TargetTalk

I want to buy some match .22 ammunition and was wondering if lot testing is still done. If so do you just shoot groups off sandbags or do people clamp the action/barrel in a vise?

Some people I know have simply chronographed ammunition and picked the brand/lot that had the smallest standard deviation in velocity.

How do the pros test thier ammunition?

Any advice would be helpfull.

Ah, ammo testing. Yes, you can test the gun off sandbags with a scope, but if you're outside, you will have wind to contend with as well as potential human errors in shooting the shot. Best thing to do is test the gun in a vice on an indoor 50 meter range. You can do it outside, but make sure it is early in the morning when the wind hopefully isn't blowing. In any case, a vice is the best method, but also depends on the vice. There are many different versions - ones that clamp the barrel only, ones that hook onto the accessory rail and then clamp the butt of the rifle, ones that only attach to the rail and sit free in the rest (called the Russian rest). Bottom line, you want something that doesn't move. In an ideal world, it will recoil, but that is not totally necessary. At both Anschutz and Eley, their vices are not set up for recoil.

Chronographing isn't a bad idea, but the proof is in the pudding - how good does it really shoot on paper? What you want to do is get as many different lots as possible of your desired ammo. Shoot 10-shot groups of each one and then pick out two to four that are the best. Take each of those good ones and shoot at least two more 10-shot groups with them. From there, pick the best one. What you're looking for is something that will shoot a group under 13 or 14mm edge to edge. Sure, you can get guns to shoot 10mm, but unless you have a very good barrel and access to many lots of ammo, that may be tough to do. 13 to 14mm will hold ten-ring at 50 meter.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Ammo testing is a must. The best method is to fire groups over a bench rest. Machine rests do not hold the rifle like a shooter would. Your rifle will allways preform better groups with you holding it and letting it vibrate and be damped in a normal manner. Obtain about 5 lots of ammo that you would like to test with. Remember to test quickly or you might go back to get your "best of" and it will all be gone. Take your rifle with a scope mounted on it, your bench rest and butt bag out to your local 50 meter range early in the morning when the wind isn't blowing. Shoot 5, 5 shot groups with each lot being careful to repeat loading, aiming and trigger pull in exactly the same way for each shot. Carefully observe the environmental conditions (wind flags) and don't shoot if the untoward happens. Evaluate your groups for vertical and horizontal formation. Look for flyers and finally check out the group sizes. Always decide by data observation and not how you feel about it. Good luck and good testing!

I use a return to battery machine rest, and oddly most manufacturers do too, either that or a barreled action in a lock down device.

The key is you are testing ammo in your action, not how well you can shoot the ammo in your action, the main issue being which ammo has the maximum accuracy potential in your action. That being said after figureing out the top three brands, I would then see which one you can shoot the most accurately. The most accurate ammo in your gun may not be the most accurate ammo you can shoot.

Maximum accuracy potential in an action, and your maximum accuracy potential are two different things and should be tested as such. The "shoot it over sandbags" comingles the two and doesn't really tell you which round is the most accurate in your action, nor does it tell you which ammo you shoot better as I don't think you are going to compete over sandbags, it does tell you which ammo you may shoot better over sandbags but there can be no external varibles in order for this to be true as well.

Simple version, secure the gun to test the ammo, shoot lots of the best ammo in your normal firing position to see which WORKS best for you.


Shooting the lowest standard deviation is silly. I ahve ammo that has a very very low sd, but shoots like hell in most of my guns due to the need for a different twist rate in the barrel. The are bastardizing one of the factors of accuracy, consistien velocity, and equating that to sole accuracy.