Vudoo w/ Eley Ammo

[littlepod]

Rifle -
Vudoo 360 with a 22" Benchmark chambered by Vudoo (Ravage Chamber)
XLR Envy Pro

I had my mags filed down slightly at the lip to not get any catches on the Eley ammo. I am not sure if it was necessary or not, but I figure I might as well get prepared. I also had Vudoo send me the Eley followers but I didn't use them because I heard the Eley followers don't work with Lapua ammo, and I wanted to be able to swap between the two ammo.

I cleaned my rifle as I was lot testing, and I've only ever shot Lapua ammo. I fouled the barrel with some old Eley Target since it uses the same Lube and then started my test with Eley Match.

Eley Match 1082 Vel - 20 round chrono
AVG 1106
SD 5.8
ES 17

Eley Match 1064 Vel - 20 round chrono
AVG 1104
SD 7.4
ES 34

Eley Match 1056 Vel - 20 round chrono
AVG 1093
SD 7
ES 26

50/100 yard groups. Ignore the other groups as I was sharing a paper with another person testing.

The 1056 and 1064 lots shot well at 50yds, but the 1082 lot did the worse at 50. At 100 though the 1082 did significantly better. All groups are 10 shots.

I wonder if the velocities at 1105+ are causing some of the transonic stability at 50 yards, but at 100 things get better. The 1056 lot that shot with the average of 1093 seemed to be well rounded.

120 rounds fired today without any major issues feeding. My breach face was clean so no lead was being scraped. I had 4 instances out of the 120 rounds that I had a harder bolt close, like there were more bullet being jammed into the lands. Never really had that with any of my Lapua ammo so that might be a small concern, and doesn't have anything to do with feed angle. If I cycle the bolt harder/faster I could probably not notice it.

Not sure which lot to go with, either the 1082 one or the 1056 one.

Ran out of time testing, and not sure if I need to change my tuner either... it's tuned for my Lapua ammo, and looking at the groups at 100 for 1082, seemed to be pretty decent there.

 

[Klay23]

Haven’t tried any eley with my vudoo yet. You now have me curious. I have a brick or two of Tenex and was wondering but haven’t tried it.

 

[Kisssofdeath]

Based on what I see, I'd go with the 1082.

I got my Vudoo in and have been shooting it some. Extremely happy with it. I've been shooting Eley club without any issues at all.

 

[littlepod]

Based on what I see, I'd go with the 1082.

I got my Vudoo in and have been shooting it some. Extremely happy with it. I've been shooting Eley club without any issues at all.

1082 looked great at 100y, but those 50y groups are concerning. The 1056 lot 50yd group was fantastic.

I might see if I can possibly tune the 1082 lot to get it to shoot better.

 

[Gunfighter716]

I put 50 rds of a random lot of Eley Match 1062 through my Vudoo / Bartlein 20" 16 twist yesterday. No feeding or FTF issues. Consistent .2 - .3 5rd groups at 50 yrds after putting 10 sighters through the freshly cleaned barrel. Velocities were averaging around 1105. Pleased with the results and planning to test a few more lots.

 

[ocabj]

After seeing people complain about Eley in Vudoo mags, I bought some Eley Match and Eley Tenex and just to try them through my Vudoo. No issues with unmodified magazines out of a Gen 1.

 

[Kisssofdeath]

1082 looked great at 100y, but those 50y groups are concerning. The 1056 lot 50yd group was fantastic.

I might see if I can possibly tune the 1082 lot to get it to shoot better.

Did you shoot more groups than the ones shown? IMO, I believe your sample size is too small to come to a solid conclusion.

 

[CBeck]

I’d go with the 1082 lot because of the smaller es/sd numbers.

 

[Quickoz]

You had any misfires?? Ive been running a 1067 lot of Eley Match and been having misfires every now and then. Been a bit annoying.... but damn does it shoot well.

 

[Rob01]

Those 1106fps numbers are not causing issues. Probably just different lots for the difference in accuracy. I have shot thousands of Eley with those velocities and very accurate and also some Fed GMM which was around 1116fps in my rifle and it was very accurate from 25 yards and out. Just do the usual pick the one that works best in the rifle and go with it.

As for feeding, I have the same experience as Ocabj.

 

[jbell]

After seeing people complain about Eley in Vudoo mags, I bought some Eley Match and Eley Tenex and just to try them through my Vudoo. No issues with unmodified magazines out of a Gen 1.

As for feeding, I have the same experience as Ocabj.

Same results here, the 3 Gen 1 V-22s I have owned ate every ammo I would throw at them like Oprah at a buffet, the 2 gen 2 actions would as well, my 360 not so much.

I personally feel the early Gen 1 actions were the best VGW put out. Nothing against the others but the early actions just seemed better to me (tighter, smoother, nicer). But that may be due to the bolts not being Cerakoted.

 

[Kisssofdeath]

So far I have had flawless feeding with Eley Club. I hope to try out some Eley Match this evening

 

[littlepod]

Same results here, the 3 Gen 1 V-22s I have owned ate every ammo I would throw at them like Oprah at a buffet, the 2 gen 2 actions would as well, my 360 not so much.

I personally feel the early Gen 1 actions were the best VGW put out. Nothing against the others but the early actions just seemed better to me (tighter, smoother, nicer). But that may be due to the bolts not being Cerakoted.

All the new actions now are being Melonited. I just picked up a new 360 w/ Melonite instead of Cerakote. (Still a few weeks to get it)

 

[jbell]

All the new actions now are being Melonited. I just picked up a new 360 w/ Melonite instead of Cerakote. (Still a few weeks to get it)

Damn, that's sweet! I wish I had waited...

 

[bhoges]

Mine hates Eley. It groups fine but a good amount of FTF or fail to extract. I've tried Black, Tenex and they both cause issues. I sent it back years ago for this. Guess the fix didn't work. Lapua runs great never and issue.

 

[littlepod]

Mine hates Eley. It groups fine but a good amount of FTF or fail to extract. I've tried Black, Tenex and they both cause issues. I sent it back years ago for this. Guess the fix didn't work. Lapua runs great never and issue.

I've heard with Eley ammo, you definitely need to clean it more. Tight chamber as it is, and the Eley wax builds up pretty quickly.

Only 130 rounds of Eley through my 360, and no FTF or FTE. I've got like 8000 Center-X/Midas rounds through it also without any FTE/ FTF.

The Eley ammo though does have an occasional hard to close the bolt though. My upcoming 360 will be built with a Krieger through Modacam so it should chamber differently with Jelrod's custom chamber.

 

[chiroz]

I wish my Vudoo 360 was melonited. My Cerakoted action seems to bind unless I use heavy grease. I have about 8000 rounds through it. Forget runnning Eley tenex in it, no bueno.

 

[jbell]

I wish my Vudoo 360 was melonited. My Cerakoted action seems to bind unless I use heavy grease. I have about 8000 rounds through it. Forget runnning Eley tenex in it, no bueno.

I am sure you have tried but if not my 360 that is Cerakoted (as well as the 2 Gen 2 90 degree V-22’s that were Cerakoted) are pretty slick and smooth with a light oil on the bolt body and grease on the lugs. I use TM grease and Butches gun oil. I have found the trick is to wipe the bolt and race way in the action down well often and re-apply the oil.

 

[littlepod]

I am sure you have tried but if not my 360 that is Cerakoted (as well as the 2 Gen 2 90 degree V-22’s that were Cerakoted) are pretty slick and smooth with a light oil on the bolt body and grease on the lugs. I use TM grease and Butches gun oil. I have found the trick is to wipe the bolt and race way in the action down well often and re-apply the oil.

Agree, I noticed my action not as slick when I used grease and didn't clean the raceways in the action down. Now I just use lucas gun oil and no grease at all, and also clean the raceways up. My action (cerakoted) is super slick. Sometimes I find it too slick as just moving my rifle from a position can cause the bolt to slightly push forward and cause a feed issue if I'm not careful.

 

[tlsmith22]

My Gen 1 with a DI Precision barrel loves Eley. I had it tested at Lapua and bought a case of Midas X and the Eley really outshoots it. The MX is no slouch but the Eley is crazy good. I haven’t got it to feed 100% reliably yet though with the new lot of Eley and I had zero issues with the first lot it liked, weird.

 

[uhmeebuh]

I was pretty upset when I got my first vudoo and I couldn't get Eley to feed since it did very well in my Bergara, Savage, and others.

I've had good luck with Center X but haven't yet tried to file one of the feedlips on a mag yet. Maybe after the season...

I'm curious if other lots have that high of an SD. Most of my center X is 4-5 (with some 5-6). All depends on the box and if you want to discard errant flyers that completely ruin the averages.

Will watch close to see how it works out!

 

[littlepod]

I was pretty upset when I got my first vudoo and I couldn't get Eley to feed since it did very well in my Bergara, Savage, and others.

I've had good luck with Center X but haven't yet tried to file one of the feedlips on a mag yet. Maybe after the season...

I'm curious if other lots have that high of an SD. Most of my center X is 4-5 (with some 5-6). All depends on the box and if you want to discard errant flyers that completely ruin the averages.

Will watch close to see how it works out!

All of my center x and Midas plus have an SD of about 7-9. I usually do 20-30 round chrono strings.

 

[bwall57]

Based on what I see, I'd go with the 1082.

I got my Vudoo in and have been shooting it some. Extremely happy with it. I've been shooting Eley club without any issues at all.

Glad to see good results with Eley. I have had good results running the VG 360 20" Bart with several flavors of Eley from Contact, Force, Benchrest precision and Match at 50/100 yds. Keeping the chamber clean and wax free and watching the chronograph to track the FPS/ ES & SD (<10 fps) and watching the wind flags works in getting the POI in the sub MOA range. Out of a 1,000 + rds I only had one feed issue. Setup; benchrest, 66-74F, 70-75% humidity, early morning mostly no wind, no coffee. Just needed to keep up with the data and adjust to get the POI tight. The 42 grn ammo is interesting. I am extremely happy too.

 

[littlepod]

Shot a match today with Eley Match, first time trying it out in a match setting. Prone stages went perfectly fine, no shaving at all in front of the chamber, was shooting very well.

Got to the rooftop stage, it looks like some pressure might've hit my mag and was getting a ton of feed issues. Luckily I had time to address it, finished the stage, and cleaned up big chunk of lead shaving on the bottom of the breach face.

Switched to my Eley follower to see if an additional angle would help, and tank trap stage went well, no issues. Then went to another PRS barricade stage and had a round some how jam and nose dive into the magazine, was really odd, not sure what happened. Swapped to my poly mag and finished the stage.

Ammo shoots well, but definitely more finicky than the round nose lapua.

 

[Rob01]

That nose dive sounds like rim lock in the mag. Either that or just way mag was loaded. You do have to be more careful with how you load the mag with Eley.

 

[littlepod]

That nose dive sounds like rim lock in the mag. Either that or just way mag was loaded. You do have to be more careful with how you load the mag with Eley.

Ah good point. Haven't run this 15 rounder in a while so that could've been it. Will do some practice over the next weeks and get comfortable.

Do you run Eley as your primary ammo?

 

[Rob01]

Ah good point. Haven't run this 15 rounder in a while so that could've been it. Will do some practice over the next weeks and get comfortable.

Do you run Eley as your primary ammo?

I have run it as primary and have a bunch and go back and forth depending on match. I did find more of a chance for rim lock in the 15 round mag than the 10 round. Not sure why but did have it a couple times in the 15 when not paying attention and loading like I was using Lapua/SK.

 

[Matt_3479]

All the new actions now are being Melonited. I just picked up a new 360 w/ Melonite instead of Cerakote. (Still a few weeks to get it)

When did they switch

 

[littlepod]

When did they switch

About a month ago. My new action is still in the first batch they sent off to get melonited.

 

[Matt_3479]

About a month ago. My new action is still in the first batch they sent off to get melonited.

That’s too bad, my new action only arrived like 2 weeks ago. Wish I knew

 

[littlesister]

Shot a match today with Eley Match, first time trying it out in a match setting. Prone stages went perfectly fine, no shaving at all in front of the chamber, was shooting very well.

Got to the rooftop stage, it looks like some pressure might've hit my mag and was getting a ton of feed issues. Luckily I had time to address it, finished the stage, and cleaned up big chunk of lead shaving on the bottom of the breach face.

Switched to my Eley follower to see if an additional angle would help, and tank trap stage went well, no issues. Then went to another PRS barricade stage and had a round some how jam and nose dive into the magazine, was really odd, not sure what happened. Swapped to my poly mag and finished the stage.

Ammo shoots well, but definitely more finicky than the round nose lapua.

I've posted on this before , but bullet nose dive can be caused by front to rear Mag. movement. Hold the Mag at the bottom and push back and forth. If you have movement you have a problem that will effect feeding especially flat nose Eley. Easily fixed with stick on shims.

 

[WeeHooker]

I wish my Vudoo 360 was melonited. My Cerakoted action seems to bind unless I use heavy grease. I have about 8000 rounds through it. Forget runnning Eley tenex in it, no bueno.

New to Vudoo but isn't the action and bolt on a 360 melonited? This from an add where I just ordered mine.

SPECS

• Chambered in .22LR
• Melonited bolt & receiver
• Black Cerakoted Barrel
• 416R Stainless barrels, single point cut with Vudoo chamber
• Barrel lengths of 18”, or 20”
• Barrel Contours of Kukri (Similar to Rem Varm or Marksman) or MTU
• Muzzle threaded 1/2×28 TPI w/ Thread Protector
• 30 MOA Scope Base (30 MOA available by request)
• (2) 10 round Vudoo V-2210 Magazines
• Will fit in any Remington 700 SA Stock or Chassis

 

[jps2486]

You had any misfires?? Ive been running a 1067 lot of Eley Match and been having misfires every now and then. Been a bit annoying.... but damn does it shoot well.

Contact Vudoo. They can help with firing pin shape or spring.

 

[littlepod]

Some updates - did some tuning today, as the Eley ammo shoots quite a bit faster than my Lapua so I wanted to do a fresh tune. During the 200 rounds I shot, I had 2 light strikes, and 3 misfeeds. 1 was a rimlock issue that was my fault, and the other 2 the round spiked up out of the magazine and hit the top of the barrel face. I'm not sure what causes that specifically, I guess it didn't quite snap under the extractor/ejector claws and was just being pushed maybe?

While diagnosing light strikes, I also noticed that my Vudoo does NOT extract live Eley ammo. I had one ammo that after 2 strikes, still didn't go off, and I had to get a little allen wrench and get it out. I then rotated the round and put it back into the chamber and it fired. I put a fresh round in and just tried to extract it, and it didn't work. Grabbed a Lapua Center-X round and it had no issue extracting it live.

So reliability wise, I'm not quite there yet on trusting it for an important match.

It sure shoots well though.

Here's tuning with the Hopewell method. Eley Match 1104 AVG, STD of 6, ES of 30 (over the course of 100 rounds)

Verified at 104 yards, 10 rounds:

 

[littlesister]

Light strikes and ejection issues points to head spacing. The Eley rim is thinner than Lapua and RWS. If you set head spacing strictly for Eley, bolt closure often becomes hard on Lapua. If your bolt closes easily and smoothly on Lapua you'll probably have light strikes and ejection issues with Eley. Head spacing can be set to accommodate all three ammo brands. I'm not sure how Vudoo sets head spacing as some will shoot and feed all three ammo brands without issues but some won't!

 

[Gleedus]

What little sister said. Eley will run best with a tighter head spacing. Depending on how strong your firing pin spring is as to when misfire will start.
My current go to is 0.038 for eley but at 0.046 and tighter I've never had issues with failure to fire in my RimX. Do the Vudoo 360 have a lighter spring then the 90⁰ version?

Do you have the Ravage chamber? I find it interesting that Eley doesnt want to extract live. Dimension wise my lots of Lapua and Eley match/Tenex are the same. Could be that you extractor doesnt like the thinner rims?

 

[littlesister]

What little sister said. Eley will run best with a tighter head spacing. Depending on how strong your firing pin spring is as to when misfire will start.
My current go to is 0.038 for eley but at 0.046 and tighter I've never had issues with failure to fire in my RimX. Do the Vudoo 360 have a lighter spring then the 90⁰ version?

Do you have the Ravage chamber? I find it interesting that Eley doesnt want to extract live. Dimension wise my lots of Lapua and Eley match/Tenex are the same. Could be that you extractor doesnt like the thinner rims?

Your last sentence is dead on. Extractors are not getting a good grip on the Eley. Head spacing can
also correct this. I don't believe engraving is the issue if we are dealing with FTE on fired rounds. FTE unfired rounds is normal with many match chambers. I've never shot a Vudoo repeater that wouldn't extract an unfired round but there are a lot of Vudoos out there I haven't shot!