seasoning the vudoo barrel

[TackDriver2]

Vudoo 360 arrived earlier in the week, and I ran one wet patch of C4 and a few dry patches and she was ready to shoot those SK Standard Plus ammo. I bought two bricks of them, and so far on two trips I made to the range, I put 250 rounds total. Sighted in at 50 yards, my ATACR shows 5.5 MOA dead on at 100 yards. I ran 5 shots through a P35 and average speed is around 1100 fps. Set up the data and velocity into the Kestrel. So far the best the rifle has been shooting is about .300 MOA @ 50 yards and .634 MOA @ 100. But it does not shoot like this everytime, sometimes it would shoot bigger groups or a flyer, etc, some times it shoots nicely. I ordered a box of two other brands of SK ammo and a box of Midas to test in the future after breaking in the barrel. Are the above groups reasonable with SK Standard Plus or should I expect better? Winds was around 13 mph at the time of shooting.

Question is does 500 rounds of SK Standard enough to season the barrel before i test with different varieties of Lapua and SK ammo?

Does 5.5 MOA at 100 yards sound about right when its sighted in at 50 yards?

1100 fps average seems a little fast for the SK Standard ammo, average on websites says 1073 fps.

 

[oldrifleman]

Personally I think those are pretty good groups for standard plus. I am a bit of a rimfire ammo snob, but it is practice ammo. In the SK line I would try rifle match. Remember that Rimfire rifles can be picky about what they like but your groups were not bad at all. Break in time for a 22is a hot topic but 200 rounds should be plenty.
A 100yrd group at about .6 moa is not bad at all, 5.5 moa does say this needs checking. Better ammo, better rest and practice should improve it.

 

[Masojoh]

I think the reference to 5.5MOA is the drop between 50 yards and 100 yards. That sounds right with a muzzle velocity of 1,100fps.

I would not worry about seasoning or anything like that. It isn’t a skillet. That ammo is good, but not great. Fliers and the like are due to variations in velocity.

My preference is to shoot groups at 200 yards. That will easily show variations in ammo performance. Fifty is good to zero, but it can be very hard to distinguish between good and great at that distance.

 

[Rob01]

I answered you over at Rimfire Central but yes 5.5 MOA sounds about right and 500 is usually enough to start playing with other ammo. I wouldn't send it to a test center without 1000 rounds through it though but for informal testing I always put 500 through before going to any testing or tuning with other ammo.

 

[justin amateur]

Putting 87 octane in a high performance engine isn't conducive to achieving optimum horsepower.
I suspect if you moved up from the bulk line of SK products, you'd likely produce Vudoo worthy results.

Just sayin'

 

[KnowNothing256]

No offense, but those sound like cherry-picked group sizes to me. If those are consistent (you seem to suggest they aren't), then you have a unicorn. If they aren't, I'd recommend you be honest with yourself about what the gun will consistently shoot, not just the best 5-shot group out of five groups. Shoot half or a whole box and see what that group looks like, that'll give you more reliable info, especially as you start testing ammo to determine what's adequate for your needs.

An answer to a question you didn't ask: I've discovered that as my performance has increased, SK Std+ no longer does the job for me. I've moved to Norma Match for practice ammo; it printed a 4.3" (2.0 MOA" group at 200 yds for me over 25 rounds, compared to SK RM (red box) at 5.5". I don't have similar data for the Std+, but at a practice session a couple months back I was having all kinds of problems running a KYL rack of diamonds at 150 yds, then realized it was the ammo holding me back (I couldn't consistently hit the 4" diamond), so I abandoned it. Norma Match is priced similarly and can do the job for training. If you adjusted target sizes and ranges to allow for consistent performance from the Std+ then that's an option, but I think you're better off with the Norma.

My answer to the question you did ask: I'd go ahead and run 1000 rds before doing any serious testing. You can still get great positional practice inside 100 yds with the SK Std+ up until that point, assuming you're playing that game.

Another extra answer: My cleaning regimen has changed over time, as I've been able to monitor cold-bore shots more often. I clean after every match or significant training session (essentially every ~200 rounds), with the following process:
- Stick a wet C4 patch into the chamber where the carbon ring is, and let it sit for 15 mins
- After the 15-min soak, spin the wet patch in the chamber and then push it all the way through the bore
- Wipe the crown clean with a wet C4 patch (I just use the backside of the chamber soak patch)
- Two or three dry patches down the bore, wipe the crown dry
- Wipe the breech clean of any residue and remove any grit or debris from the bolt lug recesses (I use a cheap toothbrush stuck into the action from the rear)

When I used my old process to clean all of the carbon out of the bore (as monitored by color of C4 patches and borescope), it would take 20-30 rounds for my groups to tighten up during zeroing. With this new method, I have no more than two fliers before groups are exactly where they should be.

Your mileage may vary, hope you find some of this info useful!

 

[TackDriver2]

No offense, but those sound like cherry-picked group sizes to me. If those are consistent (you seem to suggest they aren't), then you have a unicorn. If they aren't, I'd recommend you be honest with yourself about what the gun will consistently shoot, not just the best 5-shot group out of five groups. Shoot half or a whole box and see what that group looks like, that'll give you more reliable info, especially as you start testing ammo to determine what's adequate for your needs.

An answer to a question you didn't ask: I've discovered that as my performance has increased, SK Std+ no longer does the job for me. I've moved to Norma Match for practice ammo; it printed a 4.3" (2.0 MOA" group at 200 yds for me over 25 rounds, compared to SK RM (red box) at 5.5". I don't have similar data for the Std+, but at a practice session a couple months back I was having all kinds of problems running a KYL rack of diamonds at 150 yds, then realized it was the ammo holding me back (I couldn't consistently hit the 4" diamond), so I abandoned it. Norma Match is priced similarly and can do the job for training. If you adjusted target sizes and ranges to allow for consistent performance from the Std+ then that's an option, but I think you're better off with the Norma.

My answer to the question you did ask: I'd go ahead and run 1000 rds before doing any serious testing. You can still get great positional practice inside 100 yds with the SK Std+ up until that point, assuming you're playing that game.

Another extra answer: My cleaning regimen has changed over time, as I've been able to monitor cold-bore shots more often. I clean after every match or significant training session (essentially every ~200 rounds), with the following process:
- Stick a wet C4 patch into the chamber where the carbon ring is, and let it sit for 15 mins
- After the 15-min soak, spin the wet patch in the chamber and then push it all the way through the bore
- Wipe the crown clean with a wet C4 patch (I just use the backside of the chamber soak patch)
- Two or three dry patches down the bore, wipe the crown dry
- Wipe the breech clean of any residue and remove any grit or debris from the bolt lug recesses (I use a cheap toothbrush stuck into the action from the rear)

When I used my old process to clean all of the carbon out of the bore (as monitored by color of C4 patches and borescope), it would take 20-30 rounds for my groups to tighten up during zeroing. With this new method, I have no more than two fliers before groups are exactly where they should be.

Your mileage may vary, hope you find some of this info useful!

Well said.

 

[GIXXER2000]

I ran 200 rounds of SK Standard+ though mine to start. SK and Lapua use the same lube on the ammo. It shoots Lapua Long Range and Midas+ about the same. I had a lot of Center X that shoot really good but the lot I have now is just ok.

 

[Dead Eye Dick]

I find that Standard Plus is great for plinking, and general shooting, but when I am getting serious, my Vudoo, shoots much better with SK Rifle Match and especially SK Long Range Match. Lapua when there’s (figuratively) money on the line.

But then, I don’t shoot many groups, as I say, shooting steel is a lot more fun then killing the dirt behind the paper. (Besides, dirt is already pretty much dead)

 

[oldrifleman]

I give my kids SK to shoot and they like it I shoot CenterX and Midas, trying out Xact and Super Long Range on my Anschutz/AI rifle.

 

[TackDriver2]

It's not quite consistent on the last few trips, it would shoot a nice cluster at 50 or 100, and then throw a little flyer and will not shoot the same tight group on the next few 5 shot groups and it would shoot tight again afterwards. I like consistency, I guess I need to break it in some more.

 

[oldrifleman]

What does your shooting rest look like, have checked the torque on everything? This does not sound like ammo or barrel break-in.

 

[TackDriver2]

What does your shooting rest look like, have checked the torque on everything? This does not sound like ammo or barrel break-in.

It's a Caldwell BR Rock rest, but i changed out the cheap bullbag to the Protektor bullbag that fits the A5 McMillian stocks, I have a McMillian U1 stock on the Vudoo, its not the scope or the rings. ATACR 5-25 and the Badger rings are torqued at 65 inch lbs on the nuts and 18 inch lbs in the top 4 screws

 

[oldrifleman]

It's just weird. Normally ammo will be random across all groups, same with barrel "seasoning", they are not good for x groups then bad for x groups then good again. Something else here.

 

[Sterlingb06]

Shooting 500 rounds should be enough to season the barrel before trying other types. A 5.5 MOA adjustment from 50 to 100 yards is reasonable. The 1100 fps average does seem a bit fast, but variations happen. A 13 mph wind can affect .22LR accuracy, so some group variation is expected

 

[jps2486]

I don't get this seasoning crap. It seems a waste to just throw $200 worth of ammo down the barrel to "break it in". It should shoot good right out of the gate after a good cleaning. I could see maybe 100 rounds or so. Good barrels are hand lapped at the manufacturer and should have to be done by the buyer by wasting ammo. Then, of course, this is a new rifle to you and you have to learn to become one with it.

 

[oldrifleman]

Just started breaking in a new rig, great scope, action, chassis and a spectacular barrel ( Bartlein). Spent time today shooting groups between top shelf ammo ( Xact and super long range). Lot of time was spent learning to shoot it with old eyes. I really have never bought into the whole idea of seasoning a rimfire barrel. I think that half a box smooths out any rough edges and a few rounds sets the lube layer. More than that is learning the rifle. Today was fun second session with a shoot off between Xact and SLR. 10 5shot groups of each. Barrel was stable (round count on barrel is 200). By the way SLR seems to be the winner today. SLR average was .89”, Xact was 1.25” at 100 yards.