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SK Flatnose
- Thread starter Fret
- Start date
There are two kinds - basic and match
Haven't tried it but read about it in a couple of other forums. Being touted as more precise and accurate for shooting at 50m. Same price as Rifle Match. I shoot at 100 yards and longer so I am not too excited about it but I may try a box to see how it does
Haven't tried it but read about it in a couple of other forums. Being touted as more precise and accurate for shooting at 50m. Same price as Rifle Match. I shoot at 100 yards and longer so I am not too excited about it but I may try a box to see how it does
I'd been watching for both basic & match to be in stock at Grafs - never have seen any of the Match listed yet, though they did have some basic in stock a few weeks ago. Need to try some Eley EPS to see if the FN stuff will feed in either of my 40X repeaters, as well as the V-22 - if it won't feed reliably, I can stop watching for the SK flatnose stuff.
I think both the basic and match flat nose ammo were in stock at Grafs earlier today.
Resurrecting this again
The only place that is carrying the red box SK rifle Match is SG Ammo and it is $$$ ($100/Brick). That is $25 more than what I used to spend.
The flatnose match is available at a few places for $75/Brick but I don't want to buy it if it works poorly.
The SK Rifle Match is still shown on the SK website. Someone told me that they are discontinuing it and replacing it by the flatness rifle Match and Long Range Match
The only place that is carrying the red box SK rifle Match is SG Ammo and it is $$$ ($100/Brick). That is $25 more than what I used to spend.
The flatnose match is available at a few places for $75/Brick but I don't want to buy it if it works poorly.
The SK Rifle Match is still shown on the SK website. Someone told me that they are discontinuing it and replacing it by the flatness rifle Match and Long Range Match
The last time I spoke with Cathy at Good Shooting, she mentioned that SK had re-named Flatnose Basic as Flatnose Target, and if you go to SK's website, you'll see that. I don't shoot the FN in matches, but keep magazines loaded with it for critter control here at the farm. I could buy some Eley Subsonic HP ammo for the same purpose, but I like not having to mix ammo with different bullet lube, and the sound of the bullet impact on the few 'coons I've shot with the FN more or less validates my theory that it's transferring energy to the target better than round nose bullets.
I've not heard anything about them discontinuing Rifle Match (red lettering on box). I know I had to test at least a dozen lots of RM three years ago before I found one worth buying in quantity, but it's good enough that I wish I'd have been able to find another case or two to add to the two cases I was able to buy...
I've not heard anything about them discontinuing Rifle Match (red lettering on box). I know I had to test at least a dozen lots of RM three years ago before I found one worth buying in quantity, but it's good enough that I wish I'd have been able to find another case or two to add to the two cases I was able to buy...
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I really like the Rifle Match...I should have bought more. Won't make that mistake again should prices come down
My experience with both is limited to just 100 rnds of the same lot of each, so two boxes of Rifle Match and two boxes of Flatnose match. I'm still in the ammo/lot testing phase with my Bergara B14R, so a small sample size.
In this limited testing I found Flatnose Match (henceforth referred to as FNM) to be roughly equivalent in accuracy to the Rifle Match (RM) at 50 yards.
The FNM average groups were in the low to mid .4s with several in the .1s - .3s, whereas the RM averaged in the high .4s. Overall best group came from the FNM @ .151" ctc.
Interestingly however the RM seemed to be more consistent. With the small sample size this could easily be attributed to lot variance or shooter error. The FNM groups ranged from .151" to .839" ctc and whereas the extreme ends of groups size on the RM were closer together - .276" to .620" ctc.
Between the two I'd pick: (1.) whichever is available and (2.) priced lower.
In this limited testing I found Flatnose Match (henceforth referred to as FNM) to be roughly equivalent in accuracy to the Rifle Match (RM) at 50 yards.
The FNM average groups were in the low to mid .4s with several in the .1s - .3s, whereas the RM averaged in the high .4s. Overall best group came from the FNM @ .151" ctc.
Interestingly however the RM seemed to be more consistent. With the small sample size this could easily be attributed to lot variance or shooter error. The FNM groups ranged from .151" to .839" ctc and whereas the extreme ends of groups size on the RM were closer together - .276" to .620" ctc.
Between the two I'd pick: (1.) whichever is available and (2.) priced lower.
Just checked MH and they are out of stock. SG Ammo has it but I am not paying their price.
Will keep looking and thanks for the note!
My best 5 shot group at 50yds with Center X is .296
My best 5 shot group at 50yds with Flatnose Match is .270
I've shot in the low .300 with SK RM
The rifle is a Savage Mark II FV
Obviously my rifle likes the Flatnose Match better.
FWIW - Neither of Flatnose ammo's grouped for me at 100
My best 5 shot group at 50yds with Flatnose Match is .270
I've shot in the low .300 with SK RM
The rifle is a Savage Mark II FV
Obviously my rifle likes the Flatnose Match better.
FWIW - Neither of Flatnose ammo's grouped for me at 100
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I shoot almost exclusively 200 yards with rimfire.
Results with SK Flatnose Match and all the SK round nose match 22lr versions are almost the same.
Results depend on batch quality as confirmed by chronograph numbers.
It's not the style of bullet that seems to affect the results,
but y'er luck with the ammo assembly line retail lottery.
Those rifles really don't like velocity differences at extended range.
1 fps difference in mv, with a match 22lr at 200 yards,
produces about 1/10 th inch of vertical spread on target.
Results with SK Flatnose Match and all the SK round nose match 22lr versions are almost the same.
Results depend on batch quality as confirmed by chronograph numbers.
It's not the style of bullet that seems to affect the results,
but y'er luck with the ammo assembly line retail lottery.
Those rifles really don't like velocity differences at extended range.
1 fps difference in mv, with a match 22lr at 200 yards,
produces about 1/10 th inch of vertical spread on target.
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Resurrecting again.
I’ve switched to using SK Match Flat-nose only recently, from Eley Match.
They shouldn’t be comparable, certainly on price; the SK is way cheaper (in the U.K.).
I do weigh it though. A box of 50 can have a wide range, from 51.0grn to 52.2grn, whilst a box of Midas+ (which I use for 100 yards) will vary by 0.1-0.3grn.
Most rounds are 51.7-51.9, and they are very consistent. The photo is from last weekend, 5 x SK flat-nose rounds into an NSRA 50m target (at 50m!) with a Walther KK500 with diopter sight.
It groups way better than Eley Match in my rifle. It’s cleaner, doesn’t mis-fire/hang-up and ejects perfectly. It’s good at 100 yards, but I find Center-X or Midas+ is better. Of course your rifle might prefer anything else, but I seem to have struck lucky, and Flat-Nose, which was going to be just a trading round, is now my competition round for 25 yards/50m.
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I never got around to trying to buy lot samples of SK FN before the real serious shortages hit us - but rather bought a brick or two when I could find it, and this was the Basic, not the Match. The last couple of bricks I was able to snag from Good Shooting several months ago were the Target grade, and I don't really know how it's supposed to compare to Match grade FN. Some of the FN Basic I've had shot pretty good at 50yds our of the Shilen barrels on a couple of my CZ457s, but it wasn't as consistent or good as a very good lot of SK Std+ in the V-22s. If SK & Lapua were to somehow manage to get production ramped up to satisfy demand, I'd like to try lot samples of both grades of FN, along with some of their Biathlon Sport.
Hi Dennis,
Being in the UK (still geographically in Europe, if not in the EU) getting hold of the European-made .22lr rounds is 'patchy' nonetheless. Eley is always easy to get. Indeed every retailer I know will stock much of the Eley range, invariably from Club to Match. Some will stock Tenex, though not batch-testing it against your barrel seems daft. RWS is quite hard to come by unless ordered-in. SK is regularly on the shelves, and Lapua is sort of in-between. In the UK a firm called Bisley Wholesale imports Lapua and RWS. I'd likely be shooting RWS R50 if it wasn't for the precarious stock acquisition problems.
Going down the grade (well for smallbore match use) CCI, Federal and Winchester are always easy to find in stock. In the UK firearms sports are highly-regulated, and auto-fire rifles and pistols are absolutely verboten. Even .22lr competition pistol shooting is banned (since 1997). 'Mini-rifle' is a relatively new sport, often seeing competitors purchase the S&W M&P .22lr rifle or similar. It's highly-regulated, with safety being absolutely paramount (a range officer actually follows the shooter around the range) but it's enjoyed some TV coverage.
Of the larger calibers, the costs for full-bore rifle competition shooting becomes a bit excessive and so reloading equipment is-a-must. Being a rather densely-packed island there are few places to shoot long-distance above 300m. The Stickledown range at Bisley (in Surrey) offers 1200 yards and the Orion range in the Cambrian Hills of Wales I believe goes out to 3000 metres. .308 & .338 are popular but its a tiny market compared to say, the US. .50 is likely to be banned in the near future. The UK full-bore hunting rifle market dominated by Accuracy International (Portsmouth, Hampshire). Being manufactured in the UK ensures there's no import duty for UK customers and the firm, established by smallbore rifle Olympic champion Malcolm Cooper, supplies the British Army. As AI's are invariably too heavy for competitive use, there's a small homegrown industry for F-Class competition rifles.
Unusually for the UK, this winter has been uncommonly cold. I've considered trying out SK Biathlon Sport for such occasions. Then again a 'bad' winter in the UK is going to be unimaginably mild compared to an average US Midwest winter!
