Testing center results at home??

[doclu60]

They charge you 50.00 dollars if you don't buy ammo... if you buy ammo. the fee is waived.. they test it at 50 and 100 meters. they shoot 10 shots per lot.. that is the way it was when i as there. in person.

I have tested at Mesa about 4-5 times, but not for sometime. Back then, if you bought from Lapua, they waived the $50 charge. If you bought from a distributor, you still paid the $50. Has this changed?

Scott

 

[buckeye68]

I have tested at Mesa about 4-5 times, but not for sometime. Back then, if you bought from Lapua, they waived the $50 charge. If you bought from a distributor, you still paid the $50. Has this changed?

Scott

I just was there this month at the Ohio test center and bought a case through one of there distributors from the list they gave me. No extra fee was added to the case price.

 

[tactserv]

Happy new year to all!!
This fall I upgraded from my model 37 to a Stiller 2500 built by M. Penrod. It was recommended to me by the original owner that I get on the list for the Lapua test center. Which I did. My question to all who have used the test center is this. Does your rifle perform at home as it did at the test center? I’ve learned so far that weather plays a big part in how your ammunition performs in your rifle. I’ve spent the last 25yrs drag racing and playing with weather and tuning a car for consistency from track to track. So when I have to send my rifle to the test center out west the conditions I will be shooting it in are very different. I’m concerned about spending the time and money to get back something that doesn’t perform? I should also mention that I live on the east coast in Mystic Ct.

Thanks to all
Kevin

Nice meeting you and Phil last Saturday. Mike

 

[Cbrown3020]

Many thanks for all the responses and wisdom. Would still like to hear from anyone who has used either of the test centers and had different results when they got back home. Good or bad!!!

Thanks to all Kevin

 

[dgeesaman]

What does the testing center charge to test your rifle.
At what distance do they test your rifle.
How many shots do they fire per lot of ammo?

Hal

This was briefly answered but I think it would have been helpful to me if I had known in detail how it was going to happen.

Here's the process I was part of:
You choose which ammo grades you wish to test (no need to test X-Act if it's not in your budget). Both times I was there, there were about ten lots of CenterX, ten lots of Midas+, and maybe a handful of X-Act. X-Act is hit or miss but they seem to always have enough Midas+ and CenterX on hand for test days. You also provide input whether 50y, 50m, or 100m data is most important to you. The tunnel is 100m long and has electronic targets recording each shot at each distance.

The barreled action is removed from the stock and mounted to a bedding block type fixture. They have a bunch of them for a variety of match-grade rifles. They also have a barrel clamp mount for uncommon ones (e.g. Remington 37). The tester clamps the bedding block fixture in a vise and aligns to shoot down the center of both electronic targets.

Each shot is taken at a purposeful pace so that the barrel has some time to settle from the last shot.

Fire a handful of shots to warm the barrel and confirm the targets are registering consistently.

Fire ten shots of your reference ammo lot, if you brought any.

Fire up to ten shots of each lot of ammo. If a lot is clearly underperforming the others before ten shots, they quit early and move to the next lot.

Fire ten more shots of the best two or three lots. In addition to being two ten shot groups of data, the software usually overlays and generates data for a virtual 20-shot group. I've always been satisfied making a choice between two 20-shot groups but if there is any uncertainty, you can probably test a bit more of those final lots. Now you get printouts of the test targets and get to decide which lot, if any, you wish to buy.

There is some flexibility, but time and ammo is money. So tuning is not permitted and if you opt to shoot from a rest instead of mounting to their action, it's on you if the rest setup moves around. There really isn't time (or a bullseye) to re-aim between shots so if you want to use a rest the return to battery had better be spot-on.

If you brought more than one rifle to test, you get to repeat the process. Any ammo you opt to buy will be handled by one of their wholesalers. You pay the wholesaler and they see that it ships from the warehouse to you.

That's how an average Joe gets to use the Lapua tunnel. Olympians and sponsored shooters probably get much more but I'm not familiar with their amenities.

Many thanks for all the responses and wisdom. Would still like to hear from anyone who has used either of the test centers and had different results when they got back home. Good or bad!!!

Thanks to all Kevin

I've done two trips over the last three years and in both cases my ammo shot better at home from a rest / in its stock than it did at the test tunnel. Tuning has also helped a bit - as it worked out, both trips were tested without an adjusted tuner. My barrels had about 1000 rounds through them but I did not have opportunity or the right ammo to develop a tune in time for test day. Having the rifle with a properly adjusted tuner is nice to have, but it does not seem to reduce the value of the testing if you leave it off.

There is a local indoor 50y range and I had time to test my matched lot there, but the results weren't quite as good, probably because it's a pistol range designed for maximum air exhaust and not for perfect rimfire accuracy.

 

[Cbrown3020]

Many thanks for your response answered a lot of my questions. So if I understand correctly? I should ship my rifle out with my tuner set how I presently use the rifle NOT set to zero?

Thank you!!!!! Dgeesaman
Kevin

 

[buckeye68]

Many thanks for all the responses and wisdom. Would still like to hear from anyone who has used either of the test centers and had different results when they got back home. Good or bad!!!

Thanks to all Kevin

I’ve taken my 40 X there 3 times in person and it shot nothing like it did in the test tunnel in AZ or OH. It’s shot like crap. It was tested in the stock locked in the table vise. I never went back for 2 or so years and finally went back when I seen they have the ability to test it in a one piece rest just like I would shoot it at a match.
Just received my case last week and just waiting for some free time to try it out.

 

[dgeesaman]

If you have some confidence that your tuner is set to a consistently good setting, then I would tape over the adjustment and send it.

If you’re not fully confident in the setting I’d pull the tuner and attempt to tune it when you get back.

Conditions will be quite different between Mesa and home, at least until warmer weather. I don’t have much experience with that other than to say ammo selected in warm weather doesn’t tend to perform well in real cold.

 

[WyleWD]

I’ve taken my 40 X there 3 times in person and it shot nothing like it did in the test tunnel in AZ or OH. It’s shot like crap. It was tested in the stock locked in the table vise. I never went back for 2 or so years and finally went back when I seen they have the ability to test it in a one piece rest just like I would shoot it at a match.
Just received my case last week and just waiting for some free time to try it out.

Was this the OH test center?? If so, thanks for that information. Locking it down in a vice, or taking it out of the stock and locking it down was never my cup of tea. Thanks again for that post. WD

 

[USMCDOC]

Was this the OH test center?? If so, thanks for that information. Locking it down in a vice, or taking it out of the stock and locking it down was never my cup of tea. Thanks again for that post. WD

Mesa test center

 

[USMCDOC]

Many thanks for your response answered a lot of my questions. So if I understand correctly? I should ship my rifle out with my tuner set how I presently use the rifle NOT set to zero?

Thank you!!!!! Dgeesaman
Kevin

leave it like it is now as you use it.. don't touch it

 

[USMCDOC]

Many thanks for all the responses and wisdom. Would still like to hear from anyone who has used either of the test centers and had different results when they got back home. Good or bad!!!

Thanks to all Kevin

the ammo i got from the test center when i tested the last time i was there.. won a National Championship with it... everyone's experiences are going to be different.. thankfully, i still have 12 bricks of that ammo..it shoots too good to be shooting it up in practice..

 

[buckeye68]

Was this the OH test center?? If so, thanks for that information. Locking it down in a vice, or taking it out of the stock and locking it down was never my cup of tea. Thanks again for that post. WD

Yes, it was in Ohio when I tested with the one piece rest.

 

[dgeesaman]

the ammo i got from the test center when i tested the last time i was there.. won a National Championship with it... everyone's experiences are going to be different.. thankfully, i still have 12 bricks of that ammo..it shoots too good to be shooting it up in practice..

No doubt!

I have two bricks of LR that is for matches only in 2024. I shot ten rounds the other day as a reference in lot testing and it’s uncomfortable to do. I have some Midas+ that shoots well but not awesome and I’d love to find a better lot to allow me to demote the Midas+ to practice ammo.

It’s a lot like SRBR guys who turn multiple barrels and only shoot the hummers at major matches.

David

 

[BCR1]

This is a very enlightening thread and tells me going to a test center with a $600 CZ factory rifle would be a complete waste of time and money.

Bill

 

[WyleWD]

Yes, it was in Ohio when I tested with the one piece rest.

Thank you Sir! WD

 

[dgeesaman]

This is a very enlightening thread and tells me going to a test center with a $600 CZ factory rifle would be a complete waste of time and money.

Bill

If you don’t see lot to lot variation on target now, then no I wouldn’t go.

For those rifles and competition applications where you can see consistent accuracy differences from one lot to another, it’s very valuable.

 

[Appalachian]

I’ve been three times with factory CZ’s. Two of the three times I had better results at home with the lots I chose. The last time was just so so, still better than buying blind IMO. The last time I went was with a custom rifle. The ammo wasn’t great, but better than the results with three other different lots of ammo I acquired elsewhere.

 

[Cbrown3020]

Many thanks to all who have shared their test center experiences. I really appreciate hearing them, just what I was looking for.

Kevin

 

[VLNBYR]

Another thought.....Many shooters struggle to duplicate testing results at home so why would it be unusual for results to differ between the center and home.