GENE BEGGS' Rimfire Update

G

Gene Beggs

Active member
It has been a busy and exciting week at the tunnel in West Texas. It was a pleasure and an honor to have as my guests, Arnold Jewell and Wayne Young.

Arnold and I have been friends for more than 36 years, sharing a love of both flying and shooting. We met in 1973 at the Midland International Airport where Arnold flew a corporate jet and I operated a small flying service. A. J.,, time flies; doesn't it? :eek: But its sure been fun; huh? :D :D

Arnold has a new 20 Beggs live varmint rifle that is a prairie dog's worst nightmare! Over 4100 fps with tack-driving accuracy. Built on a Stiller Viper action, a heavy 26 inch barrel and Shehane laminated stock. But we came here to talk about rimfire rifles; didn't we? :rolleyes:

The rimfire rifle I am testing is built on a Turbo action, modified by Bill Meyers to incorporate the Beggs barrel indexing system. The barrel is a 22 inch Shilen 16 twist, stock is an Ultralite, and the tuner, a standard Beggs centerfire model. Except for the Turbo rimfire action, the rifle is identical to the 6mm Sporters I have been shooting in centerfire group for more than three years. I have a question that perhaps one of you rimfire gurus can help me with; :eek:

"What can be done to improve the feeding on these little Hall and Turbo rimfire actions?" :rolleyes:

I have found this to be the most frustrating part of shooting the rimfires and Arnold Jewell said the same thing. Stuffing those greasy little pills into that tiny chamber is a pain, and I have never been able to simply lay a cartridge into the feed ramp and have it do anything but jam into the cone and ruin the bullet. If one is trying to run a target while a condition is holding, he can't afford to shift his attention from the flags to "Threading a needle" every time he reloads; can he? :confused: How do you deal with this? :eek:

TIA

Gene Beggs
 
Mr Beggs, I am no gunsmith in the slightest but I am a shooter....This my friend is why you need a Swindlehurst action, An anschutz or suhl is almost as good but nothing like a Swindlehurst. It has a large port, a great ramp that glides the round right into the chamber. Question, I don't know if the coned breach is a disadvantage in loading or not....I've never had one.

I have a Swindlehurst and when the condition is right you can flat put rounds down that tube.

Good Luck with your experiment.

Charlie
 
Gene

Here is my suggestions:

On the Turbo, open up the port a bit. Doesn't help much but it does help especially if you have large fingers. I find using extractor slots instead of the coned breech also helps. I'm sure you have noticed, when a bullet get stuck between the cone and the off side of the action it can be hard to pick out. That doesn't happen with extractor slots.

The Hall loads easier especially if it has extractor slots rather than a cone.

Hopefully, others will have more ideas.
 
Have you ever thought of modifying...........

the receiver, or the follower, the way the later 40Xs are?? The cartridge as it moves forward sinks down in the rear, as the bullet elevates to enter the chamber......;)
 
A slight chamfer on the chamber mouth makes a world of difference on a Hall. Don't know if a Turbo will give the same benefits.
 
Anschutz and Suhl are great for loading. Lay it in and close the bolt. I can not speak for the Swindlehurst, but I have heard the same thing about it as well.
That being said, I will stick with my Turbo Left port. It just takes some practice.
-Fire the round
-Grab the next round with left hand while simultaneously opening the bolt with my right hand.
-Slide bolt back with right hand then lay round on floor plate with left hand
-Slide round into chamber with left thumb immediately followed by closing of bolt with right hand. Be sure to get that thumb out of the way:mad: That hurts!!!
The trick is getting the action to work smooth enough so that you can open the bolt and not upset the rifle in the bags.
You will get to where you can easily shoot a 25 bull target in 5 minutes.
 
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i can single load a ruger 10/22 thru the magazine opening , so i fail to see how i wont be able to load the hall bolt action i have not even recieved yet.

bill
 
Gene, it is different then what you are use to, but one does adapt and in short time becomes second nature. Other then that how's the testing going so far?


Joe
 
Gene, I primarily shoot a Swindlehurst but have had a Turbo and as Joe said, after a few bricks you can really move right along and run a card.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. I guess you're right; I'm just spoiled from the easy feeding of my centerfire rifles. I'll keep working at it and will no doubt get better with practice. I'm going to do some experimenting with rimfire loading ramps; I think they can be improved.

Arnold Jewell had an interesting suggestion that may work. He suggested having a spring-loaded guide that holds the cartridge in better alignment and then be pressed out of the way as the bolt is closed.

So far, I have shot the rimfires only at 100 yards in the tunnel but there is general agreement among the experts that testing should be done at 50 yards. My tunnel is four feet in diameter and there is no access anywhere except at the ends. Placing a rimfire target and bullet trap at fifty yards is going to be a challenge. I'm not sure it's practical. We will see.

Later,

Gene Beggs
 
Rig a cable pulley system and mark the fifty yard point, install lighting at the fifty yard point to light your targets. Heck you could even get fancy and motorize the thing.
 
Simple

Gene Beggs said:
Thanks for the feedback guys. I guess you're right; I'm just spoiled from the easy feeding of my centerfire rifles. I'll keep working at it and will no doubt get better with practice. I'm going to do some experimenting with rimfire loading ramps; I think they can be improved.

Arnold Jewell had an interesting suggestion that may work. He suggested having a spring-loaded guide that holds the cartridge in better alignment and then be pressed out of the way as the bolt is closed.

So far, I have shot the rimfires only at 100 yards in the tunnel but there is general agreement among the experts that testing should be done at 50 yards. My tunnel is four feet in diameter and there is no access anywhere except at the ends. Placing a rimfire target and bullet trap at fifty yards is going to be a challenge. I'm not sure it's practical. We will see.

Later,

Gene Beggs
Click to expand...

Make a frame 3 foot dia with spring loaded legs 90 degrees apart and a light holder on it. . Make dolly like they used to get to the back of a B-36 without track , of corse. Run a light down to it with an extension cord. I could muddle thru it and make both of them for you. Since I am retired from woodworking I can't charge for it.
 
Gene Beggs said:
<snip>

So far, I have shot the rimfires only at 100 yards in the tunnel but there is general agreement among the experts that testing should be done at 50 yards. My tunnel is four feet in diameter and there is no access anywhere except at the ends. Placing a rimfire target and bullet trap at fifty yards is going to be a challenge. I'm not sure it's practical. We will see.

Later,

Gene Beggs
Click to expand...

What kind of groups/aggs are you getting at 100 yards?
Please don’t be embarrassed to share, like one of my shooting friends says “What do you expect(?) it’s a STUPID RIMFIRE!” :D

I don’t know what your 100 yard trap looks like, but couldn’t it catch the 50 yard target bullets? 3.5 to 4" high @ 50 should put you in the middle of it.

Jim
 
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Tunneling..

Mr Gene,

I would be happy to dig a wider tunnel for you..

:)
 
JJ-IA said:
What kind of groups/aggs are you getting at 100 yards?
Please don’t be embarrassed to share, like one of my shooting friends says “What do you expect(?) it’s a STUPID RIMFIRE!” Jim
Click to expand...

Aggs of about .800 at 100 yards.

Gene Beggs
 
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