Eley .22 Rimfire Ammunition

TEST
REPORT
BY NICK HARVEY
Eley .22 Rimfire Ammunition
Eley’s top--line “Tenex” ammunition’s reputation is unequalled in
international smallbore competition. Thanks to Nioa, more Aussie
shooters will now be able to experience its outstanding performance.
1
ON THIS PAGE
1
Super-accurate match-grade
rifles like the Anschutz can
use accurate ammo to its best
advantage. The author shot many
ragged one hole groups with Eley
Tenex in the Anschutz.
2
Eley Tenex has been the
benchmark for Olympic
smallbore marksman for decades.
58 | SPORTING SHOOTER _ JULY 2016
ELEY Tenex is not the only
top-grade rimfire target
cartridge this English company
makes that will chew out 50
metre groups you can cover
with the base of a .30-calibre
bullet. Their Match, a cheaper
alternative, is capable of
delivering 10-shot groups at 100
metres that shred the one-inch
X-ring. Match is recommended
for the shooter who wants the
best possible ammunition
without having to pay the
premium price demanded for
the ultimate Tenex.
American target ammo
ammunition was never able to
equal Eley-class scores, and
even the Europeans admit that
Eley is the best. By 1978, Eley’s
150th birthday, Eley's 10-year
old Tenex already held 18
individual and team world
records and had racked up 18
Olympic gold medals and that
success has continued
unabated. Tenex claimed the
600x600 world record perfect
score in the demanding 60-shot
50-metre prone match.Eley, the
oldest continuous
manufacturer of both rimfire
and centrefire ammunition in
the western hemisphere, also
offers a full line of other types
and grades of .22 rimfire
cartridges. There's Club, and
Edge both favoured rounds for
up-and-coming shooters.
Economically priced, Club
is surprisingly accurate,
especially over 50
metres. Edge is standard
velocity and
recommended for
general club shooting
and practice.
2
Tenex, Edge and Match are
loaded to the same ballistics,
enabling the change from a
practice to a match round
without major sight changes. In
the area of special purpose .22
Long Rifle loads, Eley offers
"Force" a high-velocity round
developed for leading shooters
of the Biathlon discipline. The
velocity of both Force and
Contact ensures operation of
semi-automatic mechanisms.
"Sport" was developed by
Eley as a standard-velocity
small game round,for where
noise disturbance is a factor,
while is Eley’s "Subsonic
Hollow-Point ," is for small
game out to 50 metres.
Particularly quiet it’s just
what’s needed to pick off
rabbits without alerting the
rest of the warren or a flock of
pest birds. Many hunters will
want to take advantage of
Eley's gold-medal winning
accuracy. Sport shooters can
use Eley Force, a high-velocity
load combining tackholing
accuracy with more striking
energy and kills whistled-in
foxes very emphatically.
With the exception of
Force, Eley has optimised
the velocity of their loads so
that the bullets travel at
subsonic velocities, because as
the a projectile goes through
the sound barrier, shock waves
build up on the nose causing
TEST
REPORT
4
3
flight instability, reducing
accuracy. All types mentioned
above have solid 40gn bullets
with MV of 1070fps, exceptions
being Subsonic with 1033fps
and Force with 1200fps. In my
experience, the standard
velocity .22 LR is also a worthy
hunting load, particularly the
Subsonic hollow point. The
size of a 5-shot group in my
Brno Model 2 and Lithgow LA
101 sporters averaged .60" for
five shots at 50 yards. This
accuracy makes it easy to pick
off small game out to 100 yards
using some Arkansas elevation.
Many field shooters have
realised that careful, precise
bullet placement is more
important than the additional
100-150fps of high-velocity
loads. Seeing how my rifles
perform with it, subsonic
hollow point cartridges deserve
special mention. I now prefer
them for small game hunting.
Until recently, Aussie
shooters found it difficult to
find a gun store that stocked
Eley. It was imported in small
quantities and distributed
mainly to .22 rimfire target
clubs. Things have changed
since Nioa, one of the leading
distributors of firearms and
ammo has become the sole
Australian agent for Eley
rimfire rifle and pistol
ammunition and shotshells.
Eley says that the reason for
the outstanding performance of
its Tenex ammo lies primarily
in the absolutely exacting
ACCURACY PERFORMANCE OF ELEY
RIMFIRE AMMUNITION
JGA STANDARD MATCH RIFLE WITH MATCH
54 ACTION & 590MM SS BARREL
Accuracy
Eley Load
Bullet (gns)
Smallest
Largest
Average
Tenex
40gn Solid
0.235
0.341
0.306
Sport
40gn Solid
0.345
0.460
0.446
Contact
40gn Solid
0.359
0.458
0.414
Club
40gn Solid
0.374
0.425
0.405
Match
40gn Solid
0.247
0.407
0.361
Edge
40gn Solid
0.389
0.414
0.382
Subsonic
40gn HP
0.293
0.440
0.370
Force
40gn Solid
0.249
0.471
0.385
Green Tag
40gn Solid
0.369
0.544
0.471
Lapua Master
40gn Solid
0.291
0.472
0.361
Gold Medal
40gn Solid
0.360
0.414
0.386
Group size figures were taken as the result of five 10-shot groups fired at 50 yards.
60 | SPORTING SHOOTER _ JULY 2016
requirement for uniformity of
components and assembly for
each individual round. In
particular Eley singles out its
revolutionary "Eleyprime" (EPS)
system of dispensing the
priming compounds in the
base of the rimfire case. Instead
of spinning the priming
compound into the rim, it is
deposited as a tiny pile in the
base of the case. Two punches
flatten the 35 milligrams of
pyrotechnic powder, and
spread it evenly around the
inside of the rim. Then two
drops (12 microlitres) of water
are added to seal and activate
the primer, which after drying
becomes lead styphnate. Each
case is weighed to ensure that
priming charges lie within a
one-milligram tolerance.
EPS-primed cases contain
about twice as much priming
compound as spin-primed brass
which contributes measurably
to the thrust. Most importantly,
this greatly increases
consistency of ignition and a
resulting reduction of velocity
variation from round to round.
After priming, the cases are
loaded with propellant in a
room with controlled
temperature and humidity.
Charges are precisely
measured by loading
machines that are retooled
and recalibrated every six
months, and powder-column
height is checked to .01mm.
This quality control is what
makes Eley Tenex so accurate.
It includes inspecting each
bullet! At the bullet finishing
station, the operator views a
series of circles that are actually
bullet heels. Every bullet is
magnified to ensure no
irregularities. Whether you
shoot in a local comp’ or for
Olympic gold, you can't afford a
single stray shot. Also, Eley
Tenex bullets are shaped to
excel at subsonic velocities
with the centre of pressure far
forward of the centre of
gravity. They're designed
specifically for a 1:16-1/2 inch
rifling twist. The bullets’
truncated noses feature feature
a distinctive nub, formed in an
oxygen-free environment.
Oxides are less dense than lead
and traces can lead to flight
instability, so strict quality
control is what enables Eley
cartridges to shoot to exactly
the same impact point time
after time, but there's more!
Seated bullets have depth
checked using a light beam and
bullets are knurled & crimped
in a single operation.
Sporting bullets are lubed
with a paraffin-based coat;
match ammo wears a beeswaxtallow lube which is softer and
allows easier chambering and
cleaning after long strings.
Tenex cases are formed in a
23-stage process from spools of
strip brass obtained from
brass mills in France and
Germany. Slow? Eley makes a
million .22 RF cartridges each
day. Each batch of ammo is
tested to track variations from
lot to lot by shooting twenty
ON THIS PAGE
3
Eight different Eley loads were
tested in the Anschutz DE
Standard Match rifle at 50 yards.
4
Eley Tenex deserves its hard
won reputation for being the
world’s most accurate .22 Long
Rifle target load.
TEST
REPORT
10-shot groups. Tenex that
doesn't group exceptionally or
fall within a range of 1040 to
1080 fps gets downgraded to a
less expensive label. Shooters
buying Club get a real bargain
- Tenex with a minor blemish.
I borrowed Ken Harding's
Anshcutz Model 1907 target
rifle with Leupold Competition
Series 35x45mm scope with
small dot reticle able to quarter
a .22 bullet hole at 50 yards.
I'm no experienced small bore
target shooter and the light one
ounce trigger took getting used
to, causing the rifle to go off
prematurely on occasion.
Competition shooters don't
need me to tell them what
Eley can do; they know. I was
interested in what orce and
Subsonic might offer ordinary
sport shooters and hunters;
see the results in the chart.
I fired eight different
varieties of Eley ammo at the
50 metre range in 10 shot
strings. I also included two
62 | SPORTING SHOOTER _ JULY 2016
American target loads and one
Finnish load for an informal
comparison in the Anschutz.
Those three represented what I
have found to be some of the
best-performing loads by three
different manufacturers of .22
LR ammo. Federal's Gold
Medal and CCI Green Tag and
Lapua Master are precision
loads for competition. In
general, I found that Eley Field
Grade loads grouped better
than the Federal Gold Medal
and CCI Green Tag, but that
Lapua Master gave the Eley
stuff a run for its money. Eley's
averages were better overall
confirming that in the target
load categories, Eley has little
opposition. With Tenex and
Club, group after group at
50m had 10 shots tearing a
ragged hole. In the Match and
Edge loads, there wasn't much
difference between the Lapua
and Eley equivalents, but Eley
did show an edge overall.
In conclusion: insofar as
Three loads used
for comparison
purposes were
Lapua Master,
Match, CCI Green
Tag and Federal
Gold Medal.
general small game hunting is
concerned, the Aussie rimfire
rifleman can find a number of
standard high-velocity loads
that will serve his purpose as
well as Eley Force, if he goes to
the trouble of seeking out the
particular cartridge that shoots
best in his sporter. But if he
needs the finest accuracy
money can buy, there is simply
nothing to equal Eley's Tenex
and Club match-grade ammo.
Cost of course, is a limiting
factor, Eley's top-line loads are
not inexpensive, and as a rule,
Eley's Tenex will cost you
about four or five times as
much as the same number of
inexpensive "ordinary" .22 Long
Rifle cartridges. The expense is
justified only if you are an
intense competition shooter
who owns a specialist matchgrade target rifle. Guys who
hunt and plink for pleasure or
practice are just as well served
with cheaper brands.