Prepping my RPR to shoot some matches.....

[TerryH]

Hello all. Newbie here. Sorry for the long drawn out post.

I found Accurate Shooter as I was researching what I needed to attempt some matches in the future. Really cool site you guys have here! I've read and learned a lot. I'm in the equipment gathering stage right now.

I'm shooting an RPR in 6.5 CM. Yes, I know...lol... It has a Patriot Valley Arms 26" barrel. Josh at PVA is making a thread protector for me so I can remove the Mad Scientist brake. I've added a Seekins hand rail and ambi safety, Timney trigger, AD Custom Rifles fluted the bolt and I added a titanium shroud and bolt handle along with a stainless bolt. The butt stock has a V-Tab adjustable butt plate and Wiebad check rest pad. Glass is a currently a Vortex Gen I PST 6-24x50 but I have a Golden Eagle on layaway at my LGS.

The RPR is shooting .3 MOA @ 100 with factory Fed American Eagle 140's. Successfully shooting out to 1140 yards on the range but all steel there so no clue if any of that will actually translate well in a match but I'm committed to practicing as much as I can and starting to shoot some matches in 2018. My intention is to compete against myself with learning and improving as the primary goals.

I work in a body shop and have pretty much custom painted all my stuff for many years. Colors of choice are House of Kolor PBC-65 Passion Purple and black covered with Cerakote MC-161 matte clear.

Recently bought a BE rest and did the windage knob mod, added the stainless F Class feet and longer adjusters. I also changed the hardware to all stainless and added a couple of levels. I'm using the Protektor Dr. rear bad with 1" ear spacing. Immediately I realized that the butt stock wasn't going to cut it on the rear bag and even though I got the 2 1/4" front bag and the Seekins rail is 2" wide and flat that it wasn't as stable or smooth as I'd like.

Here's the setup...



I decided that I'd attempt to make a set of bag riders. I have some HDPE 1" material and a pretty well equipped shop. I'd much rather make something vs buying it if at all possible. For the rear bag rider I disassembled my Accu-Shot monopod and used only the base. 4" 5/16x24 bolt will attach the rider to the monopod base.



Milled a piece of 2"x6"x1" HDPE to fit tight against the bottom of the butt stock and fit around the base. Drilled the appropriate holes for the bolt and to countersink the head.





A trip through the router table to round over the edges and some finish sanding completes the rear.



The front is super simple. Just a 2 1/4"x4 1/2"x1" HDPE with all the edges rounded over. I countersunk holes for a couple of 1" stainless screws for M-Lok fasteners to attach it to the rail. Kinda looks like bar of soap. lol...





I'm pretty pleased with how they came out. Seems like they will do the job.















Thanks for looking!

 

[Big Mc]

I do the same thing. If I can make it I will. Sometimes It may not come out right, so out comes the checkbook. You have a skill.. Good Job.. Tommy Mc..

 

[TerryH]

I do the same thing. If I can make it I will. Sometimes It may not come out right, so out comes the checkbook. You have a skill.. Good Job.. Tommy Mc..

Thank you Tommy. Hopefully it will work well.

 

[JLT]

TerryH,

Nice work! One thing to consider - you may want to mill out the center of your front bag rider a depth 3/16" or so, leaving 1/4" thick raised edges on each side. This will help your tracking. Nice looking rig you got there! .3 MOA with factory ammo should be quite competitive. Go get 'em.

 

[TerryH]

TerryH,

Nice work! One thing to consider - you may want to mill out the center of your front bag rider a depth 3/16" or so, leaving 1/4" thick raised edges on each side. This will help your tracking. Nice looking rig you got there! .3 MOA with factory ammo should be quite competitive. Go get 'em.

Thanks for the insight. I decided that I'd get a 3" bag and mill a new front rider. I'm going to recess the center to fit around the hand guard and I'll mill a recess on the bottom of that one.

Forum Boss: Yep -- you can go out to 3" wide for F-Open. I bet your system works great now, but you'll be surprised with the extra stabilty of 3".

 

[JLT]

Thanks for the insight. I decided that I'd get a 3" bag and mill a new front rider. I'm going to recess the center to fit around the hand guard and I'll mill a recess on the bottom of that one.

Good choice. A wider bag/rider set up will help with torque, too. A 6.5 CM won't torque like a 6.5-284, but every little bit helps.

 

[JBT47]

Nice job...good luck in your matches. Are you going to handload?

 

[TerryH]

Nice job...good luck in your matches. Are you going to handload?

Thanks. Not to start anyway. Apparently I'm trying to give myself every disadvantage possible. lol...

 

[JBT47]

Thanks. Not to start anyway. Apparently I'm trying to give myself every disadvantage possible. lol...

You will be handloading in less than a year! Hard to compete using factor fodder

 

[boltman13]

Thanks for the insight. I decided that I'd get a 3" bag and mill a new front rider. I'm going to recess the center to fit around the hand guard and I'll mill a recess on the bottom of that one.

+1 Terry, if you shoot anyway near as good as the work you have done on your RPR, you should do well. Best of luck. Your factory amo may dissapoint you at 1,000 yds. but there is better stuff that won't. Try Norma 140 Match if you can get it. Most serious F-Class shooters hand load, and you may move in that direction once you are bitten by the bug, and you will be bitten. Your next barrel should be longer to milk all the velocity from the 6.5 Creedmoor you can. When that Golden Eagle is mounted you will be a force. You might also consider offering your services for upgrading RPR's for serious F-Class competition. Your work is outstanding and worth real money. Best of luck. Have fun.

 

[TerryH]

You will be handloading in less than a year! Hard to compete using factor fodder

I'm "that" guy with big aspirations and a limited budget so really can't dive into hand loading on my own at this point. I do have a plan B of sorts. Very good friend that loads. He's up for whatever I want to do. He's in the midst of load development for his own 6.5 RPR already. Will involve my buddy in load development when the time comes.

 

[JBT47]

I'm "that" guy with big aspirations and a limited budget so really can't dive into hand loading on my own at this point. I do have a plan B of sorts. Very good friend that loads. He's up for whatever I want to do. He's in the midst of load development for his own 6.5 RPR already. Will involve my buddy in load development when the time comes.

Learn as much as you can from him...if possible you do the handloading under his supervision so when the timing is right to get your own reloading gear, you will be ready to go.

 

[boltman13]

Terry hand loading with a buddy is time well spent. Makes the tedious parts of it go faster and sharing the cost of supplies and tools more cost effective. Just remember to save the adult beverages for after you are finished.

 

[ShootDots]

Your rifle looks very nice and the improvements will go a L-O-N-G way in helping your score. I was shooting at 1000 yards yesterday with a fellow who was shooting the Ruger rifle. His rifle was "stock" except for a custom "6 Creedmoor" barrel and he handloaded. He had never shot past 100 yards with it. Yesterday, however, he gave it a shot at 1000! For an absolute newbie shooting at 1000 he did surprisingly well! I think that had he had some of your improvements he would have even scored HIGHER! With that in mind, I bet that you will do very well indeed with that rifle of yours!
OOOhhhhh I forgot to mention, he was shooting with only a 15 power scope on his rifle! If he would have had even a 24 power, I believe his scores would have been higher. His rifle did shoot very, very well..

 

[TerryH]

+1 Terry, if you shoot anyway near as good as the work you have done on your RPR, you should do well. Best of luck. Your factory amo may dissapoint you at 1,000 yds. but there is better stuff that won't. Try Norma 140 Match if you can get it. Most serious F-Class shooters hand load, and you may move in that direction once you are bitten by the bug, and you will be bitten. Your next barrel should be longer to milk all the velocity from the 6.5 Creedmoor you can. When that Golden Eagle is mounted you will be a force. You might also consider offering your services for upgrading RPR's for serious F-Class competition. Your work is outstanding and worth real money. Best of luck. Have fun.

Thanks for the kind words. My goal at least initially is to work on me with what I have and endeavor to improve as a shooter. The bug has already bitten but need to stay the course for now at least. I wouldn't be opposed to making some riders once I finalize the designs if there is interest. Might help fund the madness.

 

[TerryH]

Your rifle looks very nice and the improvements will go a L-O-N-G way in helping your score. I was shooting at 1000 yards yesterday with a fellow who was shooting the Ruger rifle. His rifle was "stock" except for a custom "6 Creedmoor" barrel and he handloaded. He had never shot past 100 yards with it. Yesterday, however, he gave it a shot at 1000! For an absolute newbie shooting at 1000 he did surprisingly well! I think that had he had some of your improvements he would have even scored HIGHER! With that in mind, I bet that you will do very well indeed with that rifle of yours!

Thanks for the reply! That is encouraging. My much more experienced shooter friends have been very complimentary of the RPR's performance. Especially those who have shot it. I feel pretty good about the rifle. Jury is still out on the shooter. lol...

 

[TerryH]

Terry hand loading with a buddy is time well spent. Makes the tedious parts of it go faster and sharing the cost of supplies and tools more cost effective. Just remember to save the adult beverages for after you are finished.

We enjoy each other's company so all good. I've been saving brass since day 1.

 

[TerryH]

Learn as much as you can from him...if possible you do the handloading under his supervision so when the timing is right to get your own reloading gear, you will be ready to go.

Thanks Josh. That sounds like a solid plan.

 

[kvd]

Very nice setup - and the 6.5 CM seems a good choice for any shooting out to and including 1000 yds. I can't make them out in your pictures so can you tell me what the orange things are on either side of your scope rings?

Ken

 

[TerryH]

Very nice setup - and the 6.5 CM seems a good choice for any shooting out to and including 1000 yds. I can't make them out in your pictures so can you tell me what the orange things are on either side of your scope rings?

Ken

Hi Ken. Thanks! Those are index clips from LaRue Tactical. Their design intent is to mark the position of the scope rings so the scope can be easily reattached in the same position it was in if one had to remove it but quite honestly I mostly just like the pop of color.

http://www.larue.com/indexclips-72-piece-set-blaze-orange