Most CZs I have and have heard about here usually get along well with good lots of SK Rifle Match, SK Standard Plus, etc.

 

Thanks for the info. Have you ever tried the SK long range match?

 

I suggest that you go out and buy as many different brands and weights thats available to you and go shoot them. I did and still will buy a box to shoot for fun and see what happens. Good luck 👍 have fun

 

Thank you thats good advice. I used to use the old federal old metal match blue and white box In my 541 T. But its became extinct.

 

Shot this group at 42 yards with a $4.00 box of Agulia

 

I use plain old standard velocity CCI and get satisfactory results.

 

When trying different ammo in your rifle, use a inch pound torque wrench on your action screws. Start at 15 inch pounds on both and fire a 5 shot group. Progress up by 5 # increments, adjusting only one screw at a time then fire another 5 shot group. Don't exceed 25 in./#. When starting another type of the same ammo, or brand, loosen the screws to 15in./# and start over. This process will take a while, depending on how many types of ammo you select to try.

 

If your hunting I’d go buy a brick of Eley SSHP… if your wanting to see what it can do on paper… I’d try a couple different high end match grade ammo’s like Eley match or SK match… I’d also recommend checking out the pursuit of accuracy YouTube channel… That guy test a lot of premium ammunition so you kinda get a idea of what’s good and what good groups look like…

 

That may not work. One of my CZ's loves Eley 10X--- The other not so much. Each rifle is different

 

Good afternoon all. I recently bought a CZ 457 American sporter weight barrel in 22 lr Looking for suggestions for accurate ammo, and scope suggestions. Im typically a hunter but Im a fan of the sub sonic target ammo.

Thanks Dave

As above people will tell you their favorite ammo. And in most cases they are giving you an honest answer as to what they like.
YOU need to define best, and for most people, accurate + hunter + subsonic + target are not on the same list.

There are many ammo brands, optimized for specific purposes. The more of those purposes you add together the more compromise you must accept. That does not mean that is bad thing, but the most accurate ammo in your CZ is probably not the most subsonic, (quietest? What is YOUR goal here), most efficient for hunting, cheapest, cleanest, easily available, whatever.
If you want a solution that DOES have all of those factors considered I suggest placing them in some sort of order, for example, for hunting is hollow point, or energy more important than subsoinc, then where does accuracy fit on that list (as in the most accurate my be the loudest, so maybe one of the less accurate will still be fine for this task?)

So think of YOUR needs and then research these. Many hunting loads are quite accurate, but most rounds built for the maximum accuracy are not hunting loads. Depending on what you hunt that may or may not matter.

For accuracy this is always true: Try different ammo in your rifle and note the results. Some bulk ammo may shoot great, and that may be as accurate as you want, but match ammo generally shoots more accurately. I shoot pretty cheap ammo in steel plate matches and have never found any that was not accurate enough for that task (to be clear I don't buy the cheapest ammo possible, but I do stock up when I see great deals on bulk ammo I have found to be reliable). But that ammo isn't subsonic, nor is it useful in a rimfire sporter match. I have ammo that I have tested and found suitable for those tasks, should I need them.

 

My 457 American likes RWS Subsonics and Sk Standard. It shoots many other brands quite accurately but the RWS Sub and SK Standard shoot exceptional.

 

I'll second sk rifle match and sk+.. I've had 3 of the 457 americans and they all shot these two ammo's the best. Still got one american and sk rifle match is what I use in it..

 

I'm very much the same as the OP, mainly hunting using subsonic.
I've got the CZ457 Trainer and it shoots very well with RWS and ELEY. Those two are pretty much on par and I'm happy to interchange them. Surprisingly good and consistent is Norma TAC-22 Subsonic. I's quiet cheap here in Australia, yet performs well, but not like the first two. I've tried Winchester, CCI and some others, but they went all over the place, especially the Winchester.
I've heard very good things about SK Standard Plus, but they have been hard to get, are not hollow point and only barely subsonic. If anyone here has any data of muzzle velocity on the RWS, ELEY, NORMA AND SK, in regular 24" barrel, I'd love to hear it.
Apologies, this turned into a 'hijack'.

 

My experience with my 457 is that it will shoot most high quality ammunition with a high degree of accuracy, especially for plinking and hunting. Yes, for Benchrest and high precision, there is ammunition that tightens up those groups. But that is at great cost in support components, testing time and cash.
If I did not pursue Benchrest, I would be very satisfied with Eley Club ammo. Slightly higher price than the standard bearing CCI SV, but recognizably more accurate. SK and others offer similar to Club. For hunting and fun, spending the time and effort on extensive ammo testing is an exercise in futility. Do try a few modestly priced ammo to see if one fits your sensibilities.

 

Thank you all for some good guide lines to start out with. Im aware that i will just have to see what my rife likes. But all your info is greatly appreciated.

Thanks Dave

 

Good afternoon all. I recently bought a CZ 457 American sporter weight barrel in 22 lr Looking for suggestions for accurate ammo, and scope suggestions. Im typically a hunter but Im a fan of the sub sonic target ammo.

Thanks Dave

Did a quick session today, boy is it hot and muggy. That'll be my excuse for the poor shooting......for now anyway. LOL
These were shot at 50yds. Ignore the poor handwriting, but I didn't want to remove the target.

RWS Subsonic

SK Standard Plus

5 more of RWS Sub

 

I've got a brick of SK Rifle Match arriving tomorrow to try. Bad when you can't buy a box or 2 locally to try first. Hopefully, they will shoot well if my barrel gets here tomorrow also. The barrel was supposed to be here yesterday. It got stuck sitting in the 2 million square ft UPS hub in Chicago.

 

Good afternoon all. I recently bought a CZ 457 American sporter weight barrel in 22 lr Looking for suggestions for accurate ammo, and scope suggestions. Im typically a hunter but Im a fan of the sub sonic target ammo.

Thanks Dave

Lapua Midas +

 

I tried some SK long range at 30 and 50 yards Im impressed. Going back and see if they have a brick in the same lot number.

 

Targets and rifle look good!
SK/ Lapua, Eley, RWS - try those. get the mid grade or top level target ammo from them. they offer the highest probability for you to source great ammo for target shooting. the only thing better is testing different lots with your rifle. Harder to do but not impossible.

 

any eley has never worked well in my cz or my anschutz. accurate but ejectio and chambering issues always. i dont even try it any more with my cz or anschutz 22lrs real shame because when it chambers, its accurate, its easy to find and thus not so pricey.

 

Yes and it usually shoots great also. All SK varieties are lot dependent like all ammunition. There are some really good lots, some average lots and I have had a couple of poor lots. Most lots are average or better in my experience.

any eley has never worked well in my cz or my anschutz. accurate but ejectio and chambering issues always. i dont even try it any more with my cz or anschutz 22lrs real shame because when it chambers, its accurate, its easy to find and thus not so pricey.

i agree

 

I agree that you should try at least several brands of ammo to see what your gun likes. I own a 452 American also a 455 Tactical. Both these rifles shoot great with CCI standard velocity. If your your more of a hunter try CCI mini mag, my guns also shoot these very well too.

 

I have had many of these over the years, and have never had one yet that would not shoot accurately with anything. You made a fine purchase and that gun will shoot well until you pass it down to your great grandkids!

 

Mine seems to like cci standard velocity (subsonic) and it loves aguilla super extra for an accurate high velocity round. I’ve shot flies at 40 yards with the aguilla. It puts them down with one shot every time! Not much meat left though. For a hunting scope you can’t go wrong with Leupold glass. I don’t care for the mushiness in the turret clicks on the freedom line but if you’re not dialing up and down all the time it’s not a deal breaker. Their optical quality is top notch for the price. I have one of them in 3-9x40 rimfire retical. The Nikon prostaff rimfire are nice too but they’ve been discontinued.

 

There is no free ride when it comes to optics. You get what you pay for. Cheap scopes can have barrel distortion, pincushion distortion, chromatic aberration, color distortion, to name a few and the inability to track accurately when you make windage and elevation adjustments, and the ability to focus especially down to the short ranges rim fires are often used for. A special rimfire scope that has parallax adjustments down to 16 yards is usually a must. Today expect to pay $900 and up for a good scope.

As far as accurate ammo? In today's world of ammo shortages the ammo companies have thrown quality control right out the window. Even prestigious super expensive ammo made by Eley had bad runs of ammo that were inexcusable. Having said that you may not even be able to find the ammo you want for sale because of shortages and as of late out of this world outrageous prices.

If you are a hunter, minute of squirrel is all you need.

I might add also that you really only see the difference in accuracy under controlled conditions when shooting indoors out of the wind and no mirage.. Consistent accuracy outdoors is a crapshoot depending on the wind and mirage conditions and how fast they are changing as you are shooting. I have seen people (last week) have their scores cut in half when using $4,000 rifles and $22 a box ammo when the wind and mirage were bad.

I might also say that testing for true accuracy is also is dependent on how good a trigger is on the weapon. Using any trigger pull much over 1 ounce will make it difficult to get an true reading of the weapons accuracy.

And there is little consistency in .22 ammo. You may buy the same ammo every time and get a good lot one time or a bad lot the next time.

Having said all that in the past SK ammo has been a good value for the money.

Stay away from the Discount Store ammo like Remington Thunder Turd, Federal Range Crap (Pack) etc. At the other end of the spectrum you really do not need high end ammo like Lapua Midas or Eley Rifle match because you will never see the difference in accuracy with the rough and heavy trigger pulls and oversize chambers that factory made barrels have. A commercial made barrel on a factory rifle is chambered to accept any oversize crappy ammo on the market. A match chamber on a custom barrel can and usually is chambered for a specific brand of high end ammo and Discount Store trash ammo will not even fit into the chamber.

 

RWS Subs for hunting, CCI Standard Velocity for steel challenge.

 

SK ammo works really well if you can find it. Leupold freedom 3-9 or 2-7 rimfire scopes offer a good balance for quality, weight and price for a hunting rifle.

 

Good afternoon all. I recently bought a CZ 457 American sporter weight barrel in 22 lr Looking for suggestions for accurate ammo, and scope suggestions. Im typically a hunter but Im a fan of the sub sonic target ammo.

Thanks Dave

Hey Dave, you’ve just got to go out & have a Range day & take several boxes of different ammo, then just have fun shoot’in groups… Choose the ammo that gives you the best group!!! I’ve got a couple of 22lr’s & what groups good in one, shoots different in the other. My ancient Cooey likes the Stingers & anything fast, & my Henry is all over the place, yet shoots the CCI standards just fine!!! So just go have fun!!!

 

Neighbor gave me some aguila sunsonic 38gr hollow points. Probably 1 to 1.5 moa from a novice bench shooter. Those are likely out of production but this helps narrow down bullet speed and weight.

 

👍