Erik Cortina
Team Lapua Brux Borden Captain
I finally had some time to get out and shoot the Lapua 220 Scenar L's. I worked up a load in my 300 WSM with N165 and CCI BR-2 primers. I ran a powder test and it looked like a very nice node around 2,870 fps. I figured that would be a good place to be since I was planning to use this rifle for the LA Midrange Championship and did not need ultra speeds for 600 yards. I then went ahead and adjusted my "EC Tuner" to bring in the groups as much as possible and was happy with the results.
I went out the day before I was due to leave to LA and was going to get a zero at 500 yards since we would only have two sighters during the match. While I was out, I decided to do a seating depth ladder test since I had never adjusted seating depth, and since these were new bullets, I figured it would be a good idea to see where they shot best.
The group to the far right is Jam - .020", which is where I started. The elevation was not bad, but I thought the group was a not what I wanted, so I proceeded to test seating depths.
When I do seating depth tests, I always start at Jam - .010" and work away from there. I shot a couple of sighters on the target on the top left to foul barrel and then proceeded to do a 5 shot group. The group looked great! I almost quit, but decided to do the seating depth ladder test anyway since I already had the rounds loaded.
Shot #1 = Jam - 0.010"
Shot #2 = Jam - 0.013"
Shot #3 = Jam - 0.016"
Shot #4 = Jam - 0.019"
Shot #5 = Jam - 0.022"
Shot #6 = Jam - 0.025"
Shot #7 = Jam - 0.028"
Shot #8 = Jam - 0.031"
As you can see from the ladder test, shots 6, 7, & 8 all had very little vertical, but shots #7 and #8 were in the same hole. So I adjusted my seating depth to shot #7 (Jam - 0.028") and loaded 5 rounds.
I took one sighter at the sighter target and hit close to the black dot. So I clicked down so I would not run the risk of hitting the black dot and not being able to see my impacts. I went ahead and started my group, shot 1 & 2 were touching, then #3 and #4 landed right in the same group, to say I was happy is an understatement. I felt like getting up and seating one more bullet but I knew if I did that I would probably blow the group since by the time I got back the wind would more than likely change, so I did not shoot another shot. I also did not shoot another group to confirm because I was running very low on 220's and I would not have enough to shoot the Championship if I shot any more, I was already about 8 shots short that I was going to somehow make work during the Championship.
Anyway, these bullets were not trimmed or pointed, they were loaded just as they come from Lapua.
First picture shows the testing and picture two shows a closeup of the group. All testing was done at 500 yards, and as you can see, these babies SHOOT!
I went out the day before I was due to leave to LA and was going to get a zero at 500 yards since we would only have two sighters during the match. While I was out, I decided to do a seating depth ladder test since I had never adjusted seating depth, and since these were new bullets, I figured it would be a good idea to see where they shot best.
The group to the far right is Jam - .020", which is where I started. The elevation was not bad, but I thought the group was a not what I wanted, so I proceeded to test seating depths.
When I do seating depth tests, I always start at Jam - .010" and work away from there. I shot a couple of sighters on the target on the top left to foul barrel and then proceeded to do a 5 shot group. The group looked great! I almost quit, but decided to do the seating depth ladder test anyway since I already had the rounds loaded.
Shot #1 = Jam - 0.010"
Shot #2 = Jam - 0.013"
Shot #3 = Jam - 0.016"
Shot #4 = Jam - 0.019"
Shot #5 = Jam - 0.022"
Shot #6 = Jam - 0.025"
Shot #7 = Jam - 0.028"
Shot #8 = Jam - 0.031"
As you can see from the ladder test, shots 6, 7, & 8 all had very little vertical, but shots #7 and #8 were in the same hole. So I adjusted my seating depth to shot #7 (Jam - 0.028") and loaded 5 rounds.
I took one sighter at the sighter target and hit close to the black dot. So I clicked down so I would not run the risk of hitting the black dot and not being able to see my impacts. I went ahead and started my group, shot 1 & 2 were touching, then #3 and #4 landed right in the same group, to say I was happy is an understatement. I felt like getting up and seating one more bullet but I knew if I did that I would probably blow the group since by the time I got back the wind would more than likely change, so I did not shoot another shot. I also did not shoot another group to confirm because I was running very low on 220's and I would not have enough to shoot the Championship if I shot any more, I was already about 8 shots short that I was going to somehow make work during the Championship.
Anyway, these bullets were not trimmed or pointed, they were loaded just as they come from Lapua.
First picture shows the testing and picture two shows a closeup of the group. All testing was done at 500 yards, and as you can see, these babies SHOOT!
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