AMMO TESTLapua Midas +

Lord knows, I’m not a pure target shooter, all that heavy breathing and agonizing over group sizes is a bit beyond me, as are the dedicated rifles used. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate accurate ammunition, and shooting tight groups is always a pleasure. So, let’s talk about .22LR.

Mainly subs

Most of my rimfire shooting is done with subsonic ammunition on rabbits and other pests. However, I also like burning through a few hundred rounds, which is fun and lets me keep my hand in, to practice judging distance and hold-over/shot placement for hunting.

Recently, I got interested in long-range .22, as the challenge of pushing a 40-grain pill well past 100 yards looked appealing. I didn’t want a pure target rifle, so instead, I bought a Tikka T1x MTR with its light/medium, 20” crossover barrel. I soon discovered that what works at 50-70 yards might not at 100+, so I needed better ammo, for that read match/target.

Heaven is a half brick

I tried a few brands with mixed success, with SK’s Long Range Match proving the best, so far. As well as SK, Viking Arms imports Lapua and they kindly sent me half a brick of their Midas +, which is well respected in .22 precision disciplines.

Shooting was at 50 yards, off the bench with a bipod and rear bag. Wind conditions precluded anything further, but the figures still show what you might expect. Each round displays a 40-grain round-nosed lead bullet with a BC of 0.172 and a velocity of 1073 fps. The ammunition is packaged in 50-round plastic sliders that are contained within a cardboard outer. Additionally, it is available in 500-round bricks.

5 x 3

I used a 1989 NSRA target with five bullseyes and shot five sets of three rounds for average velocity, group size, and standard deviation (SD). The ammunition was deliberately emptied from three boxes and mixed, to give a random selection.

As can be seen (see Results Table), the 50-yard groups are pretty good, given some standard grade .22LR loads would be considered excellent at 0.5” and acceptable at 0.75-1”. If we optimistically assume that the Midas can reach out to 300 yards, and as group size is cumulative, then in perfect conditions the best Midas X (0.312”) would be 0.624” at 100, 1.248” at 200, and 3.744” at 300. Drop at 100 would be -7.29”, at 200 -53.24”, and a whacking -147.84” at 300. Wind (10 mph @ 3 o’clock) would be 3.24”, 12.24”, and 26.61” respectively. All this in a perfect world.

Out of interest, I also shot some Winchester 42-grain MAX, my preferred subsonic load for the Tikka. The average figures were: 1059 fps, SD 32 fps, and 0.793” at 50 yards. Not too bad, but at 100 it was edging up to 2” and wouldn’t push it further. So, it’s plain to see that the Midas X does have something to offer, but you always pay for what you get.