Mike Bryant
Active member
Jerry, I've shot the best with pretty new barrels. It does help to have the same chamber, same make of barrel, same twist, etc. As that saves a lot of time finding seating depth, powder charges, etc. It may also be that I don't keep up with the changes in seating depth needed as the throat erodes, too and that may be why they shoot the best for me when they are new. There is a lot to this sport and the simpler that we can make it, the better it is.
Since this thread started out as a new shooter wanting to get into the sport. I think one of the most important things besides having a rifle that will shoot is that the sizing die has to match the chamber to be able to work the bolt smoothly and not upset the rifle on the bags. If you're fighting the gun with the bolt closing and opening, it's distracting and hard to shoot well. Reading Tony Boyer's book "The Book of Rifle Accuracy", Mike Ratigan's book "Extreme Rifle Accuracy", Glenn Newick's book "The Ultimate in Rifle Accuracy" and even going back to Warren Page's book "The Accurate Rifle", are all good reading for someone wanting to know about shooting benchrest before they take the plunge to get a rifle. The next thing would be to attend a match. I'm sure Ron Hoehn probably has some benchrest rifles for sale, probably new or used. Another place to look is the benchrest.com classifieds. Just because a rifle isn't the current fad being shot, doesn't mean that it's not competitive. Just try to buy Rex Reneau's HV rifle. He told me that the action was originally built in 1965. The rifle is not for sale, nor I imagine will it ever be as long as Rex is able to shoot. It held the HV100 yard record for over 30 years. I think it was a .1482" agg. Rex shot a .1570" 100 yard agg with it winning the HV class at the Rattlesnake this year and the Grand with with a .2030" agg. It seems anymore that there are used benchrest rifles for sale from estates or from someone wanting something different. Most matches will have someone selling a used rifle. Another place to look is Bob White's web site The Shooter's Corner. A lot of the rifles that Bob has for sale, he knows their history and whether they shot well or not. Lots of estate rifles there as well. I know of several shooters that will build a rifle shoot it for awhile and then sell it to finance their next rifle project. I see that happen a lot.
Since this thread started out as a new shooter wanting to get into the sport. I think one of the most important things besides having a rifle that will shoot is that the sizing die has to match the chamber to be able to work the bolt smoothly and not upset the rifle on the bags. If you're fighting the gun with the bolt closing and opening, it's distracting and hard to shoot well. Reading Tony Boyer's book "The Book of Rifle Accuracy", Mike Ratigan's book "Extreme Rifle Accuracy", Glenn Newick's book "The Ultimate in Rifle Accuracy" and even going back to Warren Page's book "The Accurate Rifle", are all good reading for someone wanting to know about shooting benchrest before they take the plunge to get a rifle. The next thing would be to attend a match. I'm sure Ron Hoehn probably has some benchrest rifles for sale, probably new or used. Another place to look is the benchrest.com classifieds. Just because a rifle isn't the current fad being shot, doesn't mean that it's not competitive. Just try to buy Rex Reneau's HV rifle. He told me that the action was originally built in 1965. The rifle is not for sale, nor I imagine will it ever be as long as Rex is able to shoot. It held the HV100 yard record for over 30 years. I think it was a .1482" agg. Rex shot a .1570" 100 yard agg with it winning the HV class at the Rattlesnake this year and the Grand with with a .2030" agg. It seems anymore that there are used benchrest rifles for sale from estates or from someone wanting something different. Most matches will have someone selling a used rifle. Another place to look is Bob White's web site The Shooter's Corner. A lot of the rifles that Bob has for sale, he knows their history and whether they shot well or not. Lots of estate rifles there as well. I know of several shooters that will build a rifle shoot it for awhile and then sell it to finance their next rifle project. I see that happen a lot.