Lapua Scenar Lot to Lot Variation

[Jowens]

I picked up a box of .30 cal 155 Scenars to do some testing with. Found a great load with them and went and picked up the last box they had at the reloading shop. It was a different lot number.

So i start by checking ogive lengths with my hornady comparator. Found that the new ones touched the lans @ 2.211 vs the old @ 2.207

I adjusted my die accordingly to seat .010 off the lans for the new lot.

Another change i've made is I swapped to Lapua brass because I got a great deal on a new box of 100, i was using Winchester brass in my previous loadings.

Okay, so here's what i've got:

New Lapua Brass
155 Scenar new lot
.010 off lans
2.201 oal from ogive
2.820 oal from tip of bullet

New Winchester Brass
155 Scenar old lot
.010 off lans
2.197 oal from ogive
2.839 from tip of bullet


Both Bullet lots measure the same exact length tip to base. Measuring the base of the BULLET to the ogive, there is a .020 difference. That could be a difference in bearing surface or just base thickness??

There is a DEFINITE visible difference in these two lots of bullets. The old lot is pointier than the new lot......and the old lot has a smaller hollow point than the new lot.

Here are pics of the two lots: New lot on the left, old lot on the right. Both bullets are the same diameter, BTW...i did check that after looking at the photo, one bullet looks larger in diameter than the other but that is just the picture.




Are the old lot of bullets going to fly flatter than the new lot?
Why is the ogive OAL .004 different, but the tip OAL is .019 different?

Thanks

 

[BlueVFRank]

Lapua is busy replacing their machinery. The new machines are more consistant. The bullets from the new machines are usually recognisable by the L on the bottom. The typenumber also differs..

The lapua always performs, i doubt you are going to see any difference unless in a benchrest style match

 

[bm11]

I don't think it's a change they made recently. If anything, I bet you got an older lot. Here is a link to a similar thread I started a few weeks back when I discovered something similar iin bullete I had bought on the Hide a few years before:

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...identify-30-cal-155-grain-mystery-bullet.html

 

[turbo54]

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting/snipers-hide-reloading/182154-pointing-155-scenars.html

 

[ksthomas]

A quick clarification on the Scenar identification; the bullets with the "L" and shield stamped into the base are the new Scenar L bullets, and differ slightly from our standard Scenar line, which also remains in production. This has nothing to do with the age of the machinery, but of design and/or tolerance differences in the bullets themselves. The new Scenar L's are a line we began introducing about three years ago, adding a few new bullets to the line each year as we can. Essentially, these are the same design as the original Scenars, but are run with even tighter QC standards and tolerances. This is why they have different stock numbers, and are listed as different bullets in our catalogs; they ARE different. In the case of the newest members of the family, they have changed shapes and weights just slightly (the 136 vs. the original 139 grain 6.5mm Scenars, for example) as the bullet was ballistically optimized. In others, such as the .224" 77 grain Scenar and Scenar L, they are identical in shape and ballistics.

As you can imagine, the Scenar L's are notably more expensive to produce, and as such, carry a higher retail price than the original Scenars. This is why we offer both, and didn't discontinue to original Scenar line. It's up to the shooter to decide if the type of shooting or competition he's involved in warrants the extra precision and expense of the Scenar L's. For some applications (Long Range Prone), I will use the Scenar L's. For others, such as across-the-course HighPower matches with the Service Rifles, the weakest point in the chain is me. For these, the extra cost of the L's isn't justified (for my shooting), so I use the standard Scenars. Never lost a point due to the bullets, and the added precision of the Scenar L's just isn't going to add points to my offhand scores . . . those 9s were mine, not a fault of the bullets.

As for the variation between lots, this is going to be true of virtually ALL HPBT designs (all designs, really) from any manufacturer. Simply a result of how jacket material flows during the forming operation, and as inevitable as the sunrise. Keep your distance to the lands constant, and this should impose no real changes in the load or how it shoots.

 

[ksthomas]

A quick clarification on the Scenar identification; the bullets with the "L" and shield stamped into the base are the new Scenar L bullets, and differ slightly from our standard Scenar line, which also remains in production. This has nothing to do with the age of the machinery, but of design and/or tolerance differences in the bullets themselves. The new Scenar L's are a line we began introducing about three years ago, adding a few new bullets to the line each year as we can. Essentially, these are the same design as the original Scenars, but are run with even tighter QC standards and tolerances. This is why they have different stock numbers, and are listed as different bullets in our catalogs; they ARE different. In the case of the newest members of the family, they have changed shapes and weights just slightly (the 136 vs. the original 139 grain 6.5mm Scenars, for example) as the bullet was ballistically optimized. In others, such as the .224" 77 grain Scenar and Scenar L, they are identical in shape and ballistics.

As you can imagine, the Scenar L's are notably more expensive to produce, and as such, carry a higher retail price than the original Scenars. This is why we offer both, and didn't discontinue to original Scenar line. It's up to the shooter to decide if the type of shooting or competition he's involved in warrants the extra precision and expense of the Scenar L's. For some applications (Long Range Prone), I will use the Scenar L's. For others, such as across-the-course HighPower matches with the Service Rifles, the weakest point in the chain is me. For these, the extra cost of the L's isn't justified (for my shooting), so I use the standard Scenars. Never lost a point due to the bullets, and the added precision of the Scenar L's just isn't going to add points to my offhand scores . . . those 9s were mine, not a fault of the bullets.

As for the variation between lots, this is going to be true of virtually ALL HPBT designs (all designs, really) from any manufacturer. Simply a result of how jacket material flows during the forming operation, and as inevitable as the sunrise. Keep your distance to the lands constant, and this should impose no real changes in the load or how it shoots.

 

[Jowens]

Thanks, I will seat these .010 off the lans and rock on. Next box i order will be a 1000 count, might spring for the L's.