TargetTalk

Hi - After reading all the posts here about how good the Pardini SP is (and my own research), I went ahead and got one (new) - IT IS FANTASTIC!!!

I live in a remote area and any ammo I get is by special order (takes weeks) so I'm hoping someone with more experience might may be able to offer some insight?

I'm only a beginner (1 year), but I've increased my scores by 50 odd points with the purchace. I got 529 in Sport Pistol on Sunday and I'm happy with that for now... but I want to be getting 550+ in Standard this time next year... hence me thinking about the ammo...

Fiocchi is supposed to be a good brand isn't it? I got some 'Fiocchi M 300 Match' which I was happy with. When I ordered another 500 rounds I received 'Fiocchi Maxac Soft' which was half the price of the Fiocchi Match and the same price as the mid-range Winchester XTR the club stocks... so I'm not sure if it's the same grade of ammo or not?

I had a couple of 5's and 6's that I didn't 'call' along with a splatter of hot stuff down my shooting arm about the same number of times (I can't be 100% certain it was the same shots, but think they were) and I was very suprised to have missed the target completly with one shot the week before.

I'd just put it down to bad shooting/inexperience, but really I'm very confident I'd know if I stuffed up my shot so badly as to miss the whole target!!! (To make it worse, I lost the match by 1pt!)

In short, I'm suspicious of the ammo. There's every chance it's been exposed to heat in transit and may have been in the store for a while. Maybe that's the problem?

I see from the Fiocchi site that the Match ammo is 984f/ps velocity and 79ft/lb energy, compared to the Maxac 1082f/ps and 101ft/lb. Is this significant for the SP?

The XTR works well enough (1165 f/ps; 117ft/lb), but the Mfg says it's designed for US pistols not Eurpoean. That's all I've tried so far (apart from a disaster with some Federal Gold Medal that just went off in random directions, or not at all!).

Should I be trying to order in some other exotic European ammo? Or try to get the Fiocchi Match again? Or just stick with the XTR like everyone else at the club? Maybe it's just a bad batch of this Maxac stuff?

Any thoughts? I've appreciate them very much...

BTW, I'm in northern Australia.

Best regards, Jon

I've had outstanding results with Eley Standard (light blue box) and Eley Target Pistol (Yellow box). The Standard is very reasonably priced, and shoots very well.

cheers.

For .22 ammunition, the 25m ten ring is very large compared to the 50m rifle targets that ammunition is usually produced for and judged. Accordingly, most branded ammunition in good condition will easily achieve this group in most guns although obviously tighter groups will be achieved with some brands that happen to match your individual gun. Some premium brands will also have been produced to better quality standards and achieve even better groups as the say “one in fifty” or “one in one hundred” erratic shots will make the difference in competition. I think that for standard pistol, the feel of the ammunition is also important as I know some prefer a sharper feel so that the gun returns to the aiming area more quickly, others like the very low and slower recoil with springs to match their guns; this is all personal choice, I prefer the quicker recoil.

We have tried S&K Magazine, this is very low cost and especially good for training, in some cold conditions, the lubrication on the rounds has been a real bonus. Equally, Standard is a low cost round boxed round is good value for money albeit without lubricant. The Lapua Pistol King is a similar recoil and obviously produced to tighter standards. Eley and others have the same scale of ammunition brands. For Standard Pistol, significant training at 20 seconds can chew up the ammunition budget so reasonably priced training ammunition that reflects the recoil feel of match ammunition is a bonus.

You have a great gun and I hope you have the time and opportunity to find what is best for you.

I use a Pardini SP since two years and i'm using Lapua Super club for training and Pistol King for competition. I also use Eley pistol + (green) or target pistol (yellow).

Do not use Eley Xtra (light blue), we are several shooters that have encounter feeding problems due to the new bullet shape. Perhaps this is corrected with the actual model but you are in a remote area, don't take the risk.

I know Pardini SP owners that use RWS pistol match from Dynamit nobel or CCI standard.

I've also had problems with Fiocchi Maxac Soft. It's good ammo when it goes off correctly, but I've found it to be inconsistent. The problem I've noted is occasional extraction problems (about one round per match) where there just wasn't enough "kick" to fully expel the spent case resulting in a jam. There is also the occasional inexplicable flyer and I've had one case of what may have either been a double charge or a faulty case. The shot felt substantially hotter than the others (almost like a magnum load) and the gun jammed. When I checked it, the rimmed base of the case had blown off completely and the resulting little tube of brass was still in the breach. Despite its name, I haven’t found it to be any softer than other decent quality European target ammo.
In saying that, I have found that Fiocchi Match to be excellent ammo and use it whenever I'm shooting an "official" competition - very consistent and very accurate.
I'm still using up my stash of Maxac Soft and am happy to use it for practice and club competition, but I doubt I will be buying any more when I run out. I can get the lower and mid-grade Eley stuff for about the same price which has functioned flawlessly so now tend to use that (I shoot a FWB AW93).

Hi,

I have been shooting SPE's and SP's since the 80's. This is what I have found with the ammo that I have tried. They are one of the least ammo sensative pistols I have ever used. At 50' to 25M, they all group well enough to clean targets if you do your part. I currently use Aguila SE Subsonic for practice and 50' NRA, I switch to Eley for the more important or longer yardage matches.

Eley: Works well, except the new Tenex/EPS style bullet. (Hangs up feeding the first round) Eley shoots good to great.

RWS: Works well, shoots good to great.

SK: Works well except the subsonic. I have found they go bang all the time but they don't fully cycle 100%. Shoots well to good.

Wolf: Same as SK as it's the same plant that makes it.

PMC Pistol Match: It works, Shoots OK. on par with the lower end Eley stuff. The lot I tried did not go bang 100% of the time.

CCI
Standard: Doesn't work in either the SPE or SP's that I have. It's too long to feed in the mags.
Green Tag: Works well, lots of recoil, big flash. shoots well, compare to low to mid-range Eley.
Pistol match: Functions well, shoots less well than Green tag. I was disappointed. Less flash but heavy recoil.

Remington
Target: Cheap and loud. Punishing recoil and flash. Does not go bang all the time. Clean, very little residue.
Made by Eley type: See Eley comments.

Federal 711B Cheap, soft recoil, I found the "Dimple bottom" were not as reliable as the regular style.

Aguila
SE Std Vel: Cheap, shoots well, reliable if kept dry in storage and warm in cold shooting conditions. Average recoil, bit of flash. A bit greasy, it leaves some residue in the mags.
SE Subsonic: Same as above except with much less recoil and flash.
GE and Match: Same as above but tighter groups at longer yardage.

711B was the one ammo that didn't group well with my SP ... mine likes SK Jagd and Wolf ... I usually used Wolf because it was cheaper ...

Thanks so much for all your generous replies...

Interesting that others have had problems with consistancy of the Maxac going bang in the normal way, seems like good ammo at a moderate price, but with a consistancy problem... Blew the base off?? Give me strength... :-0

The Federal I had a problem with was also the dimple bottom as was mentioned above.

It sounds like I should give the Fiocchi Match another go, and also the Eley as noted and possibly also the Laupa. But I sorta like the 'purity' of an Italian gun with Italian ammo!

I'm quite sure a bit of extra training would improve my scores more than a change of ammo, but better ammo's only an extra few bucks - and I always reckon the cheapest, quickest and easiest way of doing somthing is at least worth considering!!

Best regards and thanks again for your comments,

Jon

(and I'll check in here again)

Whoops... would have helped to log in before replying!!

G'day JonE,

My experience with your gun is only as a club member and RO. I note that most who use American ammo in this gun seem to have malfunction problems. As you may know the dimensions of the European and the US ammo are different.

I shoot a Benneli MP90S and a Hammerli 208 here in the Riverina in Australia. My observations are that SK works ok but the grease needs to be wiped off before using the rounds or malfunctions will occur. Winchester Supreme has been ok but I do not trust it's accuracy. I also believe that Winchester has re- released their faulty Supreme Pistol. I have seen it at Horsley Gun Shop. I emailed Olin about this but after numerous attempts I received no reply. Funny, given they normally respond quite quickly. I now shoot with Gego Pistol which has again become available. It is made by RWS and I find it very good so far. Particularly as I am buying it at A$260 a case.

I have seen some shooters with your type of gun running with wet magazines and some with dry magazines. Changing from one to the other has helped some people with their reliability.

Bottom line is if it works in YOUR gun and it is priced to allow you not to have to consider the cost to practice then go with it. A lot of the ammo suggested by other posters is either hard to get or very expensive in Australia. I am not saying the recommendations are wrong but possibly not practical in Oz.

Cheers also from down under
Aussie Bob