Anschutz MPR-64
- Thread starter geetarman
- Start date
The older Midas M may have some lube issues that are exacerbated by the cold. In warm weather, it probably will get softer and work better.
The Midas M is the standard bullet size Midas that was discontinued when they went to the new Midas Plus. That is essentially the same color box that Master L & M used but with a foil like sheen on the Midas M box.
The Center-X you have is new stock. It replaced Master M and L when Lapua changed to a standard bullet size. That is the same time they introduced the Midas Plus.
The new Midas Plus box looks a lot like the Center-X box but it has a silver foil band across the center of the broad top side with Midas + in white letters. Center-X has a gray band with Center-X in blue letters. The bottom broad side of the box has the warning data in 4 languages printed in white against a blue background in both cases.
On the Midas + box, there is also a silver foil band on three sides of the box also with Midas + in white letters where the Center-X box has a gray band with blue letters. The fourth side flap has the lot number in black against a white background I both cases.
The Midas M is the standard bullet size Midas that was discontinued when they went to the new Midas Plus. That is essentially the same color box that Master L & M used but with a foil like sheen on the Midas M box.
The Center-X you have is new stock. It replaced Master M and L when Lapua changed to a standard bullet size. That is the same time they introduced the Midas Plus.
The new Midas Plus box looks a lot like the Center-X box but it has a silver foil band across the center of the broad top side with Midas + in white letters. Center-X has a gray band with Center-X in blue letters. The bottom broad side of the box has the warning data in 4 languages printed in white against a blue background in both cases.
On the Midas + box, there is also a silver foil band on three sides of the box also with Midas + in white letters where the Center-X box has a gray band with blue letters. The fourth side flap has the lot number in black against a white background I both cases.
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Thank you so much for the info. That makes me feel better about the Center X ammo.
The Tenex that I had looked a lot like the Midas that I have. It was a freebie from the gunsmith and it looked like it had been there for a LONG time. It was leftover from a repair job and they gave it to me to get rid of it.
Those bullets had the grey look of old paraffin wax. Two of my rifles shot it pretty good. I only had about 30 rounds of the stuff. The Annie did not like it worth a hoot.
However the Annie DOES like the Center X and I have a bunch of it. Lapua has a test range in Mesa and my gunsmith can usually get the ammo pretty quickly. I have no way of knowing where he got the Midas. I bought it because it was supposed to be better. It might have been better when new but it seems this was new "old" stock and who knows how long it was sitting on the shelf.
I think I am going to call it good and shoot the stuff the rifle likes before I get to the point of being completely bonkers on 22 rim fire. The things those guys do to compete will break the bank.
My rifle shoots pretty good with the right stuff and I have no reason to believe anything is wrong.
Thanks a lot for your help. I appreciate it.
Geetarman
The Tenex that I had looked a lot like the Midas that I have. It was a freebie from the gunsmith and it looked like it had been there for a LONG time. It was leftover from a repair job and they gave it to me to get rid of it.
Those bullets had the grey look of old paraffin wax. Two of my rifles shot it pretty good. I only had about 30 rounds of the stuff. The Annie did not like it worth a hoot.
However the Annie DOES like the Center X and I have a bunch of it. Lapua has a test range in Mesa and my gunsmith can usually get the ammo pretty quickly. I have no way of knowing where he got the Midas. I bought it because it was supposed to be better. It might have been better when new but it seems this was new "old" stock and who knows how long it was sitting on the shelf.
I think I am going to call it good and shoot the stuff the rifle likes before I get to the point of being completely bonkers on 22 rim fire. The things those guys do to compete will break the bank.
My rifle shoots pretty good with the right stuff and I have no reason to believe anything is wrong.
Thanks a lot for your help. I appreciate it.
Geetarman
Jim Watson
New member
I think that is the right conclusion.
You can tinker with bedding and tuners, but you can't force it to shoot ammo that is some way mismatched. Just buy more of what it "likes."
You can tinker with bedding and tuners, but you can't force it to shoot ammo that is some way mismatched. Just buy more of what it "likes."
Danny Creasy
New member
geetarman wrote, "I am tempted to sell this rifle and buy a CZ 455 heavy barrel".
You will have to replace the 455's barrel to achieve the accuracy you seek. However, you may luck up with a used 452 or 453 Varmint and after some tweaking, achieve superb accuracy.
I run or assist with weekly rimfire matches at my local club. Have done so for years. I have yet seen a 455 come through that makes the owner happy. That would be half a dozen or so. 452s can be a bit hit or miss, but it sounds like you already have had a positive 452 experience.
Best of luck with your Annie. My 1710 Sporter probably needs bedding, but I hate to mess with it. Just not much of a gun tinkerer. It's accurate but not really, really accurate.
You will have to replace the 455's barrel to achieve the accuracy you seek. However, you may luck up with a used 452 or 453 Varmint and after some tweaking, achieve superb accuracy.
I run or assist with weekly rimfire matches at my local club. Have done so for years. I have yet seen a 455 come through that makes the owner happy. That would be half a dozen or so. 452s can be a bit hit or miss, but it sounds like you already have had a positive 452 experience.
Best of luck with your Annie. My 1710 Sporter probably needs bedding, but I hate to mess with it. Just not much of a gun tinkerer. It's accurate but not really, really accurate.
Don't be afraid to try the new Midas + ammo.
The lube is the same as the Center-X your Annie likes and I think it will shoot better than Center-X over a large sample, if you do your part.
Anschutz builds their rifles with a very good match chamber, and they generally like the better match ammos. Yours seems to be one of them.
There is very little 'lot variation" in the Lapua Midas ", Center-X and X-Act lines which is a good thing.
I bought a case of Center-X about 4 months ago and tested it against the last boxes of the old lot that I had remaining in two of my best shooting rifles. The measured average 5 round group size for 10 groups of each lot at 50 yards was identical - something I didn't see coming and I was duly impressed.
Both Midas + and Center-X are good ammos at 100 yards too.
All three Lapua top of the line ammos have good quality control and it shows at 100 yards. The cheaper ammos will shoot very well at 50 yards but won't keep their relative accuracy at 100 yards because there is more variation in the bullet weights.
Lapua and Eley premeasure all their bullets for consistency when they are manufacturing their best ammos. That is what you're paying more to get - consistency equates to accuracy. They also measure lots to see the relative accuracy against their quality standards.
If the lot makes the tightest Lapua standard, it goes into the X-ACT boxes and you pay more than $26 a box.
If it meets the next level it becomes Midas + and you pay $ 15 a box, and if it meets the lower standard it becomes Center-X and you pay about $ 10 a box.
Eley Tenex and Match are also pretested for bullet consistency. There seems to be more variation in lot to lot performance with my rifles but most competitors who shoot Eley swear by Eley. At least Eley marks their ammo with the velocity that was measured for the lot - the last four digits of the lot number is the velocity measured during the QA process. If you buy only the lots that as close in velocity to the lots you found that your Annie likes, you probably will also see the benefits in consistent accuracy.
Eley makes the Tenex and Match ammo on 6 separate machines in the Eley factory. The ammo that meet the tightest standard goes into the red Tenex boxes and the ammo that doesn't goes into the black Match boxes.
They used to have another standard level below Match and the ammo that didn't meet the Match standard was put into Team boxes.
After they refurbished their digital production machines about 2 years ago, they got so few below Match standard rounds out of the production line that they discontinued the Team product. In its place, they built another line and started to produce Edge with the black anodized brass cases as the replacement for Team.
My Win 52C and Cooper 57M both like the Edge ammo as well at 50 yards but it doesn't keep up with Tenex and Match at 100 yards.
I would recommend that you also keep meticulous records of group sizes and ammo lots (including measured velocity with a chronograph) and you will be
able to determine lot performance and variation as well as recording how accurate your rifle is with multiple ammos.
I use On Target software to measure my groups and then store the images in my computer so I can throw away the paper but keep the records of the ammo results. I keep the results of the performance of my rifles with
various ammos at 50 and 100 yards in spreadsheets that are now quite large.
I've been doing that since well before Lapua stopped making Midas and Master and converted to Midas Plus and Center-X.
The lube is the same as the Center-X your Annie likes and I think it will shoot better than Center-X over a large sample, if you do your part.
Anschutz builds their rifles with a very good match chamber, and they generally like the better match ammos. Yours seems to be one of them.
There is very little 'lot variation" in the Lapua Midas ", Center-X and X-Act lines which is a good thing.
I bought a case of Center-X about 4 months ago and tested it against the last boxes of the old lot that I had remaining in two of my best shooting rifles. The measured average 5 round group size for 10 groups of each lot at 50 yards was identical - something I didn't see coming and I was duly impressed.
Both Midas + and Center-X are good ammos at 100 yards too.
All three Lapua top of the line ammos have good quality control and it shows at 100 yards. The cheaper ammos will shoot very well at 50 yards but won't keep their relative accuracy at 100 yards because there is more variation in the bullet weights.
Lapua and Eley premeasure all their bullets for consistency when they are manufacturing their best ammos. That is what you're paying more to get - consistency equates to accuracy. They also measure lots to see the relative accuracy against their quality standards.
If the lot makes the tightest Lapua standard, it goes into the X-ACT boxes and you pay more than $26 a box.
If it meets the next level it becomes Midas + and you pay $ 15 a box, and if it meets the lower standard it becomes Center-X and you pay about $ 10 a box.
Eley Tenex and Match are also pretested for bullet consistency. There seems to be more variation in lot to lot performance with my rifles but most competitors who shoot Eley swear by Eley. At least Eley marks their ammo with the velocity that was measured for the lot - the last four digits of the lot number is the velocity measured during the QA process. If you buy only the lots that as close in velocity to the lots you found that your Annie likes, you probably will also see the benefits in consistent accuracy.
Eley makes the Tenex and Match ammo on 6 separate machines in the Eley factory. The ammo that meet the tightest standard goes into the red Tenex boxes and the ammo that doesn't goes into the black Match boxes.
They used to have another standard level below Match and the ammo that didn't meet the Match standard was put into Team boxes.
After they refurbished their digital production machines about 2 years ago, they got so few below Match standard rounds out of the production line that they discontinued the Team product. In its place, they built another line and started to produce Edge with the black anodized brass cases as the replacement for Team.
My Win 52C and Cooper 57M both like the Edge ammo as well at 50 yards but it doesn't keep up with Tenex and Match at 100 yards.
I would recommend that you also keep meticulous records of group sizes and ammo lots (including measured velocity with a chronograph) and you will be
able to determine lot performance and variation as well as recording how accurate your rifle is with multiple ammos.
I use On Target software to measure my groups and then store the images in my computer so I can throw away the paper but keep the records of the ammo results. I keep the results of the performance of my rifles with
various ammos at 50 and 100 yards in spreadsheets that are now quite large.
I've been doing that since well before Lapua stopped making Midas and Master and converted to Midas Plus and Center-X.
Danny Creasy
New member
Actually, our group is kinda low key and we have several locally designed sporter matches involving both deliberate and rapidfire. However, we do hold a rimfire benchrest match on 3rd Saturdays and although we are no longer sanctioned (didn't want to fool with the paperwork), we still shoot by USBR rules.
As to your optics question, the Weaver T-36 is the favorite at the BR matches. One or two shooters use Leupolds. Interestingly enough, some folks turn in some excellent scores with big cheap glasses - Barska, BSA, Tasco (the old Japanese models are held quite dear), Simmons, etc..
I have no heavy rifles. Just don't care for them personally, but I do like to shoot various sporters in their USBR Sporter Class. The USBR Sporter Class does not limit the scope's magnification like some disciplines do. So, I often mount one of my two T-36s on various sporters. I have one at this time on an exceptionally accurate Ruger 77/22 VBZ that barely makes the 8.5 pound USBR Sporter Class weight ceiling.
I have had much success this past year with my ten year old CZ 452 American and it's Weaver Grand Slam 6-20X40. Here is a target we teamed up for last fall that got me off to a good start with a first place in the benchrest stage of our annual Sporter Master Match (a rimfire sporter pentathlon of sorts involving BR, silhouette, 3P, rapidfire, and sniper):
The rifle and scope proved to be a good choice. We took four of the five events and won the day. I won the Sporter Master once before, in the very first year, while shooting the Annie and Weaver V-16 combo as pictured earlier. BTW, that CZ 452 American is stock.
As to your optics question, the Weaver T-36 is the favorite at the BR matches. One or two shooters use Leupolds. Interestingly enough, some folks turn in some excellent scores with big cheap glasses - Barska, BSA, Tasco (the old Japanese models are held quite dear), Simmons, etc..
I have no heavy rifles. Just don't care for them personally, but I do like to shoot various sporters in their USBR Sporter Class. The USBR Sporter Class does not limit the scope's magnification like some disciplines do. So, I often mount one of my two T-36s on various sporters. I have one at this time on an exceptionally accurate Ruger 77/22 VBZ that barely makes the 8.5 pound USBR Sporter Class weight ceiling.
I have had much success this past year with my ten year old CZ 452 American and it's Weaver Grand Slam 6-20X40. Here is a target we teamed up for last fall that got me off to a good start with a first place in the benchrest stage of our annual Sporter Master Match (a rimfire sporter pentathlon of sorts involving BR, silhouette, 3P, rapidfire, and sniper):
The rifle and scope proved to be a good choice. We took four of the five events and won the day. I won the Sporter Master once before, in the very first year, while shooting the Annie and Weaver V-16 combo as pictured earlier. BTW, that CZ 452 American is stock.
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Danny Creasy
New member
I wish. No, 50 yards.