Re: Lapua X-Act?
Here is a recent thread that answers your questions pretty well. I'll copy and paste my reply below for your convenience:
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: The Hoff</div><div class="ubbcode-body">alright well got 7 types of ammo already still need some match ammo to test as well but looking like im going to run tests at 50 then the best of tjose will get tested at 100.
im thinking (3) 5 shot groups from each brand the average the groups and sort like that</div></div>
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Terror!</div><div class="ubbcode-body">This is how I do it. It's what works best for me, so take it with a grain of salt.
Any given ammo gets tested on a 4x5 at 50 yards. I use the first bull for sighting in, and the following three bulls for groups.
If it doesn't shoot worth crap (most bulk and cheap ammo), I just put whatever is left over back into a box and label that brand as my positional practice ammo. I'll also pull that stuff out if conditions are especially bad and I don't feel like wasting the more expensive/better shooting ammo.
Anything that performs "good enough" and above on the 4x5 @ 50 yards gets noted and I move out to 100 yards (as long as the conditions are great, if not then I wait) with the leftover 30 rounds. Two TQ4 targets placed side by side. The left target gets 5 sighters and then the right target gets the rest of the 25 rounds. It's a good way to show you how the rifle and ammo combo is going to average out.
You'll notice that if you shoot 5-shot groups at 100 yards with 22lr, you're going to get a lot of variation between groups in terms of size. This is exaggerated with the cheap stuff, and I feel that if you fire 25 rounds all at once you really get to see what happens over time instead of seeing crap groups and great groups mixed in with your average groups.
Once I know how each ammo does at 100 yards I'll go and buy another box of the best performers and take all 50 rounds to the 200 yard line. This is where it really becomes important that you the shooter do everything right because even the slightest breeze can through the little 40 grain bullets a far ways off target. Ideal conditions are a MUST when you are testing ammo. Then after the 200 yard testing is done, I'll sometimes play around on steel at 300. I'm not a good enough shot to compete in the 300 yard competitions yet, but someday I'll get there and when that day comes I'll be testing all my best ammo at 300 yards to see what works out the best for me. But, chances are, you're not going to see very conclusive data at the 300 yard line while shooting crap ammo. Most of the supersonic velocity offerings seem to fall apart when they pass 75 yards. It's because they go transonic but if you shoot match ammo like almost everybody else you won't have to worry about that.
I hope this helps but again, this is just how I do things for the type of shooting I personally do. I'm a FIRM believer that you should find the ammo that works best at the specific distance you will be shooting at. But if you shoot at variable distances (i.e. tactical comps) then I would suggest the ammo that shoots the best at longer distances. Like armorpl8tchikn said, "I will go with the best average of groups at 240yds every time over bugholes at 50yds."
However if you shoot at one distance much more often than any other then find what works best at THAT distance and use that ammo for all your shooting. Almost everything shoots great at 25 yards so don't even waste your time and money by shooting at 25...
One last thing, alot of the brands use different coatings on their cases/bullets so you'll want to run a boresnake through the barrel every time you switch ammo types. This will keep your data consistent and repeatable.
Okay, that wasn't the last thing, but this is: Take meticulous notes and keep the best records that you possibly can!!!! It pays dividends to take the time to mark every group and note all conditions and such. Rimfire shooting is such a massive game of trial and error that sometimes it gets annoying but if you keep track of what is what then I'm sure you won't get too frustrated
Sorry for the long winded post, I hope it helps in some way.
-Dylan</div></div>
