Happy Groundhog Day....and I need a little help on my new rimfire benchrest rifle.

[High Noon]

Happy Groundhog Day!

I’m putting together a new 22 rimfire benchrest rifle and need a little help. I just received a new 2500X action, RBLP.

I dusted off a new RKS cut rifled barrel I’ve had for years.....it’s a progressive twist 32 to 16.5 at 26 inches, chrome moly full diameter blank that I would like to have someone contour it to a Remington Varmint contour. Who could I trust to do this correctly?

Then it needs match chambered and fitted to the 2500X....any recommend gunsmith?

Then it will be rust blued....I’m old school and want the classic look.

Thanks everyone!

High Noon

 

[tim]

View attachment 23281

Happy Groundhog Day!

I’m putting together a new 22 rimfire benchrest rifle and need a little help. I just received a new 2500X action, RBLP.

I dusted off a new RKS cut rifled barrel I’ve had for years.....it’s a progressive twist 32 to 16.5 at 26 inches, chrome moly full diameter blank that I would like to have someone contour it to a Remington Varmint contour. Who could I trust to do this correctly?

Then it needs match chambered and fitted to the 2500X....any recommend gunsmith?

Then it will be rust blued....I’m old school and want the classic look.

Thanks everyone!

High Noon

Your money but it has long been shown, these days that is waaay too much gain. Guys going gain now find about an inch is max.
In CF the gains go as little as 1/8" . You may or may not find a smith willing to work on it, probably way ahead of the game to sell it and get a match SS straight .900" barrel to shoot, likely much better result.

 

[earlm]

Gain twist?

Anybody shooting these in registered match competition? 22 rimfire.

 

[High Noon]

...a little help on my new benchrest rifle.

Thanks Tim....maybe it’s time to look for a new barrel. Will a straight .900 barrel work ok on a 2500X? Any suggestions on barrel....any for sale?

Thanks,
High Noon

 

[tim]

Thanks Tim....maybe it’s time to look for a new barrel. Will a straight .900 barrel work ok on a 2500X? Any suggestions on barrel....any for sale?

Thanks,
High Noon

That is probably the most common dimension which will give you at least 24" for a 10.5 lb rifle.Anything .875"-.900" is fine.
Shilen ratchets are popular, Muller's as well.
Call Killoughs Shooting in Tx. They usually will have something in stock or coming.

There have been a couple for sale over on Rimfire Accuracy.

If you come up short circle back and PM me, I may have a blank for you, if you wish.

 

[High Noon]

.......a little help on my benchrest rifle

I’m just curious, it seems not that long ago cut rifled barrels were doing very well in rimfire benchrest, they dominate centerfire benchrest today so why aren’t more used in rimfire today?

High Noon

 

[tim]

I’m just curious, it seems not that long ago cut rifled barrels were doing very well in rimfire benchrest, they dominate centerfire benchrest today so why aren’t more used in rimfire today?

High Noon

Apparently a few, but only, I guess a few. The reasons/opinions would fill a whole forum but among the largest has been bad mouthing by some self serving types.
From guys I have talked to some Kreigers and Bartleins are doing pretty good and personally I would try one if I was looking to fit a new barrel. The stuff I mentioned is typical of what most guys are having most success with.

 

[High Noon]

.......a little help on my benchrest rifle

....Tim which “one” would you like to try? Thanks for all your help too!

High Noon

 

[todde]

Like Tim has said, the ratchets of late are good.
Todd

 

[tim]

....Tim which “one” would you like to try? Thanks for all your help too!

High Noon

Talking with Kevin Nevius, a multi time national prone champion, not BR but valid none the less, he has had great success with Kreigers which are also taper lapped. Personally, I would not hesitate to try one but remember it also boils down to what you can get in a timely fashion.

 

[Wilbur]

Good advice here!

The one thing I would suggest is to shoot whatever you think is best while you were waiting for the barrel maker to finish the one you think you prefer. I suppose "think" is the key word....

 

[langenc]

Why not select the smith and let him obtain the needed parts that HE will be expected to assemble?

 

[tim]

Easy, many/most will no longer do that any longer.

 

[High Noon]

....and a little update on my new rimfire bench rifle..

After a lot of consideration I finally took Tim’s advice and sold my RKS progressive twist barrel. I really wanted to give it a go ( you just have to try to understand how crazy I am at times...in my shooting life...) however it would have needed to be turned down $$$ / time and I wanted to have it professionally rust blued more $$$/ time.. BTW..I will say it sold almost immediately to the traditional single shot guys at a high price. They know those barrels very well and I guess they really rock at long range silhouette with them! I actually got a couple personal emails from experienced rimfire shooters that said they would put them up to any make barrel! Interesting...

So I decided to contact Mark Penrod at Penrod’s Precision and asked the pro for some guidance. I’ve actually known Mark for a long time, we have helped each other over the years but for some reason I have never had him build a rifle for me. So we decided on a Shilen Ratchet and a Benchmark 3 groove. So I sent my new 2500X action over and he has the barrels ordered. He’s also getting me a few things from Jerry Stiller like an action wrench so I can change the barrels. Oh, I haven’t given up on those cut rifled barrels either and plan on having Mark install a couple next year!

Thanks to Tim and everyone here....and stay tuned for the custom stock update!!

High Noon

 

[tim]

Great choice, I have a great shooting rifle Penrod built.

 

[blades]

in my memory on the progressive twist & lead pills start slow so as to not strip the lead pill and progress to whatever depending cal & estimated muzzel velocity. never heard/ read much as to rimfire but centerfire lots there. good place to find out more would be the cast bullet assoc/ web sight and of course the the troops using the 40/60-45/100 and others in Silly -Wet ( I just like to call it that) or other long range endevors of the old school units. keep thinking BPCR but do not know if that is the right arrangement of letters. Been a long time since I was messing around in this area.

 

[High Noon]

.....time to pick out some fancy wood!

With the 2500X action now at Penrod's Precision it was time to think about the stock. I noticed an ad on "RIMFIRE ACCURACY" forum for custom made stocks just for the 2500X action. So I contacted Randy Owen's of Precision Woodcrafting and had a long discussion with him. He has his own wood but agreed to letting me send him a blank. So I climbed up into my attic and retrieved my very last blank of English Walnut my good friend Gary Ramberg gave me years ago when I was publishing. I had mentioned to him I wanted to do a knock-out bench rifle someday dressed in awesome English Walnut but it would need a three inch wide blank. He told me those are very hard to come by. . ... Well that blank was dated July 2002 when stored apparently the time has slipped away a little bit. I took a couple photos of the blank and sent to Randy and he said your making me very nervous! So I thought lets not do that to Randy lets start with something else and save the blank for the next time.

So the next morning I drove over to Keim Lumber in Charm, Ohio not too far from where I live. Keim Lumber employs some of the worlds finest Amish wood craftsmen and just happens to have an exotic wood department! I always think I'll just quickly cruise through looking at all the fine wood from around the world and then I look at my watch and realize i'm an hour late for work...lol....who cares....This morning when I got there the sales rep remembered me form our Small Caliber News magazine and I unfortunately remembered him from kicking my butt years ago in the after work 22 rimfire competitions held inside one of there large buildings! Those Amish boys can shoot!! (A story for another time)

I explained I was building a new rimfire benchrest rifle and was hoping to keep the weight down a little and was looking for some sharp looking cedar. They had plenty to choose from but then he suggested I take a look at some of their Brazilian Lace blanks. He said its a little heavier but look at the grain! Once he took the blank in the cutting room and applied a special solvent to really expose the grain I said lets do it!!

So I sent plenty of Brazilian Lace down to Randy and I can tell you he has been very busy. More to follow soon!

BTW...If you ever drive into Ohio Amish country plan to stop by Keim Lumber....well maybe you shouldn't....lol...you might be late..

High Noon

 

[SGS]

You won't be disappointed with Randy's stocks. He does awesome work and the low rider design is my very favorite. I can't wait to see pictures of your finished stock.