Just shot the Lapua Long Range for the first time today along with two other mid price range match grade 22LR rounds and one premium round of different branding from the same manufacturer, Nammo Schonebeck. Visually, the four selections are virtually identical; same bullets; same case markings; however the two Lapua selections were slightly brighter with tighter stamping tolerances on the cartridge bases than their two SK cousins.
Rim thicknesses were also on the both the Lapua Long Range and Midas+ rounds, and the case lubricant appered to be less viscous in the 35 degree F temperatures at the range today. The comgination of the rim thickness and thiner case lubricant made the Lapua Long Range much easier to load and they just felt good in your hand.
On the 11 yard range at our club I shot two series of 10 round magzines with one warmup mag of the least expensive then one ten round magazine of each brand/model. 100 rounds total through my Vudoo V-22 w/20" MTU-V barrel on a MDT Premier Chassis (last years model). A variable 5-7 mph cold SxSW breeze was blowing from the rear left of the shooting position. The first series winds were highly variable; each brand/model shot similar groups of about 1.25 MOA with perhaps a slight edge going to the SK-Match (red box); both the SK Match and Lapua Long Range shot about the same; the Midas+ did not like the weather. The secound series was better with both SK's and the Lapua Long Range all tightening up a bit; the Lapua and SKL Long Range offering both shot the best at about 1 MOA or a little less, but the SK had one flyer and I missed one on each as well.
After that I just used up the rest of each box and that's when the Lapua Long Range really shined through. The wind had calmed so the last 30 rounds were sub 3/4 MOA in the ten ring on a 6" 50 yard match target at 100 yards, with one flyer in the 9 ring and one miss on my part that also crossed into the 9. The Lapua Long Range's 33 ft/sec faster speed was obvious throughout. You could feel it during firing and they shot flatter between 3/4 and 1 MOA higher than the other three rounds. I would by them again especially if the price point came down a little closer to the SK Long Range Match, which is pretty much our standard practice round here..
