Skip to main content
Help Center Community Shop

Standard velocity ammo

oldrider
I think I'm about to buy a Caldwell Shooting Gallery. like this one:http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=219396065

Manufacturer says only "standard velocity 22 LR."

Would you think that means real, standard velocity target ammo or just no hot stuff like CCI Stingers or rem yellowjackets? I shoot CCI standard velocity in my High Standard, so I always keep some.

I'm hoping the cheap, bulk 22 is ok since when other people want to shoot at this thing I don't want to have to check everybody's ammo.

Or furnish everybody's ammo.

Thanks, Randy
0

Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • perry shooter
    Standard velocity is not BULK however I would Call Caldwell and ask them direst and get the name of the person I talked to if they stste Bulk is OK to shoot.
    0
  • oldrider
    Thank you Karl. I will try to call. I'm thinking the difference between standard and high velocity is less than 100 fps. Right or wrong?
    0
  • rufe-snow
    I shoot a lot of the bulk pack cheap ammo, years ago I cronoed a bunch of the CCI Blazers from a handgun. Although it was sold as high speed ammo I wasn't impressed by the results. Velocity wise it didn't appear to be that much faster then the speeds given for the standard velocity stuff.

    I believe the discrepancy is because the velocities quoted by the ammo manufacturers are taken from .22 rifles with barrels between 16 & 18 inches length.

    Ever since then I have been using the standard factor of 15% reduction in the velocities given by the manufacturers for their actual velocity from the barrel of a .22 pistol. Applying this factor to the inexpensive bulk pack .22 ammo there appears to be only a difference of 100 fps at the most across the board, between the velocities of the cheap promotional stuff and the much more expensive standard velocity ammo.

    Whether this 100 fps difference in velocities would have any effect on the Caldwell targets I don't know. The light gauge steel targets I shoot at will bend after being shot many times with a 22. I just straighten then out with a two pound hammer.
    0
  • bpost
    The gallery is intended for use only with standard velocity. .22 rimfire cartridges at a distance of 75 feet. The warranty on the Shootin' Gallery does not cover damage to the gallery resulting from the use of high-velocity rimfire ammunition, including high-velocity .22 Long Rifle ammunition, .22 Magnum, or any .17 caliber rimfire cartridges. Targets travel left-to-right. Weighs less than 50 pounds for easy transportation.

    FWIW standard velocity is below the speed of sound. Most std velocity is loaded to around 1060 FPS.

    All the bulk ammo I have seen is high-speed, exceeding the speed of sound.
    0
  • Wolf.
    It appears to me that this Caldwell target setup is pretty much worthless as an investement to be considered. The facts of life regarding these things are that most people shoot bulk .22LR ammo for recreational plinking. If this thing cannot stand up to that (and the manufacturer states that it cannot), I do not believe it is worth buying.

    The warranty is vague, arbitrary and difficult to conform to by the user. It seems obvious to me that this vagueness is purposeful on the part of the manufacturer.

    Think about it. I would not like to have to go looking for specific ammo to use with the thing, looking at ammo boxes and spending more than I want to to just to try to buy ammo that falls into the vague velocity range specified by the manufacturer, whose manufacturing standards themselves may not be consistant. Then, the thing fails and I spend money to ship it back, only to be told that the damage could only come from my using hot ammo and the warranty is void. Nope, not for me.
    0
  • babun
    quote:Originally posted by Wolf.
    It appears to me that this Caldwell target setup is pretty much worthless as an investement to be considered. The facts of life regarding these things are that most people shoot bulk .22LR ammo for recreational plinking. If this thing cannot stand up to that (and the manufacturer states that it cannot), I do not believe it is worth buying.

    The warranty is vague, arbitrary and difficult to conform to by the user. It seems obvious to me that this vagueness is purposeful on the part of the manufacturer.

    Think about it. I would not like to have to go looking for specific ammo to use with the thing, looking at ammo boxes and spending more than I want to to just to try to buy ammo that falls into the vague velocity range specified by the manufacturer, whose manufacturing standards themselves may not be consistant. Then, the thing fails and I spend money to ship it back, only to be told that the damage could only come from my using hot ammo and the warranty is void. Nope, not for me.


    +1
    That warranty is basically telling you the target is vastly under engineered. A hi-speed .22 shot from a 4" barrel revolver is going to be slower than a lower power bullet from a 18" rifle. How about when shooting copper plated vs. soft lead hollow points .22's??? And that bulk ammo is some of the most inconsistent ammo I've ever seen. You can "hear" the difference when shooting a lot of it. I swear it must go from 1000fps to 1250fps.[:(!]
    0
  • beantownshootah
    A few points:

    High velocity ammo does run about 100 fps faster than standard though it depends largely on which exact rounds you're comparing.

    But high velocity ammo typically uses a lighter weight 36 grain bullet vs a 40 grain bullet for standard velocity. So from a target impact/momentum standpoint the difference in velocity should be compensated in large part by the difference in bullet weight. In other words, the high velocity probably shouldn't do much or even any more damage to a steel target!

    As mentioned, barrel length matters. "Standard" ammo is going to leave an 18" rifle barrel a lot faster than "high velocity" ammo will leave a 4" pistol barrel.

    I concur entirely with the others. If this thing can't handle "high velocity" .22 ammo, it probably can't handle ordinary velocity .22 ammo. IMO, that's a design defect.

    Lastly, my experience with the steel swinging targets for .22s like the OTHER ones Caldwell makes is that they DO get dimpled with just ordinary .22 ammo after a while. For the swinging targets, every so often, I just reverse them to shoot at the backs, so the dimpling sort of evens out.

    I don't know if the quality of the targets in this moving thing is similar to the other .22 ones, but it likely is. Assuming it is, that would be another good reason to pass if they targets aren't easily replaceable should they wear out.
    0
  • oldrider
    I don't want to get into any arguments here, I'll save that for General Discussion. Thanks to everyone who replied, that's why I asked.

    The target parts of this machine are easily replaceable, and also look pretty sturdy. Stray rounds dinging up the cover over the battery and chain drive might be a concern. If it's a problem, might be overcome by mounting it behind a crosstie or an angled steel plate.

    I would not be buying one as an investment, except maybe an investment in fun!

    After considering all the things that could go wrong, I think I might "bite" anyway.

    Good or bad, I will let y'all know how it turns out.

    Thanks again for the input.
    0
  • rsnyder55
    Is it possible that it has a match chamber and using anything else will not feed?
    0
  • heavyiron
    Hi:

    Here is a rough idea of how 22 rimfire velocity is classified. The categories are based on nominal speeds. There are no hard rules since some 22 rimfires fall in between these classifications. However, the below is a relatively good guide.

    1. Subsonic, which also includes "target" or "match" loads, at nominal speeds below 1,100 ft/s

    2. Standard-velocity: 1,000-1,135 ft/s - common velocities are around 1,125 ft/s

    3. High-velocity: 1,200-1,310 ft/s

    4. Hyper-velocity, or Ultra-velocity: over 1,400 ft/s

    Hope this helps.

    Heavyiron
    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Recent Activity