Hello and welcome to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and its many different types of firearms, ammunition types, shooting competitions, and rich history! Last week we briefly looked at the new Fletcher Rifle Works OpenTop Takedown rifle. From my initial testing of the rifle last week things seem to be shaping up well for the unique take of the 10/22 takedown. I should have a full review for you guys soon, complete with a comprehensive test on how well the rifle holds zero while having its top rail section removed, as well as during routine takedown. This week I wanted to share a somewhat obscure and oft-forgotten rimfire series of rifles (and pistols) that can still be bought today. Today we’re talking about the Exel Arms MR-22 Accelerator Rifle. These unique rifles have a pretty interesting reputation online and today we’ll dive into all of that to see if you might want to pick one up for yourself.

More Rimfire Report @ TFB:

• The Rimfire Report: The Fletcher Rifle Works OpenTop Takedown Rifle
• The Rimfire Report: SIG Sauer 522 Classic Overview
• The Rimfire Report: The B14R SOLUS – An Unholy Combination of Parts

Photo: https://www.gunbroker.com/item/997673587

The Rimfire Report: The Obscure Excel Arms MR-22 Accelerator Rifle

As far as rimfire rifles go, there really aren’t that many options on the market in comparison to the centerfire world and this is doubly true for rimfire rifles chambered in .22 WMR. The Excel Arms MR-22 and its pistol sibling, the MP-22, are two examples of .22 Magnum firearms that don’t usually come to mind when the subject is brought up. While the MP-22, the pistol variant of the Accelerator looks like a Smith & Wesson Victory in a lot of ways, the rifle is more reminiscent of a Beretta Cx4 Storm rifle with its synthetic one-piece stock and magazine placed within the grip.

Photo: Phttps://www.gunbroker.com/item/997673587

The rifle was released over the years in several different variants including flat-top versions either in Picatinny or Weaver, as well as versions featuring removable carry handles and a fluted barrel as standard. The rifle was also made available in 5.7x28mm, which is yet another rare cartridge in the grand scheme of things. The MR-22 typically came with two 9-round magazines, weighed in at a hefty 8 pounds, and was fitted with a stainless steel fluted 18″ bull barrel.

Photo: https://www.gunbroker.com/item/997673587

The MSRP of the Excel Arms MR-22 started at around $512, for the base model of the firearm but could balloon up to nearly $1000 depending on the specific features you wanted on it. These rifles could typically be ordered along with optics, carry handles, and other accessories to kit the rifle out right from the factory. These days, the rifle typically sells for about $650 from online retailers if you can find them in stock. Most auction sites list them for a starting bid of about that same price.

Reliability and Accuracy

Depending on when you bought one of these rifles, and how often you shot it, your opinions on how accurate and reliable it was could have varied pretty wildly. The best I can tell from canvassing a handful of people I know who picked them up back in the early 2010s is that the rifles used to work pretty well, although there tended to be a consistent issue with extraction, something not all that uncommon for rimfire rifles of all types. The Excel Arms manual for the Accelerator states that it has a break-in period of 200 rounds, but most of the online auctions I see for these rifles these days have the owners stating that they’ve fired 100 or fewer rounds through theirs.

Photo: Palmetto State Armory

Many more recent reviews seem to be much more negative when it comes to the rifle’s performance with many indicating that it won’t cycle properly for more than a handful of rounds or sometimes consistently failing to extract fired casings. Many who have had great success with their rifles say that the core of the MR-22’s reliability stems from properly loading the magazines by using the provided magazine loading tool. This tool apparently ensures that the rimmed casings are stacked properly so that proper feeding and cycling can occur. While it might be easy to dismiss this claim, I know from experience it’s not all that uncommon for rimfire pistols to suffer from this same administrative quirk.

Photo: https://www.gunbroker.com/item/997673587

In the accuracy department, the MR-22 actually seems to have behaved quite typically for a rimfire rifle in that it largely came down to finding a specific type of ammunition that the rifle behaved well with. Many online reports have these rifles shooting 1/3″ groups at 50 yards with one or more types of ammunition, but which type of ammunition often varied between owners. If you do end up with one of these, if you find it to be reliable, you’ll also have to find an ammunition that is suitably accurate.

Worth the Risk?

The MR-22 strikes me as what could have been a great alternative to the KelTec CMR-30, one of the few well-known 22 Magnum semi-auto rifles out there. However, unlike the MR-22, it’s much easier and more affordable to buy a CMR-30 these days, and that’s saying a lot since it’s pretty hard to find one that isn’t overpriced on GunBroker. Given that the MR-22 has a much less savory online reputation, and virtually zero aftermarket support purchasing one now would probably be inadvisable unless you’re a die-hard collector. As always I’d like to hear your thoughts and your experiences with the Excel Arms MR-22 rifle! Thanks as always for stopping by to read The Rimfire Report and we’ll see you again next week!

Photo: https://www.gunbroker.com/item/997673587