Building A ELR Rifle

[Mike Montgomery]

The combination of Mercury Recoil Reducer and a muzzle brake will tame the recoil significantly. I installed one on my 375 Cheytac. My wife was able to shoot the rifle with ease.

Can you tell us more about your Mercury Recoil Reducer? What brand and weight?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Desert Fox]

You can get one from XLR Industries. It weigh around 25 ounces. It is designed to fit inside the buffer the buffer tubes

 

[jackieschmidt]

We took the 338 Ackley Improved to Tomball today, just to tune it in at 100 yards.

Geramo shot it mostly, working up from 2720 fps all the way to 2875 fps average at 96 grains of N-570 with the 300 Berger.

After he got it shooting with a consistent below 10 SD and an extreme spread of around 15 fps in 6 shots, I shot two three shot groups over my flags at 100 yards.the SD for all 6 shots over my Garmin was 9, the ES at 16 fps. The average velocity for all 6 shots was 2860 fps with 96 grns of N570.

The two groups shown measured right around .500 for one an a little SS than .400 for the other. That is about as good as I can shoot this thing.

As I stated earlier in this thread, even a 18 pound, the big brake, and the great adjustable recoil pad, it is not much fun shooting this thing. The blast is horrendous. But all and all, it is coming around.

I figure we have around 150 rounds down the barrel as of now.

 

[SKWERLZ]

We took the 338 Ackley Improved to Tomball today, just to tune it in at 100 yards.

Geramo shot it mostly, working up from 2720 fps all the way to 2875 fps average at 96 grains of N-570 with the 300 Berger.

After he got it shooting with a consistent below 10 SD and an extreme spread of around 15 fps in 6 shots, I shot two three shot groups over my flags at 100 yards.the SD for all 6 shots over my Garmin was 9, the ES at 16 fps. The average velocity for all 6 shots was 2860 fps with 96 grns of N570.

The two groups shown measured right around .500 for one an a little SS than .400 for the other. That is about as good as I can shoot this thing.

As I stated earlier in this thread, even a 18 pound, the big brake, and the great adjustable recoil pad, it is not much fun shooting this thing. The blast is horrendous. But all and all, it is coming around.

I figure we have around 150 rounds down the barrel as of now.View attachment 1757178View attachment 1757177

18 pounds is pretty light for that.
My 338 edge is 25#
That’s the same charge of n570 I use with 285 solids.

 

[Desert Fox]

An 18 lb 338 Lapua Ackley Improved rifle has enough weight to managed the recoil. It's all about stock design. My 338 Lapua Ackley in McMillan A-4 stock weigh 16 lbs. The recoil is manageable and doesn't bother me at all.

 

[ShaunBrady]

The two groups shown measured right around .500 for one an a little SS than .400 for the other. That is about as good as I can shoot this thing.

As I stated earlier in this thread, even a 18 pound, the big brake, and the great adjustable recoil pad, it is not much fun shooting this thing. The blast is horrendous. But all and all, it is coming around.

View attachment 1757177

A post that really stood out for me was your comment on bench rest shooters using flat based bullets that sacrificed wind. I ran the numbers through AB analytics and found 1 mph on an 87 grain FB was about 1/8". That's a big deal for shooters trying to ag in the teens. My 6XC with 105 class bullets is about half that. I took the comment to mean that anything that reduces dispersion is done in 100 yard bench rest and wind is on you. That's a long preamble to suggest you can leave the wind flags at home when the bullets have nearly 4X the BC of a 6PPC benchrest round and the nominal group sizes are going to be on the order of 1/2".

If you compare the relative importance of 1 moa, 10 fps ES, and 1% shot to shot BC dispersion, they usually line up as about the same importance somewhere between a mile and 2000 yards. The 100 yard error budget is turned upside down. With a premium barrel and the components normally used for ELR, typical 5 shot groups on the order of 1/2" are usually seen without too much effort. Given the twist rates used and extreme recoil, they don't usually get much better on a repeatable basis. Even with advanced skills in setting the gun up to track while the bullet is in the barrel, the huge levels of recoil compared to bench rest magnify even minor differences in tracking. Muzzle pressures are much higher as well. The brake effect doesn't start until the bullet clears the barrel. Shoot the gun without the brake for a demonstration of the entire tracking issue. Unlike short range bench rest, 1/2" groups are good enough and better won't show up past a mile.

I think I get why you don't enjoy shooting the rifle. Protecting your BR skill is likely a priority. If your idea of rifle shooting is concentrating on conditions and your BR form, the ELR rifle is going to be an obnoxious distraction every time it goes off. Things that may be compounding the problem include shooting a heavily braked very large magnum under a hard ceiling, a seated position rather than prone, any tendency to shoot free recoil and the gun is on the light side. If you haven't already, upgrading your hearing protection may help. Foam ear plugs with electronic muffs over them are my standard setup. I replace or freshen up the muffs every couple years. It makes a huge difference.

Given your machinist skills, a self timing brake? Really? Was it at least installed in the lathe after threading and the bore cleaned up?

 

[X-Caveman]

Get a suppressor, use the brake as a thread protector. That’s what i do on my .338LM. It’s still not a lot of fun off of a bench, but not bad prone/ bipod.