Budget Ammo Is A Waste

[JSH]

I rank my ammo into three slots.
Blasting ammo it goes bang and I have zero intentions of it doing much more
Practice ammo, that would include all of the cull ammo that was sorted out to the bottom of the barrel from premium that I sort by how I decide.
Match ammo. I should not need to sort it for what it cost, but I do. FYI I have not sorted any of my Lapua or Eley for a long time, other than a visual inspection and that is rare.

When the rimfire ammo came off it’s high horse a few years ago I was short on blasting ammo. I got in on a deal and dropped the hammer on a pile of it. Prices went back up and soared, I sold off on case and paid for all of it.
Buying large lots or bulk is not always possible. Even then expensive.22 RF ammo may not perform except in that lot.
.22RF has humbled me many times and I am sure many more again.

 

[BowChamp]

Take this for what you paid for it but all you guys with the cheap ammo for “practice” mind set are flat wrong.
While not the cheapest, you want to practice with what you shoot matches with, if you shoot matches.
How, exactly, do you get better at shooting in the wind if you practice with ammo that likely handles wind and holdoff entirely differently than the match ammo? Easy, you don’t or end up with a lot of incorrect data/experience.
All this if your priority is skills improvement over fun shooting.

I partially agree with what you said. It would be nice to shoot one ammo and nothing else.

My question is....what's the difference in cheap ammo moving different in the wind and three different lots of Lapua ammo each moving different in the wind?

 

[BowChamp]

Here is an example of how my lot of SK Semi Auto shoots for me.

 

[TRSR8]

I partially agree with what you said. It would be nice to shoot one ammo and nothing else.

My question is....what's the difference in cheap ammo moving different in the wind and three different lots of Lapua ammo each moving different in the wind?

First off, I realize this forum includes shooters from a wide spectrum and willingness to spend X on ammo.
That said, I should have prefaced my remarks to RFBR guys really putting in time/$/effort, BR is not by any means economical.
FWIW, different lots of Lapua or ELEY over all are more predictable and in my experience will react to wind with less variance than what you get with high grade vs lower grade.
By and large, any long term successful shooter will likely tell you, IF POSSIBLE, practice what you shoot. Learning curve is less steep.
Remember, matches are often won by, not how great you shot, but how few mistakes you made.
You practice and drop a few 25’s/8's.....was it condition......was it ammo.....what did you learn.
Over many years and many matches and listening to all the BS about fliers, rifles, bad shots blamed on equipment, Most of it, with proper ammo, is just that BS, more often.....you just messed up and missed something. Gotta be self critical.

By the way, RE the SH group BS over there....you seem to be one of the few that can measure groups pretty decently, some of these guys are ridiculous.

 

[Liven The Dream]

Older Shooter playing with a couple CZ 457 with lots of parts changed.
In the beginning a CZ457 MTR didn't like hardly any Ammo at 50yard testing.
( I have shot Small Bore, Palma and F/Class for 50 years).
Cheap Ammo CCI , Fed, always Flyers. SK std.plus. Auto Rifle, long range shot round but not small.
Fast Forward. MTR gets a Lilja Barrel and a little bedding . My Donner 457 Action gets the MTR Barrel and a Kinetic Stock. I set the Head Space on the tighter side .042.
Now to the Range: The Parts Rifle with the MTR Barrel shoots Better than before with CCI sv and Tac22, yes flyers but nothing like before. SK std. plus two or three same hole.( I need more trigger time).
The MTR with Lilja Barrel this is a Keeper, It shot after some other warm ups T-22 12 shots out side a dine, with a flyer. SK s-plus and long range 5 shots just outside one hole.
MTR shot off Rest , Parts Rifle Bi-pod , Tactical Bag.

These Rifles are for my enjoyment just to get out to the Range. Practice with Lesser Ammo, try for group with the high price stuff. I find shooting Rim Fire from the Bench a new Hoot.

 

[Hi-NV Shooter]

First off, I realize this forum includes shooters from a wide spectrum and willingness to spend X on ammo.
That said, I should have prefaced my remarks to RFBR guys really putting bin time/$/effort, BR is not by any means economical.
FWIW, different lots of Lapua or ELEY over all are more predictable and in my experience will react to wind with less variance than what you get with high grade vs lower grade.
By and large, any long term successful shooter will likely tell you, IF POSSIBLE, practice what you shoot. Learning curve is less steep.
Remember, matches are often won by, not how great you shot, but how few mistakes you made.
You practice and drop a few c25's/8's.....was it condition......was it ammo.....what did you learn.
Over many years and many matches and listening to all the BS about fliers, rifles, bad shots blamed on equipment, Most of it, with proper ammo, is just that BS, more often.....you just messed up and missed something. Gotta be self critical.

By the way, RE the SH group BS over there....you seem to be one of the few that can measure groups pretty decently, some of these guys are ridiculous.

I agree with this statement. there are 3 elements in RFBR shooting 1-Rifle, 2-Ammo & 3-YOU
if you start to self-doubt 1 & 2 it is going to be really hard to accept 3 -YOU were actually the cause, and this will lead to not really developing into a better shooter.

IMO it is ok to use lesser ammo to practice and I do it myself especially now days with ammo so hard to find. but one must understand the results that you get.

Lee

 

[kzin]

junk is junk but practicing with tenex is painful

cci sv and wolf and some others split the difference

i practice at 25yards more often with borderline ammo in the hope it doesn't make as much of a difference

 

[BowChamp]

First off, I realize this forum includes shooters from a wide spectrum and willingness to spend X on ammo.
That said, I should have prefaced my remarks to RFBR guys really putting in time/$/effort, BR is not by any means economical.
FWIW, different lots of Lapua or ELEY over all are more predictable and in my experience will react to wind with less variance than what you get with high grade vs lower grade.
By and large, any long term successful shooter will likely tell you, IF POSSIBLE, practice what you shoot. Learning curve is less steep.
Remember, matches are often won by, not how great you shot, but how few mistakes you made.
You practice and drop a few 25’s/8's.....was it condition......was it ammo.....what did you learn.
Over many years and many matches and listening to all the BS about fliers, rifles, bad shots blamed on equipment, Most of it, with proper ammo, is just that BS, more often.....you just messed up and missed something. Gotta be self critical.

By the way, RE the SH group BS over there....you seem to be one of the few that can measure groups pretty decently, some of these guys are ridiculous.

Well...you still haven't said anything I disagree with Sir.

I've found me to be responsible for FLIERS due to a bad read on conditions....when I'm shooting my better ammunition.

As for the groups I posted above....you wouldn't believe how many different points of aim I had due to wind changes while shooting each group.

Thanks!!

 

[BowChamp]

I agree with this statement. there are 3 elements in RFBR shooting 1-Rifle, 2-Ammo & 3-YOU
if you start to self-doubt 1 & 2 it is going to be really hard to accept 3 -YOU were actually the cause, and this will lead to not really developing into a better shooter.

IMO it is ok to use lesser ammo to practice and I do it myself especially now days with ammo so hard to find. but one must understand the results that you get.

Lee

Well said Sir!!

 

[BowChamp]

Older Shooter playing with a couple CZ 457 with lots of parts changed.
In the beginning a CZ457 MTR didn't like hardly any Ammo at 50yard testing.
( I have shot Small Bore, Palma and F/Class for 50 years).
Cheap Ammo CCI , Fed, always Flyers. SK std.plus. Auto Rifle, long range shot round but not small.
Fast Forward. MTR gets a Lilja Barrel and a little bedding . My Donner 457 Action gets the MTR Barrel and a Kinetic Stock. I set the Head Space on the tighter side .042.
Now to the Range: The Parts Rifle with the MTR Barrel shoots Better than before with CCI sv and Tac22, yes flyers but nothing like before. SK std. plus two or three same hole.( I need more trigger time).
The MTR with Lilja Barrel this is a Keeper, It shot after some other warm ups T-22 12 shots out side a dine, with a flyer. SK s-plus and long range 5 shots just outside one hole.
MTR shot off Rest , Parts Rifle Bi-pod , Tactical Bag.

These Rifles are for my enjoyment just to get out to the Range. Practice with Lesser Ammo, try for group with the high price stuff. I find shooting Rim Fire from the Bench a new Hoot.

Yes Sir!!! Sounds like a similar path I've traveled.

 

[jelenko]

self-doubt 1 & 2 it is going to be really hard to accept 3 -YOU were actually the cause, and this will lead to not really developing into a better shooter.

!!

 

[Knotwild]

Last night I looked at a few bricks of Ely and SK that didn't work for me - I still believe expensive ammo can be a more expensive waste too.

 

[USMCDOC]

Shot these 50 yard UIT targets at 50 meters today with my practice ammo

 

[USMCDOC]

And these at 100 yards and yes a couple of flyers there

 

[USMCDOC]

That last one, hard to keep up with the let offs and pick ups

 

[1Merlin]

Outeffingstanding Doc!

 

[USMCDOC]

Outeffingstanding Doc!

thanks bro

 

[MUP]

You may want to reconsider which is practice and which is competition ammo.... That's some good shootin' Doc!

 

[Jonnyofalltrades]

I have 6 kids that all need trigger time. Cheap ammo is not a waste!

 

[USMCDOC]

You may want to reconsider which is practice and which is competition ammo.... That's some good shootin' Doc!

yeah.. that's Pistol Match Special.. i was using