To shorten or not to shorten?

[tresmon]

Greetings,

I'm trying to figure out wether I should shorten the barrel on my Rimfire. It has a 25.5" Benchmark, 2 groove, choked bore, reverse taper on it, with a tuner. It is (to me) an incredibly good shooting rifle. Last testing at the range it(we) produced a .296" , .297" , and a .301" 5-shot groups at 100 yards in a 4-5mph wind.

So I'm terrified to mess with it. "If it aint broke don't fix it" right?

But....it is hand down, easily the most UNforgiving rifle I've ever shot in my 30+ years of shooting precision rifles. If you maintain EXACT same pressure on the butt stock, EXACT same pressure on the comb of the stock and EXACT same pressure on front rest, shot to shot- it will stack them in one ragged hole for as long as you care to pull the trigger.

However if you change pressure, on a shot, on ANY off these points of the stock/rifle the most microscopic amount and break a shot- it seems as if even a stray thought goes through your mind when you break a shot....that shot will be a total flyer & totally outside the primary group. And in a long match, when fatigue starts to set in, it's really really hard to maintain perfectly consistent pressure on these points of the rifle....

I'm thinking this is from the long bore time (dwell time) of the bullet traveling the bore. Its all it can be right?

Would shortening the barrel 1.5 to 2 or even 3" allow a little forgiveness when shooting the rifle, but without harming accuracy? Cause if I mess with this rifle and it doesn't shoot anymore I'd probably jump off a bridge, LOL.

I sincerely appreciate everyone's input.

-TM

 

[wiggytelsta]

To shorten

I'm no expert but, if the barrel is choked, you definitely do not want to cut it off at the muzzle! It sounds to me like your problem is either bedding (stock) or your set up, maybe not as stable as it could be. What happens if you fire the rifle with minimal contact?

 

[Fred J]

So I'm terrified to mess with it. "If it aint broke don't fix it" right?

You said.

 

[FBecigneul]

If you only need to shoot exactly the same every shot, the solution is easy; shoot exactly the same every shot. I’m pretty sure it will be the same solution with a shorter barrel.

 

[Jerry W]

But....it is hand down, easily the most UNforgiving rifle I've ever shot in my 30+ years of shooting precision rifles. If you maintain EXACT same pressure on the butt stock, EXACT same pressure on the comb of the stock and EXACT same pressure on front rest, shot to shot- it will stack them in one ragged hole for as long as you care to pull the trigger.

However if you change pressure, on a shot, on ANY off these points of the stock/rifle the most microscopic amount and break a shot- it seems as if even a stray thought goes through your mind when you break a shot....that shot will be a total flyer & totally outside the primary group. And in a long match, when fatigue starts to set in, it's really really hard to maintain perfectly consistent pressure on these points of the rifle....

Take all of YOUR influence out of the equation and shoot it free recoil. Nothing touches the rifle but the pad of your finger. No shoulder, no cheek, no hand, no problem!

 

[tresmon]

Take all of YOUR influence out of the equation and shoot it free recoil. Nothing touches the rifle but the pad of your finger. No shoulder, no cheek, no hand, no problem!

I'd agree generally, except: I'm but a poor TN hillbilly with very limited budget. This rimfire must do all my rimfire stuff. With it I: shoot BR, shoot NRL, shoot rimfire extreme long range (last month I liked one hit to break the extreme long range rimfire world record: 3shots for 3 hits on a 12" square steel @450y) practice in the wind for my F-class shooting....and shop for the ingredients to make squirrel gravy.

I'm going to leave it alone.

Thank you to everyone that has have offered input & advice. I appreciate it.

 

[chris]

Greetings,

I'm trying to figure out wether I should shorten the barrel on my Rimfire. It has a 25.5" Benchmark, 2 groove, choked bore, reverse taper on it, with a tuner. It is (to me) an incredibly good shooting rifle. Last testing at the range it(we) produced a .296" , .297" , and a .301" 5-shot groups at 100 yards in a 4-5mph wind.

So I'm terrified to mess with it. "If it aint broke don't fix it" right?

But....it is hand down, easily the most UNforgiving rifle I've ever shot in my 30+ years of shooting precision rifles. If you maintain EXACT same pressure on the butt stock, EXACT same pressure on the comb of the stock and EXACT same pressure on front rest, shot to shot- it will stack them in one ragged hole for as long as you care to pull the trigger.

However if you change pressure, on a shot, on ANY off these points of the stock/rifle the most microscopic amount and break a shot- it seems as if even a stray thought goes through your mind when you break a shot....that shot will be a total flyer & totally outside the primary group. And in a long match, when fatigue starts to set in, it's really really hard to maintain perfectly consistent pressure on these points of the rifle....

I'm thinking this is from the long bore time (dwell time) of the bullet traveling the bore. Its all it can be right?

Would shortening the barrel 1.5 to 2 or even 3" allow a little forgiveness when shooting the rifle, but without harming accuracy? Cause if I mess with this rifle and it doesn't shoot anymore I'd probably jump off a bridge, LOL.

I sincerely appreciate everyone's input.

-TM

SHORT and THICK will do the TRICK
LONG and THIN go s to far

 

[Wilbur]

You may be explaining those lost shots wrongly. I'll ask this question and you can answer to yourself. When you lose a shot, do you automatically think you did it wrong?