S.A.A.M.I Reference Ammunition

[PAUL_MAUSER]

Does anyone here know what this is or what it means? I picked a couple hundred rounds of this stuff on the cheap for my 7x57’s

 

[CBeck]

Ammunition used to qualify and/or calibrate velocity and pressure measuring systems.

 

[PAUL_MAUSER]

Ammunition used to qualify and/or calibrate velocity and pressure measuring systems.

would that mean it is possibly loaded with a bit more precision or care from federal to eliminate variances?

 

[CBeck]

would that mean it is possibly loaded with a bit more precision or care from federal to eliminate variances?

I’d have to believe it’s the most close to spec ammo around if it’s used for calibration and measurements.

 

[5shot]

Not necessarily more care, but the exact velocity and pressure of that lot is known, so that when you shoot it on your setup, you can make corrections to insure you test equipment produces correct results. Could be higher or lower than spec, but it is known.

 

[Jefferry404]

@PAUL_MAUSER
Saami does not say tighter specs, just need to know the lot averages and deviation.
They say this:
"
It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to establish sample sizes, sampling frequencies, and tolerances to ensure the performance of the ammunition obtained by the ultimate user meets all applicable safety and functional standards. Of particular importance in establishing velocity tolerances is the understanding that velocities significantly higher than the nominal lot mean can cause actual maximum range performance to exceed expected values. Ammunition tested subsequent to manufacture using equipment and procedures conforming to these guidelines can be expected to produce velocities within a tolerance of ±90 fps of the tabulated values.
"
and
"
REFERENCE AMMUNITION: USE A. PURPOSE Reference Ammunition is for the purpose of relating pressure and velocity test results at all ranges. B. PROCUREMENT Reference Ammunition is procured as noted in Section III pages 231 and 232. C. USE The use and usefulness of Reference Ammunition in connection with the testing of ammunition for velocity and pressure is predicated upon two basic assumptions as follows: 1. Associated with a given batch of Reference Ammunition at a given time is an assessed average velocity, an assessed average pressure, as well as upper and lower limits for each, which the averages of any ten round test may be expected to fall within when: a. The reference ammunition manufacturer has applied appropriate safeguards to assure homogeneity of the lot. b. The ammunition is tested only after being conditioned under controlled temperature and humidity. c. The ammunition is tested in equipment compliant with Section III recommendations. d. The ammunition is handled in strict accordance with Section II recommendations. e. All auxiliary measuring equipment has been set up in accordance with Section II recommendations and is in proper working condition. 2. Although there will be changes over time in the velocity and pressure assessments, the changes occur sufficiently slowly to be detected by periodic reassessments before they have achieved a magnitude sufficient to impair the usefulness of the reference rounds. In other words, the velocity and pressure assessments are reasonably stable with time. The average velocity and pressure that may be developed by a sample of Reference Ammunition in any given standard test barrel under given test conditions may be different from the results obtained under the test conditions referred to above in assumption 1 due to minor equipment variations and statistical sampling error. Such values may be perfectly real, providing the auxiliary equipment introduces no errors. In order to realize the benefits of Reference Ammunition, some rules must be adhered to. Nevertheless, each individual user must make the final judgments concerning how often it is used and the use of the data. It is important, therefore, that there be a clear realization of what it can and what it cannot tell the ammunition tester. Reference Ammunition cannot guarantee the absolute accuracy of any test system. It does, however, provide simple and direct data from any given ammunition test equipment to determine how closely it relates to the acceptable, average system as used by SAAMI members.
"