Reading @BigJimFish 's Sniper's Hide article about .22LR lot testing at the Lapua Rimfire Performance Center (LRPC) and learning that a buddy shipped his Vudoo to be tested there finally convinced me to send my Vudoo in as well. I had actually considered making the thousand-mile round trip to the new Ohio facility, but I'm really glad I didn't - the shipping thing was vastly easier and cheaper.
Lessons learned:
So, a few more Center-X lots were tested and the last one performed close enough to the Midas+ that there was no way I was going to pay at least 8 cents a round more for a bullet's width of improvement at 100 meters / 109 yards.
My buddy's Vudoo set the 100-meter (meters, not yards) site record of 15.3mm for a ten-shot group. Note that LRPC's software measures edge to edge, not center to center. So, measuring center-to-center, his Vudoo shot 10 rounds of that lot of Midas+ into 0.4" at 109 yards. subsequent proof groups weren't that amazing, but still amazing. So he did go for the M+.
My best 100-meter group was a "pedestrian" 0.7" (Midas+); the Center-X lot I ordered grouped 30 rounds into 1.1" center to center and the best 10-shot group matched the Midas+ 0.7" - so I'm a happy camper.
So now I'm waiting to finalize shipping of my two cases of Center-X. Again, the details of how that works are found in Jim's article.
So, in summary, I paid about $125 total cost - including shipping - to have my rifle tested with 24 lots of ammo*, and the most promising lots had multiple 10-shot groups fired. So, as Jim points out in his article, the cost is "crazy cheap." Lapua makes its $$ in selling a case or two or three of ammo as a result. Seems like a pretty slick business model to me.
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* I fully expected to pay extra for the extra testing, but I was communicating in near-real-time and the schedule was slow, so I lucked out. My buddy did pay for an extra round of testing because his rifle had already been packed for shipping when he requested a re-test without his suppressor in place; plus, a total retest required significantly more ammo.
Lessons learned:
- Don't even bother trying to ship a firearm or anything having to do with firearms through any of those franchised package shipping places. They do not have a bleeping clue what the regulations are. Even if you find one who will ship your firearm - most of them won't - the cost is ridiculous. A franchise place near my home had quoted me $98 to ship my 11-pound parcel with $1700 insurance on it, right up until they started getting all weird and insisted that they had to ship the thing next-day air for way more cost. I took my toy and left.
- I ended up shipping my barreled action from my LGS. Total cost including $1900 insurance (I forgot the trigger during my first attempt): $48 from central North Carolina.
- Talking with my gunsmith friend about shipping, he said he goes straight to the UPS terminal facility in our area. He didn't tell me what shipping costs, but he inferred that shipping as an individual costs much more than what a gun store pays to ship the same firearm.
- If you ship through an LGS as I did, LRPC will request the LGS's FFL and vice versa. Note that your firearm will be returned to the LGS from which it was shipped, not your home. I honestly don't know if it can be returned to your home if it's shipped from a UPS or FedEx terminal facility.
- LRPC accepts shipments ONLY from UPS or FedEx. Only the LRPC Arizona location accepts shipped-in rifles; the Ohio facility requires owners to bring their rifles in person..
- Return shipping was even cheaper than what I paid to ship the thing out - not surprising, because I know my LGS charges a fee for their overhead, but it's nowhere the gouging done by the franchises.
- Lapua and sister company SK use the same lube on all ammo except Biathlon Extreme. So, theoretically I have the option of mixing price tiers of ammo in a match if I want to. That's a big "if."
So, a few more Center-X lots were tested and the last one performed close enough to the Midas+ that there was no way I was going to pay at least 8 cents a round more for a bullet's width of improvement at 100 meters / 109 yards.
My buddy's Vudoo set the 100-meter (meters, not yards) site record of 15.3mm for a ten-shot group. Note that LRPC's software measures edge to edge, not center to center. So, measuring center-to-center, his Vudoo shot 10 rounds of that lot of Midas+ into 0.4" at 109 yards. subsequent proof groups weren't that amazing, but still amazing. So he did go for the M+.
My best 100-meter group was a "pedestrian" 0.7" (Midas+); the Center-X lot I ordered grouped 30 rounds into 1.1" center to center and the best 10-shot group matched the Midas+ 0.7" - so I'm a happy camper.
So now I'm waiting to finalize shipping of my two cases of Center-X. Again, the details of how that works are found in Jim's article.
So, in summary, I paid about $125 total cost - including shipping - to have my rifle tested with 24 lots of ammo*, and the most promising lots had multiple 10-shot groups fired. So, as Jim points out in his article, the cost is "crazy cheap." Lapua makes its $$ in selling a case or two or three of ammo as a result. Seems like a pretty slick business model to me.
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* I fully expected to pay extra for the extra testing, but I was communicating in near-real-time and the schedule was slow, so I lucked out. My buddy did pay for an extra round of testing because his rifle had already been packed for shipping when he requested a re-test without his suppressor in place; plus, a total retest required significantly more ammo.
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