NUBE: 100 yard comparison of Eley and Wolf and ?? on rim thickness

[juniorARshooter]

Folks,

Just started shooting .22 rim fire at 100 yards trying to work myself up to 200 yards. A couple of questions:

1) Here is a comparison of two Eley bullets and Wolf at 100 yards. I was only focusing on elevation (not a good zero but shot all on the same zero). Wind was blowing but I tried to shoot the same aim point each time and not worry about azimuth. Are these typical of what others are seeing in terms of vertical dispersion and also difference between the bullets. I have not sorted by rim thickness. I am shooting an H&R model 12.

2) I am going to try sorting my rim thickness but am not sure how to separate. How close do you have to be in thickness to be acceptable?

Thanks in advance

 

[wapiti25]

I did not try any of the Ely line of ammo. I did try Fed gold Medal Match and Supermatch as well as two of the RWS match line. The Wolf Match Extra shot the best at 100yd out of my Anchutz 64MS. It was the cheapest.

 

[wapiti25]

I shot 1/2" to 5/8" 5 shot groups at 100yds from the bench with the wolf.

 

[RonAKA]

I have done quite a bit of .22LR testing, and have come to the conclusion that if your gun likes target speed ammo (and most good guns do), then the price you pay for the ammo is probably as good an indicator as any for accuracy. Lapua and Eley are the heavy weights, and in general the higher you go in their quality line the better it should shoot. More competitions are won with Eley Tenex than probably all the rest combined, but I believe Lapua is likely second. One reality in .22LR ammo manufacture is that quality is often determined after the fact. They make it, test it, and then decide what box it goes in. Not sure if you changed you point of aim or not, but in your target it appears the Eley Sport is off in velocity, and probably why it ended up in the Sport box.

While Eley makes things relatively simple with respect to the various quality levels, Lapua does not. Lapua sells their best ammo under their own name, and the lower quality stuff under the SK and Wolf brand names. I believe for sure there is exact duplication between the SK and Wolf lines, and in the past when Lapua put their name on it, duplication with the Lapua Club and Super Club. But, overall if you throw them all in one bundle called Lapua and sort by price, you likely are not too far off for the quality levels.

My thinking is that if you do accurate enough testing you will find Lapua X-Act or Eley Tenex is probably as good as it is going to get. CCI Green Tag if you can find it is worth a try, and as is RWS100, but they are not likely to end at the top. So, the real question then is "do I have to spend that much to get acceptable accuracy?". That starts the slide back down the quality ladder, to find a spot where you wallet is happy with the targets. I think most use a medium quality for practice, and step up to top stuff for competition.

If you really want to test to find the best, and have some confidence in the results, I suggest the method at the link below. I noticed some extensive .22LR testing reported in an article at 6BR, but when I reviewed it, I really question the meaning of the result. It was all based on 5 five shot groups, at three different distances. I really don't think distance matters. Target ammo that is good at 50 will be good at 100, and 5 groups is not statistically significant. They would have been much better off shooting 25 two shot groups. My guess is that you would see a much different result if they had done that.

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~jessie/PPB/Stats/Testing%20loads.htm

 

[juniorARshooter]

Sir
great info and link - I am geekish and loved the stats.

 

[RonAKA]

On your question about rim thickness sorting, I have not tried it, and also have not seen any credible information that it actually works. If someone did it, and then followed it with some statistical testing to show it makes a difference then perhaps it would be of interest.

I did do a bunch of weight sorting, and applied the Teacher TTest to determine if there was a significant difference. The analysis showed it did nothing for the good ammo. In fact some Lapua Midas M that I weighed, showed all 50 rounds in the box were the same weight, to the limit of my Redding scale accuracy (0.05 grains). So, there was no way to sort them. My conclusion was that good ammo weighs the same or nearly the same, but sorting crappy ammo by weight does not make it into good ammo. No silk purse out of a sow's ear. This said, I did find some statistical significant poorer ammo that could be improved a bit by sorting, but it sure did not turn it into Tenex or Midas.

 

[msnations]

Nice info Ron. I'd only like to add that 10 shot groups <.75" at 100 yards is generally considered to be acceptable. I've never had wolf/SK group quite that well. 200 yard rimfire is interesting but like all forms of 'extreme distance' shooting it requires top notch (expensive) gear to achieve good performance.

-Mark

 

[in2deep]

The Wolf Match Extra is the same as S&K Rifle Match (that's why the price is always identical) and runs around 1053 speed. At 100 yards it is just as accurate at 100 yards as Eley Black or red box in several of my target rifles except that you get the occasional flyer with it if you don't weigh it but if your lucky that your rifle shoots it then it's the best ammo for under $7.00 a box. Also use wind flags as at 100 yards the slightest breeze or switch will move you around alot and skew the results.
Any of your choices should hold an inch in perfect conditions if your rifle likes shoots them but most rimfires are very ammo sensitive.

 

[CJ6]

The vertical/lack of @ 100 will tell you ALOT

 

[juniorARshooter]

Roger
would you elaborate please

 

[RonAKA]

I suspect he is talking about the impact on trajectory of velocity differences. It is proportional to the square of the distance, so not linear. The further out you go, the more difference you will see.

 

[CJ6]

MHO (I'm NO expert BTW just getting started)is that if your getting alot of Vert your loseing points. The lack of vert is what your looking for. Different lots/speeds/(within brands)brands need to be tested to get minimal vertical . I don't have/use tuners on either of the 22's I have , so ammo selection is what I have for tuneing. EBB 1054fps-03210+70deg F, 1073fps-04091 below 70deg F (these work for ME)and I'm not so sure that most of what little vert I get (1/4-3/8") isn't ME. As for the Horizontal/WIND I think it's a LIFELONG study. Just my .02 so what do I know. BTW EBB 1066fps is a better grouping (@ 50yds)load so that's what I use for that yardage. I also have Lapua Master L ,Master, R 50, Wolf ME and as I said I'm just getting started.