Roessler Titan 16

johnty · Post by **johnty** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 2:57 pm

Well guys, couldn't help myself.

Buying this rifle came about because I had a bench rest rifle built couple years ago. I have never talked about it on here because it wasn't a very pleasant experience and I am still working at getting it to shoot real good when projectiles are available (which is never these days). The benchrest rifle, shown below for a few comparisons is a Stolle Panda with Lilja barrel, jewel trigger, Sightron 8-32 scope and weights 3.4 tonnes.

This bench rest rifle is chambered in 6.5 x 47 L. I love this cartridge. It has got about the right amount of recoil and a pill of the right weight to shoot just about anything I am after . I didn't want to get another rifle built so I found one of the only manufactures building this calibre.

The Roessler Titan 16 in 6.5 x 47 L.

Well first impression is not bad. It looks pretty good to me. The finish on the barrel looks nice. All in all a fairly clean rifle. I like it.

Pulling it apart:

Barrel.
The barrel is made by heym in germany according to Hermans Sporting Guns. It is a heavy 24 inch barrel measuring 19mm at the front, they make the 6.5x47 only in a heavy barrel. After a very good clean, took it out into the light. I don't have a bore scope so naked eye only. It looks nice and slick, not dents or scratches anywhere that I can see. The area between the rifling is not quite as polished as the lilja but not very far behind it. The recessed crown is super smooth and even. The chamber looks likes it has a mirror finish. The main disappointment on the barrel is the bit of coating missing where the barrel clamp goes around the barrel. This is covered when it is assembled.

johnty · Post by **johnty** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 2:59 pm

Receiver.
I am a machinist by trade. The receiver is machined well and deburred very well. The inside of the receiver is only machined not ground. The bolt to me seems slightly loose fit, but who am I to decide on fit tolerances. Has a one piece rail put on top. The three position sfaety works well but noticed if you moved it to the middle setting from top to bottom the line didn't line up, but if you moved it from bottom to top it lined up well.

Bolt.
The bolt is crazy strange to me. I don't have a lot to say about it at the moment. As it's a straight pull bolt it is going to take a little getting used to the strange feeling. It definitely does not feel super smooth like I was led to believe.

Stock.
I like the wood. Its checkered very evenly and has a very smooth finish. Nice soft recoil pad that is about 10mm thick. Aluminium block only at the rear screw with a pillar at the front screw. The barrel clamp is recoil lug. The barrel channel is free floating but with a critical look the stock is not symmetrically made with one side slightly wider than the other when looking from above the barrel. The stock feels nice to hold.

Trigger.
I am no expert but the trigger feels good, it's no jewel and it's not as good as dad's Krico. It is better than my remington xmark pro. There is no sideways movement. Does pull back a little ways. It feels very consistent when dry firing. Do not have a pull gauge but I thinks its slightly heavy. I am sure it can be adjusted but the book does not give any details about doing so.

Bottom Metal.
Wow, what a disappointment. The bottom metal is plastic. I am not against plastic when it is used well and made of the right stuff, it can be light weight and durable. The casting seams are not even deburred. There are already dents around the screw holes from the factory doing up the screws. The magazine buttons, one on each side, both need to be depressed and the magazine actually jumps out a small amount which is nice. It has a real good grip on the magazine, there is no way it's going to jump out on you when walking the hills. When you put the magazine in it needs a thump to fully locate it with a good click, if you don't give it a good thump it just drops straight back out.

Magazine.
The magazines have stainless sides with a plastic follower and a plastic base. They seem relatively well made. I bought a 3 shot and a 5 shot. The 3 shot fits nice and flush while the 5 shot hangs down an amount but not quite as low as the trigger guard. The magazine is made to suit a vast amount of cartridges and has heaps of room in front of the cartridge when pushed all the way back. Not sure if that's a good thing or bad at the moment.

Cycling Cartridges.
As I am a gentle lover, I generally very slow and gentle with bolts. When I did this with the Titan 16, the first cartridge would not close the bolt all the way, the second would not even feed into the chamber. When I treated it like a girlfriend you didn't want to marry it worked absolutely flawlessly. So cycle it with moderate force and a little gusto, it works magically. My biggest concern is the marks on the projectiles. Time will tell if it's a problem.

johnty · Post by **johnty** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 2:59 pm

Conclusion.
For the moment I think on the whole, the rifle looks and feels pretty good with a few cosmetic things that really could have been better for a $2000 dollar rifle.
Disappointingly the LGS had no rings to fit my scope I bought especially for this rig. If I cant't shoot it, I am going to tell you all about it. So no firing the rifle this weekend, it will have to wait another full week. When I get the scope fitted I will tell yas about the scope and the accuracy and firing of the rifle.

Much more info to come,
Johnty

crackers17 · Post by **crackers17** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 3:43 pm

Very nice looking rifles
A great read so far too...

Camel · Post by **Camel** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 3:52 pm

Now that's a report that's worth reading, very detailed and without prejudice, thanks mate.

Pith there are a couple of things you aren't that happy with, but from the little I have read, they perform very well indeed. Will be interesting to see how it shoots, you will have to let us know.

johnty · Post by **johnty** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 4:17 pm

you can see on the photo of the cartridges, the fourth one along....

the dots up the projectile towards the point.... its catches on somethign when it loads, and also damages the lead tip a little..... will have to try to work it out

B4408 · Post by **B4408** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 6:30 pm

Good fair review and looking forward to the next instalment.
What is the planned usage ?

Bruce

johnty · Post by **johnty** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 6:51 pm

If it moves and is a feral animal, hmm maybe even if it doesn't move

Post by **MISSED** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 9:38 am

Wow a new member who thinks he has nothing to add to the forum writes a review like that

WELL DONE

I look forward to the next installment.

johnty · Post by **johnty** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 9:47 am

been here since 2010 missed

johnty · Post by **johnty** » Sat Jun 13, 2015 12:29 pm

Hi guys.

Well got some medium high 30mm rings to attach the new scope. It is a Sightron S-TAC 2.5-17.5X56 IRMOA. This is my 4th sightron scope and I get on with them extremely well and have never been disappointed. This scope is no exception, while I believe its made in the philipines (the SII BigSky and SIII are made in Japan) I think its every bit as good as a SIII which is what is on my bench rest rifle. Its super clear and reticle is nice enough to look at, but I do think there is something to be said about a nice plain old duplex. The scope also has an illuminated reticle which works extremely well but as I am lucky enough to have super good eyes (well, for the moment anyway) I think the added weight for the scope is something I really don't need, but Sightron dont make this scope without the ilumination.

I am open to using other scopes, but i trust putting my money into sightrons.

To the SSAA range at belmont (Bisbane).

For the moment I am using Sierra 120gr softpoints. AR2209 powder. CCI BR4 primers. Seated for the moment with a 20 thou jump. I only have done course powder loading mostly just to see what the pressures are going to be like in this action. I am really unsure what is going to happen if the bolt jams due to high pressures as the bolt handle is screwed onto the straight pull bolt. I used safely glasses for this testing. Checked the primers for each one and check head expansion with a micrometer.

All groups are measured to centre of shot, widest 2 apart. These are the best groups of each charge weight.
First five shots were sighting at 50m with a charge of 39.0 grains. The rest of the shooting was at 100 metres. Had a harris bipod on the front and rear bag on concrete bench. The scope was set on max 17.5 and the side focus adjusted.

39.0gr ar2209
shots 6-10
21mm group

40gr ar2209
shots 11-15
21.0mm group

41gr ar2209
shots 16-20
27.6mm group

40gr ar2209
shots 21-25
15.8mm group

41gr ar2209
shots 26-30
19.6mm group

I then cleaned the barrel. And moved the scope, but stuffed up the sideways.

42.0gr ar2209
Shots 31-35
14.0mm group

The last group (shots 36-40) had the final 2 shots rushed as the cease fire was being called, the charge was 42gr with the first 3 on top of each other.

On disappointment would be the cases get a deep scratch on the shoulder and neck on extraction. The ejection spring is pretty heavy.

Wow this rifle likes everything. The best group here was 42 grains. Looks to me like you jam some powder in the case and fire and your likely to hit something.

This is far from premium projectiles so I think this has a lot of potential by fine tuning the powder load and the seating depth.

The scope is fantastic, could easily see bullet holes at 300 at full zoom.

Had a lot of fun today with a rifle that is going to be a good shooter.

Cheers
Johnty

johnty · Post by **johnty** » Sat Jun 13, 2015 12:30 pm

Just for reference the conditions were pretty good. I was shooting fairly well for a change.

This is a group from my 223

Post by **MISSED** » Sat Jun 13, 2015 1:03 pm

You really should post more

The rifle seems to be coming along nicely

And I complement you on your scope choice.

Also interesting that the S-tac is made in the Phillipines alongside the S1 and S11

Camel · Post by **Camel** » Sat Jun 13, 2015 1:49 pm

Well done mate, looks like its going to be a good shooter, heck, it already is. 223 goes alright as well. Thanks for putting that up.

Told you that you would have interesting stuff to say, haven't read much of the Roessler rifles, but they seem to go pretty well.

johnty · Post by **johnty** » Sat Jun 13, 2015 7:21 pm

missed
i will review a new rifle every two weeks... just need yas to send me one that often... had to save for a fair while to get this one.

camel
it would seem roessler have a little work to do to make a perfect rifle..

makes me wonder what the bolt actions are like, eg the titan 6

well i hope ppl can find this bit of a review because i could not find anything particularly useful on them.

AusVarmint