Accuracy-related Articles
CHOOSING AND USING THE MACHINE FRONT REST
Until recently, the ‘machine’ front-rest was the preserve of the serious benchrest shooter but now, more and more shooters are realising that to get the best out of a rifle, it must be properly supported. That means supported in such a way that most of the ‘human’ element is eliminated. Remember, the rifle won’t move unless YOU move it. If you are shooting a rested rifle, forget adjustable cheek-pieces, butt-plates and the like. You will not see these devices on a bench-gun. For ultimate accuracy, touch your rifle only with the trigger-finger and light shoulder-pressure to control recoil if you are shooting one of the larger calibres.
Most of us who shoot ‘supported’ rifle probably started-off using a bi-pod. The bi-pod is an excellent means of supporting the fore-end of a rifle and over recent times, the bi-pod has become more versatile and for a modest outlay, it’s hard to beat.
However, you won’t see too many bi-pods at a benchrest match and there is a good reason for that - the benchrest rules state that the front-rest must not be attached to the rifle. Even without this stipulation, I doubt that many shooters seeking the ultimate in accuracy would choose to use a bi-pod - there are much better alternatives.
When benchrest took to the grass – with the advent of F Class – a new generation of accuracy-seekers appeared and the ‘effers’ were not slow to pick up on the best of available equipment to maximise their hit-potential. The bi-pod quickly gave way to the machine-rest.
The machine-rest offers almost perfect support for your rifle, particularly if you have a wide, flat fore-end on your stock. (Note, some disciplines have rules which limit the width of the fore-end to three-inches). Combine this with a horizontal underside to the butt and you have a near-perfect set-up. Near-perfect? If you shoot F Class, your back-bag will usually be resting on grass and obviously, this is less than ideal. Some shooters make the situation even worse by using one of those thick rubber Target Rifle mats - about a solid as a jelly on springs!
This is Dani - he makes front rests for a hobby!
As a long-standing benchrest shooter, I’m well used to shooting off a front
machine-rest. It has few drawbacks. The main one is having to adjust the rest’s two controls – windage and elevation – to get back on the aimpoint. This takes time and time wasted can mean a missed wind-change. An F Class shooter usually has around 45 seconds to make his shot but you will see slick benchrest shooters rattle-off five-shots in well under 20 seconds – to catch the same wind. If you need to adjust two controls for each shot, it will significantly impede your rate of fire.
When I moved my front-rest off a solid concrete bench and onto the springy grass to shoot F Class, I noticed a couple of other problems. Firstly, as we have already acknowledged, the rear-bag is unstable and the rifle does not anywhere near return to our aim-point for the next shot. This means even more twiddling of the aforementioned windage and elevation knobs. What’s more, these knobs are a lot further away when shooting in the prone position than they are when seated at a bench, so problem number two – the need to constantly come out of position to adjust. Not ideal.
A few years ago, some bright spark in the benchrest world addressed the ‘two-knob’ problem and invented the ‘coaxial’ or ‘joystick’ rest. The windage and elevation controls were cleverly combined into one joystick control. The pioneering Farley rest should have taken the benchrest world by storm but it was expensive – two or three times the cost of a normal rest. Even so, they are popular in the States and if cost was not an issue, 90% of benchrest shooters would probably have one.
The Farley joystick rest - note foot-pads for shooting off grass
Although I’ve seen plenty of Farleys on my travels to benchrest matches in various parts of the world, Gary Costello’s was the first one I saw in the UK – but not at a benchrest shoot, as Gary is an F Class shooter. A joystick rest for F Class made perfect sense – not particularly from a speed point of view but the ease of use – no more ‘over stretching’ to reach those controls. One small movement of the joystick and you are back on target - instantly. Keep your hand on the joystick and, if the wind-flags twitch just as your index finger is tightening on the trigger, it’s simplicity to aim-off a little.
When someone comes out with a good idea, it’s always an incentive for others to jump on the band-wagon – particularly if they can make the product better or cheaper or preferably both!
When I was over at the 2005 World Benchrest Championships in
Line up the rest and rear bag on your target before you even un-case your rifle.
Seb’s rest (above) also employs a twin-column design rather than the Farley’s single column – a sensible option maybe if you are using a 22lb. F Class rifle - though the Farley certainly does the job, as many shooters will attest.
If you can see the sense of a joystick rest but you already own a front-rest, there is a third way. Several firms, including Farley, now make just the top - which will fit your existing rest. These piggy-back devices work quite well and it’s one way of having a joystick rest for modest outlay.
Brian Walker with a piggy-back joystick top fitted to an Italian Cicognani rest.
Using a machine front-rest
When you do get your new rest, please take the time to get used to it. Like any new piece of equipment, it takes a little practise to get the best out of it.
The most important bit is setting up your rest and back-bag properly. Whether you are shooting from bench or grass, the principals are similar.
If you are using a rest with a tripod-style base, place it so that the two legs of the ‘Y’ base are facing forward. If you are shooting from a bench, get the rest as close to the front edge of the bench as possible – to ensure that the muzzle of your rifle is forward of the bench-top.
Although it’s tempting to align the front feet with the front edge of the bench, take the trouble to point the rest towards your target along the line of sight. Set the rear speed-screw (if fitted) to a mid-way position. Use a small spirit-level to ensure the front bag is absolutely level. Now align your back-bag so that target, front-rest and back-bag are all in a line – the line of sight (see pics).
Level the bag - most important.
When you are happy, tap the front spikes lightly with a mallet so that they dig-in the bench top. If you are shooting off grass, you might need something to stop the spikes sinking-in too far (see pic).
Now you can place your rifle on the bags and set the elevation with the central column, which usually works on a rack and pinion principal. If you have done your work, you should at least see your target when you look through the scope. Fine-tune as necessary so that the crosshairs are centred on target.
Next, take up any slack in the front-bag clamps so that the rifle’s fore-end is lightly gripped. Beat the top of the butt with your fist to settle it into the back-bag, then run your rifle backwards and forwards over the bags several times in a ‘sawing’ motion to settle the bags and help your rifle ‘track’ perfectly. Look through the scope as you do this – is it returning to your aim-point on the target? The more you ‘saw’ the better it will return to your aim-point.
Finally, set the front-stop to restrict the rifle’s fore-end travel, check the front-bag clamps again and make final adjustments to your aim-point. At last, you are ready to shoot.
Set the front stop - don't use more over-hang than you need to cover the recoil
When you take your first shot, the rifle will of course recoil. BEFORE you open the bolt, push the rifle forwards, up against the front-stop. Now, open the bolt, eject the spent case, chamber another round, close the bolt, adjust and fire. An accomplished benchrest shooter will do this five times in around 15 seconds. Dry practise at home!
If you are shooting F Class off the grass, the principals are similar but you will find it difficult to get a firm back-bag position. The bag will be rested on your shooting mat which in turn will be rested on springy grass. You can remove some of the ‘spring’ by using a thin ground-sheet rather than a padded mat. Some shooters even resort to cutting a hole in their mat so that the bag can sit directly on the ground. Effective but drastic!
An unstable back-bag will mean that you will not return to anything like your point of aim on the target and more knob-twiddling will be needed between shots – this is where the joystick rest is such a boon for the F Class shooter. The joystick knob lies just forward of the trigger and so readily to hand – no need for stretching to reach the controls.
If you don’t have a joystick, you can employ another technique to avoid reaching forward – bag-squeezing. If you hold the rear bag with your non-trigger hand, you will find that a slight squeeze will move the point of aim significantly – and very quickly. If you are going to bag-squeeze, you need a bit less sand in the bag - keep the ‘ears’ well packed though. Bag-squeezing has its drawbacks – when you let go of the bag to chamber a round, the rifle will go significantly off-aim (don’t cross-shoot!) and of course you need to have a very firm, solid grasp to hold the bag absolutely steady whilst you take the shot. A lot of top American BR shooters are bag-squeezers – simply because early front-rests didn’t have windage adjustment or a speed-screw for elevation adjustment. The technique is not however popular in 1000 yard BR and as I shoot both disciplines, I prefer not to bag-squeeze.
The speed-screw is used for rapid elevation adjustments
Finally, whether it’s off grass or bench, take care not to disturb the back-bag by leaning on it. The last thing you want to do is accidentally nudge the bag when squeezing off the shot. You are most likely to do this if you are wearing thick clothing or waterproofs. Incidentally, most bags are made of leather. Leather is good – until it gets wet! Choose a leather bag with Cordura ears and always use a Cordura front-bag. Cordura can be lubricated with a silicone spray – available from motorist shops.
To maximise on your solid set-up, you ideally need to shoot free-recoil – or a version of it. If you are shooting a light calibre, like .223 or 6BR, you can shoot true free-recoil. With heavier calibres like .308 or 6.5-284, you can allow the rifle to recoil a small amount then catch it with your shoulder. The bullet will have left the barrel before the rifle has recoiled more than a quarter of an inch. With the really big kickers – Magnums and the WSM’s – you will need to ‘shoulder’ the rifle and absorb the recoil - keeping your shoulder in contact with the butt as the rifle recoils. This is quite easy to do if you are sat at a bench but not so easy prone off the grass but that’s the price you pay for shooting a big ‘kick-ass’ calibre!
Here are a few websites you may find useful – www.farleymfg.com www.sebcoax.com www.benchrestjoystick.com www.varidecicognani.com and www.benchrest.com www.sinclairintl.com www.ferrariotello.com
CARTRIDGE CASE PREPARATION FOR COMPETITION SHOOTING
Ever met a shooter who actually enjoys reloading? For most of us it is a necessary evil. The serious shooter has no alternative. Quality factory-made ammunition is expensive and unfortunately it rarely - if ever - comes up to the standard of a home-load - tailored exactly to suit your particular rifle. If you are shooting a wildcat chambering then factory ammunition is not even an option.
The cartridge-case is just one of the four components that make up a loaded-round but it is the only one we re-use so to some extent it is the most important and usually the most expensive. How many times can we re-use the case? That varies. With the 6PPC benchrest round we will reload each case six-times in a single competition so that might mean 50 or 60 loadings in a season. I bin my Lapua .308 cases used in my Target Rifle after six or seven loadings but that will still give me twelve-months shooting from a box of 100 cases. Why the difference? Benchrest competition rifles are chambered with tight-neck reamers which requires the cartridge-case neck to be turned-down to fit. We then lightly size the neck rather than the whole case so we do not work the brass as much and therefore it does not tend to work-harden. Having said that benchrest shooters eventually need to full-length size - when the brass finally does work-harden and bolt-lift gets sticky.
In this article we will deal only with case preparation for rifles with a standard chamber and how to extract the very best performance for competition use.
WARNING In addition to stiffer bolt-operation, when brass work-hardens it gets springy and brittle so you also lose neck-tension consistency if the brass does not size back properly. Your cases may eventually get small splits in the neck area and in extreme conditions, case-head separation. You may have heard that you can rejuvenate tired brass by annealing - a process that involves heating the case to a given temperature then cooling it quickly by quenching in water. I WOULD STRONGLY ADVISE AGAINST ANNEALING. It is difficult to control the temperature in a domestic environment and if the case-head is in any way softened then a DANGEROUS situation will be created. Brass is relatively cheap and even Lapua which is amongst the very best only costs about 30 pence a case. Do not risk it. Treat yourself to some new brass. There is no substitute for fresh brass. Do not look to make your brass last as long as possible - change it as often as you can afford to for best results.
Before we concentrate on the preparation of the cartridge-case a quick word about the other three components that make up a loaded round is appropriate. Most of the major manufacturers now offer good quality bullets and I am not going to recommend one above another. Every shooter will have their favourite but if you stick to the match bullets offered by Lapua - Sierra - Hornady or Berger you will not go far wrong. By match I mean a full copper-jacket closed-base bullet with a small hollow-point or meplat. Avoid open-base military-style bullets or lead-tipped bullets if you are seeking the ultimate performance. If you are really serious about your shooting then the American custom bullet makers are another option. Look for names like Fowler - Barts -
Before we leave bullets I often get e-mails on the moly issue. To moly or not to moly? Coating bullets with molybdenum disulphide can be beneficial in certain circumstances but if you are getting the results without moly why introduce another variable?
The other two components are of course the primer and powder. Primers can be critical. Certain primers work better with certain powders in certain cartridges and you can achieve that final ounce of accuracy by finding that happy match but my advice would be to initially follow what most accuracy shooters do and stick with Federal. Their basic 205 or 210 primer is very consistent and the Gold Medal version is used by most benchrest shooters. Magnum primers? Use only in magnum-size cases. I can tell you that the standard 210 Federal primer will ignite up to 60 grains of powder with very consistent ignition. Having said that I know some shooters who claim better accuracy with magnum primers in larger cartridges having a powder capacity in excess of 50 grains. If you do like to experiment remember - a magnum primer can raise pressure so back off your load a little in the first instance.
Powder choice can be baffling and I never cease to be amazed at the variety of powder that will work well in the popular .308 Win case. The choice is cut down somewhat by availability as not all powders are readily available in the
Right - case prep. From the start a few DO NOTS. We have already established that the cartridge case is the most critical component so DO NOT use secondhand brass that has been used in another rifle no matter what the make or cost. DO NOT waste money buying sub-standard brass. Some is better than others but play safe and stick with Lapua - Norma - Ruag or RWS. In my experience our European brass tends to be superior to American. Finally even with Lapua DO NOT mix batches. If you are going to load a lot of rounds at one go for the whole season - as some shooters prefer to do - check the batch numbers on the boxes.
Before we actually tear open that box of beautiful new cases let us agree what we are attempting to achieve. Your super reloaded cartridge cannot accurize an inaccurate rifle. It cannot read the wind. It cannot decide when to pull the trigger. All it can do is minimise pressure-variation and thus velocity variation from shot to shot - which will hopefully result in less vertical dispersion on your target. A well assembled straight round will also launch the bullet correctly into the rifling ensuring that it stabilises quickly after leaving the barrel.
The first step is to run all your brand-new cases through a full-length sizing-die. Yes they should all be the same size but we need to make sure. Also even with Lapua it is not impossible to find the odd case with a ding in the mouth. Give the die a good clean before you start and lightly lube the cases. As we are not removing a spent primer we could remove the expander-ball/decapping-pin from the full-length sizing die. Let us examine the implications of this.
When you run a fired case through your full-length sizing-die the case-neck and body are sized back with the down-stroke of the press-handle and the spent primer is ejected. On the up-stroke the expander ball opens up the now under-size case-neck to the die-makers idea of what he thinks it should be. This could result in excessive neck-tension. Sometimes - especially if you fail to lube the inside of the neck - a considerable force is required to drag the expander-ball through the neck. In fact if you think about it the thicker the brass in the neck area the more the force required because you are dragging the expander-ball through a smaller hole. This applied force can stretch and distort the case as by this time it is unsupported by any part of the die body. This force will vary from case to case as the brass thickness in the neck area varies. Distortion will be even more pronounced if the brass is a tiny bit thicker on one side of the neck. A distorted case defeats the whole object of what we are trying to achieve. Is there alternative?
This is my way. Grind down the expander-ball a little so that it has no effect on the up-stroke of the press-handle. We will now up-size the neck in a different way by using a neck-expander mandrel and holder (buy one from Sinclair (www.sinclairintl.com for a few dollars). They come in two diameters for most popular calibres and are available as standard and plus one thou. Buy one of each. This gives you (not the die-maker) the option of choosing your neck-tension. When you have full-length sized all your cases run them through the neck mandrel. Lightly lube the inside of the necks first with a cotton-bud dipped in a suitable lubricant like Imperial Sizing Wax.
The processes in this article refer to new brass but if you are starting off with used brass the processes will still apply except that you will be removing the spent primer and of course the case will need a proper full-length re-size. If the cases have been fired just once or twice it will be sufficient to clean-up the burnt powder-deposit from the inside and outside of the neck. I find that Duraglit wadding is good for the outside and a few strokes with an old bronze bore-brush will clean up the inside. If your brass has had many firings you might want to tumble the cases to make sure the insides are relatively clean as well.
Hey but why are we full-length sizing anyway? I thought benchresters just used a neck-sizing die. Yes benchresters do only neck-size but they get away with it because a custom built BR rifle has a very accurate (ie straight and concentric to the bore) chamber and we use a turned or fitted neck which ensures the brass is identical from case to case in the neck-area. A factory rifle is mass-produced and is just not built to the standard of a bench-gun. Every component (action/action thread/ bolt/ barrel/ chamber etc.) is slightly out and this means that when you fire a cartridge the case is ever so slightly distorted. Full-length sizing will at least return it to something like true. This is why new brass often shoots better in a factory rifle when you are fireforming. You are shooting straight brass for once!
You may have heard of shooters marking or indexing their brass so it goes back into the chamber exactly the same way it came out thus minimising the effects of this distortion. Tedious - far better in my opinion to straighten it by full-length sizing every time. When I first started to shoot benchrest most of us were using factory rifles and looking to squeeze-out every last drop of accuracy. We thought we were very clever when we discovered the neck-sizing die but we soon returned to full-length sizing when results proved it was superior. Full length size unless you have a match chamber cut by a benchrest-quality gunsmith.
Right - we have full-length sized our brass and shoved it through the neck-mandrel. Time to bung in the primer and powder? No not yet. We have a few more things to do with our brass. The next step is to trim all the cases to the same length. Measure the length of a few of them before you start this process as you do not want to do the job twice or indeed trim off more than you need to. Use a good quality vernier calliper for this process. RCBS and Lyman make a decent neck-trimmer and there are others in the Sinclair catalogue (www.sinclairintl.com) Do not attempt to use the Lee version which is not readily adjustable and only allows you to trim to factory length.
After trimming we can work on the case to make it more reloader-friendly. Start off by lightly chamfering the inside and outside of the neck. Reason? Obviously there will be sharp burrs left by the previous trimming process but even if you have not trimmed every case you should still chamfer. Burrs can easily be left over from the manufacturing process and if not removed could shave slivers of copper off the bullet-jacket as you seat it in the case. Do I need to explain how this could affect stability - as your shaved bullet exits the muzzle spinning at around 200000 rpm.
Some manufacturers punch their flash-holes rather than drill them leaving another nasty burr which could upset the primer burn so chamfer the inside of the flash-hole with the appropriate tool. Do not overdo it. You are only removing a very small burr. Usually I leave out this step on Lapua cases as the flash-holes are very clean. On no account attempt to enlarge the flash-hole - though you could check to make sure they are all the same diameter with an appropriate wire gauge or small drill shank.
We could now finish off by uniforming the primer-pocket depth with another special tool. This does two things: it provides a proper flat even seat for your primers and ensures that they are all exactly the same distance from the firing-pin hopefully ensuring repeatable lock-time and thus consistent ignition. Always seat your primers with a hand-tool which will give you some feel so that you know the primer is properly seated. If it is not then your firing-pin will do the job for you and seat it before it ignites it. Not good for consistent lock-time. Do not seat your primers with the priming attachments fitted to loading-presses. They have too much leverage to offer any feel. The Lee Autoprime hand-tool is as good as any for the money.
Personally I prefer to uniform the primer-pockets after the first firing. If the pockets are a bit tight the depth uniforming tool can slightly enlarge the pocket diameter if you do it on an unfired case so I always wait until after the first firing. One of the things that can make your cases un-useable after a few firings is slack primer-pockets so you do not want to remove any brass that could exacerbate this. The primer-pocket uniformer also makes an excellent cleaning tool for removing burnt-on residue from the primer-pocket after firing.
The hard part of the case prep. process is now finished. I usually complete the job by cleaning up the case-mouth with some very fine 0000 steel-wool which will remove any roughness left over from our trimming and chamfering process. When you look down on your tray of prepped brass you should see perfectly uniform, polished case-mouths. Then give all the cases a good rinse in something like alcohol - or even hot soapy water - to get rid of any swarf and lubricant then dry them thoroughly before use.
If you are a real accuracy nut there are a couple of other checks you can make. With the aid of a tube (or ball) micrometer you could check the thickness of brass in the neck area. You may find a few necks with the brass significantly thicker (i.e. a thou. or two) on one side than the other. If you have a concentricity gauge you can also check each case for run-out in the neck area. You will soon see a pattern emerging - reject any that are outside the normal limits.
Checking a loaded round for 'run-out' using a Neco concentricity gauge.
Finally the cases can be batch-weighed. Some say that this is the least useful part of case-prep. and I would agree but we like to think that weight gives an indication of case-volume which is important. A set of electronic scales makes this a quick job and you will soon end up with a number of batches in one-tenth of a grain increments. You will also have two or three cases which are too heavy or too light to go into any of the batches. Too bad but keep them for the next box of cases you prep. Your batches will of course vary wildly in number. There might be only half-a-dozen in some batches and twenty or thirty in another so the next step is to group the batches together to form larger, more user-friendly batches to suit the type of shooting you indulge in. These batches might now vary by three-tenths of a grain. For Target Rifle we always shoot 2 & 20 so batches of less than 22 are no good. For 1000 yard benchrest we shoot five-shot groups so smaller batches are OK.
Let us recap by listing the nine steps in our case prep. procedure:
1. Full-length size with modified die.
2. Uniform neck with expander mandrel.
3. Trim to length.
4. Chamfer neck inside and out to remove burrs and polish mouth with fine steel-wool.
5. De-burr inside of flash-hole.
6. Clean and de-grease
7. Weigh cases into batches.
8. Check uniformity and run-out.
9. Uniform primer-pocket depth (after first firing).
Will all this fiddling with cases really make any difference and if so how much difference? How do we measure it? The question will hopefully be answered by your results on the target but you could try firing a few rounds over a chronograph. If you just fling your rounds together and miss out most of the above processes I would guess that you will have between 60 to 80 fps velocity spread over a ten-round string fired across the chrono. Although this will make little difference at 100 yards it will make a noticeable difference at 1000 yards. Aim for a velocity spread of around 25 fps or less.
Minimising velocity spread will be as much to do with your actual powder-load as the case preparation so you need to carefully weigh your powder charges to one-tenth of a grain and be very methodical with dropping your powder into the case. Seat your bullets carefully with a quality straight-line seater-die like the Forster or
Once loaded, treat your rounds with care. Keep them bullet-up in a proper box and do not let then stand in the hot sun (or rain!) before you shoot. Place your round carefully all the way into the chamber with your finger before closing the bolt. Do not load from a magazine if the competition does not require it; slamming the delicate tip of your match bullet against the feed-ramp will do nothing for your meticulous reloading.
TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL - CASE PREPARATION FOR THE TIGHT-NECK CHAMBER
I can’t really say when the correlation was made between the ‘fitted’ neck and accuracy but benchrest, as we know it today, took off big-style in
So who turned and fitted the first neck? Sorry haven’t a clue! But it didn’t take shooters long to realise the importance of the cartridge-case – after all, it’s the only bit we use over and over again. Most of the post-war shooters would be using kit based on ex-military rifles and of course, mil. spec. rifles are notorious for having generous chambers. The slightest spec of grit and my benchgun would lock-up solid – the tolerances are so close – and clearly, such fine tolerances would quickly render the weapon useless in the mud of
Those old benchresters, using rifles with tight-chambers, would no doubt be more selective with their brass – batch-weighing it, trimming it for length etc. It was only one small step to the fitted-neck. Of course progress was being made in other areas - with the custom-barrel makers, the action-makers and the bullet-makers. Without these other improvements, the fitted-neck would be pointless – the whole object of the fitted-neck being to launch the bullet absolutely square and concentric to the bore, so that the axis of the bullet exactly follows the axis of the bore. If it does not, it will exit the bore with a degree of ‘yaw’. It may eventually stabilise but to achieve short range accuracy i.e. 100 yards, it must be perfectly stable on exit from the muzzle.
OK, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of the fitted-neck. The 6PPC is the cartridge you are most likely to encounter in the tight-neck game, so we’ll use it for illustration purposes but any rifle-chamber could be tight-necked and an increasing number of F Class competitors are taking advantage of the increased accuracy offered by the tight-neck chamber. I even use a tight-neck on my 6mmx47 tactical rifle. The rifle is fitted with a match-barrel and cut with a reamer giving a min. spec. chamber and a .268in. neck. Typically, a 6mm rifle might have a .277in neck. Is it worth it on a rifle like this? That’s down to you. It means that you will have to spend a couple of hours neck-turning a batch of brass every year for maybe a 5% increase in accuracy.
To realise the advantage of the tight-neck it will be necessary to combine this with impeccable reloading and a clinically-clean barrel. Only you can decide if it’s worth the trouble. I know that when I debate the accuracy issue with fellow shooters, many are quick to scorn such tedious techniques but when I ask if they like to hit what they aim at, the answer is always an unequivocal “Yes”. It therefore comes down to the size of your target - for the stalker, it’s the size of a donkey, for the F Class shooter, the V bull is 7 inches diameter at 500 yards, for a benchrester, it’s the previous bullet hole! Having said that, I can afford to miss my bullet-hole by a quarter of an inch and still get a result – if the Target Rifle or F Class shooter misses the bull by that amount, it’s a ‘four’ and there ain’t no way back from that! No wonder F Classers are going for tight-necks!
But I digress. Let’s have a close look at prepping a case for your tight-neck 6PPC rifle. When you have a 6PPC rifle custom-built by your favourite gunsmith, he will ask you to specify the chamber neck-diameter. It could be any number between 0.260 and 0.270 inches – which one will you choose and why? If you choose 0.260, the brass in the neck area will need to be turned down to a thickness of about 0.006 - or six-thousandths of an inch – very thin – too thin. If you go for the upper end of 0.270, you will be turning hardly anything off the necks and if the brass is not absolutely uniform, you may not get a full cut all the way round the neck and end up with the brass thicker on one side of the neck - which totally defeats the object. You could go with something like a 0.266 or 0.268 neck - the 220 Russian Lapua brass is now so good you would be unlikely to find one case that wouldn’t completely true-up but it hasn’t always been so and that’s why benchresters have traditionally specified necks in the 0.262/0.263 area. Because of this, the reamer makers grind their reamers to this dimension, so when you visit your gunsmith, his stock reamer will probably be 0.262. No problem – this is what most of us shoot. Having said that, thicker necks are beginning to appear – Lapua’s superb brass is prompting case-necks in the 0.266 – 0.268 region amongst US shooters who do their own gunsmithing and have their own reamer made.
If you go for something other than the 6PPC and requiring a special reamer, you can choose the neck thickness. Don’t go thinner than you need to – as long as your brass will ‘clean-up’ i.e take a full cut all the way round the neck. But remember, not all brass is as consistent as the Lapua 220 Russian. My 6.5-284 has a 0.292 neck and I cut my brass to a final thickness of twelve thou. Thankfully, I can now get Lapua brass and this is no problem but the original W********* brass was poor by comparison.
Having decided on our 0.262 chamber-neck for our 6PPC, we can start to make some brass. If we are working with a 0.262 neck, we require our finished loaded round to have a neck diameter of 0.260 inches. The bullet is gripped by the brass-neck and when you ignite the powder, a small amount of expansion has to take place to release the bullet. I say ‘has to take place’ – under a pressure of 50,000 lbs/sq.in it hasn’t much choice – that bullet’s going up the barrel for sure! But if we fail to provide adequate clearance, pressure could be raised – by an unequal amount from shot to shot and that’s exactly the opposite of what we are looking for. We want consistency from shot to shot, so we need to maintain an adequate clearance. One thou. all around the neck is fine for benchresters who have adequate time to clean in a covered loading-area but if you are shooting F Class, I’d double that clearance.
When we are working to such fine – and potentially dangerous – tolerances, we need to be scrupulously clean. You will have noticed a carbon build-up on the necks of fired cases – inside and out. This must be removed before re-using. There is a similar build-up inside the rifle’s chamber-neck so this must also be cleaned frequently - when cleaning the barrel. All this fouling could easily absorb a thou. of clearance – with disastrous results. Fortunately, benchrest competition and the environment in which it is held, lends itself to frequent cleaning and fastidious preparation. If you operate a tight-neck rifle outside these environs, be especially careful!
Neck-turning cases is quite a simple operation once you have seen it done. You don’t need an expensive lathe, just a small hand-tool is all that’s required. BUT and it is a big but, when you are working to fine tolerances, you must have the equipment and the ability to measure those fine tolerances. Recent years have seen a glut of Chinese measuring tools on the market. The digital callipers that can be bought for a few pounds are NOT SUITABLE. Even quality digital callipers have a ‘tolerance’ range – just like your digital scales. Buy a good quality micrometer. If you can’t confidently read a vernier, buy a digital version. Go for a quality product like the Mitutoyo digital which will read to one twentieth of a thou. (0.00005in.)
If you're intending to play with tight-necks, you need the equipment to measure accurately. Top, Mitutoyo tube (or ball) micrometer, bottom-right, Mitutoyo digital micrometer (measures to one twentieth of a thou.) Bottom-left, standard 0 - 1" micrometer.
Whilst you have the wallet out, you might like to treat yourself to a tube (or ball) micrometer. This is used to measure the thickness of the brass in the neck area. It’s not strictly necessary but it saves a lot of ‘trial and error’ guesswork. Even though you measure the brass and bullet-diameter as carefully as possible, you never know the true diameter of a loaded round until it is actually assembled. Don’t forget, some flat-base bullets have a small ‘swell-ring’ round the base. This is quite normal and a product of the way they are swaged – it usually measures about 0.0005in. (half of a thou.) These tiny dimensions are very important to the tight-neck user!
Before we turn a neck, let’s do the simple sum. First step is to take a brand-new case – for this example the Lapua 220 Russian case - neck it up to 6mm or 0.243 with a suitable neck-expander mandrel in a reloading-press and seat a bullet – the same ones as we intend to shoot – not another make. Now, with our micrometer, measure the diameter of the ‘loaded’ case-neck – it will measure in the region of 0.272 inches. Our rifle has a 0.262 chamber-neck, so the round we have just assembled is ten thousandths of an inch (0.01) larger than the chamber-neck – plus we need to maintain that essential two-thou. clearance (0.002). That means we need to reduce the neck diameter by 12 thou.(0.012) or 6 thousandths of an inch (0.006) all round the brass case-neck.
Take your ball micrometer and measure the thickness of the brass in the neck. In the case of the Lapua 220 Russian it will measure around 0.014 in. We need to reduce this dimension by 0.006in. so set the cutter clearance on the neck-turning tool using an 0.008in. feeler gauge – or better still, set it to 0.010in. and then, after the first cut, check the brass thickness with your tube mike again and take a second ‘skimming’ cut – this will give a better finish and a more accurate result.
After final turning, check the brass thickness in the neck again with the tube-mike. To give a loaded diameter of 0.260 it should now measure close to 0.008in. This will then add up as follows: 0.2435 (bullet diameter) + 0.008 + 0.008 giving a total of 0.2595 inches. This is marginally below our ‘ideal’ 0.260 but no problem, it’s close enough. You will not gain an accuracy advantage by getting too close – better to play safe. If you find you are a little bit up on your ideal dimension, a piece of fine steel wool will quickly remove the odd half a thou. of brass - especially if you grip the case in a power-tool. (do this before you seat the bullet however – once the bullet is seated in the case it’s not really feasible to dismantle the round and start neck-turning again. You can also use a power-tool with a special case-holder to speed up the turning process but start off by hand. It’s important to lubricate the neck-turner mandrel – especially so when using a power-tool. Power tools will spin the cases fast and generate heat – this can upset your measuring – be careful.
There is one other small problem. It’s known amongst benchresters as the ‘dreaded doughnut’. The angle of the shoulder on the 220 Russian case is different to that of your 6PPC chamber. If we don’t cut right to the bottom of the neck, we end up with a ridge of brass. When the case is fire-formed, this ridge is forced to the inside of the case-neck. The effect is a ‘doughnut’ of brass that reduces the orifice through which the burning powder blasts. Not recommended for shot to shot consistency. Removal of the doughnut is not easy without risking damage to the case-neck.
You will by now have gathered that neck-turning is a somewhat tedious process but, for benchrest competition, there is no need to neck-turn hundreds of cases. I like to batch my cases by weight straight out of the box and group them into five or six batches of 15 to 20. Turn one batch at a time as you need them - you will probably ruin the odd one but for benchrest competition, the idea is to end up with about 14 or 15 matched cases. You are now almost ready to fire-form but first run your brass through a full-length 6PPC body-die in your normal reloading-press. The unfired 220 Russian case will not quite fit your 6PPC chamber until you have done this - the neck is longer in the 6PPC and you will notice that the body-die has made a small ‘ring’ mark at the base of the neck.
There are a few ways to fire-form - you can do it without bullets using a small load of pistol powder but the safest way is to fill the case to the bottom of the neck with Vithavuori 133 (for the 6PPC remember) and seat your 66-68 grain bullet just off the rifling. One firing will be good enough to allow you to trim the cases to equal length - though the full, sharp profile will not show until at least another firing or two. Some shooters like to go four firings before they shoot them in competition – I’m happy with a couple.
After trimming to length, carefully remove any burrs from inside and outside of the necks and then I like to give a final polish with the case-mouth held against a pad of fine steel-wool - it puts a nice finish on the brass. You can now inspect your handiwork. If you look down at the case-mouth you should see a fine, even, shiny ring of brass. If you can see any tiny dings or scuffs, you’ll probably find these cases won’t stay in-group – they must be perfect. Keep track of your cases as you test and reject if necessary.
Although the neck-turning process is complete, your cases are still not quite ready for competition. We need to uniform the primer-pocket depth – with another little tool. This is a simple job taking only a few seconds per case and finally we might de-burr the inside of the flash-hole. This is not usually necessary on Lapua 220 Russian but I’ve seen other cases with horrendous burrs, which would certainly alter the burn of the primer-flame. Finally we need to give the cases a good wash – preferably in alcohol – to remove all the bits of swarf - and then let them dry out thoroughly.
We now have a super set of neck-turned, fire-formed and prepped cases that will last you a full season of benchrest. You can expect around 50 firings from each of your cases but, for optimum accuracy change your brass as often as you can afford to. Re-size using the Wilson-type hand-dies, which will just resize the neck. These dies have a replaceable neck-size bushing which allows you to vary the neck-tension. Choose a bushing that allows the case to grip the bullet just enough that you can’t turn it with your fingers. It’s probably best to buy a 0.259 and a 0.258 bushing. As you use the brass, the necks will thin-out slightly and you will need the smaller bushing to maintain neck-tension. Don’t forget to clean the necks inside and out before each reloading, otherwise you will get a false indication of your dimensions.
Eventually your precious cases will stretch and the brass will work-harden. Your bolt will become difficult to open and close. As soon as there is any indication of this, you can try full-length sizing using your 6PPC body-die in a proper single-stage reloading press. Some benchrest shooters like to full-length size after each firing. This ensures easy bolt opening – vital if you are to shoot quickly without upsetting the rifle on the bags. On no account attempt to recover the brass by annealing – it can be a dangerous process as it is difficult to control in a domestic environment.
Finally, a few things to remember. You are walking along the edge of a precipice with a fitted-neck – take your eye off the ball for a second and……….the results could be disastrous! Bullets vary in diameter – perhaps only by 0.0005 in but it can make a difference. If you change bullets, always check with your micrometer. Don’t swap brass from rifle to rifle – the brass stays with the rifle! Don’t lend or borrow brass for a tight-neck rifle. If you re-barrel – even with the same gunsmith using the same reamer – you need new brass as the headspace will vary a thou. or two.
If you are new to fitted-necks, buy a bush two-thou. smaller than your rifle's chamber-neck, then slip the bush over each loaded round - just to be safe!
Although we used the 6PPC cartridge as an example for this article, the principals will apply to any cartridge, though of course the quoted dimensions will vary.
All the essential tools, dies and other little ‘gizmos’ mentioned in this article are available on-line from www.sinclairintl.com
BARREL CLEANING
I know most of you probably know more about bore-cleaning than I do and your method will vary from mine but a reader of this website has specifically asked for an article on bore cleaning so here goes.
As a benchrest shooter, I’m an avid barrel cleaner but it’s often said that more rifles are ruined by cleaning than shooting and, having watched the antics of some shooters, I can well believe it.
Let’s try and have an objective look at barrel-cleaning. Right at the outset, we’ll define our parameters – I’m talking about rifles using smokeless powder and copper-jacketed bullets. If you shoot rimfire or black powder and lead bullets – that’s for another day and another website! If you shoot moly-coated bullets, you may find that less cleaning is required to preserve accuracy but techniques are similar. Having said that, my cleaning regime does not alter when using moly-bullets.
Each time we fire a round, we create an explosion which naturally leaves a residue in the barrel from the burnt powder. The bullet also leaves behind a faint trace of its copper jacket material. If the barrel is of ‘match grade’ quality and relatively smooth, the trace will be minimal. If the barrel is a new, mass-produced example, the copper build-up may be significant. The second shot we fire not only adds to the fouling but the striations of copper are now mixed with powder-fouling from the previous shot and begin to form a hard deposit on the bore.
After 20 or 30 rounds we have a problem. The build-up may be so great that slight damage is now occurring to the jackets of subsequent bullets and pressure is also increasing – not to a dangerous level but enough to maybe cause later shots to impact differently. Just when this accuracy-loss occurs will vary from rifle to rifle. With the match-grade barrel on a bench-gun it can be noticeable after as little as 25 rounds. With an old military rifle, shooting ‘surplus’ ammunition, you may never notice it.
I’ve met a few shooters who never clean their barrels. They often claim that accuracy deteriorates from say a minute of angle to two minutes of angle then never goes any worse. If you’re happy with that, maybe you should find another website but, if like me, you find a 100% deterioration in accuracy totally unacceptable, let’s find out what we can do about it.
What we must try to do is to restore the barrel to its original clean condition – and this is where the tops come off the bore-cleaning brews - of which there are many. We all have our favourites and I won’t try to influence you but if you want advice, I would try Butch’s Bore Shine or Shooter’s Choice or Hoppe’s or some of the KG range of cleaners.
First job is to remove the powder fouling. This is a hard, black deposit and I usually remove it by soaking a loose-fitting patch in cleaning fluid and stroking it once down the bore from the chamber end. Try a couple of wet patches then if you have another job to do, leave it for a few minutes. Now that the bore is wet, we can work on it with a bronze-brush. Again, work from the chamber end and a rough guide is one pass of the brush for every round fired. Don't attempt to reverse the brush in the bore - let it come out of the muzzle and then carefully pull it back.
Now run a couple of tight-fitting clean patches through the bore to remove the black deposit. Finish off with a wet patch/dry patch until they come out clean. Use patches once only – we don’t pull dirty patches through the bore – ever. Simple? Yes, but a couple of words of warning. Always use a bore-guide. Don’t use pull-through strings or cables, use a good-quality cleaning-rod such as Parker Hale, Dewey, Pro Shot etc. Remember - more barrels are ruined by incorrect cleaning than by shooting.
How do you know it’s clean? If you have only fired a couple of dozen rounds off a previously clean barrel, it should be clean but, if you have fired a lot more rounds or you’ve bought a second-hand rifle of unknown quantity it may not be, so repeat the whole cleaning process again and see if you get any more crud out.
Once you are happy that the powder-fouling is out, you can attack the copper. Although many cleaning-fluids like Butch’s also claim to remove jacket-fouling, there are several dedicated copper-solvents on the market. Most are ammonia-based and Sweets is probably the best known – The KG version is unique in that it is water-based and does not smell of ammonia. It works very well.
Pass a loose-fitting patch soaked in Sweets solution through the bore a couple of times then leave the rifle for about ten minutes. Now push a tight-fitting patch through the bore – is it blue? If the patches carry an intense blue/green stain, then there’s plenty of copper in there and I would repeat the process until there is barely trace of blue on the patch - then clean as before with wet patch/dry patch to remove all traces of the copper-solvent. With really stubborn copper deposits, try scrubbing with a nylon or bristle brush soaked in your chosen solution. The scrubbing action creates a foam which introduces more oxygen and acts as a catalyst which makes the cleaner more effective.
WARNING! Never leave copper-removing solutions in the bore for long – 15 minutes is about right. It is alleged that some are strong enough to pit the bore if left for prolonged periods.
At the end of the cleaning process you may wish to store your rifle with a little oil in the bore, particularly if it is to be left for a time. WARNING! This and any other oil or fluid must be completely removed before shooting – by the wet patch, dry patch method. Do not shoot a ‘wet’ bore – always dry it thoroughly. I like to put my rifles away clean and ‘dry’ as I use them frequently and they are stored in a heated room but I still push a clean dry patch through before firing - just to be on the safe side.
Some shooters question the wisdom of shooting off a dry ‘squeaky-clean’ bore. Bore cleaners like Butch’s Bore Shine are not cheap and cost around £20 for 16 fl oz. I ‘cut’ mine with a penetrating oil such as Kroil. This not only ekes out your valuable fluid but ensures that the minutest trace of oil will remain on the bore even after the application of several clean dry patches. Try about 10% oil.
As I said at the beginning of this article, most shooters will have a different cleaning regime to mine but it will almost certainly involve the basics of patches, jags, fluids, and brushes, so let’s have a closer look at some of the components.
If you’re still tearing up bits of 4 x 2 it’s time to come into the 21st century. Get some proper size patches! These are made by Sinclair, Pro-Shot and Butch’s and come in a variety of sizes so when matched with the appropriate brass-jag they can be used loose – to apply fluid – or tight-fitting - to remove fluid and crud. I prefer the Pro-Shot spear-type jags but you will need an adaptor to use them with a Parker Hale rod. If you are still using the old Parker Hale bronze-brushes, you might like to have a look at the Sinclair or Pro Shot type. In addition to bronze-bristles, these have a brass core (rather than steel) and are less likely to damage the barrel. They cost around a pound each - cheap enough to change regularly. I know shooters who are still using the same Parker Hale brush ten years on. Old brushes can be put to good use for inside case-neck cleaning and the like. To make your brushes last as long as possible, always wash them in alcohol after use or failing that, hot soapy water.
If you really can’t get that barrel squeaky-clean, maybe it’s time for more drastic action. There are a couple of abrasive pastes on the market – JB and KG2.. WARNING! Some custom-barrel makers advise against using JB paste so you have been warned. I won’t JB a barrel more than once per year - or after a 1000 rounds or so - but it can certainly perk-up a barrel which has ‘gone-off’. So, how do we JB or KG?
Take a jag with a very tight-fitting patch and smear the paste sparingly on the patch. Again using a bore-guide, stoke the patch up and down the bore from the chamber end, ensuring that it does not quite come out of the muzzle. The best way is to vigorously ‘short-stroke’ it in six-inch increments until you have covered the whole length. You may be able to feel roughness in certain areas – like the throat. The JB/KG should remove or reduce this. When the patch emerges, it will be jet black – even though you started with a clean barrel. Now thoroughly clean out any remaining residue with the wet patch/dry patch method.
OK, the barrel’s clean but what about the chamber? Particularly the neck area becomes contaminated with powder residue and it can lead to sticky extraction. Benchrest shooters buy a couple of neat tools for this but you can make do with a piece of wooden dowel cut roughly to the shape of your chamber but under-size. Wrap a piece of kitchen-roll around it, apply a little cleaning fluid and rotate it in the chamber. Repeat until it comes out clean. Dry the chamber thoroughly with clean kitchen-roll and pass a clean patch through chamber and barrel, as it is likely that some dirty fluid has found its way into the rifling. Have a look into the chamber to ensure that there are no bits of patch or tissue in there.
The most important bit of your barrel is the muzzle-crown – which is why I don’t like pull-throughs – they inevitably rub against the crown and this is a sure way to destroy accuracy. But you can also damage the muzzle with careless rod operation. Even pulling a bronze-brush back against the muzzle could cause damage after a considerable time and some benchrest shooters remove the brush rather than pull it back against the muzzle. If you have a rifle that can’t be cleaned easily from the chamber – like a lever-action – it is possible to buy a brass muzzle-protector or you can drill out an old cartridge-case of the appropriate diameter (the .22 Hornet case makes an ideal .308 protector) and slip it inside the muzzle.
What about the foam bore cleaners in an aerosol can? Just spray in the foam and leave it - a couple of patches and it's clean! Oh that it were so simple! Some swear by them but for me, I prefer the traditional method. Try it and make up your own mind.
WARNING! Labels on the bottles wisely warn against the careless use of chemical cleaners. After some past skin-problems, I always wear rubber gloves as a precaution when using cleaning fluids. Do not rub your eyes if you have fluid on your hands or eat food and of course, wash your hands as soon as possible.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE MODERN BENCHREST RIFLE
Whether you shoot competitively, hunt or even just plink, an accurate rifle is a desirable piece of equipment and it’s what attracts some shooters to benchrest competition.
I can almost guarantee that if I let any reasonably competent shooter put five shots downrange with my 6PPC, it will be the smallest group he/she has ever shot. So what exactly goes into the modern benchrest rifle that makes it so accurate?
Before we look at the rifle itself, a few words about the 6PPC cartridge. It is the most inherently accurate cartridge on the planet out to 300 yards. Yes, the treble-two, the 6BR etc. are all super accurate but don’t even think about it. If you want to succeed in benchrest, go 6PPC.
Benchrest rifles are built to comply with the various categories within the discipline, which usually involves a weight-limit. In this article, we will not consider the heavier ‘rail’ guns but rather the ‘Light’ category rifles that still bear a passing resemblance a sporting-rifle, both in weight and appearance and are used by most competitors.
The parameters
A Light Class (or Light Varmint) rifle will have an all-up weight of 10.5 lbs. including scope. The barrel must be cut from a 28 inch blank which tapers from 1.25 inches at the breech to 0.9 in. at the muzzle. The minimum barrel length is 18 inches and the underside of the butt cannot be flatter than a line drawn from the muzzle of an (imaginary) 18 inch barrel to a drop-point on the butt-plate four-inches below the bore-axis.
In other words, the underside of the butt cannot be flat - or parallel - to the bench-top. This keeps the stock looking something like a conventional rifle-stock, though the fore-end can be completely flat on the underside but not wider than three-inches.
Here’s how that 10.5lb. weight-limit might be made up:
Action 2 lbs.
Barrel 5 lbs.
Scope 1 lb.
Stock 1.5 lbs
Sundries 1 lb. (Trigger, trigger-guard, rings, bases, screws, butt-plate)
These suggested weights may vary a little but you will of course try and put as much weight into the barrel as possible - bearing in mind that the rifle must exhibit the correct balance if it is to ‘ride’ the bags properly.
Let me explain further. When the rifle is set in the shooting position resting on the front and rear bags there will be a 75% - 25% weight distribution, so only about 2.5 lbs will be pushing down on the rear bag. When you pull the trigger and the rifle recoils, it attempts to jump off the rear bag, so we need as much weight as possible on the rear end. Each additional ounce we can transfer to the
back-end will improve the handling and thus the ‘shootability’ of the rifle. It won’t be more accurate but it will be easier to shoot accurately.
One inch of our stubby stainless-steel barrel weighs about 3.5 ounces so we could lop our 21 inches down to 18 inches and slap it on the butt in the form of a useful half-pound of lead. This would definitely make the rifle handle better but the trade-off will be lost muzzle-velocity, meaning that our tiny 68 grain flat-base bullet - with its abysmal BC - would be more susceptible to the wind. Would it really make that much difference, you may ask. Don’t forget, benchrest matches are won and lost by thousandths of an inch, so velocity is critical.
Let’s examine each individual component in turn.
The action.
More bench-guns have been built on the Stolle action than any other. Ralph Stolle (now deceased) was the first gunsmith to perfect the aluminium action - a massive breakthrough in benchrest equipment. I’m not saying it is the best action but owning to the vast number of Stolles out there, it will always figure prominently in any results table.
Having said that, the Stolle is a fabulous action and you can’t go wrong if you choose it for the basis of your benchrest (or sporting) rifle. The action is massive – at 8.5 inches long, yet it weighs only 32 ounces, thanks to its aluminium body. To ensure durability however, the critical points such as the tenon-threads and locking-lugs are stainless-steel. There is also a stainless-steel rubbing-pin in the rear of the action where the bolt cams open.
The superb Stolle action with its massive, flat bedding-area.
The underside of the action is completely flat, forming a massive bedding area. The sides of the action are parallel and this makes the bedding-process a cynch.
The tenon-threads are also substantial.
The fit of bolt-to-action is very close and the fluting on the bolt is not just for decoration. Apart from saving a few precious grams of weight, it also provides a receptacle for any minute particles of detritus which could otherwise jam-up the action.
More weight is saved by having a built-in scope-rail and the matching Kelbly scope-rings are the lightest (and nicest) in the business.
Other actions are available – I like the all stainless-steel BAT. It is a jewel of engineering perfection but the bedding-area is far less than the Stolle.
The barrel.
We have already ascertained that the barrel is massive and its short length – usually around 21 inches - means that it is very stiff and will better resist distortion due to heat build-up. But, with only perhaps 7 to 10 shots fired at a sitting, the barrel hardly gets warm.
Look at the size of the tenon compared to the 700 Remington - see pic. The advantages are obvious but, in addition, it means that benchrest barrels are just ‘nipped-up’ rather than subjected to enormous torque applied when installing a factory barrel.
Top - the Stolle barrel-tenon. Bottom, the factory Remington
If we examine the other end, we will find a beautiful razor-sharp crown rather than the vague effort on a factory rifle. This is not meant to be a criticism of factory rifles – many of them shoot amazingly well despite the shortcomings imposed by cost constraints and mass-production methods.
Compare the crowns on this factory Remington (left) and a custom BR barrel, right.
The stock
Wood is still a viable material for a benchrest rifle stock as it is light and stiff but you will see few on the circuit. Fibreglass has taken over, for it is so much more stable in the various temperature and humidity conditions that a benchrest shooter may encounter.
The most popular benchrest stock is the McMillan but of late, this traditional design, based on a sporting-rifle stock, has given way to more radical designs which exploit the rules to the maximum. Look at the picture. The heel/grip has completely disappeared, the underside of the butt is flat rather than rounded to ‘track’ better and the fore-end is a couple of inches longer. This extra length throws a few more valuable ounces on the back-end to improve the handling.
Bottom, the McMillan. Top, the kelbly SPG - longer, lighter and without the heel/pistol-grip.
The old McMillan design is still viable however and Annie Elliott of
The trigger
Kelbly's new BR trigger, left with the more common Jewel.
Arnold Jewel’s legendary trigger is used by 99% of benchrest shooters, though the innovative Kelbly family (who manufacture the Stolle action) have recently introduced their own trigger and it promises to be even better. Most competitors shoot with a 2oz. trigger. Ever tried one? It’s an amazing experience – it also teaches great trigger-control! Did I say 2 ounce? Some competitors use a half ounce trigger – now that’s light!
The scope
The fabulous Leupold 36BR is used by the majority of competitors. It is the lightest 36 power scope made at just under a pound. The 36X Weaver is an ounce heavier and now that Leupold have ceased production of their 36BR, it’s making a revival. I have both and I can’t tell the difference – but the scales can!
The 36BR Leupold is used by 90% of competitors - but it is no longer made! Those Kelbly rings are essential when trying to meet that 10.5lb. weight-limit.
Although Leupold have stopped making the 36BR, they have introduced a replacement. The new model comes with a 30mm tube, side-focus and is offered in three magnifications – 36X, 40X and 45X. It’s a fabulous scope but it’s a few ounces heavier than its predecessor, so where do you recover the weight? An inch off the barrel maybe?
When it comes to reticles, most competitors will use an ultra-fine crosshair with a one-eighth MOA dot in the centre. This is a great reticle for shooting a rested rifle on a white target. Anything else – forget it! Don’t forget, we are attempting to get all shots down the same hole so you must be able to clearly see that first shot-hole and ‘quarter’ it with your reticle.
Assembly
So, we’ve pretty well dissected a benchrest rifle, now we’ll put it back together.
Our match-grade barrel will be threaded and chambered to the highest possible standard using a ‘match’ chamber-reamer with a tight or fitted-neck. How would the rifle shoot if we did everything except the tight-neck? Damn good - but ‘damn good’ isn’t good enough.
Once the barrel is mated to the action, we need to bed it in the stock. Very few factory-rifles are properly bedded. Some manufacturers (like Remington) will partly get around the bedding problem by using a moulded-in aluminium bedding block.
Even benchrest stocks are not guaranteed to be absolutely ‘true’ right out of the mould so your gunsmith will first tackle this problem. He will then bed the barrelled-action into the stock, leaving the whole barrel completely free-floating. The bedding-material will be a high-quality two-pack epoxy repair product like Devcon or Marine-tex.
These sophisticated materials are way over-strength for our application but their one great feature is that they don’t shrink. Most shooters opt for a glue-in - in other words, no screws – the action is permanently glued in to the stock. And I do mean ‘permanently’. You can opt for a semi glue-in, which allows removal using moderate heat. The trigger is of course accessible without removing the action, so it’s unlikely that you will ever want to take the action out of the stock. Don’t forget, screws will weigh a couple of valuable ounces!
Epilogue
If you lay out your ‘hard-earned’ on a 6PPC benchrest rifle, what can you expect from it? If you take it to an indoor range – like a tunnel range and you have done your bit with reloading and your rest/bag set-up is as it should be, your rifle, once ‘tuned’ will shoot tiny little groups all day long – what we call ‘ones’. In other words five shots which measure less than two-tenths of an inch centre to centre. Further more, it will never throw a shot – provided you keep the barrel pristine and that means no more than 25 rounds without a thorough cleaning.
This 100 yard, 5-shot group is what benchresters call a 'one'.
If you take your rifle to an outdoor range on the day of a benchrest match, you will be amazed to see the range covered in small wind-flags of various configuration. These flags enable us to shoot outdoors like you would expect to do in a tunnel. Without wind-indicators, our benchrest rifles would still be accurate but our results on the target would tell a different story. Believe me, you can’t shoot one-hole groups without wind-flags!