TargetTalk

Gday all,

I currently get in the predicament of having to change ammo velocities rather frequently much to my annoyance. I recently finished up a brick of Eley Match 1059.

Today because I couldnt get out to the SISC which stocks all ELEY and basically never runs out, I went to a local store and had to get a brick of ELEY Match 1052

I havent shot that velocity before and will be doing its first run tonight at the range. For those of you out there using ELEY match, what velocties do you prefer? and overall would a velocity such as 1052 be alright in comparison to say a 1059 or something along those lines?

To be honest you may not notice any difference at all, you are looking at only 7fps. Remember that there will be a spread of up to 30 fps fwithin the box anyway.

I've been led to understand that the velocity printed on the box is an average from the four test barrels that Eley use. When shot in your rifle it could well be higher or lower, the 1052 and 1059 could could give the same mean velocity for you.

1059 really isn't that high. I've shot Match with printed speeds in the high 1070s and low 1080s.

Ammo selection is a very gun dependent thing. What works in someone else's rifle may very well shoot like doo-doo in yours. If the 1059 shoots good in your rifle, then finding a velocity around that speed is a good place to start. But that doesn't mean that there isn't another speed/brand/grade of ammo that may shoot half the group size as what you were using before.

I've got one rifle that I've shot over 20 600's with in practice and matches, with three different lots of ammo. The difference between the lowest velocity I shot a 600 with and the highest is more than 20fps as printed on the box. Good ammo is good ammo, regardless of what velocity or color of label is on the box. That being said, my ammo might very well shoot much worse out of someone else's rifle that has also shot 600's before. No way of knowing without testing.

Eric U

I don't even look at the velocity. All I care about is the lot number.
Matt

So do you get very many different velocities with the same batch number?

USMC0802 wrote:So do you get very many different velocities with the same batch number?

Eley print the Average velocity for each batch that they measure using their test barrels.
There will be a degree of variation between rounds in a batch that might be ±10 fps, maybe more, maybe less.
The velocity out of YOUR barrel might be quite different to Eley's barrels.

As Eric says, the only way to know is to test for yourself in some controlled manner.

Ammo that groups at 50m might NOT group at 100yds. (my experience anyway).

I asked SAAMI about measured bullit velocity by manufacturers. They answered that velocity accoring SAAMI specs is measured with screens at 5 and 15 feet from the muzzle and that the average speed is calculated back to the V0 at Standard atmosphere conditions at standard sea level. Also the test barrels are different in length and diameter from the barrels we use. So, the velocity on the box is a theoretical velocity under SAAMI conditions and will never produce the same velocities in our rifles.
I once measured V1 at my club using a chronograph. We used my rifle (Walther GX-1) and of a friend (Anschutz 2013) using the cartridges of one tray of 50 (lapua pistol king) The V1 with my rifle was 10 tot 15m/s lower than the other rifle.
Conclusion: the velocity noted on the box is only a guideline for manufacturers to compare ammo under standard SAAMI conditions.

Albert B (The Netherlands)

Like Eric says, it comes down to the barrel. Two seemingly identical rifles may prefer quite different speeds based on minute differences in the machining, different cleaning regimes, different shot counts, etc, etc. It's why Eley and RWS/Lapua have customer test ranges that people can go to and select batches specifically for their barrel.
Some barrels are very fussy, some are not. As I understand it, Anschutz "Selected Barrels" are not necessarily those that produce the tightest test groups but those that produce good groups over a variety of speeds, which is a sign of a reliable barrel and one which is not going to start spraying shots everywhere just because you've moved a few FPS from the ideal.

Also, as Albert says, the speeds are merely comparative. 1060 should be faster out your barrel than 1040, but they may not actually be doing 1040 or 1060FPS, as it's an average over their test barrels.

Odds are that one batch of Eley labelled as 1060 will probably produce a fairly similar speed out of your barrel as another batch labelled as 1060, but they're purely relative. They could do anything out of a barrel depending on whether it's very long/short/moderated/has a bloop-tube/a bit tight/a bit worn and loose.