State of the Art RFBR rifle (new build)

[tonykharper]

What is a "State of the Art RFBR rifle"?

My definition is the best components available put together and tuned to work in harmony.

That is a lofty goal, more difficult than one might think but it can be reached in a number of ways.

All the components do not have to be the same, luckily many builders can reach these goals.

In this post I'm using Todd A. Kindler's recent builds as examples.

The first one is now complete. The rifle has these components:
Turbo - Action
Muller - barrel
FF - 2.1 Whisper trigger
Stiller Tuner

The stock is black striped curly cherry. It looks a lot like spalted Maple.

The blank was bought from curlymaplewood.com and sent to Randy Owens to be carved.

Todd did the finish work.

Rifle is named Barney.




The second rifle was built by Mark Penrod and has a Stiller 2500 action, Bix and Andy trigger, and two barrels. One is a Shilen Ratchet the other a three groove Benchmark. The tuner is a Harrel's.

The stock is a beautiful piece of Ambrosia Fiddleback Maple. It was carved and finished by Brent Lidgard. The action was pillar bedding by the owner. The rifle has served the owner well. It is a "State of the Art" RFBR rifle.



TKH

 

[Butch Lambert]

What is a "State of the Art RFBR rifle"?

My definition is the best components available put together and tuned to work in harmony.

That is a lofty goal, more difficult than one might think but it can be reached in a number of ways.

All the components do not have to be the same, luckily many builders that can reach these goals.

In this post I'm using Todd A. Kindler's recent builds as examples.

The first one is now complete. The rifle has these components:
Turbo - Action
Muller - barrel
FF - 2.1 Whisper trigger
Stiller Tuner

The stock is black striped curly cherry. It looks a lot like spalted Maple.

The blank was bought from curlymaplewood.com and sent to Randy Owens to be carved.

The owner, Todd A. Kindler did the finish work.

Rifle is named Barney.

It has been said only accurate rifles are interesting and this one is interesting.

View attachment 25921View attachment 25922View attachment 25923View attachment 25926


The second rifle is not complete, but it will have a Stiller 2500 action. I'm not sure what the rest of the components will be.

The stock is a beautiful piece of laminated Fiddleback Spalted Maple. It was made and finished by Brian Lidgard.

Spalted Maple is technically not a specific species of Maple, but rather a type of Maple that has been allowed to begin initial stages of decay. The partial decay, called spalting, gives the wood dark contrasting lines and streaks where fungus has begun to attack the wood. It is an expensive wood. It has to be decayed enough to give the coloring and streaking without effecting the integrity of the wood. It can be quite dramatic.

View attachment 25924View attachment 25925

TKH

Todd is a pretty good character!

 

[tim]

And down the rabbit hole he goes He ‘s been threatening to do something for some time now.
Looks like a nice build, wonder if he knows you can’t really shoot woodchucks with that thing.

 

[George Atkins]

And down the rabbit hole he goes He ‘s been threatening to do something for some time now.
Looks like a nice build, wonder if he knows you can’t really shoot woodchucks with that thing.

Why not? Whistle Pigs are easy at 50 yards.

 

[MaxxPower]

What is a "State of the Art RFBR rifle"?

Spalted Maple is technically not a specific species of Maple, but rather a type of Maple that has been allowed to begin initial stages of decay. The partial decay, called spalting, gives the wood dark contrasting lines and streaks where fungus has begun to attack the wood. It is an expensive wood. It has to be decayed enough to give the coloring and streaking without effecting the integrity of the wood. It can be quite dramatic.

TKH

Tony,

Probably just sticking my nose in but that sure looks to me like Ambrosia Maple not Spalted. Spalted usually shows much more dramatic dark squiggly lines and looks (to me) like a contour map.

Here's a better description of the difference... (decay versus staining):

"Spalting is seen on partially decayed wood — it is a fungal discoloration and leads to the formation of thick black lines. Ambrosia maple, on the other hand, is formed because of the activities of wood-boring beetles that bring with them ambrosia fungi that stains the wood. It gives ambrosia maple a striped appearance."
[/B]

Here's a good example of Spalted Maple:



My first 10.5 pound gun had a Spalted Maple stock and I always though it was beautiful. I also wondered about the Spalting effect over time. Since the Ambrosia effect is a result of staining by beetle activity and not decay I'd think it would be more stable over time.

Bruce H.

 

[tim]

We have a couple good wood guys around here, had a heavily spalted stock years ago.
Apparently the way to deal with it properly is it impregnate it, under pressure with resin that effectively “ plasticizes” it , course it also makes it heavier.

 

[tonykharper]

Tony,

Probably just sticking my nose in but that sure looks to me like Ambrosia Maple not Spalted. Spalted usually shows much more dramatic dark squiggly lines and looks (to me) like a contour map.

Here's a better description of the difference... (decay versus staining):

"Spalting is seen on partially decayed wood — it is a fungal discoloration and leads to the formation of thick black lines. Ambrosia maple, on the other hand, is formed because of the activities of wood-boring beetles that bring with them ambrosia fungi that stains the wood. It gives ambrosia maple a striped appearance."
[/B]

Here's a good example of Spalted Maple:

View attachment 25928

My first 10.5 pound gun had a Spalted Maple stock and I always though it was beautiful. I also wondered about the Spalting effect over time. Since the Ambrosia effect is a result of staining by beetle activity and not decay I'd think it would be more stable over time.

Bruce H.

Bruce,

You and Jim Peightal are absolutely right. It is ambrosia maple. The owner contacted me this morning and said he had made a mistake.

Unfortunately, that isn't the only mistake in my post. I will be making corrections when I'm sure I have the details correct.

I do strive to put up correct and accurate information.

On the plus side it is good to know people are reading and paying attention to the details.

The main point of my post was say there are many components available, and gunsmiths capable of creating "State of the Art" RFBR rifles. It is up to the owner/builder to select those components and make them work together for a winning combination.

Thank you and Jim for your input. I will be making corrections.

TKH

 

[tonykharper]

Correction!

The details about the second RFBR rifle owned by Todd have been corrected in my original post.

They are as follows:

The second rifle was built by Mark Penrod and has a Stiller 2500 action, Bix and Andy trigger, and two barrels. One is a Shilen Ratchet the other a three groove Benchmark. The tuner is a Harrel's.

The stock is a beautiful piece of Ambrosia Fiddleback Maple. It was carved and finished by Brent Lidgard. The action was pillar bedding by the owner. The rifle has served the owner well.

The point I wanted to make is these two rifles have different builders, and components, but are both "State of the Art RFBR rifles and potential winners in any match they are entered.

TKH

 

[Slick Willy]

One More

I think that is Brent Lidgard. Who was the State of The Art gunsmith on the first rifle? I missed it ! Does Todd Still publish Small Caliber News?

 

[tonykharper]

I think that is Brent Lidgard. Who was the State of The Art gunsmith on the first rifle? I missed it ! Does Todd Still publish Small Caliber News?

Slick,

You are right. That is Brent Lidgard that carved and finished that beautiful stock.

I think Small Caliber News is no longer published. I did the metal work on the first rifle.

This post has been so full of mistakes I'm cutting my losses here.

Well, unless someone comes up with more errors. I will correct my mistakes.

I strive to provide accurate and correct information.

TKH

 

[High Noon]

my mistakes....

I want to apologize to everyone and especially Tony for providing him with the wrong information and thanks for the corrections.

With that said I want to sincerely thank all the very talented craftsmen who worked on these two precision benchrest rifles. Thanks to Tony for posting these two exciting projects too. Its been a real honor and pleasure to meet everyone and the precision rimfire world is truly blessed to have you guys! I'm really enjoying these two rifles are both are very accurate and if I just do my part it all comes together now and then.

By the way Tim I already shot a woodchuck with the Turbo. When I finished that five shot group above in the photo I noticed two large woodchucks running full speed ahead from the 100 yard backstop right to the fifty yard bullet trap. One foolish chuck decided to stop right under the bullet trap and the other high tailed it back to the 100 yard bunker. It was starting to rain a little harder but I decided the chuck onslaught just had to be dealt with. So I adjusted the rest straight down until the scope dot was just below the chucks eye and lightly touched the Whisper trigger. Lights out and first of the year! A very large male won't be chewing my backstop and shooting shed anymore!

Again thanks to everyone and wishing all a very safe and fun shooting season,

Todd

 

[George Atkins]

Slick,

You are right. That is Brent Lidgard that carved and finished that beautiful stock.

I think Small Caliber News is no longer published. I did the metal work on the first rifle.

This post has been so full of mistakes I'm cutting my losses here.

Well, unless someone comes up with more errors. I will correct my mistakes.

I strive to provide accurate and correct information.

TKH

Tony,

A good reporter must be fair, accurate and objective in his news writing and reporting job. Fairness, accuracy and objectivity are news virtues, which the profession thrives on. Any attempt to compromise any of these values makes a mess of the reputation and credibility of the industry. That being said, I did hear that there is a couple of openings at FOX NEWS, where none of that matters that much

 

[tonykharper]

Tony,

A good reporter must be fair, accurate and objective in his news writing and reporting job. Fairness, accuracy and objectivity are news virtues, which the profession thrives on. Any attempt to compromise any of these values makes a mess of the reputation and credibility of the industry. That being said, I did hear that there is a couple of openings at FOX NEWS, where none of that matters that much

George,

My mistakes are just that, mistakes. I was not attempting to deceive anyone.
I’m sure that is why I haven’t gotten any offers from CNN, CBS, ABC, or BBC.
Fox hasn’t called either.

TKH

 

[linekin]

Tony, can anyone off the street get ahold of you for a new build?

Keith

 

[tonykharper]

Tony, can anyone off the street get ahold of you for a new build?

Keith

Keith,

I'm simply a hobbyist. I am not a gunsmith or manufacturer. I build RFBR rifles for my own amusement.

Like you, I have a lathe, mill, and tooling. For the last 10 or so years I've built 2-3 RFBR rifles a year.

This is just a hobby, but it has allowed me to try many new or different ideas and compare them to my competition rifles.

When I find a new idea or product that works better, I use it.

Obviously, I can't keep all these rifles, so I sell them on to fund new projects.

My current project is the new Turbo V3 Mod. So far so good.

TKH

 

[Kent Owens]

Tony, Nice post. Those are some fine looking rifles, for sure! Sometimes I miss building 'em and testing them.