Another Ammo Question

[Quarter Horse]

The current threads on Wolf, SK and Lapua ammo remind me of a question. I know that serious .22 shooters will order individual boxes of their favorite flavor from different lot numbers, then shoot them and order in quantity from the lot number that performs the best.

My own experience was that SK Rifle Match/Wolf Match Extra shot better than SK Standard Plus/Wolf Match Target. This would seem reasonable as the better performer was the more expensive. But, the Lapua Center X didn't shoot as well as the much less expensive SK Rifle Match/Wolf Match Target.

So the question is, if all of these various designations are nothing more than exactly the same round graded for performance, how in the hell can the less consistent ammo outperform the more consistent ammo? Remember, regardless of the box they come in, this ammo is reputedly all the same and is only graded on it's consistency.

 

[bunsen27]

Re: Another Ammo Question

Each individual rifle will have it's own preferences for ammo as well as lot to lot performance of a specific brand of ammo will vary. Lots that shoot great at 50yds may shoot like crap at 100yds and beyond while lots that shoot so-so at 50yds made really perform at 100yds and beyond.

High dollar ammo does not guarentee top perfermance in your rifle. Welcome to the joys of rimfire.

I understand the frustration as I've been there myself. It's why I don't buy Wolf anymore. I bought 1k each of three different lots of Wolf MT over about 2 months and each one shot differently in the same rifle. One was noticeble slower than the other two requiring 8.5 MOA of up adjustment from a 50yd zero to reach 100yds instead of 6.0-6.5 MOA. My solution has been to buy as much of one lot at a time as I can afford (5k = case). For the money I haven't been able to beat SK STD Plus for nearly all of my rifles. Make sure when you test your ammo you do so at the range(s) you intend to utilize it at.

 

[gszeto99]

Re: Another Ammo Question

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Quarter Horse</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The current threads on Wolf, SK and Lapua ammo remind me of a question. I know that serious .22 shooters will order individual boxes of their favorite flavor from different lot numbers, then shoot them and order in quantity from the lot number that performs the best.

My own experience was that SK Rifle Match/Wolf Match Extra shot better than SK Standard Plus/Wolf Match Target. This would seem reasonable as the better performer was the more expensive. But, the Lapua Center X didn't shoot as well as the much less expensive SK Rifle Match/Wolf Match Target.

So the question is, if all of these various designations are nothing more than exactly the same round graded for performance, how in the hell can the less consistent ammo outperform the more consistent ammo? Remember, regardless of the box they come in, this ammo is reputedly all the same and is only graded on it's consistency. </div></div>

They are not graded only for consistency. One thing that people do not seem to realize is that SK Std+ is advertized at 1050fps while SK Rifle Match is advertized at 1033fps and Lapua Center-X is advertized at 1073fps. This seems to go inline with the fact that the faster Center-X does not do well in your rifle while the 2 slower SK ammo were fine with your best ammo being the slowest one (SK Rifle Match).

Gene

 

[Quarter Horse]

Re: Another Ammo Question

Different published velocities would seem to blow a hole in the "accepted" idea that these different grades of ammo are all the same manufacturing run but graded for consistency or performance.

I wish somebody would go hang out at the factory and tell us the real story. I think I'll order single boxes of SK Match and Wolf Extra from different lots, find which lot performs best and reorder in quantity from that lot. If anybody has a better system please let me know.

 

[steve123]

Re: Another Ammo Question

Send your rifle off to the Lapua test facility in Mesa AZ. They'll do all the testing for $50 but they ask that you buy a minimum of a case of ammo. You can purchase whatever lot/lots of ammo directly from them or make arrangement's to purchase from a distributor if you wish.

http://www.lapua.com/en/customer-center/test-shooting.html

Because I only shoot local 22 comps I'm trying to decide how serious I want to get about the 22 accuracy thing and whether I want to spend $900+ on a case of ammo.