in Mesa, AZ, but I think they were opening up another one in the midwest somewhere.

And for the privilege of testing your ammo (at Eley at least) you actually pay more for Tenex because they use special lots which are reserved just for customers that want to test ammo.

Below is your typical ammo testing report from Eley.

[Lucky Scott]

Great thread. Thank you for a look inside another world that I have never seen. While I do not shoot at that level, I appreciate the quality rifles and the dedication spent.

[ChampCarStar]

Great thread. Thank you for a look inside another world that I have never seen. While I do not shoot at that level, I appreciate the quality rifles and the dedication spent.

Here are the top of the line rifles from the other manufacturers. Unfortunately, you really won't see American made rifles anywhere in International competition anymore. Just not a large enough market for them in the USA when you can literally get 20 budget AR-15s for the price of one high end Swiss or German smallbore rifle.


Feinwerkbau 2800


Anschutz 54.30


Bleiker and Grunig & Elmiger make centerfire versions of their rifles. These are chambered in 6mm BR Norma. These are for 300 meter competition. 300 meter rifle used to be in the Olympics but was replaced by 50 meter smallbore. 300 meter competitions are still extremely popular in Europe and are contested at the ISSF World Championships.

Grunig & Elmiger 300m Rifle

[Dan_Eastvale]

Who's that British girl?
So many Olympic shooting medalists are teenagers.

[ChampCarStar]

Who's that British girl?
So many Olympic shooting medalists are teenagers.

That's Seonaid McIntosh. She's actually Scottish, but as she is the world ranked #1 and a favorite to win gold at the Tokyo Olympics she gets to be British. If she was rubbish at shooting they would just say she is Scottish. That's how it works over there. Seonaid's sister Jennifer was also a rifle shooter and a Commonwealth Games Champion.

I don't know Seonaid that well. I am friends with her British Teammate Katie Gleeson. Katie is actually English, but just as talented as Seonaid.






Have you seen my other thread on what I miss about competition:
http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s....php?t=1645434

[Dan_Eastvale]

That's Seonaid McIntosh. She's actually Scottish, but as she is the world ranked #1 and a favorite to win gold at the Tokyo Olympics she gets to be British. If she was rubbish at shooting they would just say she is Scottish. That's how it works over there. Seonaid's sister Jennifer was also a rifle shooter and a Commonwealth Games Champion.

I don't know Seonaid that well. I am friends with her British Teammate Katie Gleeson. Katie is actually English, but just as talented as Seonaid.






Have you seen my other thread on what I miss about competition:
http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s....php?t=1645434

Great photos. Thanks for sharing your travels and experiences.

[ar15barrels]

$12,000 rifle to shoot a 4 cent round?

You shoot 15-40 cent ammo in $12,000 rimfire rifles.

[707electrician]

$12,000 rifle to shoot a 4 cent round?

I'd rather have a Barrett .50 BMG for $12,000. That one will hit a mile.

4 cents.. That's off by an order of magnitude.

[Wheellock]

That FWB 2800 looks awesome, a bit like an Imperial Star Destroyer.

I never got into the rifle side of ISSF competition but I enjoy seeing your adventures.

[cudakidd]

we shoot 175 yard matches with 6" targets. And outside with cross winds and mirage.

Ruger 10/22s fell by the wayside, they just can't be upgraded enough to compete with the quality bolt actions

we use eley ammo btw...