So what is the verdict on the shooting tunnels of Eley and Lapua ?

R

rkcal22

Guest
Last year I had my new custom build RF rifle ammo tested at Dans place just before they went to the Eley style of testing . They tested as you and I would shoot at the range and not held by a vise or clamp or whatever the name they give it and found a very good ammo lot number that gave me my highest single card and 3 card total. 6 lots tested and read from 1850 to 2450 on a ARA target to show the good and poor lots of ammo. Now that is gone and I need ammo but the 2 ranges that test competition ammo use the vise system and I have read from a few shooters , not many gave feedback, that this system can give good info about the ammo but not about the rifle shooting with the ammo. That is most say that the good groups in testing didnot give the same results when used in actual shooting from a bench with 1 or 2 piece rests, When the dealers get the new ammo shipments I don't have time to test (winds in s.e Fla are 8 to 15 mph most of the time switching) before they run out. I'm willing to ship my rifle out to them but can I get ammo that will shoot good freestyle ? Help please Richard
 
Lapua Center

Richard, I tested at the Lapua center last Nov. The rifle stock was clamped in a fixture that rides on linear bearings like a rail gun does, whole rifle scope and all. Once I got home and tested outdoors in an almost dead calm at the crack of dawn all three lots shot as well off of two piece rests as they did in the fixture, one actually shot better. How they shoot in the wind is more related to my in ability to read and be patient but one of the lots does seem to be much more sensitive to wind than the other two. I switched from Eley due to my inability to get and test any before it was gone. So far this year my average scores when compared to the others I shoot with in similar conditions has gone up a little bit.

Dennis
 
Thanks for the feedback Dennis . After 300 views and no one jumped in I was getting to question my question and stll surprised at the low reply. Usually one lot stands out but you said you bought 3 lots, did they all shot well ? Did they give you a read out of the groups or maybe something that would give you a score on a ARA or other target. Was it Center x or Midas + ? I shoot USBR and need ammo that can score10's on that target. Thanks Richard
 
RK,

At Lapua, you get group measurements at 50 and 100 meters for the ammunition performance. It's plotted out on a graph, detailing the group size and such. Since the groups are printed 1:1 scale, you can see group size but there is no target that you shoot.

I have been down to the facility a few times and think it's pretty good.

s.
 
I haven't heard of anyone testing at the Eley tunnel and based only on that testing getting a lot that was amazing.

You'd think that after testing 20-25 Tenex lots and then re-testing the 10-15 best lots and then picking a lot that showed no flyers and a high aggregate score we'd be hearing at least some positive feedback.

Maybe it's happening and those shooters aren't sharing.
 
The Eley test facility at Dan's is perfect for testing Eley Tenex in your rifle without your stock. However, I liked it better when I could test different lots of Eley (Black box or Red box) from my own rest.

I am concerned that the harmonics will change once the stock is reinstalled and I there is some money to be saved by using black box. I am a firm believer when testing ammo one should remove as many variables as possible so we are just testing different ammo in one gun.
 
Slave Stock

Dan told me that he uses a Slave Stock that will accept your action. Testing Tenex "ONLY" is the only draw back I can see in this Test Facility. One thing for sure, if you test it and you like it, you can take it home with you. I personally tested in the Lapua Tunnel, for two reasons. One was to visit family, and the other because I could test and grade or lot they had in stock, and take it home.
 
Fred J said:
Dan told me that he uses a Slave Stock that will accept your action. Testing Tenex "ONLY" is the only draw back I can see in this Test Facility. One thing for sure, if you test it and you like it, you can take it home with you. I personally tested in the Lapua Tunnel, for two reasons. One was to visit family, and the other because I could test and grade or lot they had in stock, and take it home.
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It is a Recoil Fixture that's clamped at 50ft/lbs and the action is installed at 50 in/lbs. I don't know anything about a slave stock or how that would work with the half dozen or more actions that come in there.

These variables (who has their action screws torqued to 50 in/lbs?) and the notion that the testing accounts for zero wind makes me wonder if it's an accurate test at all.
 
Usbr

Richard, I use to shoot a lot of USBR so I know the target well. I still use that target for a lot of testing. I actually took 3 guns with me thus the three lots, all Center X I might add, it tested better than the Midas in my particular guns. So far my best practice score on the USBR target in great conditions was a 249 8X and the missed ten was close enough to plug. In normal conditions for our range I average in the 244 to 246 range. Actually all three of the lots shoot acceptably in two of the rifles ( both 10.5, the sporter is more picky) so I believe the tunnel does help in getting consistent lots. At least it certainly weeds out a lot of unacceptable ammo. Just the fact that you are testing in another part of the country is enough to skew the results but it sure beats blind luck. It's a 2 day drive to get there but I'll probably go back again this fall. I could just send the rifles but I really liked being there to see the testing as it was going on. They print out each and every group you shoot and you watch them on the screen as you shoot.

Dennis
 
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Fred J said:
I'll go with what Dan told me.
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Well, I would too, Fred. In this game of straight shooters there are many honest people. Dan knows a lot about ultimate accuracy and he will always be straight. It is in his DNA. I am sure I will drive over to Dan's place at Winters, Texas and use his facilities when I need more ammo. It is only a 60 mile trip for me.
 
Dennis thanks for your answer. Using Center x you have some pretty nice scores which means good shooting overall. I know Dan is a good guy but my question was not about him but do the good test results from Eley and Lapua tunnels transfer to shooting freestyle. I think it was awhile ago that a couple of guys from England mentioned that the English and German ( I think) ranges didn't transfer to actual shooting. Maybe they are best for weeding out bad ammo -flyers- than showing what is more accurate. I would love to go to the ranges but my club is about 5 miles from the Ft Lauderdale Fl airport which means I am 200 miles from Cuba and about 2,000-2,500 from the test ranges. 7 or 8 days on the road is a little to much for me now jsut to test ammo I rather send my rifle and have them do it for me. Richard
 
Lapua Test Center

I've tested and shot several makes of ammo trying to find the "Magic", and finally sent my 2013 barreled action to Lapua Test Center in Mesa, AZ.
After testing 24 batches of Midas+, Center-X and Xact, one really outstanding batch was found. I was able to order two cases of this for my mini palma shooting and after two matches, it really has shown an improvement in real world scores! I am very pleased with the service Darrell Stetmeyer provided, he emailed test results as they became available, so I could see for myself the results and make a decision to test additional batches or test a given batch further.
ALL FOR $50.00 !!!!!!!!
willy
 
Lapua Test Center

I've tested and shot several makes of ammo trying to find the "Magic", and finally sent my 2013 barreled action to Lapua Test Center in Mesa, AZ.
After testing 24 batches of Midas+, Center-X and Xact, one really outstanding batch was found. I was able to order two cases of this for my mini palma shooting and after two matches, it really has shown an improvement in real world scores! I am very pleased with the service Darrell Stetmeyer provided, he emailed test results as they became available, so I could see for myself the results and make a decision to test additional batches or test a given batch further.
ALL FOR $50.00 !!!!!!!!
willy
 
rkcal22 said:
I think it was awhile ago that a couple of guys from England mentioned that the English and German ( I think) ranges didn't transfer to actual shooting.
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I don’t think it was myself that made that comment, especially as I haven’t done any testing in Germany. However I have been to the Eley facility in Birmingham several times and eventually came to that conclusion (didn't transfer to actual shooting).

I’m not knocking Eley, they have certainly had their success, but I (and many others) switched to RWS R50 a couple of years ago and have never regretted it. We are lucky in the UK that RUAG (the RWS distributors) will come to your local club and allow you to test any product they make. That usually means half a dozen or so different batches as opposed to the eighteen or thereabouts usually available at Eley, but I have never failed to find a batch of R50 I liked. I went nearly two years with Eley and gave up.

To be fair, in that time Eley have spent a small fortune on new equipment, both production and inspection, so things may well have changed, but I'm happy with the quality and more importantly batch to batch consistency of R50, so won’t be moving any time soon.

Brian
 
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Take the barrel/action fixture out of the vise holder and replace it with a slave stock fixture.
 
MaxxPower said:
I'm curious how a Slave Stock gets installed on this rig.

View attachment 14044
Click to expand...

That could be what they call the slave stock, looking at it it seems to be a return to battery setup. The base looks to be clamped into the vice the bit above slides and black piece on the front is some sort damper or spring.

Peter
 
Don said:
Take the barrel/action fixture out of the vise holder and replace it with a slave stock fixture.
Click to expand...

I'd love to see a picture of that.

If you look at where the block that the action is attached to is then attached to the rig I'd be really curious to see how a stock takes it's place and its attached to the rig.
 
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