AusVarmint

OK everyone I have talked to has been happy with the accuracy of their VT's. So is there anyone here that has owned one that hasn't shot well. I am after varminting accuracy not the next world benchrest record.

Thanks
Steve

Likely to be a short and silent thread.

I am with Adam on this,I can hear trhe crickets tuning up

Okay ... I'll fess up that I had a VT that "wouldn't shoot". I bought it S/H, cleaned the crap out of it, mounted a Leupold 12x40AO and was dissappointed with 1.25MOA groups ... but they were nice and round. Tried a few styles of factory ammunition (non-premium) and Norinco military with projectiles pulled and refitted with 50gr BlitzKings and nothing really tightened it up. I finally got a bit frustrated and bought a set of Lee RGB dies and threw together a 'real' load using the 52gr Sierra MK projectile and voila! Sub-MOA !!

I sold it as it was a bit too heavy for what I wanted at the time, but before selling I sighted it in with an ADI 'Feral Buster' load ... it was the first factory load that cracked sub-MOA.

Would I buy another VT ... sure would! But I'd no longer keep them standard ... I'd rechamber to 284 based cartridges as the Ruger action feeds and functions perfectly with them.
Cheers...
Con

Not a VT but had a 77/22 hornet that wasnt great.

Mates VT shoots well, but the triggers are shocking. Ones ive mounted in the shops dont look great- seems the lines on the actions arent very square and i usually have to put aftermarket rings on them as the ones supplied in the box arent that crash hot.

But yes I cant fault the way they shoot.

Rugers and 284's eh... I was thinking of a straight 284, but it would probably be a target/long range rig so I dare say would stay with remmy or something like that.

Strange you say that about the mounts Brad I have had three M77`s and still have one.I have always used Ruger rings and have yet to have any alignment dramas,scope ring marks or mounts coming loose.I have more than once read of the inherant strength of the Ruger mounting system.I will agree with you on the M77 mk11`s trigger.It is woefull but that said it can be worked on.The VT has a different trigger in that it is 2 a stage and the ones I have shot have broken nicely but are a bit heavy.
You are not trying to drum up a bit of extra sales in the shop are you

Brad Y wrote:Not a VT but had a 77/22 hornet that wasnt great.
Ones ive mounted in the shops dont look great- seems the lines on the actions arent very square and i usually have to put aftermarket rings on them as the ones supplied in the box arent that crash hot.

It sounds like a poor workman blaming the tools, I tend to disagree with a lot of the stuff that you have written on this forum.

I've seen my fair share of ruger vt's and owned one and I have to say they are brilliant every one of them has shot great! Triggers an easy fix and not a reason not to buy one!

270 wrote:

Brad Y wrote:Not a VT but had a 77/22 hornet that wasnt great.
Ones ive mounted in the shops dont look great- seems the lines on the actions arent very square and i usually have to put aftermarket rings on them as the ones supplied in the box arent that crash hot.

It sounds like a poor workman blaming the tools, I tend to disagree with a lot of the stuff that you have written on this forum.

Thats your opinion, thats fine. There are plenty of riflemakers that really dont make rifles as good as they claim to be. Sure you cant get things perfect on a manufacturing line so we choose to just use what works and stick with it. Or we build rifles to how we want if we arent happy with what is on offer. I wasnt saying that ruger rifles are crap, but taking a good hard look at them, they seem no different than other rifles. I will also tell you that remington have pretty poor quality control- with firing pins, bolt heads and barrels having issues on occasion. Savage F class rifles are starting to have some quality issues as well with long throats, crooked chambers and, as Trevor T has indicated on the savag etarget action, trigger problems. But you can get perfectly good rifles from each manufacturer as well. FYI Im not a gunsmith, Im a project manager for an multi million dollar company, but I get to help out in the shop as often as I get the time. That means I see and hear good and bad things a fair bit from the proper gunsmiths that have alot more experience than most. I also keep a keen eye on the rifles moving in and out of the store so I can see what they look and function like.... So no Im not an expert. I wont waste your time by writing anything else you disagree with. Apologies for the inconvenience.

kjd wrote:I've seen my fair share of ruger vt's and owned one and I have to say they are brilliant every one of them has shot great! Triggers an easy fix and not a reason not to buy one!

Definitely not mate, I agree if your on a good thing stick to it. There are plenty of pro cullers around that use them and swear by them too. A mate who is on this site, has a VT in 22-250 and that drives nails. Timney and rifle basix make good triggers are worthwhile investments. I have one in my howa as that trigger was pretty average on that too.

Yeah well their two stage triggers IMO are good but have been made heavy at request of lawyers but they are crisp and really one of the best on a stock rifle. No need for an aftermarket trigger really.

Just gotta ask though what relevance is it that you work for a multi million dollar company? Is it firearm related? Just that most people work for multi million dollar companies and I'm wondering the relevance of what you were saying?

17MachIV wrote:OK everyone I have talked to has been happy with the accuracy of their VT's. So is there anyone here that has owned one that hasn't shot well. I am after varminting accuracy not the next world benchrest record.

Thanks
Steve

G'Day Steve

I bought a semi customised Ruger VT off of some bloke who occasionally turns up here at AV. The bloody thing is a compleate dissapointment let me tell you . It only puts five shots consistently into about .9 of an inch at 100yards with factory ammo. I mean .9 jeez, based on all the advertising hype around many factory rifles this is barely adequete

It is a great rifle mate I am looking forwards to developing its potential with some handloads. The bloke who sold it to me reckons he was getting just on or over moa with it but having put a few rounds through it with cheap arsed winchester softpoints i reckon his load development was off or he is a shit shot

Dr G

Dr G wrote:

17MachIV wrote:OK everyone I have talked to has been happy with the accuracy of their VT's. So is there anyone here that has owned one that hasn't shot well. I am after varminting accuracy not the next world benchrest record.

Thanks
Steve

G'Day Steve

I bought a semi customised Ruger VT off of some bloke who occasionally turns up here at AV. The bloody thing is a compleate dissapointment let me tell you . It only puts five shots consistently into about .9 of an inch at 100yards with factory ammo. I mean .9 jeez, based on all the advertising hype around many factory rifles this is barely adequete

It is a great rifle mate I am looking forwards to developing its potential with some handloads. The bloke who sold it to me reckons he was getting just on or over moa with it but having put a few rounds through it with cheap arsed winchester softpoints i reckon his load development was off or he is a shit shot

Dr G

Its far more capable then MOA mate. I had a trip planned with it but it fell through so I rushed load dev and got MOA with most loads and I was only needing MOA so I didn't bother doing any more load dev. I reckon with some 140 BT's or something along those lines it will be singing. It did pretty good with the 120gn Vmax and once again it was a rushed load. I reckon with a bit of fiddling .75moa is a given.

oh and I am a shit shot hahahahaha

I had one in 204 ruger. I wanted a varmint weight rifle with 26 inch barrel and there werent very many companies chambering for the 'new' 204 ruger way back then.

I thought it was ugly but it fitted my criteria and was what I could afford.

It shot like stink. Like really really good. A gunsmith who had a business in Ballarat looked down the tube with a borescope and told me I had a really good barrel and looked at my targets and told me not to mess with its bedding or trigger.

Yeah, that rifle hooked me into the accuracy bug and love of guns that has since cost me thousands of dollars.

Wouldnt hesitate to recommend one, beauty is in the eye of the beholder!!!