Contributions to accuracy?

D

docsleepy

Guest
I would be delighted to hear from others, what contribution they estimate each part of a benchrest rifle makes to accuracy, as compared to a factory rifle.

In other words, it is pretty typical for a factory rifle (I have a Savage 12FV in .223) to shoot 5-shot groups of 0.5 inch at 100 yards.

If each component is upgraded, which ones are most crucial to better accuracy?

a) action: how much better is a benchrest single shot action than a well-bedded factory action? Is the benchrest action going to reduce the groups by 0.1" itself?

b) match chamber (instead of the LONG throat (?leade?) and sloppy SAAMI type chamber that my Savage has) -- will that take off another 0.1?

c) barrel -- is this even more important than the chamber?

d) stock -- that wide forearm and the stiff stock -- big improvement?

e) 6PPC or 6BR -- does the cartridge itself take off 0.1" or so?

f) picking proper seating depth for the bullet

g) picking proper power and amount


I realize that this is probably just guesstimation but I bet many have put considerable thought to all this. Benchrest actions seem in the stratosphere in price, whereas barrels seem cheaper and (f) and (g) are fairly inexpensive; one could order a factory in 6BR or so. Where is the bang for the buck?

thanks,
docsleepy
 
You post reminds me of all the adds for things that will add gas milage for your car. If I install them all, will have to stop and bleed off the tank to keep it from overflowing.

One thing incorrect in your post is the last line on costs. As I see it the barrel is the MOST expensive item as it will only last x number of rounds whereas the action will last almost forever.

If your not shooting over flags, I would suggest to do so, and get the most gain for the money.

Jim
 
great points jim -- flags are virtually free and the lifetime cost of the action is much smaller than the apparent upfront cost. However, as a non-super-competitive person in the .223 or 6mm range, one barrel might last for a long time.

Past the flags, which delivers the next greatest bang for the buck? Savage tries to sell precision actions for about half the cost of some benchrest actions....false economy? Put a match chamber and barrel on a sporter action?
 
It all depends on what you want to do with the gun. I don't drive a 400hp car to work...why...it's not necessary. However, if I was racing...I want all the HP I can get. If you just want a great shooting gun at minimal cost, buy a GOOD used PPC or BR with a Rem action or have one built. If you want to race....buy/build a custom BR rig. Heck, there are some AMT actions for sale in the classifieds, they'll make great varmit rigs for no more money than a savage or remington buy the time you have them gone over.

Hovis
 
+1 on the wind flags.

The fastest way to learn what makes a rifle shoot is to buy a good used BR rifle from a good shooter, and try to duplicate what the previous owner could do with it. There is a surprising amount of craft required to shoot (consistently) well from a benchrest. Stock fit to bags, bag firmness, movement of the rifle under recoil (tracking), hand/cheek contact (or lack thereof), etc. have a significant effect, independent of the rifle itself. Bad technique shows up in a hurry when you're shooting a rifle that can, when loaded, handled, and pointed properly, put all the shots in the same hole.

But, considering the rifle only, and starting with a factory rifle, I would rank the biggest improvements in accuracy (speaking of 100-300yd ranges here) in the following order:

bedding
barrel (including a chamber well-fitted to excellent brass)
bullets (handmade BR bullets appropriate for the barrel twist)
cartridge (a lot of this has to do with availability of excellent brass, BTW)
optics (holds POA, clarity, magnification)
trigger
powder charge
seating depth
primer

Of course, if the action is badly out of true your beautiful brass won't stay straight, your scope may be out alignment, your firing system may give inconsistent ignition, etc., making all of the above "improvements" moot.

Ultimately, a rifle is an integrated system, and all parts of it must function correctly to produce maximum accuracy. For most rifles it is the shooter that is the limiting factor, and the wind is the most commonly ignored important variable.

Toby Bradshaw
baywingdb@comcast.net
 
Of the things Toby listed, I'd say shooter technique is THE most important factor. I agree that a good shooter cannot make a bad rifle shoot good but I think you'd be surprised at how many bad rifles aren't nearly as bad as their owners say they are when a good shooter gets ahold of them.
 
In the book "Rifle Accuracy Facts" he pretty much goes through most of those questions one at a time and then reports the test. The book doesn't cover everything but it is a darn good place to start.

It is a good read!
 
1.Handloads Tuned to stock or aftermarket barrel. Biggest accuracy Improvement. I've found.

2. High Power scope. Rimfire 16-36x Longrange 600-1000yds 24x
Benchrest or score shooting 36x+

3. Light Trigger pull. 2oz trigger affects gun movement on the rest far less than a 2lb trigger pull.

4. Stock Design. Benchrest stocks track on rests in the bags try shooting one offhand at Game or silhouettes.

5. Gun balance determines feel offhand or how it tracks on a bench.

6. Never seen bedding, crown configuration, or bullet seating depth have much effect on groups.

7. Shooting Conditions Wind Humidity Mirage temperature extremes, elevation, terrain(Mountain, Desert, Rainforest, glacial tundra).
have large impacts on consistancy at any range.

8. The right Bullet for the barrel twist and designated application.
eg (Hunting, Benchrest, Silhouette, Varmit)

The right powder Speed and charge for the cartridge bullet barrel combination.

Usually the mildest Primer for the intended use.

Best Brass Sizing and preparation techniques.


9. Lots of practice. Shooting and reading conditions.

10. The best equipment within your budget.


Try a heavy barrel factory rifle with a 2-6oz trigger 36x scope and good hand loads.


Afterawhile go the custom hand built custom smithed gun or by a used gun built by a reputable gunsmith.
 
docsleepy said:
... Past the flags, which delivers the next greatest bang for the buck? Savage tries to sell precision actions for about half the cost of some benchrest actions....false economy? Put a match chamber and barrel on a sporter action?
Click to expand...

It's possible to get the specific kinds of numbers asked about in the original post, but it requires some careful testing and target analysis. For example, you could determine group size (precision) or group size and POI vs POA (accuracy) with and without the action you have in mind, but you'd have to make sure everthing else (especially wind) was practically the same for all the tests, and you'd have to have enough groups so that you'd know whether any differences you saw are real or just random variations. It's not hard to do, but does take some time.

Of course that means you have to have access to the action you want to test anyway, so it doesn't help much unless you are considering doing something similar to more than one rifle. And, as pointed out previously, all the components of the system interact with each other.

On the other hand, if you made such a change and did the tests, there are people who'd be interested in seeing the results.
 
Components

In the rehlm of Competitive Benchrest, I would say that a well tuned Rifle is 65 percent of the equation. Of course, that term "well tuned" encompasses the powder, bullets, barrel, primers, cases, etc,

The next 25 is wind reading. All of that other stuff makes up the final 10percent and is window dressing........jackie
 
Thanks for all the info and tips -- and a suggestion for a book to read!
Much appreciated.

gordon
 
jackie schmidt said:
In the rehlm of Competitive Benchrest, I would say that a well tuned Rifle is 65 percent of the equation. Of course, that term "well tuned" encompasses the powder, bullets, barrel, primers, cases, etc,

The next 25 is wind reading. All of that other stuff makes up the final 10percent and is window dressing........jackie
Click to expand...

I am relatively new to this game (started last Nov with very minimal experience with any guns) but this seems to be pretty close to what I have found. I started with a good - not great - used 6ppc benchrest rifle that I knew had the ability to put out a mid teens group occasionally. I could not do it all that often but knowing that "it" could in the right hands made me have faith in the rifle.

After learning a little about wind and flags and reloading techniques (not all I need to know / manage by any standard but enough to get started) I upgraded to a much nicer used 6ppc (BAT, Spencer barrel, Leonard stock, 4 oz trigger, March scope) that has helped me ramp up the improvement curve quite a bit. I know that the first rifle was good but this one is so much easier to work with -- smoothness of action, scope, etc --

Thus, to me the rifle has a great amount of weight, flags next, and then fine-tuning my approach....... and ... my education continues .....
 
jackie schmidt said:
In the rehlm of Competitive Benchrest, I would say that a well tuned Rifle is 65 percent of the equation. Of course, that term "well tuned" encompasses the powder, bullets, barrel, primers, cases, etc,

The next 25 is wind reading. All of that other stuff makes up the final 10percent and is window dressing........jackie
Click to expand...

I consider Jackie a much more learned student than myself, but I would argure that this percentage would be different for 1000 yard shooting. Maybe 50% conditions, 40% Tuned Rifle and 10% window dressing.
 
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