Most Accurate .22 LR Ammo: 50 Yard Accuracy Test - Henry
I enjoy shooting bulk .22 LR ammunition recreationally, but I wanted to find a dependable round for small game hunting and longer distance target shooting.
At 25 yards, bulk ammo is fairly capable.
But at 50 yards, you're going to need higher quality ammunition.
Test Setup
For this test I used:
- Henry .22 LR Lever Action
- Bushnell 3-9x32 Scope
- 50-yard distance
- Front and rear shooting rests
- 10-shot groups
The ammunition test included ammo boxes loaded with:
- CCI Blazer
- CCI Mini-Mag
- Eley Club
- Eley Force
I included CCI Blazer because it had won my previous bulk ammunition comparison. I wanted to see how it stacked up against higher-quality ammunition at 50 yards.
CCI Blazer
CCI Blazer was up first. Might as well set the bar low.
At 25 yards, this ammunition performed reasonably well. At 50 yards, the results were dramatically different.
The group measured approximately one inch wide and three inches tall.
There wasn't any pattern to analyze. Shots were scattered throughout the group with significant vertical stringing.
This result wasn't surprising.
Fifty yards is asking a lot from bulk ammunition.
CCI Mini-Mag
Next up was CCI Mini-Mag.
I was optimistic. Time to find out what my Henry could really do.
Mini-Mags have an excellent reputation and are considered the benchmark for higher-quality .22 LR ammunition.
Unfortunately, my results were not impressive.
The group measured approximately 1.75 inches.
What made the result particularly strange was that five shots formed one group near the bullseye while the other five shots formed a second group roughly an inch lower.
At this point I started questioning things.
Was the Henry simply not capable of accuracy at 50 yards?
Or maybe the guy behind the rifle forgot how to shoot.
The results certainly weren't inspiring confidence.
Eley Club
The third ammunition tested was Eley Club.
Now I was genuinely curious.
Eley ammunition has a reputation for producing excellent accuracy, and Eley Club is widely regarded as a high-quality option.
This should tell me if I was expecting too much from the Henry.
The results were better.
Nine of the ten shots formed a group measuring approximately 1.25 inches.
One shot landed roughly an inch high and right of the main group.
Nine out of ten rounds staying together is a respectable result, but even so, I still wasn't seeing the results I had hoped for.
At this point, I accepted that this was probably all the rifle had to offer at 50 yards.
Eley Force
The final ammunition tested was Eley Force.
Honestly, I almost didn't include it.
Eley Force is a high-velocity 42-grain load designed primarily for semi-automatic rifles.
I only purchased it as a throw-in when I placed an ammunition order.
I figured I might as well give it a try.
To my surprise, it completely changed the outcome of the test.
Nine of the ten rounds formed a group measuring approximately half an inch.
One shot drifted slightly to the right, expanding the overall ten-shot group to roughly one inch.
Compared to everything else tested, it wasn't even close.
The Biggest Lesson
The biggest takeaway from this test wasn't that Eley Force won.
The lesson was that you never really know which ammunition will perform best in a particular rifle.
Sometimes you need to keep testing until you find the right one.
Had I not included Eley Force, I likely would have concluded that the Henry was simply limited at 50 yards.
Instead, the final ammunition tested produced the best group of the day and completely changed my opinion of what the rifle was capable of.
Final Results
Based on this range session:
1. Eley Force
2. Eley Club
3. CCI Mini-Mag
4. CCI Blazer
This was only one test, and it only tells the story for one rifle.
For now, however, Eley Force is the most accurate .22 LR ammunition I've tested in my Henry lever action.
I guess I'll be placing an order with my local gun shop, and maybe including a few other one-offs along with it.