Heebie-jeebies even with Center-X

[DownhillFromHere]

I shoot a little monthly steel-target match where winners are usually made (or lost) at the 150-yard rack. Smallest targets are 5 each, 3-inch round and 4-inch IDPA. So I made these paper targets to practice - nice to be able to see where I miss, which is easiest with paper.

I went out Wednesday with the Vudoo to try a new lot of Center-X and compare to the last few boxes of Eley Match I have. Wind was fairly light but almost full-value from left to right. The first 10 rounds of Eley Match on the left target had me really happy.

Then I ran a dry bore snake through a couple times and shot a few 50 yard groups with Center-X. I was pleased with it; after a couple of "seasoning" groups, I got 1/4" - 1/3" 5-shot spreads. So straight to 150 yards. That's the center target. And there was no way of knowing there was gonna be one round that would land wwwaaaayyyyy down under the rest of the group. ? At least it was practice. (The right target was another 10 rounds of Eley, shot over an hour later, and the wind had picked up a bit).

The center target shows why there is a certain amount of luck involved with .22, even with the higher-end stuff, and particularly at longer ranges.

 

[Near miss]

Those low ones make you feel like someone betrayed you at the ammo factory
Why do they do that???

 

[siscoe308]

You just need to find a good lot & shoot outta the bed of a 1 ton pickup!
Guys are shooting under 1 inch groups @200 w/ 20 shots. *tongue planted firmly in cheek*

 

[47guy]

you need to try different ammo and when you find the best buy a case....id suggest you try some SK pistol match...at least 10 guys shoot the pistol match in 10/22s savages CZs and vudoos...it shoots great in my vudoo but the SK rifle match shoots better past 100yds in my rifle.

call cathy and she can set you up with some test lots of what ever you want(or they have in stock)go out shoot groups at 50 and 125yds and order a case of what ever shoots best.

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[justin amateur]

When you get tired of wondering why y'er getting strays, do two things...

1) Start using a ballistic chronograph when punching paper.
Get a high or low stray, check the chrony for the mv for an immediate explanation.

2) Inspect those cartridges with Mark I eyeball before loading the mag or chambering.
Make it a habit and it won't take long to figure out why y'er having problems.
When y'er cartridges aren't symmetric and uniform, ya' won't obtain consistent results.

 

[DownhillFromHere]

Thanks for the feedback, guys... pardon me while I get a wee bit puffed up... I agree with everything said!

Guys are shooting under 1 inch groups @200 w/ 20 shots. *tongue planted firmly in cheek*

Hey, I've gotten multiple, sequential hits on 8" plates at 300 with CCI SV. That's all the accuracy I need!

you need to try different ammo and when you find the best buy a case....id suggest you try some SK pistol match...at least 10 guys shoot the pistol match in 10/22s savages CZs and vudoos...it shoots great in my vudoo but the SK rifle match shoots better past 100yds in my rifle.

call cathy and she can set you up with some test lots of what ever you want(or they have in stock)go out shoot groups at 50 and 125yds and order a case of what ever shoots best.

O yeah, try different ammo... in my locker, right now, there are boxes/bricks of Eley Match, Edge, and Club, Lapua Center-X, Midas+ and Polar Biathlon, Lapua-sourced Wolf Match Target and Extra, SK Rifle Match and Long Rang Match... not to mention over a case of CCI SV. Multiple lots of a few of those. In the past, there have been different lot samples of other low-mid-grade flavors such as SK Standard+.

Experience with all these over the past year has verified what Mike Bush told me: day in, day out, Center-X provides the best performance for the dollar. Variance across lots has been minimal. With that said...

I do get my Center-X from Good Shooting. Now, as the competition season begins, I have four fellow Vudoo owners I shoot with pretty regularly and several others who have either recently acquired or have ordered Vudoos. Maybe I'll approach some of these guys and see if we can do a fairly substantial test-lot order through Cathy. I've thought about taking my rifle and maybe a few buddies' rifles to the Lapua test facility in Ohio, but I guess the idea of ordering test lots is more appealing than a 1000-mile round trip in the car.

When you get tired of wondering why y'er getting strays, do two things...

1) Start using a ballistic chronograph when punching paper.
Get a high or low stray, check the chrony for the mv for an immediate explanation.

2) Inspect those cartridges with Mark I eyeball before loading the mag or chambering.
Make it a habit and it won't take long to figure out why y'er having problems.
When y'er cartridges aren't symmetric and uniform, ya' won't obtain consistent results.

Start? I have thousands of rounds of Center-X and all those other brands through a LabRadar. I don't need a chrono to know that low round in the image was slow; I didn't chrono Wednesday's rounds because I had previously chronoed a hundred rounds or so out of each lot (Eley/Lapua). Wednesday's goal was to test (a) those two specific lots head-to-head at (b) a specific target style from a specific position (c) at one specific range. And honestly, out of all the Center-X or the other mid-to-high grade labels I've shot at 100-300 yard paper targets, the one above is by far the worst outlier I've ever seen.

I don't disagree at all with eyeballing cartridges prior to loading into a magazine, but that ain'ta'gonna identify the slow ones.
---------------
At the end of the day... it's .22!

 

[47guy]

At the end of the day... it's .22!

THIS^^!!

 

[MarkCZ]

THIS^^!!

That is the nature of the beast 22LR. Even the best high grade ammo will drop out or go high.