SK ammunition

[Lsfan]

Hi guys. I've been using my cz455 at a range for the last 1.5 years. I initially started out trying federal, cci, eley, sk, winchester etc. I settled on sk because I found it to be consistent and readily available at the range. It also seems well regarded at the range.

I have usually bought packs of 50, but decided I'd get a brick, only to find they had the magazine of 500 instead.

Anyway, I have previously been getting very consistent scores hitting 8's, 9's and the occasional 10 on the electroniic target. I'm not sure but I think that is probably around half an inch and I'm talking over 60 shots.

The last 2 times at the range have been using the rounds from the sk bulk magazine and I may hit a few 8's, 9's a 10 and then a 0, 2, 4, 5 etc. From left to right it's consistent but in elevation is where the problem is. I literally see the bullets dropping at times.

A supervisor at the range said he has heard of a bad batch in these magazines. Has anyone else had a similar experience? I hate to blame my tools but I find my cross-hairs barely move yet the bullets are dropping at times and I dont think I'm doing anything wrong.

I'd be interested to hear from others, especially with the sk ammo. Thanks in advance guys.

[bladeracer]

Which packs of 50 were you using, different types shoot differently. Find out what shoots best and only use that.

I consider Magazine to be their cheapest line of product, so I wouldn't expect it to shoot like their other stuff. I also find it disgustingly heavy with lube making it unpleasant to handle. But if you spend some time weight and rim-thickness batching you can probably get a decent amount of it to shoot fairly consistently. I have seen 17mm 5rd groups with it at 50m in my Rugers, but the average is probably closer to 30mm at 50m.

I would consider Rifle Match to be their most consistent product - but try them all and see which your rifle prefers.

Hi guys. I've been using my cz455 at a range for the last 1.5 years. I initially started out trying federal, cci, eley, sk, winchester etc. I settled on sk because I found it to be consistent and readily available at the range. It also seems well regarded at the range.

I have usually bought packs of 50, but decided I'd get a brick, only to find they had the magazine of 500 instead.

Anyway, I have previously been getting very consistent scores hitting 8's, 9's and the occasional 10 on the electroniic target. I'm not sure but I think that is probably around half an inch and I'm talking over 60 shots.

The last 2 times at the range have been using the rounds from the sk bulk magazine and I may hit a few 8's, 9's a 10 and then a 0, 2, 4, 5 etc. From left to right it's consistent but in elevation is where the problem is. I literally see the bullets dropping at times.

A supervisor at the range said he has heard of a bad batch in these magazines. Has anyone else had a similar experience? I hate to blame my tools but I find my cross-hairs barely move yet the bullets are dropping at times and I dont think I'm doing anything wrong.

I'd be interested to hear from others, especially with the sk ammo. Thanks in advance guys.

[Lsfan]

Hi BR and thanks for the reply. I have been using their yellow standard packs. To be honest, I thought the magazine was the same stuff in a bulk package, but perhaps this was an oversight.
They ran out of bricks so offered this up, but now that you mention it, looks like a different product altogether. Even still, the consistency is woeful. I'll be sure to go back to the standard pack and maybe give eley a go. It does surprise me how all the ammo is packaged like a box of bolts whereas they're typically separated from each other when bought in packs.

[Harrisor44]

I too have a CZ455 and found that SK Match was very consistent and 5 shot groups were typically less than a $2 coin at 50 metres. Then it was difficult to find but I recently got a brick but the price had basically doubled since I previously obtained some. Still grouped as well though. I was at the range a couple of weeks ago and the guy next to me asked if I had tried CCI Standard as he found it to be very good in his Browning. My previous experience with CCI hadn't been good so I had low expectations but he gave me 10 rounds to try and every one went in the 10 so I got a brick of that. Well worth trying it out as it is less than half the price of SK and just as consistent, at least for me.

[No1_49er]

When you've found the recipe that suits YOUR rifle, be brave and buy a carton. The caveat is that you must buy the same batch number. No use testing a 50 pack here, a 50 pack there, if you can't buy a bulk lot of the same batch. Different batches can sometimes shoot VERY differently.

[Lsfan]

When you've found the recipe that suits YOUR rifle, be brave and buy a carton. The caveat is that you must buy the same batch number. No use testing a 50 pack here, a 50 pack there, if you can't buy a bulk lot of the same batch. Different batches can sometimes shoot VERY differently.

But would you expect a different batch of ammo to be consistently different? I.e. should I find they are consistently high or onsistently low versus what I've been using? I have found that most shots are around the point of aim and then the occasional shot off the target completely or at least very low but all remain on the vertical axis.
To me it just seems like there is inconsistency in this magazine batch. If it is considered a lesser grade being sold bulk, then it makes sense, but I just never expected there would be such a massive difference like lower velocity ammo, hence the drop. The range supervisor said the same thing.
I'll try a couple of packs next time and hopefully it will improve.

[SCJ429]

Shoot some across a chronograph and see if that tells you what is going on. Always good to know the velocity of ammo that shoots well in your rimfire.

[Lsfan]

Shoot some across a chronograph and see if that tells you what is going on. Always good to know the velocity of ammo that shoots well in your rimfire.

Oh yeah that's a good point. I suppose that would answer the question. Being the novice that I am I don't have access to such devices. I'll have to just try my previous ammo and see what happens. Thanks for the tip.

[safeshot]

Did some ballistic therapy at the range today. I used the SK Pistol Match (Green) in my Lithgow 101 and was pleased.
This eve i have weighed the ammo i have left and it mostly weighed in the 51.6 grains area with just one at 52 grains and three at 51.1.
In weighing the red SK they weighed across a bigger range of weights and if averages mean anything slightly lighter.
and...
Bench rest isnt a sport...........its an addiction!

[Tiger650]

Particularly if you are relatively new to the sport but otherwise regardless, give/sell the inaccurate ammo to someone who spotlights rabbits or whatever, continuing to shoot it will have you [even subconsciously] doubting your skills and compensating for faults which are not yours.
You will "detrain" yourself.

[Lsfan]

Did some ballistic therapy at the range today. I used the SK Pistol Match (Green) in my Lithgow 101 and was pleased.
This eve i have weighed the ammo i have left and it mostly weighed in the 51.6 grains area with just one at 52 grains and three at 51.1.
In weighing the red SK they weighed across a bigger range of weights and if averages mean anything slightly lighter.
and...
Bench rest isnt a sport...........its an addiction!

That's interesting. Thanks for the info.

[Lsfan]

Particularly if you are relatively new to the sport but otherwise regardless, give/sell the inaccurate ammo to someone who spotlights rabbits or whatever, continuing to shoot it will have you [even subconsciously] doubting your skills and compensating for faults which are not yours.
You will "detrain" yourself.

Excellent points Tiger. The variation I'm getting would likely still be a headshot on a rabbit (almost). I was inclined to just put it aside and hopefully some new ammo (such as the sk std i was getting before) will restore my confidence.
I was really deflated by my performance at the range and If that was to happen consistently then I would want to give up. If it happens with new ammo then I'll be really worried. The thing is, I could literally see the bullets dropping. Similarly I could also see the bullets occasionally when they were smack bang in the centre of the target. The dropping ones were really quite obvious through the scope.

[bladeracer]

Particularly if you are relatively new to the sport but otherwise regardless, give/sell the inaccurate ammo to someone who spotlights rabbits or whatever, continuing to shoot it will have you [even subconsciously] doubting your skills and compensating for faults which are not yours.
You will "detrain" yourself.

Excellent points Tiger. The variation I'm getting would likely still be a headshot on a rabbit (almost). I was inclined to just put it aside and hopefully some new ammo (such as the sk std i was getting before) will restore my confidence.
I was really deflated by my performance at the range and If that was to happen consistently then I would want to give up. If it happens with new ammo then I'll be really worried. The thing is, I could literally see the bullets dropping. Similarly I could also see the bullets occasionally when they were smack bang in the centre of the target. The dropping ones were really quite obvious through the scope.

You will see, and hear this with Eley Standard - a reasonable percentage are noticeably under-powdered. One of my rifles does shoot quite well with Eley Standard so I still use it, but if I were going to shoot a competition of any kind I would certainly weight and rim-thickness batch it. At $1100 a case (I paid $980 in November 2021) it's still decent value compared to everything else Eley offers. Eley Sport is their next cheapest ($200 dearer) and does shoot very well if you don't need match-grade.

CCI Standard Velocity is still my number-one ammo for all my rimfires, very accurate, very consistent, very cheap ($1230 for 10,000rds in February), and generally readily available.

[Lsfan]

Thanks BR. It's SK standard that I have been using but bought their magazine assuming it would be the same. One of the range guys said "first batch was good, second batch is sh.t" Not sure which I have. Another staff member said he has bought eley bulk and found it to be good in his Lithgow.
Hopefully the sk standard will get some good results back.
I tried many when I first started out including cci, federal, eley etc. but settled on sk. I would say my technique has improved and maybe I can gauge the ammo better now. I should probably revisit others to see what happens.

[MtnMan]

SK pistol match special is amazing out of my LA101

[dnedative]

This might be wrong because I cant remember where I got the info from but the differences between SK match, standard and magazine were all down to what the samples for the batch shot like, same with CCI green tag. Manufacturers do similar things with primers, certain operators or certain batches get tested and the supposed good ones get sold as match primers.


You have to remember that at times all the ammo might be fantastic so in order to maintain stock levels for market demand the ammo SK drops in those cans of magazine might be the match grade stuff

[Larry]

Typically the more expensive ammo is graded. No matter if it is produced in the same machine the end product is always going to vary. The tighest to spec goes in the match grade then as the variances get larger those ones go into the lower grades.

[dnedative]

Typically the more expensive ammo is graded. No matter if it is produced in the same machine the end product is always going to vary. The tighest to spec goes in the match grade then as the variances get larger those ones go into the lower grades.

I never noticed any difference between SK Match and Standard, used to buy and shoot heaps of it when I was into shooting 22's - it wasnt $150 a brick then either, crazy what it sells for these days. Still have a can of magazine with a sticker on it for $50, I'll sit on it and do a vintage ammunition review one day

[Lsfan]

Typically the more expensive ammo is graded. No matter if it is produced in the same machine the end product is always going to vary. The tighest to spec goes in the match grade then as the variances get larger those ones go into the lower grades.

I never noticed any difference between SK Match and Standard, used to buy and shoot heaps of it when I was into shooting 22's - it wasnt $150 a brick then either, crazy what it sells for these days. Still have a can of magazine with a sticker on it for $50, I'll sit on it and do a vintage ammunition review one day

I've heard the same about match and standard and also didn't notice any difference myself. The difference came with the bulk magazine stuff though. Probably 1 in 5 shots on average would drop. Sometimes 2 In a row but otherwise I'd have 6 or 7 consistent shots before 1 would drop significantly. I think I paid $110 for the magazine BTW.

[Adzy]

I bought 100 rds of SK pistol match and used it today in my LA101 at 50 yds ! It was incredible, easily shoot 0.2 MOA with every 5 rds . I’m extremely impressed with it , looking for a brick or two now !

[No1_49er]

If it shoots that well Adzy, I'd be looking to buy at least a carton (maybe two) of the same batch number.