Short stiff barrel for rimfire benchrest

Bill Wynne

Bill Wynne

Active member
I have this bug in my collar and I need some help with it.

I am considering a Shilen ratchet barrel with an unturned diameter of 1.25 and a length of around 20 inches. I see logic in short and stiff.

Has anyone had any success with such an animal?

Tell me what you think of this idea. I can take it.:)

Concho Bill
 
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That bbl [ aka FatBas*&rd ] is now on my new Hall and has been turned to .850 or so except for a section at the muzzle that is .875 [ to fit a tuner I have and to help with the choke ]. I did shoot it a lot as FatB but it was always inconsistent because I didn't want to shorten the bbl anymore than I had to due to the already short length. Unfortunately the tightest spot in the choke was about 5/8" back from where the crown was and of course this killed the consistency. It would throw out a 5 or 6 in a heartbeat. I got really discouraged which set my rimfire shooting back a year.

I had another of these bbls that I had turned to app .825 and fitted to the 40x with a Pacnor nut [ ala Savage 110 bbl attachment ] to - #1: eliminate the torque shoulder and - #2: allow for adjusting the headspace. Number 1 is a very good idea I believe [ for a 40x with it's oversize tenon ] and #2 is just a mostly useless byproduct. This bbl also didn't shoot consistently for the same reason that FB didn't.

I recently slugged this bbl and moved the crown back the 1/2 or 5/8" needed to eliminate the loose section of bore past the choke and the rifle will now shoot better than it ever has. Although my best score so far is a 243 I now have something to learn with whereas before I didn't. Whenever the shot goes out I can see the condition on the flag that put it there where before I would throw one way out when there was NO condition change. And the out shot is now a 9 not a 7.

Below is the link to these blanks. I would use one of them instead of spending the money on a Shilen. The bores are super nice on these things. You can shoot 2 boxes of ammo through one and 3 Ballistol patches and 3 dry patches have the bore perfectly clean according to what I see with my borescope.

http://www.e-gunparts.com/DisplayAd.asp?chrProductSKU=884540&chrSuperSKU=&MC=
 
I am glad you wrote the part about the Fat Barreled rifle not shooting very well. That needs to be a factor for me to think on.

Thanks,

Concho Bill
 
FB didn't shoot to it's potential because the crown was not properly located. Nothing to do with the bbl. I really regret that I didn't properly locate the crown and shoot the bbl extensively before turning it down to a more normal RF BR dia.


I just bought one more of these blanks but I haven't decided exactly what I am going to do with it.
 
It's a Don Stith 'Dart'. Due to the width of the wrist you need higher than normal rings but other than that I am happy with the pair I have.

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Most of what I have read seems to suggest the longer/skinnier barrel work better, but I would love to have a normal barrel diameter in a shorter length due to better rifle balance without having to add 2-3# to the butt.

Not to mention, when the barrel is of correct visual length (1.5X the length from action to end of forearm) the rifle looks so much better!

I have an 18.875" .806" straight barrel, and on the rifle it looks perfect.
Have not found ammo/tune to get it to work as well as my 24.75" reverse taper though.
 
Short barrels

Back in the earliest of BR-50 days, I built a heavy barrel rifle based on a 1.25 inch diameter, no taper, that was fluted, since we tried to get rifles as light as possible. It weighed exactly 12 pounds and shot beautifully. I shot many winning targets and won lots of events with it. Thinking this was so easy, I sold that rifle and built another, along similar lines, fluted barrel, 40x action, trued and sleeved by Bob Brackney. It too, shot many winning targets. There is obviously something wrong with me or else I just love building rifles, because I sold it, too. I now have a Turbo with a 1.25 in barrel, not fluted, barrel glued in for about 6 inches, rest of barrel and action free floating. I built this one about 10 years ago, at least, and it was put away for years as tuners became the only way to shoot and tune. Recently, I pulled it out, put it on the rest and shot the best scores I've shot in three years. Do short and heavy barrels work? I can attest that they do. Can't tune like we do the light barrels and must be used with top quality ammo, but when you find that combination, it works beautifully. Give it a try.
Macky Locklin
 
Macky

Do you have a picture of Bill Myers rimfire action that you can post?

Or email it if you don't want to post.

I'd like to get a custom RF action,

Thanks
Hal rhh@midrivers.com
 
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