rimfir benchrest

[bigchast1]

I have deceided to buy, buld a bench gun.  Looked at center fire, but budget does not allow it now.  So, I am going to get a rimfire and use it for practice and learning.  Question is which one?  I have been looking at a standard 10/22,  strip it down and replace barrel, stock, guts, and put a good scope on top.  Estimate cost to be
New gun for reciever-$165
Stock and barrel from Midway(Adams and Bennett barrel,  Fajen thumbhole benchrest stock combo)-$299
Scope-~$130 BSA Platinum 36X
Rings, bases-$50
Trigger kit-$75
                           Total             $719
                          minus
  Sell original stock/barrel        $120
                                                $599


Does this sound like it will work for a first "benchrest gun", or would you change something, or is this price wrong.
Thanks for your help, Chast

[Jose Grande]

That gun is not accurate enough for Benchrest. The 541 Remington used to make is one of the best to start with.  This is a very strong bolt action & it will serve you well. It came in a standard & a target version. 541T
These can be found at Gun shows for around $350 -$400. It can be rebarreled & stocked & the trigger lightened up by a good gunsmith. There are other bolt guns that will work,such as Ruger's bolt .22

Is there an auto-loader class I don't know about that you want to shoot in? I rebarreled a 10-22 for my brother & recut the barrel channel & it shoots pretty well,but benchrest is a whole different animal when it comes to target shooting. If there is a 10-22 is about as good as there is in the budget price dept.
                                           Good Luck in your new sport. :grin:

[coyote 2]

I have to agree with jose grande. I have a 10/22 that I built. Only thing original is the action and even most of that has been replaced. The first round being fired will drive you nuts. Its what they call the flyer on most targets. At 25 and 50 yards - you will have one ragged hole. BUT - past that distance I can not really get good groups. I do not think a semi-auto will ever replace a bolt gun. Because I got into the 17 HMR I lost a little interest in the 22 shooting. Although it more expensive - my golly gosh - 100 yards 1/2 to 1/4 inch groups. Can not get my 22 to do that. Good luck.

[bigchast1]

Are you talking about the 77/22 Ruger, I think thats it.  How much are they and how well do they shoot before modifacations are made.

[coyote 2]

I think around here you can get a 77-22 for around $345.00. Yes they are more costly than a 10/22. Out of box accuracy...not even sure....usually get customized before they are ever shot..
Yes 77-22 ruger..... or better yet 77-22 mag. Look what you can do with them. The 77-22 mag can be turned into a 77-17 with a simple barrel change. The 77-22LR is still a shooter with a little work.



One of each......PS these are not my gun   :cry:
Oh my....wishing here.... :-D

[john*vic]

Do any of you guys know any thing about Suhl rifles? I am taking a serious look at one for benchrest competition. I have shopped around until I'm starting to lose sleep now and I need to decide. Things are starting to run together on me and making the decision more difficult. It looks as though if I am going to be able to be anything close to competitive that I am going to have to invest in the neighborhood of 1,000. plus to get started. I have some trading and selling material that I can afford to part with, just making the right decision seems to be the difficult task at hand. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
JT

[grizzlyguy]

For the Suhl, try rimfirecentral or benchrest.com, and do a Suhl search. I've never seen one in Wisc.  Agree with the others that the 10-22 probably won't shoot with the bolt guns, no matter how much money you throw at them, especialy with the inexpensive A+B barrel. Takeoff 10-22 stocks and barrels aren't worth much either, probably lucky if you got $ 50 for barrel and stock together. I found that the first round flier problem sort of went away when I started to just let the bolt slam the first round out of the full mag instead of easeing the bolt ahead to chamber the first round. For a first BR 22, I would consider a used Anschutz 54 position rifle. 1411,1407,match 54, are some of the models available. For $600 - $700 you get a great trigger, a stock that rides the bags well, and great accuracy. Plus if you want to upgrade later, you will get most of your money back, unlike the 10-22. Be careful of the weight if you compete, some classes wil be hard to make weight unless you start cutting and drilling.

[coopershooter]

i have a 10-22 that i modified. it,s real accurate for a plinker, but! it,s no benchrest rifle!
 i have a winchester model 52-c that i compete with, and i do well with it. but it,s an expensive gun. if you want to be competitive, look around for a clean used anshutz. you can find them for $400 to $600 bucks. and they will shoot circles around most!!!! ruger model 22-77,s i have a model 54 match rifle that i paid $550 for, from thad scott guns. it is very accurate! and has a trigger that i,m not sure you could copy on a ruger anything!
 i,m not sure you can sell a ruger stock and barrel for $120. i see them on ebay for $20. every day. i have three sets i,ll sell for $120 if you can sell them you can keep half!
  and i have had bad luck with bsa scopes. i have had two out of four replaced by the factory, for not holding, or shifting poi. all four are target scopes. two 6-24,s   one fixed 24.    one 8-32.  it,s money poorly spent when you have to buy a scope more than once! spend a little more and get more for your money. i shoot alot at 300 and 400 yards off of a benchrest. a scope and rifle that shoot,s pretty good at 50 and 100 yards will tell you if there is a weak link at 3 or 4 hundred yards and thats when i realized the scopes were shifting. when i replaced them, both guns shot much better scores at 100 yards.
   i honestly dont have any expierience with ruger 77-22,s but i,m not sure they can compete with a used out of the box anshutz, in a benchrest match. good luck and tell us what you end up doing. it,s all fun!
 bobby.

[madmikeray]

for the best price @ shooting up to 50yards i would buy a marlin 7000 ($195). then theres the t/c benchmark for around $325. and u can buy a 10-22t rifle out of box ready to shoot off bench for around $325. for a bolt action i would consider the cz 452 and slide a timney trigger in it, excellent shooter for around $300. and the new remington model 504 i think thats the model brand new gun this year..there supposed to be unreal in accuracy. but you might as well go all out and buy an anscultz, and never look back :wink: . .good luck and let us know what you get! :-D .

[Green3845]

Chast-

Go take a look at benchrest.com, the rimfire benchrest forums.

For a fairly decent RFBR gun, really none of the actions you have discussed, with the exception of a Suhl, are suitable. For a pretty decent RFBR gun, you will spend almost as much having a rifle built by one of the good RF BR 'smiths like Bill Calfee, as you would have a CF benchrest rifle built. The plus is that you will never wear a barrel out.

Stiller precision makes a pretty decent RF action. Kelby markets the Stolle Swindlehurst action which is a good one. Some people use an Anshutz 54 action.

It is a very specialized area that one can spend enormous amounts on a decent rifle, and still be at the mercies of the ammo manufacturers!

[Rick H.]

Go to the CMP's web site.  (www.odcmp.com) Look at the .22 rifles that they have for sale.  For what you're looking to do, I think that the H&R Model 12 would be a nice fit.

There are other rifles there as well, like some Rem 40-X actions, if you want to do a little building.

[hh4064]

Interesting comments
I have one of Tom Volquartsens 10/22s
trigger
barrel
bedding system
with a fajen stock
this thing shoots like a house afire
It shoots better then ANY 541 I have EVER seen
with federal gold medal match it shoots very very tight goups at 50m and 100m. I have 3- 5 shot group on paper I am looking at right now that are smaller then a nickel at 100m.  But I guess that is not tight enough
mbj
MI

[htrjv]

When searching for an answer, go to the people, who are in the game.  Shooters, God Bless their souls, are alot like doctors.  If you are lucky, you may get 2 to give you the same answer, but not likely.
Try www.benchrest.com/   This will take you to "Benchrest Central"  It is the home of the benchrest shooters.  You may have to register (free), but then you can access their prior posts and search for your particular subject.  Like with any forum, validate the feedback you receive.
In Benchrest Shooting, like any other discipline, you don't have to start out with a $2000.00 gun to place in the top three.  I once reworked a Norinco JW-15 (when done, I had $125.00 in it) and shot it at a shoot in Camillus NY. Came in third with a 235 out of 250.  Look at the equipment lists of the matches shot and go from there.  Attending a match is a GREAT way to get first hand info.  Another source is "Precision Shooting" magazine.  If you call Dave Wright, they will even send you a free copy, so you can scope it out.  Goood Luck, and WELCOME to the benchrest shooters world.  Joe