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Lapua Biathon Extreme

USMC22

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Minuteman
Feb 10, 2017
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New Hampshire
Anyone got any data on this round? General reports of accuracy or chrono data? Found some with a 2018-2019 date code.
 
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Have some that I just started testing. Right now, it looks like it is shooting better than my good lot of CenterX when the temp is below 50F. It looks like it is loaded faster than the CenterX, but right now I don’t have good numbers for warmer temps.
 
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Here's my data from a match in mid September I shot trying Biathlon Extreme.

Vudoo 22" MTU unsuppressed.
74*, 53% humidity, 25.28 inHg, DA=6602.

MagnetoSpeed
10 round sample
Max = 1146
Min = 1097
ES = 49
SD = 12.4
Avg. = 1119

37 round sample
Max = 1153
Min = 1110
ES = 43
SD = 8.7
Avg. = 1125

Shot well. I had hard bolt close on most rounds. Had 1:15-20 average failure to fire over an entire brick. I'd re-cock the trigger and it would always fire. Switched back to CX, Midas Plus, and SK Rifle match and have had zero failures to fire since. So I'm going w/ an ammo issue that might be solved with either a few turns out of the firing pin or possibly a stronger firing pin spring. It's been discontinued by Lapua and I didn't like the hard bolt close so I have no interest in trying to make it work.
 
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It's not clear that Polar Xtreme remains in production. On the Lapua rimfire products webpage, Lapua notes the following: At current, Lapua offers the following .22lr rounds: X-Act, Midas+, Center-X, Polar Biathlon, Pistol OSP and Pistol King.
See https://www.lapua.com/products/rimf...filter_caliber=22-lr&all_products_filtering=1

In the "Lapua Product Catalogue 2022" pdf, the table of contents lists the rimfire cartridges on pages 6 - 7, the contents of which are shown below. While the familiar varieties of X-Act, Midas +, Center X, Pistol King, Pistol OSP, and Polar Biathlon are shown, Biathlon Xtreme does not appear.

While Biathlon Xtreme is included in the 2021 catalogue, it doesn't seem likely that Lapua simply forgot to include in its 2022 product catalogue a rimfire cartridge that is in current production.



In any case, when Polar Xtreme is/was available, it appears to have the same bullet design as Polar Biathlon as well the same nominal factory-rated MV of 1106 fps -- the faster of the two nominal factory-rated Lapua .22LR MVs (1073 and 1106 fps in rifle barrels).



As always with match ammo, reports of accuracy and chronograph information will vary by lot and by rifle. MVs can be expected to be within the same range as other Lapua 1106 fps ammo. No one should ever expect that a certain variety of match ammo will behave differently by virtue of name alone.
 
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I bought a few cases from Mile High after testing showed it was solid.

The ES was not as good as Eley Red, but it was consistent out to the 300 yards that I tested it at. It did well in big temp swings also.

But it is dirty. If you are afraid of cleaning, this isnt the ammo for you.

Here is 10 shots at 150 meters.

mCerGas.jpg
 
I bought a few cases from Mile High after testing showed it was solid.

The ES was not as good as Eley Red, but it was consistent out to the 300 yards that I tested it at. It did well in big temp swings also.

But it is dirty. If you are afraid of cleaning, this isnt the ammo for you.

Here is 10 shots at 150 meters.

mCerGas.jpg
Thats where I saw it. I was just looking for something in cold weather up here in New England with a tight(er) ES.
 
I ordered a couple of bricks from Mile High, on the condition that each would come out of a different lot. Either the word didn't get passed along, or someone got too lazy to break open a new case out of a different lot. Wouldn't bitch about it if it'd shot well, but none of my Vudoo repeaters like it at all....
 
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I ordered a couple of bricks from Mile High, on the condition that each would come out of a different lot. Either the word didn't get passed along, or someone got too lazy to break open a new case out of a different lot. Wouldn't bitch about it if it'd shot well, but none of my Vudoo repeaters like it at all....
That really sucks man. When I called it sounded like they only had 2 different lots (couple days ago now).

Did you get any chrono data from it as far as consistency in numbers?
 
I bought 3 cases after a visit to the test center. Shoots great in my Vudoo. No misfires, no hard bolt close. Like Hoser said, it ain't clean! I've been shooting it for a couple of years now through 2 Vudoos and a RimX. In hot temps, the barrels in all 3 would get fouled so bad, they shoot like shit! Around 200 rounds average. Not an issue in colder Temps though. Just be aware.
 
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I ordered a couple of bricks from Mile High, on the condition that each would come out of a different lot. Either the word didn't get passed along, or someone got too lazy to break open a new case out of a different lot. Wouldn't bitch about it if it'd shot well, but none of my Vudoo repeaters like it at all....
They won't pull specific lots anymore and when they pull ammo the warehouse guys are told to pull all from the same lot if possible.
 
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USMC22 - I didn't bother to set up the chronograph after the initial range session with this stuff was so disappointing. I don't recall now what the temp was when I first shot it either. I might try some of it again now that the crazy hot temps of summer are gone.

Years ago, a friend from south central Kansas gave two of us a box each of a lot of Lapua Polar Biathlon to try. He'd bought a couple of cases of it from a local GS at a very good price when they put it on clearance, and that stuff was amazing. I later bought several bricks of a couple of different lots of this ammo, and found one lot was quite a bit better than the other, but that neither were anywhere close to as good as that 'magic' lot our friend had stumbled onto. But knowing that Hoser is a serious & accomplished RF shooter, I felt that trying some of what MH was selling was a good gamble...suffice to say that I almost certainly didn't get any of the same lot he bought. Also, the older Polar Biathlon still had bullets with lube grooves, while the newer Biathlon Extreme doesn't appear to have them. Could be wrong, since I haven't pulled a bullet out of a loaded round of it to check, but maybe someone else has...?
 
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