Hey Onearm, it's not you or the rifle.
CCI customer service stated: Expect to average 2 moa at 100 yards for 5 shots.
Average ... sometimes 0.5 inch, sometimes 3.5 inch,
that's still a 2 moa average at 100 yards.
Some boxes are much better than others. Some reek.
Welcome to the CCI assembly line lottery.

For offhand, center of critter, the 22wmr is effective.
Punching paper for score, there are better options.

 

I did not buy the CZ as a competition paper puncher. I have an Anschutz 1761 MPR for that. I bought the 457 as a 100 yard squirrel gun. I would probably not be as disappointed if I did not have a $250 Savage 93 GL that shoots about the same as the CZ. I wanted to give a quality rifle in 22 WMR a try. We live and learn. Here is that 50 yard target I mentioned with with the much less ballyhood Federal 40 GR FMJ in the CZ. It was not quite as good as I remembered but it was OK for a Squirrel rifle.

Then there was this with Remington 32 gr Accutip V.

 

I just did some checking and saw it was with Federal 40 gr. FMJ that I shot decent 50 yard groups, followed by a 25 bull single shot target that was also very nice (again at 50 yards with the Remington Accutip-V) I am stunned to see such acceptable results with Federal and such poor results with Hornady. It is in a December thread of mine called, Better Results With the 457.

 

I hear ya' Onearm.
Federal, Norma, Hornady, FiocchiUSA, Remington 22wmr
are all made on the CCI machinery at the Lewiston facilities.
Results are dependent on whether or not it was a good day at CCI.

 

Have you tried plain old winchester 40gr hp ,my 457 lux shoots those a little better than the 30gr Hornady. I haven't shot it much but I was surprised it shot those pretty good about 1 1/4 at 100

 

Center of squirrel or rabbit, you'd be fine out to 75 yards.
Head shots could get real iffy beyond 30 yards, offhand.
At least for me.

 

Just to clarify, I am disabled and cannot shoot off hand. I shoot mostly with a benchrest setup, a Harris Bipod or a Caldwell Deadshot Fieldpod. The Fieldpod, with a folding chair has allowed me to shoot with accuracy to 100 yards with my CZ 452 in 22 LR and 300 yards with my Ruger M77 Hawkeye in 204 Ruger (pictured below).

 

I’ve never had good luck with any bullets less than 40g with any of the dozen or so .22mag handguns and rifles I’ve owned. Historically, I’ve had the best with CCI 40g over time. FWIW, no one makes target ammo for any brand of .22mag ammo

 

Oh your a lefty

 

Yea my 457 shoots v-max good and the 40gr HP good at 50… I don’t shoot my Rimfire much at 100

 

Squirrels at 100 yds? I would not use a 22WMR. For accuracy I would use quality 22lr. There are a lot of gun/ammo combinations that can consistently shoot 1 MOA. I think 22WMR is too inconsistent to ensure hitting where the gun is pointing.

 

I fear you are correct. The good news is I have all I need to convert the rifle to 22 LR. It was worth a try. As I wrote, "we live and learn." For long distance varmints, I have an excellent Ruger M77 Hawkeye in 204 Ruger and a lifetime supply of reloading components for it (at least at my age).

I just had a large supply of 22 WMR that I bought years ago for another rifle I owned back then that was quite accurate with 22 WMR. And I do mean accurate. That was this rifle:

 

I hoard my winchester stash very gingerly.

 

The most accurate 22WMR ammo I have used is Western Super X made by Winchester bought back in the early 70s. The price tag in one of the boxes shows $2 and something. The rest is smeared. The worst I’ve shot with it has been 1 MOA. Unfortunately, I am just about out of my supply.

 

I have a box and a half of Winchester Supreme 32 gr. JHP. Once again that is some 22 WMR that I bought at least 10 years ago as is most of what I have in my ammo cabinet. I have not yet given it a try in my 457. It does not appear to still exist.

I did see Winchester Super X 40 gr JHP (22 WMR) at Buds. Is that likely to be the same ammo as you are nearly out of?

 

I use the same v max ammo in my savage 93 and get three shot groups at seventy five yards that you can cover all three holes with a dime

 

My CZ457 22 WMR had a 3 pound trigger and groups were not great.
Using CCI Maxi Mags groups at 100 yards were maybe two inches.
Had YoDave install a spring and make adjustments to the trigger and it now breaks at 1 lb 2 oz.
four shots under an inch and the last one put the group over one inch.
Have not tried any other ammo.

 

I shot my new lux 457 today and it hated the 30grn v max. It loved everything 40 grain though which made me so happy.

 

TClong03 sir I agree with you most of my 22mag rifles work great with 40 grain ammo. By the way I sent you a PM.

Signalman 🚦