TargetTalk

Eric,
Discussing this with you has indeed renewed my interest and has recharged my batteries, and I want to THANK YOU A LOT for this! Your words have provided some hope, and I will make sure I do my best to improve and I will follow you advise on these matters. I must admit I have been somehow frustrated about not seeing any significant improvements despite doing my best with the prone position from a technical standpoint. Of course, not having enough time, a coach or even other shooters close by here in mid Missouri does not make it easier, as I seem to be the only one wearing ISSF-style clothing around here (the rest are a few of bench rest shooters and hunters). I even had to buy a second-hand rifle since I could not bring mine here.
But you are right, one must persevere and remember that the competition is against oneself. Again, thank you so much for taking the time to write about this, you are probably a very busy person. It is especially important for shooters like myself, who do not have access to knowledgeable shooters/coaches, to have the opportunity to find people like you, who give an expert input.
Last question: what does the U in "Eric U. " stands for? I know it is a silly question and I probably know the answer, but still...

Hey Barney, how would that work? That sounds like a very good alternative. I live in Columbia, MO, and I usually buy my ammo at Midway USA (located here in town), and other stuff at Champion Choice.

Uptagrafft.

Be careful about just sending off your barreled action to be tested. Any lot that is selected will shoot good in your barreled action IN THE FIXTURE FROM THE AMMO TEST RANGE. While many times a lot selected from the factory will shoot good in your stock, sometimes it isn't quite the same. The US team and the AMU both test a lot of barreled actions and choose lots that shoot good in many of them. That way when you get back home and shoot the rifles out of the shoulder, one of those lots SHOULD shoot good. When we are testing we are looking for good lots, not specific lots for specific rifles. Some other world shooters do go to the factories looking for specific ammo for a specific gun. I'm not sure how they proceed, though.

That being said, sending your bbl action off to the ammo factory is probably better than trying random lots you get at Midway. If it were me, and I were to send my bbl action off to the factory, I would probably select the two best lots from the test and buy equal amounts of both. That way you have a better chance of one of those lots being great in your assembled rifle and you can use the other lot for precision practice or shooting American prone type matches. It will be better than getting a random lot off the shelf.

Hope this helps,
Eric

Most people in the UK go and test at Eley and will select their batch of Tenex based on the results of the test. You'd be amazed at how much of a change in group size you can get between different batches. Thats why in my opinion if you're not testing you're ammo there isn't much point in buying Tenex when you can get Match for alot cheaper. I know afew people that have used their standard Match EPS as their control ammo for the test and found it to outshoot many of the batches of Tenex they tested. Just because its more expensive is no guarantee that it will shoot well in you're rifle.

So, from a practical standpoint how does the process work ? One contacts Eley for example directly and ask for this? Do they have facilities here in the US? I imagine there are restrictions for mailing barreled actions and other weapons parts in the US, they take care of that? I am not clear how that works ...

guidolastra wrote:So, from a practical standpoint how does the process work ? One contacts Eley for example directly and ask for this? Do they have facilities here in the US? I imagine there are restrictions for mailing barreled actions and other weapons parts in the US, they take care of that? I am not clear how that works ...

http://www.eley.co.uk/customer-range.aspx

Guidolastra,

I totally agree with what Eric U said in his last post, thats why I said batch OR batches if possiable, sometimes though only one will work out of what they have in stock for testing at the time, from what I have been told by a colleague who's been there.

As to how you go about sending your barrel to Eley for example, you would need to contact a dealer who should have an import/export licence so he can send it off and then be able to get it back in the country. As I'm from Australia, our rule's and regulations will differ from yours. If you contact eley and find out exactly what you need to do and then discuss this with your dealer I'm sure he will be able to get it there and back for you without any problems. He should also be able to arrange the ammo to be shipped to him for you.

On a final note, I also agree with Rossi, I'm getting excellent groups with various batches of Eley Team over here at the moment compared to very very ordinary results with Match and Tenex

Barney