Is There a “Best” ELEY Lot, and How Are ELEY Batches Graded?
Every batch of a given ELEY grade has already met the same published standard before it is allowed to carry that name. A box of ELEY tenex is tenex because that batch proved a Radial Standard Deviation (RSD) inside 3.75 mm on ELEY’s own proof range, across four different firearm brands, over 200 rounds. So there is no hidden tier of tenex above tenex, and no batch of match that failed to be match. The grade on the box is the guarantee.
The useful truth, and the one worth acting on, is that batch suitability is barrel-specific. Two batches that both meet the tenex standard can perform differently in your particular rifle, and the one that suits your barrel may not be the one that suits the shooter on the next firing point. That is the real question behind “which lot should I have?”, and ELEY publishes everything you need to answer it yourself.
How a Batch Becomes a Product
The sequence matters. ELEY does not decide in advance which cartridges will be tenex.
- Cartridges are manufactured under Six Sigma methodologies: patented flat-nose bullet, heel inspection, case mouth trimmed flat, exacting crimping standards, propellant measured electronically for each individual cartridge, priming in an air-conditioned facility, temperature-controlled lubrication, high-speed electronic visual inspection.
- 200 rounds from every batch are fired across four different firearm brands on the proof range to calculate RSD.
- Only then is the batch graded and named. The highest-performing lots become ELEY tenex.
| Product | Maximum RSD every batch must prove |
|---|---|
| ELEY tenex | 3.75 mm |
| ELEY ultra extreme long range | 4.00 mm |
| ELEY match | 4.74 mm |
| ELEY semi-auto benchrest precision | 4.90 mm |
| ELEY team | 5.50 mm |
| ELEY club | 5.50 mm |
A published maximum is a ceiling the batch has already demonstrated, not an average or an aspiration. For context on what the process is capable of, the ELEY proof range record is a mean radial shot diameter of 2.64 mm, set with tenex in October 2019.
What Is Printed on Your Box
Every premium box carries its own identity. The batch code 10 26-04 244 over 1045 reads as:
- 10: loaded product
- 26: year of manufacture
- 04: loader number
- 244: batch number for that loader
- 1045: mean velocity across four barrels during proofing
You therefore know, before you open the box, exactly which batch you are holding and what velocity ELEY measured for it. Nothing about that is reserved for anyone.
The Lot Analyser Is the Equaliser
This is the point that settles the question. ELEY publishes the proof data for every batch in the covered products, free, to anyone with an account at eleyxshot.com.
Enter a batch number and you can see the full 200-shot proof group: X (windage) and Y (elevation) coordinates for every individual shot, velocity, group size, shot distribution, date loaded, ballistic coefficient, trajectory and radial dispersion across four barrel types. A club shooter at home has access to precisely the same evidence as anyone else, on ELEY’s own data, before spending anything.
And Batch Testing Settles It in Your Barrel
The Lot Analyser tells you how a batch performed in ELEY’s four proof barrels. Batch testing tells you how batches perform in yours, and that is the only measurement that decides your score.
Batch testing is open to anyone, at five centres in the United Kingdom, Hungary, Germany, the United States and Canada. You shoot up to 20 batches through your own rifle: 10 shots from each, the best-performing shortlisted, then a further 30 shots until a 40-shot group size and consolidated score is recorded for each. You leave with a consolidating score, group size, RSD, an Expected Score for a 60-shot match and a percentile ranking against every batch and barrel combination in ELEY’s database. Hundreds of shooters do this every year, from club champions to Olympic medallists. Book at eley.co.uk/vip.
The Bottom Line
There is no “best lot” waiting to be handed out, because every batch of a grade has already passed the same 200-round proof test before it earns the name. What varies is the fit between a batch and an individual barrel, and ELEY makes that knowable to everyone equally: the batch code and mean velocity are printed on your box, the full 200-shot proof data for every batch across the covered products is free at eleyxshot.com, and batch testing at eley.co.uk/vip is open to any shooter who wants to prove it through their own rifle.