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CCI's Velocitor long rifle: CCI raises the bar in the field of high-performance .22 long rifle ammunition

Guns Magazine, Dec, 2002 by C. Rodney James

Just released is CCI's latest "whiz-bang" long rifle -- the Velocitor. With a promise of 1,435 fps at the muzzle for a full 40-grain hollow-point bullet, it looks good!

The idea of driving a 40-grain long rifle bullet at a muzzle velocity of 1,400 fps is not new. In fact, the original Western Cartridge Company, "Super-X Long Rifle," introduced in 1930, claimed 1,400 fps for the 40-grain Solid round. * No one outside of a laboratory had a ballistic chronograph in those days, thus I've not found independent confirmation of that claim.

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These Super-X bullets were copper plated and unlubricated. According to period writers such as C.S. Landis, they shot flatter than other "high speed" loads of the day, so the velocity claim is likely valid. Problems of leading, however, were experienced by a number of shooters who took to greasing these bullets with a product called "Mobilubricant." *

This alleviated the leading, but the Western Cartridge Company discouraged the practice and began offering the bullets with a wax coating about a year later. They subsequently reduced the velocity. In my 1952 Western Ammunition Handbook, the muzzle velocity is listed as 1,335 fps. Current specs for the high speed long rifle load from U.S. manufacturers are a uniform 1,255 fps with 1,016 fps remaining at 100 yards.

Current Standard

A few years ago, Winchester/Western brought out their "Power Point" long rifle load as an improved high-powered hunting round with a 40-grain hollow point as opposed to the usual 36- to 37-grain bullet. The Power Point is listed at 1,280 fps, with 1,001 fps remaining at 100 yards. Energy runs 146 and 89 ft/lbs of energy respectively at those distances.

The Power Point proved very accurate in my Winchester bull-barrel M-52C target rifle, delivering 5-shot groups of .6 inch at 100 yards under dead-calm conditions. Under "reasonable" shooting conditions (winds under 10mph), I note four 5-shot groups averaged 1.63 inch.

For a high-speed hollow-point, I consider this very good performance, and have successfully taken woodchucks at 100-plus yards with a single shot delivered to the right place.

Intriguing New Offering

Now enter the CCI Velocitor. Its published muzzle velocity of 1,435 fps equates to 1,095 fps remaining at 100 yards. Resulting energy figures are 183 ft/lbs at the muzzle and 107 at the 100-yard mark. This performance intrigued me, and I was anxious to put this new load to the test.

The nearest I could get to "reasonable" shooting conditions in January in Ohio was the thaw that lasted from the 25th to the 30th. Temperatures were in the 50s and even rose to 60 degrees on one particularly balmy afternoon.

The big problem was wind, which blew every day and most nights. I moved my shooting equipment to a small valley up the road, in the hope of getting out of the worst of the wind. I set up to shoot with the wind (if possible) and waited for the most favorable conditions.

100-Yard Tests

January 28, 2002, featured winds gusting 16 mph in the early afternoon, under sunny skies at 54 degrees. In the span of about an hour (after foulers and sight adjustment), I managed five, 5-shot groups with the venerable 52, off my portable bench. I was careful to shoot only when the 50- and 100-yard wind flags were less than straight out, and going in the same direction.

The result was groups of 1.35, 1.65, 1.90, 1.75 and 1.70 inch. Mean average was 1.67 inch. In view of the wind, I consider this pretty incredible. Every shot would have equaled a dead woodchuck given proper sight placement. Radial dispersion from center was only .95 inch on the poorest group of 1.9 inches.

High-velocity long rifle bullets travel in the transsonic velocity range. This is the worst possible situation for accuracy -- breaking the sound barrier at the muzzle and passing through it again on the way down to the 100-yard target. For this reason, all match ammunition is subsonic to reduce wind drift.

I fired a single 5-shot group of Winchester's Power Point for comparison. This measured 2.3 inches, and was 1.25 inches low from the zero established for the Velocitor. This indicated the Velocitor was indeed moving faster.

With only a single 5-shot group for comparison, an additional four groups might well have shown equivalent accuracy average for the Power Point. With different rifles, different results would likely be the case. This is why you must try a wide selection of loads to find out what works best in your rifle.

Tale Of The Tape

Just how fast were Velocitor bullets moving? Chronographed velocities were taken the next day. My Oehler 35P showed a high reading of 1,409 fps, with an extreme spread of only 35 fps. This is less than the promised 1,435 fps average, but can be explained by my test conditions of 60 degree temperature and a 28-inch barrel. Speer's published velocities were taken indoors at 70 degrees and from a 24-inch barrel -- about the optimum length for maximum velocity with a longer-burning powder of the type used in the Velocitor.

CCI's Velocitor long rifle: CCI raises the bar in the field of high-performance .22 long rifle ammunition

Guns Magazine, Dec, 2002 by C. Rodney James

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