SK Launches New Long Range Match .22 LR Ammunition

[stevenc23]

SK Ammunition, manufacturers of high-quality .22 LR cartridges for nearly 190 consecutive years, announce our latest offering: “SK Long Range Match.” New for 2019, Long Range Match was developed for demanding .22 LR enthusiasts routinely acquiring targets out to 100 yards and beyond. It is purpose-built for today’s long range rimfire shooting disciplines ever-increasing in popularity, such as PRC, tactical rimfire, long range silhouette and more.

SK Ammunition Sales & Marketing Manager Joerg Melcher states, “Historically, high-quality match ammunition has been a barrier to entry for competitive target shooting. SK Long Range Match allows shooters to gain access to new competition rimfire rifle and pistol disciplines without overwhelming their pocketbooks.”

SK Long Range delivers accurate, high-quality rounds that reliably feed through your competitive target rifle. Centerfire competition shooters will also find SK Long Range Match the ideal training companion to prepare with .22 platforms similar to their big bore configuration. Whether you’re actively competing in today’s popular long range rimfire sports or connecting with LR targets from the firing line at your local club, instill the confidence you deserve with new SK Long Range Match, available in 2019.

http://www.sk-ammunition.com/en/news/20

 

[Jeeper48]

I'll be really curious to see how it shoots out of my cz. I would have no issues switching from center x if it was readily available

 

[MarkCZ]

Sounds great to me. When will it be available?

Mark

 

[MDrimfirerookie]

curious to see the specs, MV/BC/bullet weight. didn't see that in the press release and i can't really make it out on the box

 

[AlBundy81]

I’ll be pissed if it shoots better than the SK match..... I just bought 5000rds.

 

[Starbuck]

Any intel on pricing?

 

[missed]

Excellent.....

 

[missed]

I can't find it, what's the BC on it?

 

[JaoeyP]

Must try!!

 

[softcock]

They advertising it as 'match' .22lr . Normally 'match' .22lr is always under 1100 fps .
increased BC or better Long Range 'match' .22 ? . If there working in the parameters of the .22lr case and bullet ? . It either has to be going faster or have a heavier grain weight bullet . one or the other or both ?
.
edit to add:
I don't really have a problem right now with 100 yard and 40 grain weight ? . but another few grain weight of bullet added would be sweet .

.

 

[MDrimfirerookie]

would love to see it at 42gr and that 1090fps area

 

[Hellbender]

I wish someone would make match grade, slightly heavier, pointier bullet with high velocity (1300-1400 fps). The "supersonic transition" is bull for .22's, in my experience.

 

[stevenc23]

 

[justin amateur]

Supersonic transition is bull?

Blasphemy!

How dare you remove such a useful excuse
from the assortment commonly used by the less fortunate?

Probably because the evidence does not support the claims.

A short stubby round nose is not a long slender tail heavy bthp,
which is what the original study was based on.

If you want higher fps from an SK rimfire
try the SK Biathlon Sport, it'll get you out past 200 yards, no problem.

 

[Seymour Fish]

They advertising it as 'match' .22lr . Normally 'match' .22lr is always under 1100 fps .
increased BC or better Long Range 'match' .22 ? . If there working in the parameters of the .22lr case and bullet ? . It either has to be going faster or have a heavier grain weight bullet . one or the other or both ?
.
edit to add:
I don't really have a problem right now with 100 yard and 40 grain weight ? . but another few grain weight of bullet added would be sweet .

.

Soft, the other parameter would be extremely tight ES. Elusive despite years of attempts.

 

[MDrimfirerookie]

honest question, what makes this different than anything else out there? from the looks of it maybe bullet shape?

 

[Hellbender]

Use the force, if you believe it, it will be so.

The box says so.

Unless it has a new design bullet, it's just another round to try out and see how it shoots.

 

[MTWelder]

SK Ammunition, manufacturers of high-quality .22 LR cartridges for nearly 190 consecutive years, announce our latest offering: “SK Long Range Match.” New for 2019, Long Range Match was developed for demanding .22 LR enthusiasts routinely acquiring targets out to 100 yards and beyond. It is purpose-built for today’s long range rimfire shooting disciplines ever-increasing in popularity, such as PRC, tactical rimfire, long range silhouette and more.

SK Ammunition Sales & Marketing Manager Joerg Melcher states, “Historically, high-quality match ammunition has been a barrier to entry for competitive target shooting. SK Long Range Match allows shooters to gain access to new competition rimfire rifle and pistol disciplines without overwhelming their pocketbooks.”

SK Long Range delivers accurate, high-quality rounds that reliably feed through your competitive target rifle. Centerfire competition shooters will also find SK Long Range Match the ideal training companion to prepare with .22 platforms similar to their big bore configuration. Whether you’re actively competing in today’s popular long range rimfire sports or connecting with LR targets from the firing line at your local club, instill the confidence you deserve with new SK Long Range Match, available in 2019.

http://www.sk-ammunition.com/en/news/20

I'd love for Lapua to just bring back the old Scoremax ammo. A 48-50 grain bullet at 1100 would be the ticket.

 

[TheGerman]

All they need for this to happen at ranges past 100 is to vastly bring the ES down on the round to round velocities. It's the absolute #1 thing that fucks you at distance and we've had many threads about it.

Would also be a huge bonus on a projectile redesign to increase BC but I'm not sure how that would work on a lead bullet.

Your rifle will either like the bullet or not; there's little they can do about that. But bringing the vertical spread down would be the absolute best thing for long range 22LR.

 

[Lawless]

would love to see it at 42gr and that 1090fps area

You just described Eley Contact which is very good for me. Have shot it to 400 yards on steel.

 

[TheGerman]

You just described Eley Contact which is very good for me. Have shot it to 400 yards on steel.

I saw those but wasn't sure if they were anything different outside of being labeled for semi autos.

Are you shooting from them a bolt gun?

 

[MDrimfirerookie]

You just described Eley Contact which is very good for me. Have shot it to 400 yards on steel.

for whatever reason, i just saw those the other day. i've spent my ammo budget for january, but they are on my list for february purchase.

are they working for you and what are your shooting them out of?

 

[Lawless]

I saw those but wasn't sure if they were anything different outside of being labeled for semi autos.

Are you shooting from them a bolt gun?

for whatever reason, i just saw those the other day. i've spent my ammo budget for january, but they are on my list for february purchase.

are they working for you and what are your shooting them out of?

I have great results with my accurized Ruger American but my baby is a 16” Kidd. The Kidd is what I shot this spring out to 400 yards. The Contact was more consistent than any other ammo tried that day in the wind at the longer ranges.

At 50 yards they are under .300 if I am up to it , low .100s at 25.

The extra 2 grains helps them tremendously out yonder

I honestly like them over much more expensive Tenex and SK.

This rifle shot Federal bulk on steel well to 400 as well. It only took 19 or so mils where the Contact took around 23. It just is a fantastic rifle. You can see where I was walking it up once I made a hit.

Forgive the bipod, it has a Magpul on it now.

400 for 22 is incredibly fun and the wind will wreak havoc like shooting 308 at 1K.

 

[Lawless]

Wanted to add, the transonic zone does not seem to effect 22 like is does centerfire. I saw no crazy accuracy issues using supersonic ammo at that distance other than it obviously isn’t as consistent velocity wise.

 

[MDrimfirerookie]

Wanted to add, the transonic zone does not seem to effect 22 like is does centerfire. I saw no crazy accuracy issues using supersonic ammo at that distance other than it obviously isn’t as consistent velocity wise.

careful with this... but @justin amateur will agree with you for sure

also, nice rifle

 

[TOP PREDATOR]

just to stir the pot....

as 22lr bullets are a "heeled" design, it really doesn't matter what "improvements" are done up front as the the tail end (see Bernoulli equation) is of the heeled type. there would most probably be better results seen with a new design of the heel or driving bands of the typical .22lr bullet vs changing the tip.

with that said, transonic barrier is even more pronounced in rimfire supersonic to subsonic moreso than centerfire. just because of bullet design. it's not an apples to apples comparison.

so unless there is some great way they've improved the heel or driving band design, the 5 most important factors in rimfire ammo for accuracy / consistancy on paper, removing all other factors, remains:

1 consistant bullet weight and lead metallurgy
2 consistant powder charge
3 consistant priming compound (and dispersal)
4 consistant rim thickness
5 consistant lubrication (waxes, oils, or copper washes)

i may be talking out of my azz in this next part, but looking at the "specs" of this stuff without actually shooting it, it appears possibly more of a marketing thing by printing "long range" on the box. BTW i always loved, and probably always will love SK / wolf / lapua products.

 

[justin amateur]

More pronounced?
Top, I ask because I'm not seeing any great differences in results
between subsonic and hi velocity 22lr when shooting similar bullets.
Eley makes a 42 grain hi-v and identical sub sonic bullet.
The hi v goes transonic between 35 and 40 yards.
Results at 200 yards are almost identical.
Same thing happened again with Lapua 40 grain.
Results the same, no tumbling, no yaw.
I'm not seeing the so often blamed transition.
The only study I've found goes back to the SMK bthp.
Studies done on the 22lr only showed increased wind drift
when using hi v ammunition.
No real differences in accuracy that can't be explained
by variations on ammunition quality and velocity differences.
Is there an actual study done with the 22lr that shows a quantifiable difference?
I've looked and asked, but not found one.

 

[Lawless]

I’m not an expert in bullet flight, but my own shooting shows no issues at distance with high velocity ammo. Like I said, I connected well at 400 with bulk Federal. I usually shoot subs because they are quieter.

It’s a very interesting thing to read about and discuss.

Any talk of “groups” at that distance is really not possible LOL but I believe the HV ammo I shot was less affected by wind.

 

[ratton]

Ditto on that Lawless.

 

[Seymour Fish]

I'd love for Lapua to just bring back the old Scoremax ammo. A 48-50 grain bullet at 1100 would be the ticket.

Or the orange box multimatch

 

[Seymour Fish]

I’m not an expert in bullet flight, but my own shooting shows no issues at distance with high velocity ammo. Like I said, I connected well at 400 with bulk Federal. I usually shoot subs because they are quieter.

It’s a very interesting thing to read about and discuss.

Any talk of “groups” at that distance is really not possible LOL but I believe the HV ammo I shot was less affected by wind.

Lawless, what was your wind condition like during your testing of SuperSonics at long range ?

 

[Lawless]

Lawless, what was your wind condition like during your testing of SuperSonics at long range ?

The whole day the wind was under 10mph but swirling a little. The lane was in between lines of forest and the flags were mostly left to right but sometimes would go opposite briefly or change into a headwind for a few seconds.

 

[MDrimfirerookie]

I’m not an expert in bullet flight, but my own shooting shows no issues at distance with high velocity ammo. Like I said, I connected well at 400 with bulk Federal. I usually shoot subs because they are quieter.

It’s a very interesting thing to read about and discuss.

Any talk of “groups” at that distance is really not possible LOL but I believe the HV ammo I shot was less affected by wind.

i agree with lawless. i'm not very experienced but most of my issues seem to be with the wind or that i've built a crappy position on a barricade.

i'm shooting eley force and now that i am aware of it will be trying out the eley contact. i'll probably also buy a couple of boxes of this stuff just to try it out

i've got a magnetospeed coming and once that is here, i'd like to try something that @justin amateur does with 50 shots at 200 and post my results with environmentals, MV and the target - aka a standard paper plate. i don't know if its possible for me to do with my skill level, but i'd like to keep all 50 on the plate at 200 yards.

 

[flatland1]

Since our local match director likes to throw in a stage or two with targets at 200-300+yds, I've been doing some shooting with various ammo at those distances to see if I can find something that's consistent enough to give good results. The best groups I've shot out of several custom barreled rifles (Stiller 2500XR/Krieger, couple of jelrod converted 40X/XBs & V-22s with Benchmark, Lilja, Krieger & Bartlein bbls) at 200 have been with a 'magic' lot of Lapua Polar Biathlon from a few years back. Bought a couple more lots of Polar last summer, but they were both rather disappointing relative to the first one. Did a fair amount of shooting just last week at 210yds, in an old feedlot alley with concrete feed bunks lining both sides of the alley. The bunks reflected a lot of sound & gave excellent feedback on the report of each round, and as I was shooting suppressed, most of what I heard was the sound of the bullets in flight.

I had several left-over single-box samples of Lapua Center-X from lot testing a year ago, and one of those lots was rather impressive at 210, while another had several louder & softer reports, with corresponding hits on steel being high & low respectively. The lot of Polar I've got now has also been a bit inconsistent, and shooting in that alley pointed this out very well, though it was still better on the vertical dispersion than the worst lot of Center-X had been. The Polar has a different bullet shape when compared to SK Rifle or Pistol Match and Lapua Center-X. It's quite possible that the shape was more of a consideration for reliable feeding in Biathlon repeating rifles rather than an attempt to increase the BC. However, Polar hits about .5 mil higher at 200yds than any of the other SK or Lapua ammo that I've shot to date, and since it's only marginally faster over the chronograph than SK or other Lapua ammo, maybe Polar's BC is higher?

I'd never been that impressed with the results I've gotten while testing Eley Match EPS in the past, but about a month ago, I thought I should try it in a new V-22 w/22" Bartlein Kukri, since it feeds 100% better in this rifle than it has in any of my previous repeaters. I was shooting prone off bipod & rear bag, so didn't have the opportunity to chronograph, but Eley Match I bought from Brownells a year ago shot at least as well as Polar Biathlon at 200yds, and with nearly the same trajectory, or .5 mils high when compared to SK Match or Lapua Center-X. Not surprisingly, both Polar & EPS or Match take less windage to compensate for wind at 200, which is a much bigger benefit than the flatter trajectory IMHO.

Speaking of EPS or flatnose bullets, I shot some SK Flatnose Basic during the same session at 210yds in the feedlot alley, and it showed some potential. I don't recall hearing a lot of variation in the report of Flatnose, and the 10-shot group wasn't that bad. If our weather hadn't gone to crap, and wasn't forecast to stay that way, I'd order in a few different lots of the Basic to see if I could find an exceptional lot #. However, it'd be a waste of money right now, since I doubt I'm going to get a chance to do more testing for at least a couple of weeks, and even if I did find some 'good stuff', it'd likely be gone before I could order in more of it. It's times like this - when our weather reminds us that it's winter - when I'd like to send a bbl'd action out to Mesa to have it tested. And perhaps it'd be worth it, since I've seen very similar results out of both the Bartlein & Krieger barrels I have on my two V-22s.

 

[justin amateur]

MD, give it a try...or two...or three...or as many as you can.
Just don't be surprised if I hijack y'er pics and comments
and add them to my already long list of 50 shots at 200 yards results.
Awful lot of information available in that thread regarding ammo quality, wind and mv effects.
Comes in handy to be able to refer to previously shot targets when the topic arises.

Paper plates are 8 to 9 inches in diameter.
At two hundred yards that's a 4 moa plus target size.
You should have no problem punching the plate with most of the rimfire ammo I've tried.
That includes the new SK Flatnose.

 

[Lawless]

i don't know if its possible for me to do with my skill level, but i'd like to keep all 50 on the plate at 200 yards.

200 is honestly not hard, you can do it with consistent ammo.

 

[MDrimfirerookie]

i should have more confidence in my ability as a shooter but i don't. i like to start with larger targets and as i build my confidence, drop target size.

 

[Lawless]

 

[justin amateur]

Hey, that box looks familiar.

 

[Maxwell]

just to stir the pot....

1 consistant bullet weight and lead metallurgy
2 consistant powder charge
3 consistant priming compound (and dispersal)
4 consistant rim thickness
5 consistant lubrication (waxes, oils, or copper washes)
.

Ok, I have a question. I am not a machinist nor do I have a great knowledge of design & manufacturing but for your items 1 and 4 I would think checking the tolerances weekly or even daily would insure quality control.

I can understand why priming dispersal would be ‘fun’ to tightly control & waxes absorption’s would vary because ever so slightly lead.

Please tell me what I am missing

Maxwell

 

[Seymour Fish]

The whole day the wind was under 10mph but swirling a little. The lane was in between lines of forest and the flags were mostly left to right but sometimes would go opposite briefly or change into a headwind for a few seconds.

Lawless, Thanks. No cakewalk and the supersonic stuff did well. ?

 

[steve_podleski]

Soft, the other parameter would be extremely tight ES. Elusive despite years of attempts.

Agreed. Shot to shot consistency is the secret to long range performance.

 

[regnar375]

Where would a good place be to try and get some when it comes out?

 

[RackOpsTactical]

Anyone try this out?

 

[billmeek]

i just got in a few boxes today to try. It'll be a few days before I have a chance to hit the range.

 

[AbbyKatt]

I chrono-ed the LR Match, SK Standard Plus (Yellow) and Center-X yesterday. 73° temp. The LR underperformed the other 2 in both SD and ES. Not impressed.

LR - ES=26 / SD=6.9 / Avg=1115
SK Std+ - ES=22 / SD=5.9 / Avg=1073
Center X - ES=16 / SD=5.2 / Avg=1100

 

[RackOpsTactical]

I chrono-ed the LR Match, SK Standard Plus (Yellow) and Center-X yesterday. 73° temp. The LR underperformed the other 2 in both SD and ES. Not impressed.

LR - ES=26 / SD=6.9 / Avg=1115
SK Std+ - ES=22 / SD=5.9 / Avg=1073
Center X - ES=16 / SD=5.2 / Avg=1100

Very interesting

What was the sample size of each test group?

What was the brl length and accuracy?

 

[AbbyKatt]

Very interesting

What was the sample size of each test group?

What was the brl length and accuracy?

I ran 20 rounds of each for the test run.

I run the Specter contour, 18" barrel on my V22. MPA Chassis.

I wasn't shooting at paper during the test. Just practicing on some of my NRL22 targets.

 

[flatland1]

I had five lots of the LR Match to test; started by shooting 10-shot strings from prone, off bipod & rear wedge bag, at 100yds. First four lots weren't impressive at all, but the last one put 10rds into a group that was 1/2" tall x 1.25" wide. Given how much mirage was running at the time, I was impressed enough to go in & order a case of that lot.

Went to lunch & thought it over, had some doubts about the wisdom of spending that much money based on one 10-shot group. Soon as I got back out to the farm, I pulled both my V-22s out, set up a portable bench & chronograph, then proceeded to put 10-round strings of each lot through both rifles in turn on a full-size steel IPSC at 210yds. Saw pretty much the same thing as I'd seen in the morning, and with the additional data provided by the chrono, it was pretty simple to understand why that one lot shot so well. ES/SD were 12/3 out of the 22" Bartlein Kukri, and 14/5 out of a 22" Krieger. The groups were just over 2" and very round. I stopped 2nd guessing myself for buying the case of it, but will be doing more shooting with it as time allows, before taking off for a match with no other ammo along.

 

[Subwrx300]

Just add some quick data:
Ruger Precision Rimfire
18" Shaw barrel
Labradar

15 shot groups 100yds. Not too bad for a cheap rifle and switchy winds! It outperformed SK Red Rifle Match, and CCI SV both of which have been around 1.5" at 100 for 15 shots.

I should add that excluded the CB shots and 1 known bad wind switch shot. The rest stayed in.

If anyone knows how to fix cold bore dropping 1-2 MOA low on first shot after barrel sits idle, I'd love to know what to do to fix it. It's not me; multiple shooters and Chrono show it's 40-60fps slow on first round from magazine unless fired IMMEDIATELY after a mag change. Seems that barrel was cools and slows bullet.