250-25X guns, equipment, Chet Amick P.S. article.

D

Don

Guest
I am mostly a centerfire rifle guy but do spend time on this rimfire messageboard to see what you guys are up to.

I was surprised when reading this months P.S. "left the range" article about Chet Amick, and his accomplishments, seemed like a nice fellow.

What I cant understand is why his accomplishments and methods have not been discussed on this board more often, seems like a treasure trove of untapped potential for new ideas. Seems like he may have hit upon the "holy grail" of rimfire equipment developement by shooting 6 perfect scores with 5 different guns, 3 different styles of actions, and 4 different types of barrels.

For me, the real sign of a competitor, that has developed a truly superior method of accuracy, is when the competitor can show superiority using several different rifles and components while making them all work............Chet seems to meet this standard.

Things I noticed of interest were that Chet used Harrell tuners on all these perfect score rifles, the tuner seemed to be the only major rifle component that staid the same.

Interesting that you always see a barrel cooling fan in all the photos of Chets rifles.

Wonder what method Chet used to attach his tuners to his rifles?.............................Don



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Thanks for posting the segments of the article. I don't get PS mag so had not seen it. Chet was an amazing man and a wonderful friend.
I believe his custom chamber and skill at bore lapping along with meticulous attention to detail made his rifles special. Even with all that, his shooting skills were necessary to get the complete results.
Thanks Deeny for doing the article
Don
 
Don Stith said:
Thanks for posting the segments of the article. I don't get PS mag so had not seen it. Chet was an amazing man and a wonderful friend.
I believe his custom chamber and skill at bore lapping along with meticulous attention to detail made his rifles special. Even with all that, his shooting skills were necessary to get the complete results.
Thanks Deeny for doing the article
Don
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Hi Don S.,

Do you know if there were any distinct differences between Chets' "custom chambers" and those used in most other competition rimfire chamberings, did Chet adhere to any of Calfees chambering ideas?

Do you know if Chet used the "bloop extension" to the tuner as showen in the page 60 photograph to fire any of his perfect scores?.......................................Don J.
 
Don J
I don't know the specific differences in chamber dimensions; but Chet's thoughts on what worked were his own and not influenced by other gunsmiths.
Don
 
Don, I would tell you that Chet used the same reamer for all the guns he did. I believe it was an "Eley" type chamber, it did not engrave. I'd been told that if it ever needed sharpening he would not know what to do cause it would never leave his shop....ever.He preffered Anschutz actions, mostly 54's and did not thread them as he felt it was more likely to distort the chamber.The tuners were usually with 1 3oz. weight and rarely did they get set past 100, once tuned they never moved.
 
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tim said:
Don, I would tell you that Chet used the same reamer for all the guns he did. I believe it was an "Eley" type chamber, it did not engrave. I'd been told that if it ever needed sharpening he would not know what to do cause it would never leave his shop....ever.He preffered Anschutz actions, mostly 54's and did not thread them as he felt it was more likely to distort the chamber.The tuners were usually with 1 3oz. weight and rarely did they get set past 100, once tuned they never moved.
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Tim,

Thanks for the feedback.

Since Chet didnt like threaded chamber areas I assume he felt the same about tuner attachments. Do you know what method Chet used to attach his Harrel tuners?.........Don
 
Wilbur said:
Were there any copyright notices on that article?
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None listed.

But if you feel there is a copyright infringement for monetary gain, or anything inappropriate about the posting.............feel free to delete, no hurt feelings on my part. Scans were only posted to reference details of discussion items for best clarity (picture is worth a thousand words).............Don
 
Don
At least on the guns he built for the people I know, the Harrell tuners clamped on like all other Harrell tuners.
Don
 
Chet's Reamer

I knew Chet for over 45 years and was at his basement when he was working on a gun for Gary Loughnot. I can tell you this, his reamer may have been an "Eley type" but totally designed by him and made by Dave Kiff and had nothing whatsoever to do with any of Calfee's designs. The most I will go is to tell you it was a 1 1/2 degree reamer. Calfee declared a 1 1/2 degree would not work as good as his 2 degree design. Reference his articles in Precision Shooting.
Chet did use that one reamer for his guns. He tried to have Dave Kiff reproduce the reamer so he would have a backup and from what I understand Dave could not exactly reproduce it.
Good luck if you call Dave to try to get a reamer because I believe Chet and Dave probably had an agreement to not divulge the measurements to anyone. I know, I talked to Dave about it. Out of love and respect for Chet, I will not go any further. Chet has told most of the details to Harry and another long time friend, Jim McK. but I know Jim will not tell. Chet told me not long before he died. that he could let anyone check his guns and they would not be able to tell everything he did to them.
DblR
 
I think we can get away with this one

Maybe not! The folks at PS are a reasonable lot but on a bad day they might take a stand...as anybody would do.
 
Or maybe all the interested readers of this article who do not suscribe to PS should consider signing up for the magazine?
 
I don't think that showing this section of the article to illustrate Don's point would infringe on copyright. The source is cited and it is not the full article; and most importantly there is no monetary gain.

Of course, it is always a nice touch to contact the source if possible and request a blessing..

I finally received my copy of the August PS yesterday, so now I can read the whole story.

Best,

Michael
 
DblR said:
I knew Chet for over 45 years and was at his basement when he was working on a gun for Gary Loughnot. I can tell you this, his reamer may have been an "Eley type" but totally designed by him and made by Dave Kiff and had nothing whatsoever to do with any of Calfee's designs. The most I will go is to tell you it was a 1 1/2 degree reamer. Calfee declared a 1 1/2 degree would not work as good as his 2 degree design. Reference his articles in Precision Shooting.
Chet did use that one reamer for his guns. He tried to have Dave Kiff reproduce the reamer so he would have a backup and from what I understand Dave could not exactly reproduce it.
Good luck if you call Dave to try to get a reamer because I believe Chet and Dave probably had an agreement to not divulge the measurements to anyone. I know, I talked to Dave about it. Out of love and respect for Chet, I will not go any further. Chet has told most of the details to Harry and another long time friend, Jim McK. but I know Jim will not tell. Chet told me not long before he died. that he could let anyone check his guns and they would not be able to tell everything he did to them.
DblR
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Dblr, thank you for the appetizer.

I am sure Chets transmission background bid him well in his rf gunsmithing efforts. Its been my experience that "transmission guys" always have some of the best knowledge in "one-off custom tool fixturing" and close tolerance machine work, that I am sure was a good crossover for competitive gunsmithing.

I hope some of Chets old time shooting friends were able to pick up some of his knowledge/tooling and carry his efforts forward.
 
Unfortunately, my friend, it's gone, lost forever, which is just a shame but there it is.
 
I wonder why

a person would choose to allow a great contribution to a sport die with them. I guess I say that because I am not one to keep secrets or try to get an edge on others. I prefer to let the Wind Flags choose the winners. Of course, I am not trying to make a living off the sport either and I can understand that aspect but folk who make winning rifles don't seem to be looking for work either.

Pete
 
First off, its probably a great concept that if you have no idea what you're talking about, perhaps you shouldn't talk.
I was very fortunate to have Chester share so much information the last years I knew him but first, he never did that many guns, never did it for income. Second, unfortunately he had a buml ticker anddied quite unexpectedly.
 
As far as I know Tim

tim said:
First off, its probably a great concept that if you have no idea what you're talking about, perhaps you shouldn't talk.
I was very fortunate to have Chester share so much information the last years I knew him but first, he never did that many guns, never did it for income. Second, unfortunately he had a buml ticker anddied quite unexpectedly.
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I can have an opinion on any damn thing I want and I was referring to current smiths making money, not someone who has passed. I still feel that anyone who has found a way to improve anything should share it freely.

Pete
 
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