I recently received a supply of .22 rimfire ammunition from a pair of premium ammo suppliers: ELEY and GECO. Both makers are moving into a value priced premium ammo category between high-end target and 'promotional' .22 ammunition. ELEY provided a 300 round "rec pac" of their "action" .22 Long Rifle ammo. It's a round designed for use in a range of shooting enterprises. The load features a 40 grain solid bullet at a factory-specified 1,090 feet per second. A British company, ELEY has been making ammunition since 1828 and has provided ammunition for Olympic medalists. GECO provided ammo in two flavors: "rifle" and "semi-auto." The rifle brand has a 40 grain solid at an advertised 1,083 fps. The box says it's 'optimized for bolt-action rifles.' I found that to be true. The semi-auto ammunition is meant for autoloading rifles and pistols and is said to yield 1,148 fps. Both GECO rounds were supplied in 500 round bricks consisting of ten fifty-round boxes each.

ELEY action and GECO rifle loads where shot out of the Ruger American Rimfire Compact fitted with a Vortex Optics Diamondback scope. Both loads were easily 1" performers at fifty yards.

It was easy to select the guns for this test as they are recent evaluation guns. The rifle is the Ruger American Rimfire Compact, an 18" barrel bolt gun with a threaded muzzle. The optic is the Vortex Optics Diamondback 2-7x35 Rimfire, a fourteen-ounce riflescope with a one-inch tube. The reticle is the Vortex V-Plex hunting reticle. I tried the 'rifle' and 'action' loads from it. The 'semi-auto' as well as 'action' loads would also be fired from the Ruger Mark IV Competition pistol, recently refitted with Hogue G-10 stocks. I'd also shoot some out of the recently released Ruger LCRx 22, a three-inch "kit gun" style revolver – not particularly well suited to any of these loads but worth trying. Firing the Ruger American Rimfire Compact at fifty yards, there were few surprises. The GECO .22 l.r. rifle 40 grain lead solids put five hits into an inch, with three flying into 5/8". I was shooting another group, sub-inch, when a called flyer moved me out into 'promotional ammo' territory. The first four went into 7/8". I proceeded to work on steel targets but the ca. 50 yard chicken and pig were no challenge. I put regular hits on the 100 yard steel 'turkey' target. After some fiddling about, considering drop, I was able to connect on the 150 yard steel 'ram' target repeatedly. This wasn't bad shooting from a light, non-competition rifle. The ELEY action round fired sub-one inch groups at fifty yards out of the American Rimfire Compact. It was routine to see the best three of five going into ½". Going to the pistol side, I set targets at 25 yards. The Ruger Mark IV Competition, a sure-as-shootin' target gun, shot like a target gun. Shooting over a bag, the GECO 22 l.r. semi-auto and ELEY action brands both produced regular one-inch groups. You get what you pay for – not always, but often – and this is one case where the quality is clear. Going to the LCRx 22, I found that not all was well. The ELEY action ammo shot very high over the sights and the GECO semi-auto featured sticky extraction. I didn't get much of a group with ELEY out of the little gun. The GECO load was remarkable. It printed a group 4 ½" over the top of the front sight – I was holding at six o'clock on the bottom bullseye on a page of 3-inch targets and hit center in the bullseye above the bull I was shooting on. Even with the sticky extraction and the very high point of impact, five bullets went into 2 ¼" – so there. The ammo is remarkable and the Ruger guns helped demonstrate the potential. Again, this is recreational ammo, not the serious target stuff – but it's hard to tell the difference on the targets. -- Rich Grassi