Eley Action Ammunition Evaluation

Action is the latest ammunition offering from Eley.  Advertised as an all-purpose round, the specifications on this load are identical to Eley Target.  With an advertised velocity of 1090 feet per second, the 40 grain lead round nose bullet leaves the barrel at subsonic velocity for a lower noise shooting experience.  Action is available in single boxes of 50, or the 300 round rec pak which contains six 50 round boxes.  Eley provided a rec pak for this evaluation.

While Action can certainly be used for paper punching, the Action name implies that Eley would like us to use this ammunition for less sedate shooting pastimes.  For me, 22LR action shooting can only mean one thing.  Ringing steel.  I have absolutely no guilt, or remorse, for sending all 300 rounds of Action down range without a single paper target being sacrificed in the process.

I did break out the chronograph to get some velocity data on this load.  Mostly just to check and see if it was subsonic from a 16.5 inch barrel.  Barrels in the 16 to 18 inch range seem to be the most popular for 22LR steel shooting.  My results came out as shown below.  It's definitely subsonic, but I thought the spread between the fastest and slowest rounds was more than I expected.  It really didn't matter though as all of the test shots landed in one thumbprint-sized smudge on the target.

10 Shot Velocity Test
Average Velocity      1046 feet per second
Extreme Spread        54 feet per second
Standard Deviation   16 feet per second

The muzzle velocity and 25-yard accuracy testing rifle and group results.

With the boring stuff out of the way, I set up a couple of cameras and got into action with Eley Action.  If you don't watch the video below, the headline is the ammunition functioned well in the 5 different firearms I used it in.  My only concern with the ammunition is that Eley doesn't spare the bullet lube.  It's more of an oily feeling lube than a sticky wax type of lubrication.  After loading magazines with temperatures in the mid-90s, you will want to wipe off your hands before shooting. 

Direct Link To Video on YouTube

If you watch, or watched, the video.  Don't be put off by my 25 yard pistol results on the small multi-colored 6" steel targets.  I'm afraid I caused my own accuracy problems there when I decided to use 6 different colors of Steel Target Paint from brand new spray cans that had been sitting for 10+ months waiting for a project like this to come along.  The cans are packed with a pound of paint solids and it required several minutes of vigorous shaking to get the six cans ready for spraying.  The targets looked great, but my tired arms did have an impact on my pistol shooting during that video segment.

The Bottom Line
All Eley ammunition is manufactured at their factory in England.  Eley Action ammunition is a premium product and retails at a premium price here in the United States.  Is it worth twice the price of other popular US produced standard velocity target ammunition?  That was a tough question to answer, but Eley recently made their value proposition a whole lot easier to visualize.  https://www.eleyammunition.com is the US website of Eley Ammunition.  On that website you will find a nifty little web app called Eley lot analyzer.

Lot Analyzer allows you to key in your specific lot number of Eley ammunition and see a comprehensive list of quality assurance metrics Eley captured during the testing of your specific lot of ammunition.  The video above has a demonstration of the app.  I'll just add one image I pieced together from two different lot analyzer inquiries below because it really helped me understand how crazy accurate Eley ammunition can be.

A US dime is about .7 inch in diameter.  Fired from factory test barrels, my specific lot of Action ammunition was capable of hitting a dime at 50 meters 99.98% of the time.  Eley Tenex is used by Olympic competitors and a random lot I checked was capable of hitting a dime at 50 meters 100% of the time.  Is Action worth the price?  I say yes when you consider Tenex costs around $20.00 per box of 50 and Action costs about $8.00 per box.  What you are buying is accuracy potential at a greatly discounted price.

Use lot number 3117-30082 if you want to try out the lot analyzer app.

If you are interested in trying Eley Action, you are in luck.  Several new online outlets have started carrying the Eley brand of ammunition.  I've also noticed Eley ammunition on the shelf at some of the larger brick and mortar sporting goods retailers.  If you do try it, leave a comment on this post and let us know what you think.

I wrecked my rec pak, but I'm sure Eley will make more.

Ultimate Lightweight Small Game Rifle

The idea of building the Ultimate Lightweight Small Game Rifle (ULSGR) was hatched last year as I worked through the process of building two race rifles for NSSF Rimfire Challenge and Steel Challenge competitions. After a few false starts, and money down the drain, I landed on a combination of parts that proved to be very light in weight, but still delivered the functionally reliability required for serious timed competitions.

Purpose built for small game hunting at ranges of 25 yards or less, I wanted to build the lightest possible rifle that would function reliably with a variety of ammunition ranging from subsonic to supersonic velocities.  Avoiding the additional weight of add-on optical sights, the rifle would be fitted with windage and elevation adjustable open sights.  It would be built from "match grade" components, and be capable of shooting sub 1 inch 10 shot groups from a bench at 25 yards with ammunition it preferred.

I knew I could complete the ULSGR rifle with a total weight of less than 4 pounds, including a sling and magazine, if I followed the basic recipe I developed for my race rifles.  I set my stretch goal at 3.75 pounds and set about ordering new parts and re-purposing existing parts that I had accumulated during previous builds.  With specific colors in mind, it took several months to get everything I had in mind in all the right colors I wanted.

Completed rifles weighs 3 pounds 10 ounces

Parts List:

After a few false starts on previous builds, caused by not having all the required parts to complete a rifle, I've gotten much better at ordering all the required parts.  If you follow this parts list closely, you should have everything you need to build a complete rifle.

Trigger Assembly - Ruger BX Trigger
Stock - Knoxx Blackhawk! Axiom Coyote Tan
Receiver - Tactical Innovations Elite22F Flattop Matte Black (requires FFL transfer)
Barrel - Tactical Solutions 10/22 Open Sight Threaded Barrel Matte OD Green
V-Block - Tactical Solutions Performance
V-Block Cap Screws (2) - Tactical Innovations Blue
Bolt - Tandemkross "Krossfire"
Bolt Handle - Tactical Innovations Skeletonized
Recoil Buffer - Tandemkross "Shock Block"
Receiver Cross Pins (2) - Tactical Innovations Stainless
Takedown Cap Screw - Tactical Innovations Stainless
Sling - Ten Point Gear Tan/Green Camo
Magazine - Ruger BX Clear

If you went parts shopping today, it would cost around $750 plus shipping and transfer fee to pick up everything on the list.  Watching for sales and free shipping offers might knock a few dollars off the total.  It's not a cheap build, but I can't think of a single thing I would change about the rifle.  There isn't any room for functional or weight reduction improvement.  Also of note, the barrel is threaded just in case the process of purchasing a noise suppressing muzzle attached device is simplified in the future.   

Question Everything:

In my quest to reduce weight, I did comparison testing with several different rifle components after they arrived.  This was more for my own knowledge than anything else.

The first was the receiver.  The Tactical Innovations machined aluminum receiver was nearly an ounce lighter than a standard Ruger 10/22 cast aluminum receiver.  It was also much smoother inside and features a hole in the rear of the receiver where a cleaning rod can be inserted for breech to muzzle cleaning if you wish to do that.

I really like the Volquartsen TG2000 trigger group.  I've been using them for years in several different rifles.  I initially planned to use green one pictured for this rifle.  Before making my final decision, I compared the weights of the Ruger BX trigger and TG2000. Since this will strictly be a hunting rifle, I opted to go with the BX trigger and shave about 2.5 ounces off the build weight.  

The last comparison I wanted to share was the weight difference between the clear and black Ruger BX magazines.  I've always suspected the clear magazines weighed less than the black magazines. They "feel" lighter when you handle them.  Taking two brand new magazines out of the factory packaging, it was neat to see my suspicions were correct.  The clear magazines are 10% lighter than the black magazines.

Assembly:

The most difficult part of assembling the rifle is fitting the barrel.  If you came to the blog to read about the rifle then you are seriously interested in learning more about it, or possibly considering building your own rifle one day.  This video is for you.
 

The rest of the assembly process was very easy.  No additional fitting of parts was required.  A small drop of blue Loctite was required to keep the thread protector from loosening during firing.

On The Range:

As I anticipated, the rifle proved to be a flawless performer on the range.  It chewed through mounds of subsonic, standard, and high velocity ammunition with equal gusto. After two trips to the range, and several hundred rounds of mixed ammunition, I experienced my first failures to eject spent cases with standard velocity ammunition. After a good cleaning, it performed flawlessly again on the next trip to the range.

The 2 pound 10 ounce pull weight of the Ruger BX trigger and fully adjustable open sights both contributed greatly to accurate off-hand shooting at targets out to 50 yards.  The rifle is a plinker's dream come true and several hours of trigger therapy were undertaken in pursuit of this review.  As documented in the video, I had a great time "hunting" my steel critter targets and can't wait to get this rifle out in the woods next Fall.  

Velocity and accuracy testing was done on a portable bench using Caldwell's new Stinger rifle rest.  10 shot velocity averages were captured at 10 feet with a target placed at 25 yards.  The rifle clearly had preferences for some specific ammunition brands and loads over others.  The best groups came from both standard velocity lead round nose and high velocity hollow points.  All of the ammunition used for testing was of good quality, and represented ammunition most commonly used for small game hunting.

My only disappointment, from the range time spent with the rifle, was that I didn't find a good subsonic ammunition choice for the rifle.  I've got others available for testing, but it would have been great if one of the three varieties tested performed as well as the high velocity Mini-Mags.

Finishing Touches:

My initial thought was to use a basic 1" wide nylon web sling for the rifle.  As I was shopping for that sling, I happened to see these paracord wrapped slings.  Available in several different color patterns, this one caught my eye and I made the purchase even though it was contrary to my overall goal of minimizing weight.  I thought it just looked perfect for the rifle so a compromise was made.  It looks great and is perfectly functional even if it does add a couple extra ounces to the final rifle weight.



After my discovery that clear BX magazines weigh less than black BX magazines, I opted to use a clear magazine with the rifle.  I'm not really sure where I initially saw the reference, but I discovered that clear BX magazines can be dyed with common RIT dye.  Using a bottle of Rit DyeMore Sandstone, I ended up with two clear magazines with a rootbeer tint.  More fitting for a hunting rifle.  It doesn't make the magazines special in any way other than I can tell at a glance they belong with the ULSGR.  It was also a fun add-on project with the rifle build.


I'm very pleased with my finished rifle (as if you couldn't tell by now).  I hope the closing photo gives you some perspective on how light the rifle really is.  The partially filled half gallon water jug weighs exactly the same as the rifle.  Sling the rifle over your shoulder and you can easily forget you have it with you as you cross hill and dale in pursuit of small game.  I could have built it cheaper, but I really don't think I could have built it better.  It's a rifle I'm proud of and will enjoy for many years to come.

Total rifle weight is the same as the partially filled water jug.