AusVarmint

Rimfire benchrest ... traditional and custom and Fly? Seems like the poor cousin to the centrefires. What rules apply, what type of equipment and components (when building a rifle) is required ... anyone got a pic or two of the style of rifles being used? Who are the rimfire specialist gunsmiths and competitors in Australia?
Cheers...
Con

I dunno Con.......it's seems a bit strange doesn't it, but probably the main reason is there are not many rimfire competitors in here.

I know of a couple of sites that list the results for rimfire events but only the short range group and RBA stuff, I don't recall seeing results for any rimfire fly events though......could be some but.....somewhere

Im sure Keith won't mind....so the links are -

http://www.benchrestbulletin.com.au - for anything benchrest in Australia

http://www.actbenchrest.com - for fly results

http://www.worldrimfire.com - for RBA results...check out the aussie teams results so far...pretty outstanding stuff I reckon.


jeez I hope these work.....

KY





KY

Con.
Mate , I have shot rimfire Fly 200 yards on & off over the last 10 years & have seen all types of bolt action rimfires involved .
If i had to say which has had the most success I would say Anshutz heavy barrelled Smallbore rifles fitted with large scopes.
Brno or Cz & Sako Finfires also go well especially the custom barelled stuff.
Like Centrefire ,200 yards is a long way & it is a hit & miss Affair with wind being the single most important influence on the score.
Ammunition needs to be consistent ,Federal 900 was the ammo of choice for most but sadly is no longer available ,I hear RWS R100 is good otherwise any good European Smallbore grade ammo will work.
In order to hit the target at 200 yards your scope needs enough elevation to compensate for the drop. Basically at 50 yards you need to hit the target 14-16 inches high so scope shiming may be needed.
If I was going build a rifle today to shoot fly I would build it the same way i have for group & score shooting , factory anschutz or Cz ,stainless barrel from lilja, Border Or another & a custom fibreglass or laminated ply 3" benchrest stock.Do as much of the work as you can but know your limits find a good gunsmith for the rest.
It will get more use at 50 yard competition that 200 anyway as the shorter events are held more often & at more ranges across the State.

i have not shot rimfire benchrest but i have shot the .22 off the sling in several competitions over the last few years. and the main types of rifles are anchutz, and there brilliant, i dont have a pic, but they look pretty spacey-future like. incredibly accurate

In my first, and only 200m rimfire fly I came forth out of 11 (daylight between me and 3rd) using Shanes 22 which I believe is an annie and in a benchrest stock. Of course he had it set up in the bags for his shoot and I just had to load and pull the trigger when it was my turn.

i believe he will be well equipped to advise on rimfire as well as centrefire rifles

trevort,
Hopefully he will comment . When I eventually sell some of my rifles it'll be a tough decision whether to finally get a 375/284 put together or just suck it (got enough Sambar capable rifles) and get a quality rimfire that'll win at club level competition when driven right and be a reasonable chance at a FLY event. I can at least practice on our property shooting down the irrigation bays and not upset the dogs, neighbours or their dairy cows!!

I can probably pick up a Brno Model 2 around here in the $350ish range and then "go the hack" over time ... or stretch for an Anshultz MPR/MSR (based on the 64 action?) and later do further upgrades.

Perhaps like centrefire benchrest ... being competitive costs money ... and the rimfires don't come cheaper it seems

But ... you just dont hear much about this aspect of the benchrest world and its kind of "equalising" having everyone limited to factory ammunition.
Cheers...
Con

If you want to get into rimfire B/R, seriuosly, I'd suggest looking at a"headspace gauge", which measure the thickness of the rims; it's amazing how much they vary, even within premium ammo of the same make and batch. i have access to one, bu have done little work with it; let's hope Shane can come good (as he usually does)

woob614271 wrote:If you want to get into rimfire B/R, seriuosly, I'd suggest looking at a"headspace gauge", which measure the thickness of the rims; it's amazing how much they vary, even within premium ammo of the same make and batch. i have access to one, bu have done little work with it; let's hope Shane can come good (as he usually does)

woob,
Interesting as doing some web surfing last night I found some article where the author only found that it made a difference on the cheaper brands of target ammunition. When you got up into the Eley Tenex range, their was bugger all difference, enough to stop the author guaging high end rimfire ammunition.
Cheers...
Con

Con, any shooting is better than no shooting but rimfires just dont excite me. First shot at the sighter plate i thought I had a clean miss and was just lifting my head from the scope when I saw the tiny projectile strike!

Reading SSAA mag reviews the target Anschutz is supposed to be match competitive right out of the box

trevort wrote:Con, any shooting is better than no shooting but rimfires just dont excite me. First shot at the sighter plate i thought I had a clean miss and was just lifting my head from the scope when I saw the tiny projectile strike!

Reading SSAA mag reviews the target Anschutz is supposed to be match competitive right out of the box

The Anschutz 2013 in the benchrest stock certainly is competitive. Belmont Range in Brisbane have night shoots on a regular basis and there are quite a few of them that turn up there and are tough to beat. I have seen a number of them in Adelaide, and one guy has even fitted his out with a Lilja drop in barrel.
Like all rimfires, you are restricted by the quality of the ammunition available.

The MPR is an entry level rimfire benchrest rifle based on the 64 action.

Rimfire benchrest at the last few Nationals have had full house entries of 60 or so competitors, and the RBA mob are also experiencing record attendances.

Jimbo,
The Anshultz 2013 looks like top gear ... but is WAY over the budget . I think I could eventually stretch to an Anshultz MSR and use it for local Silhoette competition with my Mueller 8.5-25x then upgrade with an aftermarket benchrest stock and eventually a fresh barrel. Supposedly they can be upgraded in the trigger department as well. Going through the RBA equipment lists its notable that US and Australian competitors are big into their custom actions ... but the Europeans and Brits are dominated by Anshultz rifles.
Cheers...
Con

con,

Depending on how much you wish to spend .. you can start with a Brno 22 you might win and you might not but its a learning curve target shooting. You don't neccessarily need to spend massive sums of money all the time.

Look around for an old target 22 many companies made them...if you dont want a Bruno.

cheers
Rinso

Rinso,
I might just do that, but there's no rush. I can pick up a new CZ American for under $500 locally and then spend another $800 (my limit is $1300) to upgrade it. I'll also pop through the local smallbore club and see if there's any Anshultz 54's going S/H which might make the basis for a future benchrest rifle ... or I can grab a new MSR.
I think I might start with getting a rule book first as I reckon I might leave the Custom class out for now and look towards the lighter class with 6x scope. With a change of scope I can use the rifle for local Silhoette competition, plus bench work and maybe FLY.
Anyone have an opinion on whether a fully tricked out CZ rimfire is competitive or are they viewed like a sleeved Rem700 in centrefire benchrest? Does the rimfire ammunition level out the playing field between the true custom actioned rifles (eg Hall and Turbos), the factory built BR rifles (Anshultz 2013) and the tricked out factory rifles like a CZ with Lilja barrel in a benchrest stock?
Cheers...
Con

Con,

The last Rimfire match I went to 75% or more in the 7.5lb class were Brnos and in Custom class it was over 75% Anschutz. I have a Brno with a Tobler barrel and Mcmillan stock.

Steve

R