VFS gun question

B

bdotson

Guest
I am new to bench rest shooting. I have only been to one match a few years ago where I shot a factory rifle. I only own one bench gun at the time. It is a 1000 yd gun (6-dasher) and I have really enjoyed playing around with it. It is the first and only true bench gun I have ever had the oportunity to play with. I like to shoot 1k and have a place here at my home where I can do just that. However there are no 1k matches around my neck of the woods so I dont get to shoot any competion with it. Now for my question. I am thinking of buying or building a VFS gun. I am thinking a 30br or might consider a 30-30 win. What would be involved in making a switch barrel with my 1k gun and shooting it? I have never had a switch barrel gun or changed barrells and have no idea what might be involved in equipment and such. Also if this is a feisable option whom would you suggest as a gun smith and what kind of time frame is to be expected? Here are the specs on the gun I have now Gun weight w/scope is 16.8 pounds.

Chamber - .271 neck, .107 Freebore
Stock - Joel Russo custom thumbhole
Action - LAWTON 7500 RBLP
Barrel - Broughton 5C,SS,28 in?,1-8tw,1.250 Straight "taper"
Trigger - Jewell BR set at 2 oz.
Scope - NightForce BR 12x42x56 np2-dd
Scope rail - LAWTON
Recoil lug - LAWTON
Rings - from tactical supply in Oregon
SS butt plt - from Bruno's
SS trig. grd - from Bruno'ss

I am in east texas thanks for your advice Buddy
 
Perhaps - - -

bdotson said:
I am new to bench rest shooting. I have only been to one match a few years ago where I shot a factory rifle. I only own one bench gun at the time. It is a 1000 yd gun (6-dasher) and I have really enjoyed playing around with it. It is the first and only true bench gun I have ever had the oportunity to play with. I like to shoot 1k and have a place here at my home where I can do just that. However there are no 1k matches around my neck of the woods so I dont get to shoot any competion with it. Now for my question. I am thinking of buying or building a VFS gun. I am thinking a 30br or might consider a 30-30 win. What would be involved in making a switch barrel with my 1k gun and shooting it? I have never had a switch barrel gun or changed barrells and have no idea what might be involved in equipment and such. Also if this is a feisable option whom would you suggest as a gun smith and what kind of time frame is to be expected? Here are the specs on the gun I have now Gun weight w/scope is 16.8 pounds.

Chamber - .271 neck, .107 Freebore
Stock - Joel Russo custom thumbhole
Action - LAWTON 7500 RBLP
Barrel - Broughton 5C,SS,28 in?,1-8tw,1.250 Straight "taper"
Trigger - Jewell BR set at 2 oz.
Scope - NightForce BR 12x42x56 np2-dd
Scope rail - LAWTON
Recoil lug - LAWTON
Rings - from tactical supply in Oregon
SS butt plt - from Bruno's
SS trig. grd - from Bruno'ss

I am in east texas thanks for your advice Buddy
Click to expand...



your current stock will be an issue. From the pictures I have seen of LR stocks, they seem to be flat on the bottom as they sit in the rear bag. Stocks for VFS will need an angle there. I am thinking it is 7* but that could be wrong. You can always have your action and VFS barrel bedded into a stock designed to meet the rules of a Short Range benchrest rifle.

It will be pretty hard to beat a 30 BR for a VFS case. There are some others out there but some of them have a 22 Russian head size so if your bolt won't pull a smaller head case you wouldn't be able to use them.

With regard to the 30-30, the one that has been talked about on hereof late requires guite a bit of extra work on the barrel as I recall. I think it may be possible to use the 30-30 case headspacing off the bolt face still using the rim. I have a rifle with a 30-30 derivitive that does that. I think the 30-30 may be a project better suited for someone who does their own Smithing but I could be wrong. The rims of 30-30 cases will need to be turned down to fit inside the bolt and perhaps thinned a bit. I had to do that with the one I have.
 
Buddy,

See http://internationalbenchrest.com/ , click on Downloads in the left-hand navigation area, then on the IBS Rule Book button. Look at the "Rifles" section starting on the bottom of page 18.

Others with more exerience will hopefully chime in, but here are some first thoughts:

- Your stock may not be legal for VFS. If it is legal, you still might not be able to make weight.

- A lot of people in my area seem to use the NF scope, but it is heavy. Just something you have to consider when choosing your other components.

- Your scope rail might be a problem from an elevation standpoint and a weight standpoint.

- Rings from a weight standpoint.

- If your action is the 1.450 7500, just keep its weight in mind when choosing components.

FWIW from a complete newb,
Greg J
 
SGJennings said:
Buddy,

See http://internationalbenchrest.com/ , click on Downloads in the left-hand navigation area, then on the IBS Rule Book button. Look at the "Rifles" section starting on the bottom of page 18.

Others with more exerience will hopefully chime in, but here are some first thoughts:

- Your stock may not be legal for VFS. If it is legal, you still might not be able to make weight.

- A lot of people in my area seem to use the NF scope, but it is heavy. Just something you have to consider when choosing your other components.

- Your scope rail might be a problem from an elevation standpoint and a weight standpoint.

- Rings from a weight standpoint.

- If your action is the 1.450 7500, just keep its weight in mind when choosing components.

FWIW from a complete newb,
Greg J
Click to expand...

Edit: Ah, already beat to the punch by a real shooter.
 
Buddy: You could make a pretty good case for using what you've got and making it a VfS gun by swapping the barrel and stock.

The weight limit for VfS in both IBS and NBRSA is 13.5 lbs., so with what you've got, you're around 3lbs. too heavy. Switching to a HV tapered barrel will save some weight over the 1.250 straight taper barrel you have. I'm not sure what your stock weighs, but that's where you'd need to come up with the extra weight loss......assuming you don't change the bases/rings to a lighter setup. You can save quite a bit of weight by changing out the tactical mount setup.

To get a better handle on where you're at on the barrel weight issue, Dan Lilja has a great software program that lets you compute it. Here's a link:

http://www.riflebarrels.com/products/software.htm

I would strongly recommend the 30BR chambered with the 'Robinett' spec. .330 neck reamer in a barrel twisted up either 1:17 or 1:18. These twists, combined with the right freebore length, will allow the use of either the .925" or 1.00" jacket length bullets....virtually covering the entire spectrum of what bullets are appropriate for use in the 30BR.

Grab some H4198, WSR or Fed 205's, a Wilson standard non-micrometer seating die, either a Redding or Harrels f.l. bushing die, neck bushings from .323 to .326 and you're set. Case prep isn't too hard, or you can buy cases ready to rock from Ron Hoehn. Top this off with some BIB 112-118's and you'll be ready to go. The tweaks and subtle stuff that all of us do can come later....this will get you up and running with no muss or fuss.

There's a little more 'money on the table' by playing closer to the edges, but a setup that goes right down the middle.....giving you 98% of the advantages available, with none of the downsides.....is a savvy way to start out.

Time frame will depend of component availablity, especially with the stock. Bruno's has a good asst. of stocks on hand...a pal of mine just got a HV Bruno/Edge for a Panda from them that they had in stock. You could also check with Jim Borden and see if he has anything that may work for you in stock. His Rimrock RM pattern stocks are great. Kelbly's TMBR stock really works well, too...and the Kelbly's are great to deal with.

My 2 cents worth. :) -Al
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top