Which is better? SK Rifle Match or Lapua CenterX

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Mystic Precision

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I have been testing SK Rifle match with excellent results at 100yds and you can definitely see an improvement over the Std plus for the extra money spent.

So wondering if the Lapua CenterX for almost double will improve results some more?

Looking for info from shooters who have tested this ammo.

Thanks,

Jerry
 
mysticplayer said:
I have been testing SK Rifle match with excellent results at 100yds and you can definitely see an improvement over the Std plus for the extra money spent.

So wondering if the Lapua CenterX for almost double will improve results some more?

Looking for info from shooters who have tested this ammo.

Thanks,

Jerry
Click to expand...

J

I think you'd get a wider variety of testers on Rimfire central. FS
 
P1050218.jpg


P1050024.jpg

100 yards, 1" dot

P1050787.jpg

200 yards, 10 MPH wind, 31F

P1050785.jpg

200 yards, 10 MPH wind, 31F
 
The Center-X was not sorted in any way. Weight sorting did take the vertical flyers out of the Standard Plus. I would always get some 2-4" high/low from the rest of the group. Results with Center-X would be very good if weight sorting did the same. The vertical is still much tighter than the weight sorted Standard Plus.

I attribute the horizontal to the wind. It was nearly full value and gusty.

I got the impression that the EPS bullet was less affected by the wind.
 
I've had pretty good luck using SK Standard Plus however I will be trying Eley in the spring. This target was shot at 100 yds with an Anschutz 54 Match, SK Standard Plus, the x-ring is one inch. The group is 10 shots just over 1".
PB110005.jpg
 
Try 200 yards if you have access. The vertical stringing gets amplified quite a bit if its there.

10 Shots with Lapua Master M at 100 yards.

P1050791.jpg


Center-X is supposed to be Master M, but I have never found it to be as good.

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Lapua_Master_300.jpg

Lapua Master @ 300 yards, Largest yellow ring is 24.4 cm

Master because Master M became Center-X... both were more consistent than Center-X across all lots I've used.


Eley_Match_300.jpg

Eley Match @ 300 yards, Largest yellow ring is 24.4 cm
 
With Eley, I am seeing the same type of vertical where a shot 'falls' out the bottom of the group. others have had excellent luck with this stuff but it doesn't agree with this rifle at 100yds.

Some of this could be me of course but it happened even when shots felt dead on.

I am impressed that you found SK pistol match special to have lowest velocity variation. It did shoot quite well for me too but again, a few shots dropped out. It was very close to the rifle match.

22forever, that is some fine shooting. Great group. If you are interested in testing some ammo, I have a variety that I will not be using.

Jerry
 
You should give RWS Special Match a try is you haven't already. Federal re-packages it as Gold Medal Match... was better than Center-X in my rifle.

R50 is the same as Gold Medal Ultra-Match, but didn't shoot as good for me.

P1050786.jpg

200 yards, 10 MPH wind, 31F
 
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A few winters back I tested a few different varieties of 22 at 200 yards-

It was very interesting to see the peculiarities which appeared, for instance, Lapua Club Xtra outshot Eley Standard Club outshot Federal GMM- but then I tried a couple groups with Dynapoints, and it outshot the prior test lot at 200 hands down- at which point I shook my head and have ever since questioned $20 a box rimfire.

Also in the process, I discovered that some types of ammo perform well at short ranges, and fall apart miserably when stretching their legs- CCI Green tag was one such brand- while not stellar at 50 yards in my rifle, it held its own to the sport-series Eley's and Lapua's, however at 200 it strung vertically far, far worse than any expectation.

I recently picked up a few boxes of a bad lot of SK Std+ recently as well, with appalling results at any range, even after weight sorting.
 
There certainly is no rhyme or reason for alot of rimfire stuff. That is why I asked the question and have received wonderful feedback.

If SK Rifle match can continue to shoot sub MOA groups at 200yds, I will be overjoyed. I really don't think a rimfire can shoot any more accurate that far out.

But lot numbers do matter and it can vary huge from batch to batch.

I have tried various RWS ammo - Club, target and rifle match. None have shot as well as a very old box I had. As described in my other post, the best was rifle match with nice round groups with the holes were always on the outside.

I will try and get out to test at 200yds as soon as work and weather allow.

Let you guys know what I find out.

Jerry
 
I found that the humorous angle of 'backyard testing' rimfire was picking up a dozen boxes of different flavors, finding a type and lot# that shoots like its wire-guided, and then spending the next two years trying to track down the remainder of that lot... doh!
 
I have been there years back when I was shooting smallbore silhouette.

I made sure that each type I had was also available by the case.

You can read about my shooting at 200yds in the Basic Black post.

Of the ammo I had, SK Rifle Match was a the clear winner although SK Std + came real close.

But it tossed some pretty big flyers which it also did at 100yds. Just not the right fit with my Savage.

So I now have a case of SK Rifle Match coming from Hirsch Precision.

Will be a few afternoons of fun me thinks....

Jerry
 
Jerry, my .22LR testing is about 2 years old now, and predates Center-X (or at least that name), and SK availability in Canada. I used 2 shot groups and a statistical method called the Teacher Test to determine significance.

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~jessie/PPB/Stats/Testing%20loads.htm.

Here are my results. Generally the results were as one might expect. Subsonic target ammo is most accurate, and within that sub group the more expensive stuff did better. Here are my results. Not shown are some limited tests with Eley Tenex and CCI Green Tag. They were excellent but I did not shoot enough for statistical significance.

AmmoTest09.jpg


As you probably know, SK (and Wolf) are just brand names used by Lapua, and all these including Lapua rimfire come out of the former SK factory now owned by Lapua.

My cynical view of rimfire manufacture is that a large part of it is testing after the fact. I strongly suspect they make the ammo first, and then after testing each batch, decide which box it goes in, and how much they will charge for it. That said, the quality control of the very best stuff I'm sure is very different. I went through the weight sorting routine. Once box of 50 Lapua Midas M all weighed the same plus or minus 0.05 grains -- the limit of accuracy of my scale. That did not happen by chance. The Lapua Super Club was no where near that consistent.

Hope that helps some,
 
Ron AKA said:
My cynical view of rimfire manufacture is that a large part of it is testing after the fact. I strongly suspect they make the ammo first, and then after testing each batch, decide which box it goes in, and how much they will charge for it. That said, the quality control of the very best stuff I'm sure is very different.
Click to expand...

With Eley: Tenex, Match and Team are all the same ammo. Match is a lot that didn't test well enough to be called Tenex and Team is a lot that didn't make the Match cut.

It actually says it on the webpage for Team:
http://www.eley.co.uk/ammunition/products/team.aspx

Lapua likely does something similar with X-Act, Midas+ and Center-X...
 
I have not shot any of the "new" stuff from Lapua. However, I understand they have some new X-Act production equipment, that supposedly is only used for their top line stuff.

Prior to this, one obvious distinguishing factor of the top end stuff was the lubricant on the bullet. Super Club did not have the heavy wax lube, but Master and Midas did. I suppose they could even be more devious than I thought and test it before they put the magic lube on, and then only lube the best testing stuff.

That said, I suspect it is more than that. I suspect they are weighing the Midas stuff part way through the production cycle and accepting/rejecting it to get is so consistent.

My conclusion of the weighing experiment was that high quality ammo is super consistent in weight. But, you can't take crappy ammo, and sort it by weight to make it into high quality stuff. No silk purse out of a sow's ear.

So weighing can confirm quality, but not make quality after the fact.
 
With bolt guns, that definitely seems to be true. The high-end ammo gives better consistency at longer ranges (over 100 yards).

It doesn't seem to be the case with the semi-autos though. The low velocity match stuff doesn't seem cycle the action consistently. It cycle it reliably enough that everything feeds and ejects properly, and it groups better than high velocity ammo at short range (up to 100 yards). But, there is a lot of vertical stringing at the long distances compared to high velocity ammo, which groups worse at the shorter distances.
 
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