Wiping lubricant from rimfire ammunition

[horseman2]

Apart from measuring rim thickness, weighing loaded rounds and whatever, an idea that was floated previous was wiping excess lube from the noses of ammunition.

Last night while returning to ammunition of known reliability, Eley Match Biathlon, there were only ten rounds in the box but there appeared to be gobs of lube on the noses.

The group on the left was shot as is. The groups on the right was wiped.

While not conclusive, there is perhaps another upset by doing it. Others who were upset by the lube build up have reported similar results to it doesn't make a tinker's dam difference.

Previous wiping of that excess which appears to be distributed unevenly leaves me to believe it accomplishes nothing. Looks good in theory but there it ends unless someone has conclusive evidence I would not waste time and ammunition.

 

[Potashminer]

Always something I wondered - how much does "mind set" have to do with results on target. Perhaps that lube gets evened out as bullet accelerates and spins up the barrel - perhaps not. Likely has something to do with what do YOU think is the result on target? Some might chase statistically valid numbers to chose a thing or not - others might be satisfied with "proof" from one group - or "proof" from one group that was fired 25 years ago with different components by somebody else.

There is a bench rest shooter guy I know that says he fires at least five rounds to create "new" fouling when he is comparing one brand rimfire ammo to another - then fires 5 x 10 shot groups to decide which lot of ammo to use in his next match. For a great part of my life, I thought just having 50 rounds of ammo was owning a bunch - I am still a bit "queasy" about "wasting" that many shots to "test" that against other choices. Not at all what I am used to. But then I have never won nor "lost" target shooting competitions either - he has done both.

Several times I have done "round robin" shooting of targets to work up test loads for centre fire - so first shot is first load at first target, then second shot is second load at second target, and so on - 6th and 11th shot might be the first load at the first target, in sequence. I was always suspicious of results that said my first or last group / loading was "best" - could have been bore condition, weather, lighting, etc. that caused the change - or my shooting ability or mental focus was getting better or worse - so the "round robin" thing was my attempt to even those spurious factors among the groups. And that means aiming at a different target for each shot - which brings on its own issues.

I suspect has a lot to do with what YOU think - and do you win against others, or do you get "good enough" results for you. Is of course about only you that can decide if the extra effort of wiping, and the resulting target scores are worth it, for your purposes.

 

[Jahnj0584]

Always something I wondered - how much "mind set" has to do with results on target. Perhaps that lube gets evened out as bullet accelerates and spins up the barrel - perhaps not. Likely has something to do with what do YOU think is the result on target. Some might chase statistically valid numbers to chose a thing or not - others might be satisfied with "proof" from one group. There is an bench rest guy I know that says he fires at least five rounds to create "new" fouling when he is comparing one brand to another - then fires 5 x 10 shot groups to decide which lot of ammo to use in his next match. I suspect has a lot to do with what YOU think - and do you win against others, or do you get "good enough" results for you. Is of course about only you that can decide if the extra effort of wiping, and the resulting target scores are worth it, for your purposes.

I've been able to tell which Ammo was loaded after a few shots after I loaded 3 mags with 3 brands of Ammo and didn't look when I loaded the rifle.

It's normal to take 5-10 to switch ammos reliably. A Lot of people will agree on that!

 

[OkayShooter]

Always something I wondered - how much does "mind set" have to do with results on target. Perhaps that lube gets evened out as bullet accelerates and spins up the barrel - perhaps not. Likely has something to do with what do YOU think is the result on target? Some might chase statistically valid numbers to chose a thing or not - others might be satisfied with "proof" from one group - or "proof" from one group that was fired 25 years ago with different components by somebody else. There is a bench rest shooter guy I know that says he fires at least five rounds to create "new" fouling when he is comparing one brand rimfire ammo to another - then fires 5 x 10 shot groups to decide which lot of ammo to use in his next match. For a great part of my life, I thought just having 50 rounds of ammo was owning a bunch - I am still a bit "queasy" about "wasting" that many shots to "test" that against other choices. Not at all what I am used to. But then I have never won nor "lost" target shooting competitions either - he has done both.

Several times I have done "round robin" shooting of targets to work up test loads for centre fire - so first shot is first load at first target, then second shot is second load at second target, and so on - 15th shot might be the first load at the first target, in sequence. I was always suspicious of results that said my first or last group / loading was "best" - could have been bore condition, weather, lighting, etc. that caused the change - so the "round robin" thing was my attempt to even those spurious factors among the groups. And that means aiming at a different target for each shot - which brings on its own issues.

I suspect has a lot to do with what YOU think - and do you win against others, or do you get "good enough" results for you. Is of course about only you that can decide if the extra effort of wiping, and the resulting target scores are worth it, for your purposes.

Yeah I think it has to do with your mind.

I did 4 loads, and shot a group each.. shooting it 1,2,3,4.. Say 1 was the best, 4 was the worst, when reversed it. 4 was the best, 1 was the worst. And kept on doing it with the same results. So inconclusive results.

Really only way of really testing, is one of those test guns that you see ammo companies have. Considered making one of those, to clamp on our concrete bench. But then again, it comes down to different guns shoot ammo differently.

 

[boxhitch]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[grauhanen]

State of mind is important for concentration and execution. It doesn't change the performance of the ammo itself.

Yeah I think it has to do with your mind.

I did 4 loads, and shot a group each.. shooting it 1,2,3,4.. Say 1 was the best, 4 was the worst, when reversed it. 4 was the best, 1 was the worst. And kept on doing it with the same results. So inconclusive results.

There's a practical reason for the results described. It has to do with the mind in one important way but has little to do with the mind altering the ammo performance. If the idea is that a few or five or even ten groups will show the complete variation of group sizes, then there's the problem.

To illustrate, if all 50 rounds in a box of ammo was shot at fifty yards. Taking the shooter out of the equation for the moment, the fifty-shot group size will depend on the ammo and rifle. A typical lot of entry level match ammo with an average factory rifle will produce a larger grouthep than a good lot of match ammo in a very good rifle.

If the former combination is used, the group may well be over an inch in diameter. Take as many groups of five rounds from that large group and there will be a considerable variety of group sizes. Some will be very good, some will be quite bad.

Below is an example of a whole box at 100 yards. It will be larger than one at 50, but shows the point.

A lot of potentially good and bad groups in there.