New action design nearly done

Yes, I used my rifle at the USA World Cup. I've been using it for about 15 months now and it still shoots pretty well. The day that McPhail and I switched rifles was a little more than a year ago, so it wasn't that recently. His rifle also shoots very well, mind you.

Progress on action making is going very slow. Problem is I am traveling and competing so much that I don't get much time out in the shop. Steve B is putting together a couple of the original prototypes. I'd like to get another shooting real soon and have at least one backup before I go to Munich for the world championship. I'm working on another batch of 28 right now, but as I said I haven't made much progress.

Eric U
 
Hello Eric,

This is my first post.
What do think is an advantage of the front locking in .22 rimfire rifle?
It seems that a share of Bleiker Challenger small bore rifle among finalists in ISSF competitions is increasing gradually. I guess this is because it shoots better. I am also a Bleiker user and have been feeling this rifle (or should I say MY rifle?) shoots more X's than my other rifles. However I am not sure this is because of the barrel or the design of the action or any other reasons.

You have chosen the front locking configuration for your project since I believe you have found some advantages with the design even it causes a loading difficulty (you have mentioned it is not drop-in but you added a ramp).
I appreciate any input from you, and I am rooting for your success in the WCH in Munich.
 
Building great shooting centerfire rifles is a science. Building great shooting rimfire rifles is an art and a mystery. So, my first task in designing an action was to copy as many centerfire features to a rimfire action as I could. Front lugs was the first priority. Making it easy to load with front lugs was the 2nd priority, and by far the more difficult task. I believe that a front lug rimfire action has certain accuracy advantages. The lugs lock up a lot closer to where the base of the cartridge is, making exact alignment a little easier to achieve. With the lugs up front you also get away from issues with bolt flexing and compression that can exist with rear lugs. This is all my hypothesis. There is no proof that a front lug action is any more accurate than those existing rear lug machines, but I sure like how my rifle shoots. Allan Hall says there is no advantage to a front lug action, and he has much more experience than I do. Our opinions differ is all. I really think that the rear lug actions came into being and have hung on because of manufacturability issues and little else. Another side benefit of a front lug action is that the bolt can be much shorter than what you get from a rear lug one. With the shorter bolt, you have a shorter reach to load the gun, and that is an advantage for nearly everyone who shoots prone or position.

On to your question on why the Bleikers shoot better. My answer is Lilja, Lilja, Lilja. As far as I know, Bleiker is the only international position rifle maker that is using a "custom" rimfire barrel made in the US. Also, Heinrich Bleiker has a pretty innovative action design. Very short bolt, easy loading, extremely fast lock time. I like mine better though, but then I'm biased.

Eric U
 
I guess it's been almost a year since my last update. The good news is I've qualified for the 2012 US Olympic team using my 1st rifle. I've now got my #2 gun working and it seems to be shooting quite well too.

The bad news...I really don't have the time right now to work on actions. My competition schedule is pretty busy and the Army keeps me busy when I'm not competing. The time I do have to work in the shop I spend making bloop tubes and tuner tubes which are doing very well.

Eric U
 
Fred J said:
Looks like there is only one action screw in front of the trigger. The other is in the tang. Also appears to be a recoil grove just behind the front action screw. I'de like to see a longer action, with the bedding screw in front of the trigger as well, but let's wait and see how this one plays out. Excellent choice of trigger.
Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity Fred, Why would you want a third screw? I am ignorantr of bedding RF rifles but in CF, most actions do not have a third screw in the middle and often those that do, the third screw is not torqued down as tight as the front and rear, from my experience anyway, and most of them seem to shoot very well. How would a RF differ?

Thanks,

Pete
 
Fred,

If you only wanted to bed in front of the trigger, the bedding would be just over 2" long on my action. Again, the Anschutz trigger is more than half the length of the action. I've got mine bedded full length and that seems to work well. A bonus with the rear tang screw is more moment arm to react a heavy barrel/bloop tube combo. I'd love to have two screws in front of the trigger, but having two action screws an inch apart is pretty pointless.

Eric U
 
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