SK Target Ammo

rrpc

We've had a few bricks of this ammo in Rathdrum and to be brutally honest it's the most awful stuff I've ever seen.

We started with SK Rifle Match which is supposed to be the equivalent of Lapua Master. For me, it was unbelievably erratic. I tried it in September (I only had a box, so the first 50 shots on this target were taken using SK, the last 25 or so were with Lapua Midas). Given that I had to resight for the ammo change, the scores are to say the least, revealing:



We then got a batch of SK Standard, the equivalent of Lapua Club. To say this stuff is crap is doing crap an injustice.

I don't have a card to show you, but another member was using it last night and for a guy who can do 390/400 it was absolutely horrendous. In fifteen shots he didn't get one ten, but got two sevens, a few eights and the rest nines. I took pity on him and gave him a box of Midas to restore his confidence and he got up after firing two of them and getting two tens.

I'd say use it for pistol, but don't expect miracles. In my rifle it went into the breech as if it was oiled, but I had to jerk the bolt hard to get them to eject. Five shots I fired were 9.9, 10.1, 9.9, 8.8, 10.1.

Not dreadful, but still pretty awful for what's supposed to be a target round at 25 yards indoors. If you used it outdoors I wouldn't expect it to hit the black :eek:.

I find it hard to believe that SK expect to sell this stuff if that's the quality they provide.

Sparks

It sounds magnificently useless. Even the Lapua coffeecan rounds did better than that.

rrpc

Sparks wrote: »

It sounds magnificently useless. Even the Lapua coffeecan rounds did better than that.

It seems to be, Mike reckoned that some of it was crawling out of the barrel compared to the Lapua and the bolt opening problems I had were reminiscent of the heady days of Eley incompetence in the late nineties.

The real problem is that it appears that this crap is going to be replacing Lapua in the importers because of the cheaper shipping charges from Germany as opposed to Finland.

We'll be really stuffed for choice then, seeing as RWS has no distributor here. On top of which, Ardee sports are cutting back on ammo because of the large amounts being bought in from the north. They have to order pallet loads, which sit in the warehouse for months at very little margin.

It wasn't me!

I found the SK Rifle Match stuff a wee bit strange in my gun as well, tended to get separate distinct groups in a card, rather than one nice one. could be a group of seven and a group of three somewhere else, or two stray ones, or four, but the strays would all go in the same place, just as tight as the other group.

BountyHunter

Thanks for the review RRPC, very interesting alright.
I use Lapua master thru mine and find it grand but I've only a few hundred left... IrlConor seemed to be pretty happy with the stuff he was using last time I was speaking to him in Rathdrum, I can't remember exactly what is was though?
Edinkille are selling RWS 50 now, 132 sterling for 1000, I know it means travelling to the shop but do you think it would be worth it if you were buying a couple of thousand? Also is there a restriction on carrying ammo on the ferry?

BountyHunter.

Sparks

rrpc wrote: »

It seems to be, Mike reckoned that some of it was crawling out of the barrel compared to the Lapua and the bolt opening problems I had were reminiscent of the heady days of Eley incompetence in the late nineties.

I remember them well - seeing a round of Eley tenex go sideways through a paper target at 25 yards in Rathdrum was a pretty good argument against the "expensive is better" idea

We'll be really stuffed for choice then, seeing as RWS has no distributor here.

Yeah. I know Geoff could import R50 allright, but the initial capital outlay for the size of order they'll accept as a minimum is pretty significant, especially with the way the economy's gone lately We're stuck with ordering small amounts through Edenkillie at best until then.

BountyHunter

BountyHunter wrote: »

Thanks for the review RRPC, very interesting alright.
I use Lapua master thru mine and find it grand but I've only a few hundred left... IrlConor seemed to be pretty happy with the stuff he was using last time I was speaking to him in Rathdrum, I can't remember exactly what is was though?
Edinkille are selling RWS 50 now, 132 sterling for 1000, I know it means travelling to the shop but do you think it would be worth it if you were buying a couple of thousand? Also is there a restriction on carrying ammo on the ferry?

BountyHunter.

There are other places in the UK that sell RWS, there is a rep living near me somewhere.

IRLConor

BountyHunter wrote: »

IrlConor seemed to be pretty happy with the stuff he was using last time I was speaking to him in Rathdrum, I can't remember exactly what is was though?

It was Lapua Center-X which I think is the new Lapua Super Club (but without the eggy smell). From the new naming scheme, I think Lapua are trying to position X-ACT as a grade higher than the old Midas so perhaps the Center-X is the new Master.

To make it a bit clearer (I hope), I'm not sure if the naming goes like this:

Old Name|New Name
Midas|X-ACT
Master|Midas+
Super Club|Center-X


or like this:

Old Name|New Name
|X-ACT
Midas|Midas+
Master|Center-X
Super Club|


Either way, DURC's Walther really liked that batch of Center-X.

civdef

I think SK actually are (or used to be at any rate) the manufacturer of the Lapua dogfood tin 500 rd stuff.

IRLConor

civdef wrote: »

I think SK actually are (or used to be at any rate) the manufacturer of the Lapua dogfood tin 500 rd stuff.

SK are still owned by Lapua (or are otherwise part of the Nammo family) and make some of the Lapua-branded rounds as far as I know. I'm not sure which rounds get produced where though.

It wasn't me!

civdef wrote: »

I think SK actually are (or used to be at any rate) the manufacturer of the Lapua dogfood tin 500 rd stuff.

They are indeed.

rrpc

IRLConor wrote: »

It was Lapua Center-X which I think is the new Lapua Super Club (but without the eggy smell). From the new naming scheme, I think Lapua are trying to position X-ACT as a grade higher than the old Midas so perhaps the Center-X is the new Master.

To make it a bit clearer (I hope), I'm not sure if the naming goes like this:

Old Name|New Name
Midas|X-ACT
Master|Midas+
Super Club|Center-X


or like this:

Old Name|New Name
|X-ACT
Midas|Midas+
Master|Center-X
Super Club|


Either way, DURC's Walther really liked that batch of Center-X.

I think it's the latter table Conor. If you look at the pricing of the Lapua ammo, X-Act is quite a bit more expensive than the Midas+, it's even more expensive than Tenex!

Center-X is slightly cheaper than Master, but not enough for it to be a lower grade.

Here's a table of the NSRA prices (they still have Midas and Master in stock). The NSRA wouldn't be the cheapest, but as we're comparing their own prices, the list should be valid enough.

Name|Price £/K|comment
Center-X|105.20|
Signum|105.70|Pistol
Master|112.55|L or M
Midas|160.50|L or M
Midas+|183.00|
X-Act|251.55|:eek:


They sell Tenex at £171.55/K

rrpc

rrpc wrote: »

I think it's the latter table Conor. If you look at the pricing of the Lapua ammo, X-Act is quite a bit more expensive than the Midas+, it's even more expensive than Tenex!

Center-X is slightly cheaper than Master, but not enough for it to be a lower grade.

Here's a table of the NSRA prices (they still have Midas and Master in stock). The NSRA wouldn't be the cheapest, but as we're comparing their own prices, the list should be valid enough.

Name|Price £/K|comment
Center-X|105.20|
Signum|105.70|Pistol
Master|112.55|L or M
Midas|160.50|L or M
Midas+|183.00|
X-Act|251.55|:eek:


They sell Tenex at £171.55/K

Weren't the NSRA always quite expensive for top end ammo (ie R50, midas) apart from tennex?

rrpc

Deleted User wrote: »

Weren't the NSRA always quite expensive for top end ammo (ie R50, midas) apart from tennex?

Well as I'm comparing their own prices, it should be indicative. The price for Master and Midas on their list is pretty similar to the prices here. They're actually cheaper for the centre-x, so they've obviously tightened up a bit.

FLOYDSTER

IRLConor wrote: »

SK are still owned by Lapua (or are otherwise part of the Nammo family) and make some of the Lapua-branded rounds as far as I know. I'm not sure which rounds get produced where though.

The German factory produce all .22 ammo, and infact all the non military ammo now!;)
The Lapua Factory in Finland only produces the larger calibers.

Although I should have waited and put a few thousand rounds through the rifle, I tested there a month or so ago and after a long day testing all the SK and Lapua grades ,selected a batch of center-x for the new Feinwerkbau!, I wont get it for a month or so though.:(

Not great groups but It'll get me going!!