Why is there a waning of .22 PPC shooters?

J

JDMock

Member
The original PPC's were .22 PPC's and they won from the beginning. A little while later the 6 PPC became king of the hill, but the .22 PPC, the .22 Waldog, and various .22 PPC-shorts still had a good following. Now, one seldom sees a .22 listed at a match. Is the 6mm that much better ballistic-wise or is there simply better 6mm bullets available and more shared knowledge. We all know that the .22 PPC has great accuracy potential, but few shoot it. Why?

Some of the smallest groups that I have shot were with the .22 PPC or .22 PPC-short. I shot an .078 at the Super Shoot with the shortened version and here is a 3-shot group at 200 yards with a full length version. Many believe that the 52 gr. bullets are moved more by the wind. Good shooting...James
 

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JDMock said:
The original PPC's were .22 PPC's and they won from the beginning. A little while later the 6 PPC became king of the hill, but the .22 PPC, the .22 Waldog, and various .22 PPC-shorts still had a good following. Now, one seldom sees a .22 listed at a match. Is the 6mm that much better ballistic-wise or is there simply better 6mm bullets available and more shared knowledge. We all know that the .22 PPC has great accuracy potential, but few shoot it. Why?
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Still a small portion overall, but the 220 Beggs shoots very well, has the same approx capacity as the ppc short, and requires no forming of the brass. Honestly, I know of several times more people shooting a 220 Beggs now, than a 22ppc or a shortened version of it....fwiw.
 
Before the sporter rule change, one gun shooters would have had to switch barrels for that class if they were shooting a .22 in LV and HV, which was a disincentive. After the rule change, given that so many are already tooled up for 6PPC and there is no proven accuracy advantage for the .22 it might be hard to justify the expenditure except as an expression of curiosity. Then there is the matter of the .22 PPC case having too much capacity as is, and the work required to make cases for the shorter versions. A friend who had been shooting a Waldog, switched to a fill .22 PPC with a 15 twist barrel on the advice of Lee Six.This was some years back. I asked him how it shot. He said that it shot fine, but the wind was a greater factor than with his 6s. The ultimate answer may be that until someone starts winning matches with one, there will be no one to follow.
 
I do not understand it, I shoot a 6PPC myself. But George Kelbly talked to me and said he shoots a .22 because the group size of a, .243, side by each is .243 and a .22 is .224. See you May the 14th Jim. Try to control your emotions, EH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
The old Sporter Rule, (.230 or larger), killed the 22. A 22PPC Short will shoot just as well as any 6PPC, but it is labor intensive making he cases. Shooters said, "why bother".

I'm surprised that there hasn't been a resurgence of the 22 since The NBRSA did away with the minimum caliber restriction. I think at last years NBRSA Nationals, there was only two being shot.
 
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Why? One why is old age and failing eyesight. I started with a 0.100" short 22PPC. today I was trying a new technology 5 groove barrel in 6 PPC. I had put that barrel on a Panda/Leonard setup with a 40X Leupold I had not used in some time. The sky was overcast and most bullet holes I could not see at 100. Tonight I put that new barrel on a Panda/Leonard with a 45x Leupold with a 3X multiplier in hopes of seeing some of the 6mm holes!!
Back when Mike Walker was 96 we were shooting at Fairchance. He and I were sitting on a log behind the firing line plotting how we could sneak a 50 cal in the mix so we could see the holes. I had the honor of shooting HV100 at Weikert beside him when Mike was 99. Not surprising he out shot me. That was the first year Jeff Stover was IBS president. Jeff had someone take a picture of he and Mr Walker at Mikes bench...the old and the new. We tried to get Brennan to use that pic for a magazine cover but....

So why? Old shooters, old eyes probably.

.
 
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One of the last matches that I shot a .22 PPC short was at Midland. Mirage was so heavy that I shot a group at 200 and never saw a bullet hole. I was just hoping they were in the record area of the target. But, I could see the 6mm bullets on the target next to me. The ease of making 6 PPC brass as opposed to the .22 short and the bullet holes disappearing in heavy mirage are why I quit shooting the .22.
 
The rule changes, no doubt, had their impact. The real reason, IMHO, is that over the last several years, especially with some pretty good bullet development, in matches at ranges with less than ideal conditions, over time, the 22's just will not fight the wind at 200yds where most matches are won.
 
Bill Gammon said:
I do not understand it, I shoot a 6PPC myself. But George Kelbly talked to me and said he shoots a .22 because the group size of a, .243, side by each is .243 and a .22 is .224. See you May the 14th Jim. Try to control your emotions, EH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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got duck will travel, see you 16 May:D
 
Folks have won with unusual cases for Benchrest shooting. I can't remember his name, Michael I think, had a really good (really good) shooting 30-30. Did we go build a 30-30? I didn't but wanted to......! We know that a 6PPC can win but it has to be a good one and it seems that the percentage of good PPCs is greater than any other. Not the percentage overall but the individual percentage.
 
It's

Wilbur said:
Folks have won with unusual cases for Benchrest shooting. I can't remember his name, Michael I think, had a really good (really good) shooting 30-30. Did we go build a 30-30? I didn't but wanted to......! We know that a 6PPC can win but it has to be a good one and it seems that the percentage of good PPCs is greater than any other. Not the percentage overall but the individual percentage.
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Michael Turner out in NM.
 
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