So I just received results from lapua test facility. The best groups with center x were 18-21mm at 50m and 32mm at 100m. I’m very underwhelmed with these results. The rifle is a 2013 with kreiger barrel. I’m shooting smallbore prone conventional and metric matches. By my estimation, these groups are barely cleaning targets.
where do I go from here? Is this typical? Are the test facilities just picked over for good lots?
any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I’m new to this game but not new to prone shooting so I kinda had higher expectations.
thanks,
blake makison
Good morning Blake:
I have put together and tested more rifles than I can remember, so this is based on my experience only (and I mean no offense in the following comments).
I think people think that there is some "magic lot" out there that will produce world class results in any barreled action - but that just isn't true. If your rifle is not assembled correctly, or machined correctly from a truly competent gunsmith, there will always be limitations. You will still see accuracy variations lot to lot, but you will never see the consistency you will see when everything is done right. Lot testing is a mechanism of fine tuning - if your rig isn't capable of great baseline accuracy to begin with, you will never find that world class lot we are all looking for.
And again, I mean no offense (to you or the smith who assembled your rifle).
I have competed with, tested and tuned the 2000 series action for my entire career, and had two of the first actions in the country. They are highly problematic, and difficult to get to shoot really well. There are so many variables in setting them up that you can find yourself chasing your tail (manipulating one variable only to find something else changed). The fit of the tennon to the action is critical, so is the clamping screw torque used to lock the two together. Bedding is also problematic - the clamping corner moves with any small variation in tennon diameter. These are just naming a few of the considerations. You can get these actions to shoot really well - but if you do, please take my advice and leave it alone until that barrel is completely gone.
And as others have mentioned, the test facilities test your barreled action in an environment that is completely removed from the variables encountered in real world use (the stock and your body alone are a completely different recoil absorption system), among many others. The testing is still valuable, it is exceptional at finding the best lot of those tested during a session - but is not IMHO useful comparing the results to actual prone position practice. Once you have identified the best lot in a test center, the work for you really begins. You should expect to retest and tune the rifle assembled, and more testing in position, and I think you will find the lot performs better in position than your test results may indicate. It also takes a mountain of practice to learn a specific lots tendencies - how it performs in the wind, what cleaning cycles will maintain peak accuracy etc.
I hope this helps, sorry for the lengthy post,
kev
