How to think about "building" a Factory Class rifle

C

Charles E

curmudgeon
For some reason, I've gotten interested in this one. The tried & true method is to just get a bunch of factory rifles, pick the best one, and go shooting. But it is also fun to try and take a rifle and get the most out of it. It will never, ever, compete with a bench gun, but it is fun seeing what you can get out of it.

But if you're going to "build" one, we need to know the rules.

For example: I have a .223 on a Savage. I re-set the head clearance (headspace) with a headspace gauge, through truth to tell, the barrel didn't move. Well, not all headspace gauges are created equal: with one of the Sinclair gismos, the chamber length measures 1.778. SAAMI brass maximum is 1.760, with trim-to length given as 1.750. All that means is the chamber neck is too long, right? But wait, there's more . . .

After several years of recycled Winchester military brass, I got some new Lapua cases. Following alinwa's dicta, I opened up the necks to 6mm, then resized to the point where it takes some effort to close the bolt. Geez, only about 2/3rds of the neck was resized. The Go-gauge wasn't a minimum, just within SAAMI specks.

So the first thing is, if the rules allow, it would be far easier to just turn the barrel in another .018 & lock up the nut.

Or, if the rules allow, set the action up in a mandrel and true up the front of the receiver. Now run the barrel in until it sets up to maximum SAAMI case length. Then it might be necessary to take some off the back of the barrel to get the necessary clearance for the bolt. (Or it might not, I haven't checked that dimension. In any case, it would vary from rifle to rifle.) The chamber would still be what the factory made, all we've done is tighten it up to SAAMI maximum for the case, and trued the front of the receiver. Of course, the stampings on the barrel may no longer be where they use to be.

Now IBS says that "factory class" is determined by the clubs. In any case, I'll have fitted brass. (In fact, try two will be to start with Ruger .204 cases and size them to fit, That way, I can get the extra .020 of neck. Small potatoes.)

What do you guys think? Should factory class be for the rich, who can afford to buy a bunch of rifles and pick the best one, or for the people who can take one apart and fit it, without recutting the chamber, to the materials at hand?
 
Charles, when I met you in person, I had no idea you had such a devious mind.

Things like this have been going on in all sorts of "factory" class endevours, whether it be shooting, auto racing, boat racing, bowling, golf, etc. If someone wants to win baddly enough, they will do what ever it takes.

At Tomball, we have a Factory Class. My rule say the only thing you can do to the Factory Rifle is improve the bedding, and adjust the trigger. That's it. Any other mods, period, and the Rifle goes into the Modified Class............jackie

S
 
Jackie...where do you put the heavy 16+ pound F-Class rifles if they come to a VFS match..we have several that come to our matches that don't meet the weight or stock requirements...in fact it is getting to where they leave their legal BR rifles at home and bring the heavy weights with 30BR barrels fitted onto their heavy F-Class rifles..
What do you classify these rifles as..??


Eddie in Texas
 
Devious? Me? You sound like my girlfriend when I was a teenager. There was a TV commercial at the time for hair coloring: "Only her hairdresser knows for sure" I, having an *inquiring* mind, suggested there might be another way. She was not amused.

But seriously, I can accomplish all I want by reforming brass. All this does is tranansfer the work from doing it once (modifying the rifle) to doing it multiple times, with each new set of cases.

I've always said that a FACTORY CLASS should be restricted to rookies, where "rookie" has a two-year limit, regardless of whether or not they join any sanctioning organization. Then someone suggested it wasn't that simple. At our club, the "factory" shooters came out once or twice, saw their rifles weren't even close to BR rifles, and most didn't come back. We thought that perhaps if they were shown a significant part of their low scores was due to less than good loading and shooting technique, they might learn something & stick around long enough to get hooked. Maybe so, we have more factory shooters now. And maybe the only person who got hooked was me; it is fun to see what you can get out of a rifle. My personal goal at each match is to shoot, with a factory rifle, good enough to beat the lowest score of the guys who shoot full VFS rifles.

But if you don't limit it to rookies, all of a sudden the world opens up to those who can just buy a bunch of rifles & pick the best one. I've seen this in a rimfire "factory class" league where I don't compete. Some guys have bought 4-5 rifles & still buy more, looking for an edge. That's hard on the young shooters who can't afford it, the lesson is "happiness can only be bought."

* * *

One thing we've done at North Carolina 1,000 yard Benchrest is to get a club gun. Parts purchased by members, and put together by Dave Tooley or Leonard Baity, I don't remember -- both top-rate 'smiths. When new people show up with their factory rifles, there is a drawing among those interested, and the winner gets to shoot the club gun. It is good enough to win, if the shooter does his/her part.

If it has any role, the Factory Class has to be about getting new shooters to give benchrest a serious try, and part of that has to be showing there is more to it than "fancy rifles."
 
Eddie, Savage F-Class, Single shots, 40x's, or any other Rifle that I deem a "Factory target" Rifle will shoot in Modified. I allow mass produced AR's in Factory.

The thing about the Tomball Matches is the final decision is the Match Directors, who just happend to be me. If I think a Rifle does not belong in the true Factory class, then that is it. You can either shoot in Modified, or not shoot for any awards. Or not shoot.

So far, this has worked quite well...............jackie
 
Charles E said:
For some reason, I've gotten interested in this one. The tried & true method is to just get a bunch of factory rifles, pick the best one, and go shooting. But it is also fun to try and take a rifle and get the most out of it. It will never, ever, compete with a bench gun, but it is fun seeing what you can get out of it.

But if you're going to "build" one, we need to know the rules.

For example: I have a .223 on a Savage. I re-set the head clearance (headspace) with a headspace gauge, through truth to tell, the barrel didn't move. Well, not all headspace gauges are created equal: with one of the Sinclair gismos, the chamber length measures 1.778. SAAMI brass maximum is 1.760, with trim-to length given as 1.750. All that means is the chamber neck is too long, right? But wait, there's more . . .

After several years of recycled Winchester military brass, I got some new Lapua cases. Following alinwa's dicta, I opened up the necks to 6mm, then resized to the point where it takes some effort to close the bolt. Geez, only about 2/3rds of the neck was resized. The Go-gauge wasn't a minimum, just within SAAMI specks.

So the first thing is, if the rules allow, it would be far easier to just turn the barrel in another .018 & lock up the nut.

Or, if the rules allow, set the action up in a mandrel and true up the front of the receiver. Now run the barrel in until it sets up to maximum SAAMI case length. Then it might be necessary to take some off the back of the barrel to get the necessary clearance for the bolt. (Or it might not, I haven't checked that dimension. In any case, it would vary from rifle to rifle.) The chamber would still be what the factory made, all we've done is tighten it up to SAAMI maximum for the case, and trued the front of the receiver. Of course, the stampings on the barrel may no longer be where they use to be.

Now IBS says that "factory class" is determined by the clubs. In any case, I'll have fitted brass. (In fact, try two will be to start with Ruger .204 cases and size them to fit, That way, I can get the extra .020 of neck. Small potatoes.)

What do you guys think? Should factory class be for the rich, who can afford to buy a bunch of rifles and pick the best one, or for the people who can take one apart and fit it, without recutting the chamber, to the materials at hand?
Click to expand...

The rules at Thurmont are you can adjust factory trigger and rework bedding ,even installing pillars would take you out factory IMO.Internal re machining of components is not allowed at all. What you propose while being hard to enforce unless you mentioned it will definitely disqualify you from Fact. class. It is generally conceded factory bedding and trigger pulls leave a lot to be desired but other changes in components or specifications are VERBOTEN
 
jackie schmidt said:
Charles, when I met you in person, I had no idea you had such a devious mind.

Things like this have been going on in all sorts of "factory" class endevours, whether it be shooting, auto racing, boat racing, bowling, golf, etc. If someone wants to win baddly enough, they will do what ever it takes.

At Tomball, we have a Factory Class. My rule say the only thing you can do to the Factory Rifle is improve the bedding, and adjust the trigger. That's it. Any other mods, period, and the Rifle goes into the Modified Class............jackie

S
Click to expand...

Exactly; these are the same "factory" restrictions at the Austin Rifle Club match. A trigger job (on the factory trigger) and bedding (not glue in or pillar). I don't run a "modified" class. I allow factory varmint rifles in factory class. If it comes off the retail rack as a mass produced factory rifle, it competes. Most of the factory shooters score improvement comes from learning better reloading techniques. Once they learn what a "tuned rifle" means, their score improves about 40 percent. If they're still not satisfied, then time to move up to the "benchrest" world with either a used rifle or new.

virg
 
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