Rimfire Fly Discussion

Hi All,

Had a great catch up with the Fly shooters at the pub  at Canberra last week, of course discussion was all around shooting. I gained so much info on CF actions, barrels and bullets that it made my head spin and I have spent the last week looking into things some more. A few questions came up around Rimfires as many of the shooters only shoot this occasionally so I thought what better way to expand this discussion .
Here are a couple of things that are often asked by Fly shooters.

Ammo - Lapua, Eley  or RWS

Most shooters I know (mabe 90%) use RWS ammo, to be more specific they use RWS R100. At different times I have used R50 when a good batch of R100 was not available and it has shot awesome. Some other shooters have found that Eley (Match or 10x) works in their rifle and they stick with it. Others have tried different Lapua ammo and while it has been excellent at 50 or 100m is has not performed as well at 200yards.

Finding a good batch of ammo
Every batch is different so just grabbing a box of R100 or R50 and is going to be hit and miss. You can test ammo at a test tunnel if you have time or money but another way to narrow things down is see what batch others are using and test some of that in your own rifle. We have found a really good batch of ammo has not only worked in all 3 of our rimfires but has been a winner for my friends as well at both 50m and 200yards. Simply put you dont want any unexplained fliers and no verticle stringing - The stringing of shots just kills you at 200y and you end up chasing shots all over the page. Find a good batch, test with your friends and then between you buy a truck load of it and you will be set for a year or more!
Just like you ask what a top CF shooter load he is using then ask the same of the top rimfire guy at your club\range, he might even tell you where he got it!

Buying in bulk
Find the desired batch by testing and then buy in bulk, share a case with a friend or two - Here is why. The mark up on Rimfire ammo is huge, way more then 100% .  Example: A high profile store here in Sydney will sell you a box or R50 at $33 per box of 50, while you can buy a case (10 bricks or 100 boxes) elsewhere for $2200 - that is only $22 a box - Big saving!
How - Call and ask for their stock list (they may email you a copy) which includes the batch numbers or ask for to see if they have the batch you are looking for, you can say you are purchasing on behalf of other club members etc and they are only too happy to assist if they might make a 2K sale.
Sorting of ammo - Some 20 years ago I tried sorting cheap ammo in the hope I could get it to perform like the expensive stuff. I would buy 4 or 5 tins of Lapua that had 500 rounds in them, tip them all out on the table and sit their all nigh and sort into diff weights. I soon gave up and that and have only met the odd person who has tried, problem is the .22 bullet makes up most of the weight, there is only around 1 grain of powder in each case so between the case and the bullet that cover 99% of the weight. No doubt the good ammo (more expensive) ammo does have less variances if you weigh them but I suspect the cheap stuff is comming from multiple machines and grouped together into a box\tin etc. Spend your time testing.
Effect of Wind
Those little .22 bullets get blown all over the place, I once herd Stuart Elliot describe shooting the Rimfire fly on a windy as like throwing ping pong balls at a fan!
It does feel like that and only thing I can say is to watch those close flags very carefully, if there are lulls in the wind then use them, be patient (my downfall) and use your 7 mins to your advantage. I run the matches and do the time calls at my range and so many times I see shooters finish in 3 mins and then find there is a nice lull in the wind in which you could have got all 5 shots away on the same condition. A spotter helps heaps, the fall of the shots is not as important at 200y as the bullet holes can usually be seen unless the sun has gone behind the target or the mirage is very bad. Someone who has there head up (not over the spotting scope) and watching the wind changes can be an advantage, particularly on windy days or where the wind is flicking around from left to right. The faster the changes the more advantage in having another set of eyes at your bench!

At the end of the day the Rimfire Fly is a fun event and the Fly fraturnity is the best, yes it can be frustrating but it keeps me comming back to try my luck again and again.

Hope this has been helpful and will start some more discussion about the Rimfire event. Please feel free to add what works well for you and how you like to do it.

Cheers

Dave Dundas

Good Read David..
Whats your advice as the optimum barrel length for 22rf..

Cheers
rob.

Hi Rob

Just my 2 cents worth on this one,
So many opinions on this one and everyone has had a barrel of xx length and will say it shot well.  Maximum velocity is reached at about 17 inches in a rimfire with STD ammo so really any length longer should be fine in theory. I myself have had a couple of short barrels of around 20 inches and while they have performed well, I would have prefered something around 24 inches. Now I own just one short barreled rifle which is on a Hunter class (light class) but it is yet to win a match, weight was an issue so gunsmith cut it short.
Just like with a CF your gunsmith will will decide the length and cut and crown the barrel where it is the tightest, so if weight is not an issue  then longer rather then shorter. Of course you want you rifle balanced and you don't want all your weight out the front of the rifle as it wont track that well in the bags.
My favourite barrel would be a Broughton 4C, this is what Kathy has on her rifle and it just shoots yet her rifle is the cheapest rifle I have. I would not hesistate to buy another  Broughton 4c or 5C in the future, of course there are many you would love to get your hands on.
The 200y Fly is a dam long way for that little rimfire to go and the ballistics on the bullet is terrible, with a BC of between 0.13 and 0.15 for the top ammo it really struggles in the wind. Find some ammo your rifle likes, no odd fliers\flippers, no odd shots which drops low for no reason and then you just have to worry about your left to right with the wind.
Never try to shoot when it appears dead still, one it never lasts long  and most often your shot will go high. If there is mirage around when very still then it may appear to boil, better shooters say never shoot the boil. Give me a little tickle from rigth to left just long enough to get all my shots away and you will see me smiling - rare unfortunately.

Enjoy and see you on the range,

Dave

great read mate , wish i had the money to build my own RF