Lapua X-Act
- Thread starter grauhanen
- Start date
Is there any evidence that shows that some rifles/barrels correct ammo defects? Is there any evidence that some barrels are immune to the potential consequences of wide ES and high SD values? Is there any evidence that ammo that shoots poorly in one good rifle shoots incredibly well in another?
Please share any reliable evidence of which you are aware, either online or in print, that shows poorly performing ammo in one rifle will shoot well in another. Further information based on sufficient testing would be very helpful and very welcome.
With regard to the testing referred to above, keep in mind the X-Act testing was with three different rifles. In none did the X-Act perform consistently. It did, however, perform well in all rifles some of the time. This seems to indicates inconsistent ammo performance regardless of the rifle.
I'm leaning to the idea that good ammo is good ammo and bad ammo is bad.
Below are some more Tenex results taken from the Eley Lot Analyser, now unavailable for several years. The images below show six different lots of Tenex shot with four different barrels in ten shot groups at 50 meters. Each column shows five ten shot groups for one of four barrels used.
What's especially an eye-opener is the amount of variation in group sizes with each barrel.
It seems clear that some lots are better than others, but with the variation in group sizes it's not so clear that the barrels performed very differently with any lot.
For your two first questions: of course not ! I obviously have no logical explanation for what I'm saying.
For your third question, it depends on how you define ''poorly'' and ''incredibly well''
. And I'm not saying that it's possible for a batch to always end up giving terrific accuracy in a given barrel. What I am saying is that it sometimes happens that a batch of match ammunition is very good in one barrel and performs poorly in another. Here are just a few examples of major discrepancies I've observed over the years with Eley. I'm sure similar examples with Lapua or RWS could be found. They are all 40 shots consolidated groups at 50 meter.
Eley Tenex lot #02030: 18.3mm in an Anschütz/Hart and 27.3mm in a factory Anschütz 1913 barrel
Eley Tenex lot #01038: 16.9mm in an Anschütz/Hart and 21.8mm in a factory Feinwerkbau 2602
Eley Tenex lot#06045: 13.9mm in an Anschütz/Benchmark and 22.6mm in a factory Anschütz 2013
Eley Tenex lot #06145: 13.9mm in an Anschütz/Benchmark barrel and 18.9mm in an Anschütz/Hart
I'd have other examples, but I just wanted to show you that differences between batches can sometimes be very significant.
I have to note that the term "incredibly well" was yours. In your post above you suggested the poorly performing X-Act might perform "incredibly well" in your rifle, regardless of SD.For your third question, it depends on how you define ''poorly'' and ''incredibly well''
Referring only to match grade varieties, ammo that shoots poorly is inconsistent. (Of course some lots are more inconsistent than others.) When it comes to shooting groups, that means that even though occasional small groups appear there is a wide variety in group sizes, with some not uncommonly twice the size of others, or more. Such results are representative of poorly performing match ammo.
If I was describing ammo that shot "incredibly well" its results would have to be extraordinarily and consistently good.
I never had any ammo that gave consistent, extraordinarily good results. Good results show up occasionally, but the ammo lots available are not so good that they show up regularly. These lots are not consistent from brick-to-brick, from one box to the next.
I suspect this problem is what leads shooters to think that different rifles shoot the same ammo differently. When the ammo itself is not sufficiently similar from box-to-box, results at different times will not be similar with the same rifle, let alone different ones.
As I mentioned in another thread, I was starting to get discouraged, having tried various SK and Eley ammos; some 2-3 X the price of Tac-22 with performance no better than Tac-22, and often worse. I have been searching for what to try next, talking to other shooters, watching reviews and scouring threads here.Below are the 1907 results from August 13, 2024. It should be noted that some groups were affected by wind.
In each lot, however, other groups had outliers or flyers not due to wind, which is to say errant shots went either high or low. Except to say they occur with these lots, those kind of shots are otherwise unpredictable.
Generally speaking the results with the X-Act lots are more inconsistent than those with the Midas lots tested this season.
The three lots of X-Act are shown below, beginning with lot number ending 904.
Below are the 1907 results with X-Act lot ending 413.
Finally, below are the 1907 results with X-Act lot ending 293. Wind aside, this lot may have the best results of the day.
Youtube accuracy reviews are most often shot only a 50 yards; my present rifle with pretty much any "good" reasonably priced ammo has little trouble shooting one hole groups; Glenn, you have seen a lot of my targets, some of which have been as good as 2, 3, 7 and 9 above. Granted, when you get a good group, they are really good, but then one with of fliers, for the price of the ammo, I find it hard to justify.
Nothing is a sure thing, ammo is a lottery, barrels can be a lottery, life is a lottery; while I will continue the search for the "final solution", I will continue to practice, and focus on tempered contentment.
A couple of my more recent targets which are typical for me, all shot with the custom 455 I built:
:
Two best targets with SK Std. + (the rest I tried don't even deserve an honorable mention. LOL:
Keep up the good work Glenn!
Attachments
Last edited:
Shooting .22LR at 100 yards is probably near the end of repeatable, consistent accuracy. It can be tough to shoot ten-shot groups that average under one inch. When that happens, the ammo must be reasonably consistent and the winds not a factor, either because air movement is minimal or absent or because the shooter has superlative 100 yard wind flag reading skills. If it's windy and you don't have outstanding flag reading ability for .22LR at 100 (few, if any, really do), the solution is simple: don't shoot. Good things don't happen when there's wind.
It's easier to find a rifle up to the challenge than it is ammo. At the same time, it's important to remember that when some varieties produce a few good groups the shooter should not take it that they will be regular. Too often a few good groups with entry level target ammo (such as SK varieties) will be only a few out of many. These ammos can be quite mercurial, Jekyll and Hyde, as it were, with too much Hyde.
Even with better grades of .22LR match ammo such as Midas (and X-Act), at 100 yards the "inconsistencies" of the ammo in question will be revealed, even though these may not show up or be obvious at half the distance. Ammo misbehaviour can be like swear words. At 50 yards it can be like in a church where they are not often heard but further away at 100 it may sound much less civil.
Some lots will be better than others. Not every lot of Midas (or X-Act) will perform equally well. Some will more regularly produce better results. These lots will have fewer flyers than others, but they will have them. Ammo imperfections that may be innocuous or benign at 50 will often become increasingly problematic with distance.
Ammo selection is often expensive. Unless a shooter knows for certain that a particular lot will perform well, he should avoid putting all his eggs in one basket. Get as many different lots by the brick as possible. Shoot when it's calm (at 100 there are no heroes who easily excel in the wind). Shoot as much as possible. Unless they are incontrovertibly poor, the results of one box of ammo are rarely conclusive.
your equipment does not allow benchrest accuracy at this time
and trust me I am gentle with mymwording
with all due respect nice setup but as a workd case venchrest guy it is not even close to repeating any br results WITH THE AMMO AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME
Has anyone noticed the new prices on the higher end ammo lines! It won’t matter if our guns are taken it’s going to become so unaffordable for many that shooting the way we’ve become used to will just become distant memories. Lapua XACT at $41 plus and then tax? Wow. It’s not tarrif related either but that’s how the story will be spun! We get fuxked everytime. Edit Just checked and it’s $45.19 plus tax for Lapua EXACT and the higher end LONG range variant is now at $33 plus tax which is where EXACT was last year. I’m going to put Lapua on the ignore list. Pretty sad when centerfire handloaded is very close to top end rimfire!!
Last edited:
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/quote/CADEUR=X/
How many Euros does $1Cdn buy?
recent peak Aug 2022 at 76.5 cents
Currently 61.5 cents which is near a multi decade low.
When shooters accept the variations even in the top ammo as shown in post #25, they will better understand the variations in their targets from group to group, day to day. Many rifles shoot well, precious little ammo is as consistent
Rimfire is a game of ammo... and the ammo kinda 'sucks'
YMMV
Jerry
How many Euros does $1Cdn buy?
recent peak Aug 2022 at 76.5 cents
Currently 61.5 cents which is near a multi decade low.
When shooters accept the variations even in the top ammo as shown in post #25, they will better understand the variations in their targets from group to group, day to day. Many rifles shoot well, precious little ammo is as consistent
Rimfire is a game of ammo... and the ammo kinda 'sucks'
YMMV
Jerry
