top predator
Well-Known Member
Rather than using 2 types of ammo, Rem Subsonics @3.17 a box or .06 a rnd, which are good through the mkii at 50 yards not so good at 100, and using sk match @6.50 box or .13 a rnd which is outstanding at 50, 100, 200 for me, I wanted to find an economical ammo that performs well enough to use for both practice and matches, if such a round exists.
A guy at the range gave me 10 rnds of Aguila Golden Eagle Rifle Match to shoot one day, had gotten good groups at 100 yards, so the search started for this ammo. Found some and ran a test on it, as posted below.
Aguila makes several types of Golden Eagle, 2 types in the black box. One is Rifle Match and the other Match. Rifle match is $1.00 + change more than Match. This test is rifle match 40 gr lead rn standard velocity. It was purchased for $31.39 a brick or .06 a round excluding shipping. This is the price I'll use for comparison to other ammo tested in a previous post, linked later on in this thread.
1. At first glance they appeared to be very very lightly lubed (perhaps just residue left from manufacturing).
2. weight sorted – weighed a brick out, main weight range was between 50.4 grains and 51.1. 24 rounds were below 50.4 and 9 above 51.1.
The ammo was shot through a Savage MKII, from a bench with a Harris bipod and rear bag. A Simmons 6-24x scope is mounted on the rifle, with a 20 moa base. I had left the barrel dirty and unswabbed for this test. 85 deg. F was the air temp, sunny, could only guess humidty may have been between 45 – 55% and a 2:00 to 5:00 less than 3mph wind, gusts to 5mph. shot 5rounds of each weight at 50 and 100 yards (getting too close to dark to do 200 yards). Each weight was cronographed at 10 feet from muzzle. The group sizes, flyers and avg. fps and the amount of rounds per brick are noted for each weight. Any shots that I knew that I pulled, I reshot the whole group again to confirm it was a pull and not a flyer.
50 yards / 1" dot
50.4 +1" / 1.25" w 1 flyer 1025fps, 14 rnds in brick
50.5 +.75" / 0 flyer 1033 fps 60 rnds in brick
50.6 -.75" / 0 flyer 1035 fps 65 rnds in brick
50.7 -.75" / 0 flyer 1033 fps 68 rnds in brick
50.8 -.75" / 0 flyer 1034 fps 78 rnds in brick
50.9 .75" / +1" w 1 flyer 1047 fps 77 rnds in brick ( the one flyer was cronied at 1067)
51.0 .5" / -1" w 1 flyer 1044 fps 67 rnds in brick
51.1 -.75" / -1.5" w 1 flyer 1049 fps 38 rnds in brick
51.2 and above only 9 rnds in brick, used for foulers, sighters, etc.
50 YARD COMMENTS: .25" lower and right POI than SK Match and Rem. Subsonics at 50. Just ever so slightly behind the SK groups at 50, but half the price can live with an 1/8" difference. Seemed that as a whole, 50.6 through 50.9 produced the most consistant groups and fps; as a "weight lot" 50.6 thru 50.9 = 20 rounds with .75" groups or less with 1 flyer just 1" (that flyer cronied at 1067). Avg fps of 1037. The most rounds in the brick belonged to this "weight lot"also. Most of the "flyers" were only .25" or less away from the main group could have been shooter error, and possibly close enough not to call them flyers at all, but I called them flyers anyway.
100 yards / 1.5" dot
50.4 no data - ran out of this weight
50.5 1.5" / 2.25" 2flyers
50.6 -.75"/ 1.5" 1 flyer (2nd most accurate / consistant)
50.7 1.25"/ 0 flyers (most accurate / consistant)
50.8 -1.25"/ 0 flyers (3rd accurate / consistant)
50.9 1" / -1.5" 1 flyer (4th most accurate / consistant)
51.0 1.5" / 2" 1 flyer
51.1 +1.5" / 2" 2 flyers
100 YARD COMMENTS: .5" lower and right POI than SK match, 8.3" drop from 50 yards (same as SK Match), MUCH, MUCH, better than Rem. Subsonics for the same price as the sub sonics. Once again, weights 50.6 thru 50.9 produced the most consistant groups at 100, as they did at 50. As a "weight lot" 50.6 thru 50.9 = 20 rounds with 1.25" or less groups with 2 flyers that opened it to 1.5".
200 yards / 1.5" dot NO DATA YET, starting to get dark.
OVERALL COMMENTS: leaves a clumpy residue in barrel, outperformed rem subsonics (my practice cheap ammo) at 50 and 100, weights 50.6 thru 50.9 appears to be the "sweet spot" in the manufacturing with 50.7 being the most consistant at 50 and 100. 120 rounds were fired, NO misfires, NO misfeeds, NO ejection problems, NO problems occurred.
Lubed an additional 20 rounds of 50.6 thru 50.9, all groups at 100 where under 1.75" including flyers.
Simply put, the Aguila Match Rifle for the most part outperformed everything else (20-25 brands / styles tested recently) at 50 and 100 at the price paid $.06 a round. When superimposing the targets on the TQ4 I used for the August rimfire match, all groups where within the 9 and 10 ring.
Out of a 30 round "superimposed simulated tq4 100 yd bench" match, the score would be 288-9x's (6shots in 9 ring, 24 shots being in the 10).
The August match I shot with SK at prone and not bench scored 295-10x's (5 shots in 9ring, 25 shots being in the 10).
I believe the SK Match is slightly better, by .25" at 100 yards. But the difference is SO SLIGHT, and at more than half the price, I'll fill my ammo can with the Aguila Rifle Match, at least for 50 and 100 yards. I'm going to definitely replace the Rem Subsonics with the Aguila, and most likely the SK depending on 200 yard performance. A future report coming for 200 yards if you guys want it.
3 bricks of SK Match @6.50 a box = $195 + 3 bricks of Rem. Subsonics @ 3.17 a box $95.10 = $290.10
6 bricks of Aguila Rifle Match @ 3.14 a box = $188.00, a $102.10 difference with no readjusting optics!
If you practice with what you shoot for matches, 6 bricks of SK = $390, a $202.00 difference.
So I can compare oranges to oranges, I'll see how Aguila fits into an "ammo test thru a MKII" posted awhile back.
once a clean bore test is done, which will give me a clean bore rating (CBR), value rating (VR), consistantcy rating (CR), and overall rating (OAR), and a multiyard rating (MYR). Will edit post when done, however if weight sorted I belive the Aguila will perform and place better in the test.
50 yds - #1. Aguila Golden Eagle Match-1035 fps - avg. grp. .75", c. barrel +.5"MG, +.75"EG, 1/5 FL, d. barrel +.25"MG, +.5"EG, 1/10 FL CBR .75, DBR .58, CR .66, VR .58, FR 2/15 OAR .52 $.06, VERY good results for the price! leaves a clumpy residue, most shots where touching or in each other at 50 yds. slightly more flyers than the wolf, but flyers were not extreme (1/8" to 1/4" away)likes a dirty barrel better than clean.
100 yds - #4. Aguila Golden Eagle Match - avg. grp. 1.75", c. barrel 1.75"MG, +1.75"EG, 2/5 FL d. barrel 1.25"MG, 1.5"EG, 1/10 FL CBR 1.83, DBR 1.25, CR 1.54, VR 1.33, FR 3/15, OAR 1.49 $.06, excellent ammo for the price, half or more of wolf and sk, fell just short of wolf / sk and federal on consistancy, but for the price will live with it. Definately the best value rating, and third in OAR. Likes a dirty barrel. Leaves a clumpy residue. 8.3" drop. great practice ammo, not too bad of a match ammo, an all around dual purpose economical ammo.
Multi yard (average of 50 and 100) #3. Aguila Golden Eagle Match- MYR/CBR 1.29, MYR/DBR .915, MYR/CR 1.10, MRY/VR .955, MYR/FR 5/30, MYR/OAR 1.00, avg. MYR grp 1.13" (the suprisingly small groups shot at 50 yds and the price of the ammo helped it to reach 3rd in the multi yard rankings. the wolf was a bit more consistant on average at both ranges).
(in all fairness to the other ammo, the aguila was weighed and the most accurate lot was shot: 50.6 thru 50.9. it wasn't until after the original test of ammo thru a mkii that i realized the importance of weight sorting. however at $.06 a round, the time spent weighing may justify it's placement).
I'll use the 50.6 thru 50.9 for paper and the over / unders for practice and silhouette shooting as the 1/8" to .25" difference is less of a concern. looks that i found what works for me as a low priced round for practice, yet accurate, consistant, and dependable enough to do serious shooting, at least the ones weighing 50.6 thru 50.9.
A guy at the range gave me 10 rnds of Aguila Golden Eagle Rifle Match to shoot one day, had gotten good groups at 100 yards, so the search started for this ammo. Found some and ran a test on it, as posted below.
Aguila makes several types of Golden Eagle, 2 types in the black box. One is Rifle Match and the other Match. Rifle match is $1.00 + change more than Match. This test is rifle match 40 gr lead rn standard velocity. It was purchased for $31.39 a brick or .06 a round excluding shipping. This is the price I'll use for comparison to other ammo tested in a previous post, linked later on in this thread.
1. At first glance they appeared to be very very lightly lubed (perhaps just residue left from manufacturing).
2. weight sorted – weighed a brick out, main weight range was between 50.4 grains and 51.1. 24 rounds were below 50.4 and 9 above 51.1.
The ammo was shot through a Savage MKII, from a bench with a Harris bipod and rear bag. A Simmons 6-24x scope is mounted on the rifle, with a 20 moa base. I had left the barrel dirty and unswabbed for this test. 85 deg. F was the air temp, sunny, could only guess humidty may have been between 45 – 55% and a 2:00 to 5:00 less than 3mph wind, gusts to 5mph. shot 5rounds of each weight at 50 and 100 yards (getting too close to dark to do 200 yards). Each weight was cronographed at 10 feet from muzzle. The group sizes, flyers and avg. fps and the amount of rounds per brick are noted for each weight. Any shots that I knew that I pulled, I reshot the whole group again to confirm it was a pull and not a flyer.
50 yards / 1" dot
50.4 +1" / 1.25" w 1 flyer 1025fps, 14 rnds in brick
50.5 +.75" / 0 flyer 1033 fps 60 rnds in brick
50.6 -.75" / 0 flyer 1035 fps 65 rnds in brick
50.7 -.75" / 0 flyer 1033 fps 68 rnds in brick
50.8 -.75" / 0 flyer 1034 fps 78 rnds in brick
50.9 .75" / +1" w 1 flyer 1047 fps 77 rnds in brick ( the one flyer was cronied at 1067)
51.0 .5" / -1" w 1 flyer 1044 fps 67 rnds in brick
51.1 -.75" / -1.5" w 1 flyer 1049 fps 38 rnds in brick
51.2 and above only 9 rnds in brick, used for foulers, sighters, etc.
50 YARD COMMENTS: .25" lower and right POI than SK Match and Rem. Subsonics at 50. Just ever so slightly behind the SK groups at 50, but half the price can live with an 1/8" difference. Seemed that as a whole, 50.6 through 50.9 produced the most consistant groups and fps; as a "weight lot" 50.6 thru 50.9 = 20 rounds with .75" groups or less with 1 flyer just 1" (that flyer cronied at 1067). Avg fps of 1037. The most rounds in the brick belonged to this "weight lot"also. Most of the "flyers" were only .25" or less away from the main group could have been shooter error, and possibly close enough not to call them flyers at all, but I called them flyers anyway.
100 yards / 1.5" dot
50.4 no data - ran out of this weight
50.5 1.5" / 2.25" 2flyers
50.6 -.75"/ 1.5" 1 flyer (2nd most accurate / consistant)
50.7 1.25"/ 0 flyers (most accurate / consistant)
50.8 -1.25"/ 0 flyers (3rd accurate / consistant)
50.9 1" / -1.5" 1 flyer (4th most accurate / consistant)
51.0 1.5" / 2" 1 flyer
51.1 +1.5" / 2" 2 flyers
100 YARD COMMENTS: .5" lower and right POI than SK match, 8.3" drop from 50 yards (same as SK Match), MUCH, MUCH, better than Rem. Subsonics for the same price as the sub sonics. Once again, weights 50.6 thru 50.9 produced the most consistant groups at 100, as they did at 50. As a "weight lot" 50.6 thru 50.9 = 20 rounds with 1.25" or less groups with 2 flyers that opened it to 1.5".
200 yards / 1.5" dot NO DATA YET, starting to get dark.
OVERALL COMMENTS: leaves a clumpy residue in barrel, outperformed rem subsonics (my practice cheap ammo) at 50 and 100, weights 50.6 thru 50.9 appears to be the "sweet spot" in the manufacturing with 50.7 being the most consistant at 50 and 100. 120 rounds were fired, NO misfires, NO misfeeds, NO ejection problems, NO problems occurred.
Lubed an additional 20 rounds of 50.6 thru 50.9, all groups at 100 where under 1.75" including flyers.
Simply put, the Aguila Match Rifle for the most part outperformed everything else (20-25 brands / styles tested recently) at 50 and 100 at the price paid $.06 a round. When superimposing the targets on the TQ4 I used for the August rimfire match, all groups where within the 9 and 10 ring.
Out of a 30 round "superimposed simulated tq4 100 yd bench" match, the score would be 288-9x's (6shots in 9 ring, 24 shots being in the 10).
The August match I shot with SK at prone and not bench scored 295-10x's (5 shots in 9ring, 25 shots being in the 10).
I believe the SK Match is slightly better, by .25" at 100 yards. But the difference is SO SLIGHT, and at more than half the price, I'll fill my ammo can with the Aguila Rifle Match, at least for 50 and 100 yards. I'm going to definitely replace the Rem Subsonics with the Aguila, and most likely the SK depending on 200 yard performance. A future report coming for 200 yards if you guys want it.
3 bricks of SK Match @6.50 a box = $195 + 3 bricks of Rem. Subsonics @ 3.17 a box $95.10 = $290.10
6 bricks of Aguila Rifle Match @ 3.14 a box = $188.00, a $102.10 difference with no readjusting optics!
If you practice with what you shoot for matches, 6 bricks of SK = $390, a $202.00 difference.
So I can compare oranges to oranges, I'll see how Aguila fits into an "ammo test thru a MKII" posted awhile back.
once a clean bore test is done, which will give me a clean bore rating (CBR), value rating (VR), consistantcy rating (CR), and overall rating (OAR), and a multiyard rating (MYR). Will edit post when done, however if weight sorted I belive the Aguila will perform and place better in the test.
50 yds - #1. Aguila Golden Eagle Match-1035 fps - avg. grp. .75", c. barrel +.5"MG, +.75"EG, 1/5 FL, d. barrel +.25"MG, +.5"EG, 1/10 FL CBR .75, DBR .58, CR .66, VR .58, FR 2/15 OAR .52 $.06, VERY good results for the price! leaves a clumpy residue, most shots where touching or in each other at 50 yds. slightly more flyers than the wolf, but flyers were not extreme (1/8" to 1/4" away)likes a dirty barrel better than clean.
100 yds - #4. Aguila Golden Eagle Match - avg. grp. 1.75", c. barrel 1.75"MG, +1.75"EG, 2/5 FL d. barrel 1.25"MG, 1.5"EG, 1/10 FL CBR 1.83, DBR 1.25, CR 1.54, VR 1.33, FR 3/15, OAR 1.49 $.06, excellent ammo for the price, half or more of wolf and sk, fell just short of wolf / sk and federal on consistancy, but for the price will live with it. Definately the best value rating, and third in OAR. Likes a dirty barrel. Leaves a clumpy residue. 8.3" drop. great practice ammo, not too bad of a match ammo, an all around dual purpose economical ammo.
Multi yard (average of 50 and 100) #3. Aguila Golden Eagle Match- MYR/CBR 1.29, MYR/DBR .915, MYR/CR 1.10, MRY/VR .955, MYR/FR 5/30, MYR/OAR 1.00, avg. MYR grp 1.13" (the suprisingly small groups shot at 50 yds and the price of the ammo helped it to reach 3rd in the multi yard rankings. the wolf was a bit more consistant on average at both ranges).
(in all fairness to the other ammo, the aguila was weighed and the most accurate lot was shot: 50.6 thru 50.9. it wasn't until after the original test of ammo thru a mkii that i realized the importance of weight sorting. however at $.06 a round, the time spent weighing may justify it's placement).
I'll use the 50.6 thru 50.9 for paper and the over / unders for practice and silhouette shooting as the 1/8" to .25" difference is less of a concern. looks that i found what works for me as a low priced round for practice, yet accurate, consistant, and dependable enough to do serious shooting, at least the ones weighing 50.6 thru 50.9.
