The "right" way to ammo and lot test

[meestermeetch]

I feel like this is a silly question, but what's the right way to do testing on a brand new .22lr rifle? I have 10 types of premium ammo, 50-100 rounds of each.

My plan was:
*Shoot 2 foulers
*Shoot 10 round group unsuppressed
*Shoot 10 round group suppressed
- both at 50 yards -
*Clean rifle (Tikka T1X) with bore snake
**Repeat.

My idea being this doesn't give any ammo an advantage being earlier or later in the test. However I will have some left over so at the end I can shoot another few groups to see if anything settled in as the round count got higher (is that a myth?).

Then I can get a few lots what shot well and test that in a similar manner, but with a chronograph as well, so the one with the best groups and ES, (hopefully the same) will be what I use.

I shouldn't have to worry about heat like I do with a centerfire and if I shoot indoors I won't have to worry about atmospherics.

Am I approaching this right or not?

 

[whatsupdoc]

I would run 100 rounds through the rifle to burn it in, then clean, foul the bore, do your test.

 

[RTH1800]

Avoid bore snake. Only clean with things that are actually clean.

 

[meestermeetch]

Any particular ammo? Plated/not? HV/subs?

 

[littlepod]

Any particular ammo? Plated/not? HV/subs?

I've heard to break things in run some supersonic ammo like mini mags. Breaks things in faster. Then do a cleaning.

I never clean between boxes. Never had that issue. I do shoot 5-10 foulers before the rifle settles down on the new ammo. Box of 50 just shoot 5 groups of 10. You should notice your first group of 10 worse than your others.

 

[jbell]

Don’t clean, not really much need in it at least for several hundred rounds. Just foul the bore until you start seeing the groups settle down and become consistent.

 

[Cuzz]

Avoid bore snake. Only clean with things that are actually clean.

I don’t use a bore snake myself but the best targets i’ve ever seen were after useing a bore snake .

 

[Cuzz]

I feel like this is a silly question, but what's the right way to do testing on a brand new .22lr rifle? I have 10 types of premium ammo, 50-100 rounds of each.

My plan was:
*Shoot 2 foulers
*Shoot 10 round group unsuppressed
*Shoot 10 round group suppressed
- both at 50 yards -
*Clean rifle (Tikka T1X) with bore snake
**Repeat.

My idea being this doesn't give any ammo an advantage being earlier or later in the test. However I will have some left over so at the end I can shoot another few groups to see if anything settled in as the round count got higher (is that a myth?).

Then I can get a few lots what shot well and test that in a similar manner, but with a chronograph as well, so the one with the best groups and ES, (hopefully the same) will be what I use.

I shouldn't have to worry about heat like I do with a centerfire and if I shoot indoors I won't have to worry about atmospherics.

Am I approaching this right or not?

Indoors is a big plus imo. I think i would shoot all suppressed until i feel real good about a specific ammo then try same ammo unsuppressed. Imo bore snake is fine.

 

[justin amateur]

Boresnakes?

Lemme think about this for a second. Hmmmmm....

I'm sending metal projectiles down the bore at 1000 fps plus,
with pressures starting in the neighborhood of 24000 psi
at conflagration temperatures, through and over the debris left in the bore from the previous shots.
Pretty sure those projectiles are grinding all that debris along the bore with every squeeze of the trigger.

A nylon fabric boresnake is used at ambient temperature with a pressure approaching zero psi
at a speed of about 1 fps...I don't think I'm going to be too worried about all the damage
resulting from the use of the snake. Pull it though in line with the bore and it removes
the buildup of gsr and wax from the rifling. Wash the snake regularly as directed in the instructions.

 

[RTH1800]

Let me think about this for a second, hmmmmmmm.

I’m going to wipe my ass with dirty toilet paper and think it’s clean. Or, I could use clean paper, but why... I’m lazy and the unused paper is way over there and the paper covered in crap is right here.

 

[justin amateur]

I knew it was coming and it was worth the wait RTH.

Dayyyyummm! I wish I had y'er way with words.

 

[RTH1800]

I’m a bit germaphobic so “cleaning” with unclean products just doesn’t make sense to me.

In the era of WW1 “pull through” cleaning kits were issued to the troops. In the era of corrosive ammunition rifles were supposed to be cleaned every day they were fired.
One common issue they had was “string cutting” of the muzzle.

Bore snakes simply don’t make sense when far better systems are at our fingertips.

You get great results so it’s obviously working for you.

Have a great New Year!

 

[steve123]

The right way - is to ensure that all the ammo's you test are of "plentiful surplus and being "in stock". Why?? because it does little good to go through all the work then find out the best shooting lot number of ammo in your gun is sold out everywhere!

If you are going to shoot suppressed then test that way.

 

[Tomiboy]

Indoors is good! I would plan on a few more fouling shots. Steve Boelter in The Rimfire Book recommends about one per inch of barrel. This varies from gun to gun. My CZ 452 takes about +/- 15 foulers and has a 22" barrel. I just pull a few clean patches through and then start shooting groups of 5. I shoot ten groups (the whole box). I usually throw out the first 3 targets since they suck (foulers) in my CZ452. YMMV. I believe match barrels require less foulers. I also measure the size of the actual holes the bullets make in the target and subtract this from the outside measurement. I use calipers. Unfortunately this gives you a larger number than you'd like, but it is a more accurate way to measure a true C-C dimension IMHO. I take the 7 groups and average them and then repeat for the next type of ammo. Unless you are going from SK to SK or Eley to Eley it is probably not as important to pull some patches. Takes this info for what you paid for it