Benchrest History Thread

[Lee Martin]

Back in the 80's, my dad built a 50's style BR rifle in .219 Donaldson Wasp. I thought I'd add it to our history thread:



He trued a Mauser action, upgraded the trigger, used a bull barrel by Douglas, and topped it with Unertl glass. It won't hang with our modern benchrest rifles, but it's still fun to play with. As I recall, he loaded it with 3031. We made the bullets on Homer Culver's old 22 dies when he was still alive.

-Lee
www.singleactions.com

[dmwphoto]

Back in the 80's, my dad built a 50's style BR rifle in .219 Donaldson Wasp. I thought I'd add it to our history thread:



He trued a Mauser action, upgraded the trigger, used a bull barrel by Douglas, and topped it with Unertl glass. It won't hang with our modern benchrest rifles, but it's still fun to play with. As I recall, he loaded it with 3031. We made the bullets on Homer Culver's old 22 dies when he was still alive.

-Lee
www.singleactions.com

very cool!

[RL Weikart]

Would like to have Cecil Tuckers email address, if I may.

Bob

[RL Weikart]

Would like to have Cecil Tuckers email address, if I may.

Bob

Got in touch with Cecil, he no longer modifies Weaver scopes and he answered that he was in the hospital.

[Chism G]

Photo courtesy of former Gulf coast regional Director, Scott Hunter.




Glenn

[Chism G]

Photo courtesy of former Gulf coast regional Director, Scott Hunter.




Glenn

Identifications with help from Scott.
1st row, second person,Don Geraci.
Third person is Larry Engelbrecht
4th person is Bud Carden.

2nd row
2nd person is John Moore., 4th is Jerry Rogers, 6th is Ed Shilen, 7th is Dr Ward,
8th is Red Cornelison.

Standing., 3rd is Jim Gilmore,4th is Bob Hanson, 5th is Allen Hall, 9th is John Bunch.

Hard to put names with faces after 56 years..

Glenn

[sbindy]

I bought quite a bit of stuff from Bob when I started out accuracy shooting.
Later
Dave

Out of curiosity I went and searched ebay to see if anyone had some of these editions available. Lucked out as someone was selling a full brand new set. I find it interesting that some of the things mentioned in that are still relevant, some have been surpassed, and some old wives tales that persist were dispelled even back in his day. One of his suggestions even made an improvement to my shooting today! He was adamant that the front of the stock should not touch a stop. I've heard this before, but no one ever made much of a deal of it. He does. I remembered it at the range today while testing and decided to just move back off the stop. My groups instantly tightened up! 4 shots in .089, then of course I blew it! But it does work.

[Sophia78]

Benchrest shooting has a long and storied history that dates back to the early 1900s. Here is a brief overview of its history:
In the early 1900s, bench rest shooting was primarily a way for gun enthusiasts to test the accuracy of their rifles. Shooters would rest their rifles on a bench or other stable surface and fire at targets at various distances. In the 1920s, organized bench rest competitions began to emerge in the United States. The first known organized bench rest match was held in Pennsylvania in 1925. g