Ammo Question
- Thread starter 1340
- Start date
OK, that makes sense.
Leuchtkafer
Member
Take a box of 50 and open the flap, the lot code is stamped on one of the flaps. I can't say I've paid attention to a velocity change, but I recently upgraded my chronograph as this information is now more important to me in PRS shooting. The Special Match and Target Rifle I have is shooting in the 1080fps range as per the chronograph.
Those velocity’s are also from their test barrels. Your barrel may shoot faster or slower or the same but only one way for finding out. The temperature will also affect the velocities! Lapua puts it on the end of the box in Metres per second as well as the lot number.
Thanks for the lot number info.
- Location
- Northeastern Ontario
RWS match .22LR standard rifle ammo such as Rifle Match (and others) is nominally rated at 330 meters/second or about 1083 fps. This is not necessarily the actual MV of the ammo. As noted previously, different batches or lots of ammo may have different average MVs.
Standard velocity RWS .22LR match ammo may often have notably faster MVs than Lapua varieties such as Center X or Midas. I have several lots of RWS Special Match and several lots of RWS R50 and they each average over 1100 fps across several rifles with barrels of 26" or over. Some lots are a little faster than the nominal speed. (The same can observation can be made about some lots of Eley match ammo.)
It's also worth noting that the faster MVs themselves have nothing whatsoever to do with how the ammo performs on target. With .22LR that has nothing to do with MV and everything to do with the consistency of ammo quality. When high velocity .22LR ammo is not accurate, it's because of its quality. The same is true for standard velocity .22LR ammo. When it doesn't shoot well, it's because of the consistency of ammo quality, too.
Leuchtkafer
Member
Different MV reflects differences in powder charge, perhaps powder type across different brands of ammo, which translates into differences in pressure curves, barrel vibration patterns and bullet exit timing in that barrel vibration cycle. We all know consistency in ammo is a prerequisite for precision. We should all know by now that some ammo formulas do not play nice with some barrels, making the consistency irrelevant (within reason). You can have a technically less consistent lot of ammo perform better in a certain barrel than a technically more consistent lot. If ammo consistency is the be-all-end-all for determining results on target, it shouldn't be possible for me to setup a muzzle device on a barrel and cause the once precise results to turn into vertical stringing. Yes, the muzzle device is often thought of as improving results, but you can set it up in such a way as to degrade results. I'm not interested in any argument with me on this, people can go experiment until they see it for themselves and we'll leave it at that. Separate the doers from the talkers.
For you folks shooting PRS matches, velocities are very important. Not so much for point of impact,or size of groups, but "X" ring hits.
I've only been to a couple of such matches, but when I was shooting centerfire HBR, when push came to shove, many scores were perfect, and the match winner was decreed by the amount of "X" ring hits.
Everything about the rifle builds was within the regulations of the Association.
I haven't looked into PRS regulations, as it's just another rabbit hole I don't need to go down at this point in my life.
With heavy match barrels, harmonics are usually very stable, but velocity increases or decreases definitely had some effect. That's why we bought powder, primers, bullets, in large quantities, to ensure consistency control between shots.
Other factors, such as ambient temperatures, mirage, wind, and even reflected sunlight, were conditions we had to learn to shoot.
I fully understand, it's next to impossible for people shooting factory loaded ammunition to be able to control the consistency of priming compounds, powder, and neck tension.
This means you have to be able to adjust scope settings to different points of impact whenever a new lot is purchased. Unless you get lucky.
Does your association allow "adjustable" harmonic stabilisers to be attached to the rifles???
When shooting ammunition that has consistent velocities within the Lot range, often all it takes is just a slight adjustment of the stabiliser to settle things down.
50 fps per second can be a pretty big change for a "tuned" rifle, whether it's rimfire or centerfire.
A lot of cheap, 22rf ammo has that much extreme spread within the same lots, and it's obvious by how most "plinking" rifles shoot when they're fed this ammo.
I've seen some very cheap "plinking" rifles go from safe queens to trusted, first choice rifles for a gopher hunt or grouse hunt, when they were sighted in with good ammunition.
I've only been to a couple of such matches, but when I was shooting centerfire HBR, when push came to shove, many scores were perfect, and the match winner was decreed by the amount of "X" ring hits.
Everything about the rifle builds was within the regulations of the Association.
I haven't looked into PRS regulations, as it's just another rabbit hole I don't need to go down at this point in my life.
With heavy match barrels, harmonics are usually very stable, but velocity increases or decreases definitely had some effect. That's why we bought powder, primers, bullets, in large quantities, to ensure consistency control between shots.
Other factors, such as ambient temperatures, mirage, wind, and even reflected sunlight, were conditions we had to learn to shoot.
I fully understand, it's next to impossible for people shooting factory loaded ammunition to be able to control the consistency of priming compounds, powder, and neck tension.
This means you have to be able to adjust scope settings to different points of impact whenever a new lot is purchased. Unless you get lucky.
Does your association allow "adjustable" harmonic stabilisers to be attached to the rifles???
When shooting ammunition that has consistent velocities within the Lot range, often all it takes is just a slight adjustment of the stabiliser to settle things down.
50 fps per second can be a pretty big change for a "tuned" rifle, whether it's rimfire or centerfire.
A lot of cheap, 22rf ammo has that much extreme spread within the same lots, and it's obvious by how most "plinking" rifles shoot when they're fed this ammo.
I've seen some very cheap "plinking" rifles go from safe queens to trusted, first choice rifles for a gopher hunt or grouse hunt, when they were sighted in with good ammunition.
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- Location
- Northeastern Ontario
With a good barrel and consistent .22LR match ammo, the average MV of that ammo is unimportant.
Put another way, a good rifle/barrel, with or without a tuner, will shoot equally consistent lots ammo with different MVs very similarly. Regardless of MV .22LR match ammo either shoots or it doesn't.
That's why serious, competitive rimfire BR shooters don't pick ammo by velocity printed on the package (Eley) or derived from the lot number (Lapua). This is what they tell newbies who ask about selecting ammo by MV. If choosing ammo based on the manufacturer's MV used to be a thing, it no longer is among serious BR shooters.
From my own experience with several rifles and much shooting, I have had lots that chrony very similar average MVs but don't shoot equally well. One can shoot very well, another not so much. I've had lots that are very different in average MVs and they shoot equally well. For example, I've shot .22LR match ammo that's 1060 - 1070 fps that gives excellent results across several rifles. With those same rifles I've shot much faster ammo over 1100 fps that also gives excellent results.
It's not the ammo's MV that makes the difference. It's the ammo's consistency of quality.
Put another way, a good rifle/barrel, with or without a tuner, will shoot equally consistent lots ammo with different MVs very similarly. Regardless of MV .22LR match ammo either shoots or it doesn't.
That's why serious, competitive rimfire BR shooters don't pick ammo by velocity printed on the package (Eley) or derived from the lot number (Lapua). This is what they tell newbies who ask about selecting ammo by MV. If choosing ammo based on the manufacturer's MV used to be a thing, it no longer is among serious BR shooters.
From my own experience with several rifles and much shooting, I have had lots that chrony very similar average MVs but don't shoot equally well. One can shoot very well, another not so much. I've had lots that are very different in average MVs and they shoot equally well. For example, I've shot .22LR match ammo that's 1060 - 1070 fps that gives excellent results across several rifles. With those same rifles I've shot much faster ammo over 1100 fps that also gives excellent results.
It's not the ammo's MV that makes the difference. It's the ammo's consistency of quality.
