ACID TEST:
Just leaving the facility that has tested the Mora for “intrinsic” accuracy shooting the Altaros 40 grain .22 (217) at 900fps. I was not allowed to observe the testing because the equipment is “top secret!”. Nor can I disclose the company name
However, I was given some generic insight: The gun is clamped to a bench at three points but a damper allows for controlled recoil. It came back with the rail removed, so apparently they didn’t like it either! (I’ll be leaving it that way for now) It is then monitored for movement using a high resolution IR laser motion capture to ensure that cocking etc does not produce movement between shots. The sensitivity of movement detection is 0.05MOA. Anything above 0.2MOA is considered a failed test. The testing takes place indoors at 100y with no forced air circulation. There is no target (so to speak) but an array of laser detectors in front of a trap. They granted me the special favor of one set of 8 shots into paper, sighted before the first shot with the scope (by them).
The Mora was tested at three starting tank pressures of 260, 220 and 180 bar, with 10 shots each and 30s interval between each shot. The ES was 2-3 within each set and 6 considering all of the shots. I did not have a sufficiently pressurized tank to go higher than 260 and nor did they, since their operation focuses on PBs.
The ballistics expert was, for some reason, reluctant to comment on the BC of the Altaros slug. In lieu of that he stated that the “corrected CD” was 0.128. I will investigate what that means…. However, he was very impressed by that and by the performance of the Mora and slug in the test, which was “far better than he had imagined” and “ competitive with OTS precision 22LR”. He was also staggered by the quietness in operation and smooth shot cycle. The trigger pull was dropped to 0.4oz for the test to minimize its effect.
Cutting to the chase, the result is as follows: At the three pressures tested, the intrinsic precision was measured at 0.371(260bar), 0.341(220bar) and 0.317(180bar). These are MOA values. Considering all three, which exposes the higher ES associated with a large range of tank pressure, the result is 0.474MOA. You could choose to subtract the movement error, which was averaged out at 0.07. My guess is the reg is not yet fully settled in, having shot <200 rounds since new. Over all tests there was approximately equal variation in the X and Y axes (windage and elevation).
It dawned on me as I chatted with him that I have not actually cleaned the barrel on this Mora (major Duh moment)! Hopefully Tony did that before shipping…
I can take my Taipan in next week for a comparative test but on first impression, and based on the insight of the expert, this seems to be a very good result. I don’t think the company is as excited as they were about producing slugs, given that the Altaros were so good, so this may not have done us any favors. I mentioned that there is certainly an opening for a high precision next-gen slug with a hollow point. He asked if the community might be interested in slugs with a powdered tungsten core which are non-Hp and therefore can have very high BC, but will break apart on impact. Sounds expensive…
Here are the 8 shots into my paper target that were taken in the clamps. Totally humbling! I will try more groups at 85 this evening with no rail….after cleaning the barrel
