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JSR and Eley SSHP ammo

4K views 26 replies 13 participants last post by  huntschool 
#1 ·
Was not really sure where to put this, so here goes.....

I have a JSR with a Weaver Classic Extreme 4-16x50 scope in Leupold rings with Leupold bases, that I wanted to tune up for squirrels. As such I wanted to shoot Eley SSHP ammo. Oh, yea, the trigger is pulling at about 10 oz's.

I have a fresh brick of this ammo and have been shooting it at 25 yards off a bipod front rest and a back bag just to get an idea of what its going to do.

The rifle will print 3 shot groups into a ragged hole and the all of a sudden it will throw one an inch out, not in any specific direction. This does not happen every time. In fact, there are times when I can go two or three groups without any problems.

I absolutely love this rifle and this ammo. However if an ammo change is what needs to happen I can do that.

I really am beginning to think its me more then the ammo or rifle. I am going to try some different ammo today and see what happens but thought I would ask here first if anyone else has had any experience like this with this ammo and this rifle.

Any ideas/suggestions are welcome.
 
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#2 ·
How'd it shoot just before changing ammo? I doubt its you. 1" @ 25 yds is really a lot! Try different ammo and borescope it for a carbon ring would be the first things I'd try. And try the new stuff in a different rifle. That said if its the ammo Eley owes you a brick IMO.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Al the Infidel:

Cleaned the bore hard today. Still got the same results. Will check other ammo tomorrow. I am beginning to wonder bout the scope.

Where its safe, run a few magazines full thru the action like you normally would
WITHOUT FIRING. Catch the ejected shells in something soft and inspect the lead very carefully for any deformation, nicks, cuts, gouges, flat spots, etc . . . anything other than signs of engagement of the driving bands.

Although the shells may feed, they may occasionally not feed cleanly without getting nicked up.

1" off at 25yds seems to suggest something significant.

Good Luck! Don
NVaVettes:

I have checked the rounds and all seem in order. As I said above, I am beginning to wonder about the scope and mounts and really, still me. I have to wonder if the scope cross hairs are too thick coupled with my trigger work. I am going to try some other ammo first and then change mounts, rings and scope. I should EDIT Its about 1/2 inch out. Its still a dead squirrel but not 10x.....

Thanks both of you.....

I guess we shall see. I really love this gun.
 
#3 ·
Possible feeding issue?

Where its safe, run a few magazines full thru the action like you normally would
WITHOUT FIRING.

Catch the ejected shells in something soft and inspect the lead very carefully for any
deformation, nicks, cuts, gouges, flat spots, etc . . . anything other than signs of engagement of the driving bands.

Although the shells may feed, they may occasionally not feed cleanly without getting nicked up.

If you find one or more nicks, try again to see if you can figure out if its from a particular
position in the magazine, ie first, last, etc.

1" off at 25yds seems to suggest something significant.

Good Luck!

Don
 
#5 ·
Take the bipod off and put the rifle on a good solid rest, it is very difficult to get great groups from a bipod. All it takes is a little too much shoulder pressure, or even gripping the gun different that causes a bipod to "load" so that rifle recoils differently. If a bipod was conducive to benchrest accuracy you would see the benchrest shooters using them rather than a solid rest.

Three shot groups are fairly easy to shoot well, which is the reason for a 5-shot group to test for accuracy. It is not unusual to shoot a decent 3-shot group and then tense up for the 4th or 5th shot and ruin a perfectly good group. You stated that the flyers are random - to me that points to the shooter, not the rifle or ammo.

drover
 
#6 ·
drover:

Wow.... thanks for the slap on the head (LOL). I never even considered the bipod. You are so right. I will try that first. I am just so confident in my bipods that I never even thought of that and yes, there are times when I get overly "friendly" with the gun.

Thanks.... Very much. Sometimes one can not see what's right in front of them and looks in all other directions.
 
#8 ·
HUSHKABOOM:

Yes sir.... I got them on the money. Thanks for the reminder.

I think drover has hit on something as I do tend to "get into the gun" at times. Especially when I am getting po'ed at my shooting or something like that. Old guy trying too hard.... LOL

If I can beat the rain this afternoon late I am going to give the front bag idea a try.... We'll see what happens.
 
#9 ·
huntschool - I use the ELEY SSHP in several different rifles. It has been a consistent performer in my rifles. I have been trying the CCI Suppressor with a 45 grain bullet and 970 fps. It's looking promising, but it hasn't replaced the Eley SSHP - yet. Just my experience.
 
#10 ·
TripleC:

As of now, I dont really think its the ammo. There is so much variation in POI. As I mentioned above, I think drover may well have hit the mark. I'll know more when I shoot the gun "bagged".

Thanks for your comment.
 
#12 ·
They're terrible in my Kimber. I question the overall quality of the Eley hunting ammo. Example, two sellers Marks Outdoor Sports and (ugh) Dicks, had/have large amounts of both high velocity and subsonic hp's that wouldn't sell even at half price. Marks (in Birmingham AL) still has many bricks of both fro $50 a brick, collecting dust. At that price, there is a reason for poor sales.
 
#13 ·
Phil in Alabama:

I am not really defending this ammo but.... I think it might be once bitten,,, The going price on this ammo is a bit higher compared to everyday 22 ammo which I would think makes a difference to the average Joe as far as sales go. I would drop $100.00 for two bricks right now. Sorry to hear it does not shoot well out of your Kimber.

This stuff shoots lights out in my Annie 1710 DK L and my Ruger 10/22 LVT as well as my new CZ 457.

I think drover may have hit it for this JSR in that I do get into my guns and the bipod may have torqued enough to create my problem. I was unable to check this yesterday or today due to bad weather but I will as soon as I can and will report back.
 
#16 ·
Eley sub hollow points do a good job on squirrels the lead is soft and the hollow expands well, but, I have shot them in a lot of guns and I have had guns they shoot decent in, but generally not! I don't currently own any Coopers but have owned two in the past, neither liked the Eley subs. As much as I would like to tout the $10 ammo , I can't . I have never owned a gun or seen one shoot Eley subs better than CCI standards. CCI are relatively cheap and some of us like for something more exotic to do better, but darn it, CCI standards keep getting in the way. Do my guns shoot CCI standards better than Lapua center x, Midas Plus, Eley match or ten x and the like,NO, not even close! but it will outshoot most $10 a box ammo in most guns. Massive amount of fliers in Eley sub sonic HP.
 
#17 ·
Huntschool, I seem to recall You saying that you has A JSR that shot Eley subsonics really, really, really well on another site. But I may be mistaken or maybe a different JSR. why I remembered it is because in my experience it has been rare for a gun to shoot them that well. If it was you and the same rifle, perhaps it is your scope or the fresh brick of ammo that you mentioned. (most likely the fresh brick)
 
#18 ·
Lerrab:

Yep, that was me. It was on this site in a different thread. I think I have come to the conclusion that the problem lies with the bipod as drover suggested. I shot it with the bipod a bit more as a test with slightly better results. Now I am waiting for good weather to shoot it without the bipod. I think from the tests the bipod and I were the problem.

We shall see. Thanks for asking.
 
#19 ·
I have struggled with finding the most accurate hollow point ammo for squirrel hunting for over 30 years. One brand of HVHP or SSHP might shoot reasonably well in one gun, but will be terrible in 10 others. Then a few years later it gets discontinued.

Several years ago I bought a D Rock hollow pointer kit and now just hollow-point target ammo. It shoots way better than ANY factory HPs and I can customize the size and depth of the HP. I can also flat point the nose if I wanted. Though member D Rock passed away several years ago, his used HP kits occasionally come up for sale on the TPC. The Waltz die is also a very good product if you have a reloading press. I use my Waltz die frequently. Several of the guys you met at Shawnee HP their own favourite target ammo for squirrel hunting.
 
#21 ·
Several years ago I bought a D Rock hollow pointer kit and now just hollow-point target ammo. Several of the guys you met at Shawnee HP their own favorite target ammo for squirrel hunting.
VertFish: Now why didn't I think of that....

I think "today" would be a great day to go test and shoot that rifle Bruce!!! What's a little wind & rain going to affect your shooting!:D Oh, did I say Cold too! :eek:
Rick
ricky9x22: Dont be a smart SOB. I hope you have to go out on a runway for an hour or two.... so there..... LOL
 
#26 ·
So why not try some other ammo.
Match would be a good start.
After a solid cleaning, how many rounds do you figure are needed before it settles down again?
I would suggest the bipod to be a problem if it is a Harris but some of the after-patent junk is pretty flimsy.
Yesterday at a 100 metre rimfire event I had three targets that scored 100 and they measured 0.84, 0.94 and 0.98 for 100 round groups. The ammo was Remington Eley Match t 1062 published velocity.
Approaching 500 rounds so getting close to broke in but the consistency continues to improve. Cleaning has been with a drop of Kroil on a felt bore cleaner followed by a dry one followed by cleaning after a shoot with a Tipton dry felt tip.
The definition of insanity: Trying the same thing over and over again expecting different results.
 
#27 · (Edited)
The Eley SSHP has come into its own after a good cleaning and the removal of the bipod, shooting off front and rear bags.

As I mentioned above I am now sure I was torqueing the rifle into the bipod trying to get "really" on the rifle. I now have the groups I am looking for as a squirrel rifle. I will say that although the groups are tight with the SSHP's they are even better (think almost match quality) with Eley Edge ammo I just had laying around. CCI std Velocity isn't too bad but not in the same category as the Eley stuff.

I am not above trying some other upper end ammo in this great rifle so we may find something better yet. Who knows.

I now have a CZ 455 "plastic" stock with a new Lilja 17 Mach II barrel on it that shoots lights out so time will be divided between the two. What fun.... I have not been in the woods in several days due to our second deer season and weather.
 
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